How to Build a Winning Innovation Project Work Plan

In this article we explore the critical role of work plans in innovation funding projects. Whether you’re seeking grants, venture capital, or other funding sources, a well-structured work plan can increase your chances of success.  

What Is a Work Plan?  

A work plan is a structured document that outlines the tasks, milestones, and resources required to achieve the goals and objectives of the project. It serves as a roadmap, guiding project execution and ensuring alignment with project timelines and deliverables.  

A well-defined workplan enhances your chances of securing funding for several reasons:  

Clarity and feasibility: A detailed work plan demonstrates that you’ve thoroughly considered project requirements, milestones, and resource allocation. Assessors appreciate clarity, as it indicates a feasible and thought-out approach. 

Risk mitigation: A robust work plan identifies potential risks and outlines mitigation strategies. This proactive approach reassures funders that you’ve considered challenges and are prepared to address them. 

Resource allocation: A clear work plan allocates resources (time, budget, personnel) efficiently. Funders want assurance that their investment will yield results, and a well-organised plan instils confidence. 

Accountability: A work plan assigns responsibilities, making team members accountable for specific tasks. Assessors value accountability, as it ensures progress tracking and timely completion. 

How to Build a Well-Defined Work Plan 

To set you up for success, a work plan should be “SMART,” which is an effective methodology that incorporates five characteristics of a goal to make it: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. 

Work Packages 

A work plan should be organised in work packages, weaving in tasks, milestones, deliverables, resources, budgetary requirements, and dependencies, and backed