Project Toolkit

Stage Plan

Stage Plan

Detailed planning for a project stage, providing the baseline for day-to-day control and progress monitoring.

Stage Plan

A Stage Plan provides detailed planning for a management stage, forming the baseline against which the Project Manager monitors and controls day-to-day progress.

Purpose

The Stage Plan:

  • Details how the stage will be delivered
  • Provides the control baseline
  • Enables day-to-day monitoring
  • Identifies resources required
  • Sets tolerances for the stage
  • Supports progress reporting

Planning Hierarchy

flowchart TD A[Project Plan] --> B[Stage 1 Plan] A --> C[Stage 2 Plan] A --> D[Stage 3 Plan] C --> E[Work Package 1] C --> F[Work Package 2] C --> G[Work Package 3] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D,E,F,G blue
Plan Level Detail Owned By
Project Plan High-level, entire project Project Board
Stage Plan Detailed, single stage Project Manager
Work Package Specific work delegation Team Manager

Stage Plan Contents

Essential Elements

Section Content
Stage overview Objectives, scope, approach
Products What will be delivered
Activities Work to be performed
Schedule Timeline and milestones
Resources People, budget, equipment
Dependencies Internal and external
Risks Stage-specific risks
Controls Monitoring and reporting
Tolerances Permitted variance

Stage Plan Template

Stage Overview

Field Content
Project Customer Portal Enhancement
Stage Stage 2 - Development
Stage Manager John Smith (PM)
Stage Start 15 January 2026
Stage End 31 March 2026
Version 1.0
Status Approved

Stage Objectives

Objective Success Criteria
Deliver core portal functionality Login, Dashboard, Profile complete
Complete integration testing All integration tests pass
Achieve performance targets <2 second page load times
Prepare for UAT Test environment ready, test cases prepared

Stage Scope

In Scope Out of Scope
Login functionality Mobile app
Dashboard Admin portal
User profile Reporting module
Integration testing Performance testing
Documentation Training delivery

Products

Product List

Product ID Product Description Target Date
PD-101 Login Screen Customer authentication 14 Feb
PD-102 Dashboard Main landing page 28 Feb
PD-103 User Profile Account management 14 Mar
PD-104 Integration Tests Automated test suite 21 Mar
PD-105 Technical Docs System documentation 28 Mar

Product Flow

flowchart LR A[Requirements
Complete] --> B[Login
Screen] A --> C[Dashboard] A --> D[User
Profile] B --> E[Integration
Testing] C --> E D --> E E --> F[Technical
Docs] F --> G[Stage
Complete] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D,E,F,G blue

Activities

Activity List

ID Activity Duration Predecessors Resources
A1 Setup development environment 5 days - Dev Lead
A2 Develop Login Screen 15 days A1 2 Developers
A3 Develop Dashboard 20 days A1 2 Developers
A4 Develop User Profile 15 days A2 2 Developers
A5 API Integration 10 days A2, A3, A4 Dev Lead
A6 Integration Testing 10 days A5 QA Team
A7 Documentation 5 days A5 BA
A8 Stage Review 2 days A6, A7 PM

Activity Network

flowchart LR A1[A1: Setup
5 days] --> A2[A2: Login
15 days] A1 --> A3[A3: Dashboard
20 days] A2 --> A4[A4: Profile
15 days] A2 --> A5[A5: Integration
10 days] A3 --> A5 A4 --> A5 A5 --> A6[A6: Testing
10 days] A5 --> A7[A7: Docs
5 days] A6 --> A8[A8: Review
2 days] A7 --> A8 classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8 blue

Schedule

Milestone Schedule

Milestone Target Date Status
Stage Start 15 Jan 2026 Complete
Dev Environment Ready 20 Jan 2026 On Track
Login Screen Complete 14 Feb 2026 On Track
Dashboard Complete 28 Feb 2026 On Track
Profile Complete 14 Mar 2026 On Track
Integration Complete 21 Mar 2026 On Track
Stage End 31 Mar 2026 On Track

Gantt Chart Summary

Task                    Jan        Feb        Mar
Setup                   ████
Login Development            ████████████
Dashboard Development        ████████████████████
Profile Development                    ████████████
API Integration                              ████████
Integration Testing                                ████████
Documentation                                      ████
Stage Review                                           ██

Resources

Resource Plan

Resource Role Allocation Period
John Smith Project Manager 50% Full stage
Jane Doe Dev Lead 100% Full stage
Bob Wilson Developer 100% Weeks 1-10
Carol Brown Developer 100% Weeks 1-10
Dave Jones QA Lead 50% Weeks 8-11
Eve Taylor BA 50% Weeks 9-11

Resource Loading

Week PM Dev Lead Dev 1 Dev 2 QA BA
1 50% 100% 100% 100% - -
2-4 50% 100% 100% 100% - -
5-7 50% 100% 100% 100% - -
8-9 50% 100% 100% 100% 50% -
10 50% 100% 50% 50% 100% 50%
11 50% 100% - - 100% 100%

Budget

Stage Budget

Category Budget Forecast Variance
Labour - Internal £45,000 £45,000 £0
Labour - External £20,000 £18,000 £2,000
Infrastructure £5,000 £5,000 £0
Tools/Licences £3,000 £3,500 -£500
Contingency £7,000 £0 £7,000
Total £80,000 £71,500 £8,500

Dependencies

Internal Dependencies

Dependency Source Required By Status
API specifications Stage 1 Week 1 Complete
Test data QA Team Week 8 On Track
Security review Security Team Week 10 On Track

External Dependencies

Dependency Provider Required By Status
Cloud environment AWS Week 1 Complete
SSL certificates Certificate provider Week 9 On Track
Payment gateway API Third party Week 8 At Risk

Risks

Stage-Specific Risks

ID Risk Probability Impact Response
R1 Key developer unavailable Medium High Cross-train, contract backup
R2 API integration issues Medium Medium Early spike, vendor contact
R3 Performance targets not met Low High Early performance testing
R4 Scope creep Medium Medium Change control, scope freeze

Controls

Progress Monitoring

Control Frequency Audience
Daily stand-up Daily Delivery team
Checkpoint report Weekly PM
Highlight report Fortnightly Project Board
Milestone review At milestones PM, Team Leads

Quality Controls

Control When Applied
Code review Before merge
Unit testing During development
Integration testing After component completion
Quality gate Before stage end

Tolerances

Stage Tolerances

Dimension Tolerance Escalation
Time +10 days / -5 days Project Board
Cost +£8,000 / -£8,000 (10%) Project Board
Scope No deviation Project Board
Quality As per quality criteria PM
Risk New high-impact risk Project Board

Creating a Stage Plan

Process

flowchart LR A[Review
Project Plan] --> B[Define
Products] B --> C[Identify
Activities] C --> D[Estimate &
Schedule] D --> E[Assign
Resources] E --> F[Analyse
Risks] F --> G[Set
Controls] G --> H[Seek
Approval] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H blue

Planning Steps

Step Activities
1. Understand context Review project plan, previous stage
2. Define products List products, create descriptions
3. Identify activities Break down work, sequence activities
4. Estimate Effort, duration, cost
5. Schedule Create timeline, identify critical path
6. Resource Assign resources, resolve conflicts
7. Risk Identify and plan for risks
8. Controls Set tolerances, reporting
9. Document Compile stage plan
10. Approve Present to Project Board

Stage Plan Approval

Approval Criteria

Criterion Evidence
Products clearly defined Product descriptions complete
Schedule realistic Resource availability confirmed
Budget adequate Cost estimates validated
Risks identified Risk register updated
Dependencies managed Owners confirmed
Controls appropriate Reporting schedule agreed

Sign-off

Role Name Signature Date
Project Manager      
Project Sponsor      
Senior User      
Senior Supplier      

Stage Plan Checklist

Before Approval

  • Objectives clear and measurable?
  • Products fully defined?
  • Activities comprehensive?
  • Schedule realistic?
  • Resources available and assigned?
  • Budget adequate?
  • Dependencies identified?
  • Risks assessed?
  • Controls defined?
  • Tolerances set?

During Stage

  • Progress tracked against plan?
  • Issues and changes managed?
  • Risks monitored?
  • Resources managed?
  • Quality maintained?
  • Reports produced?
Last updated: 13 January 2026
Themes

Planning

Control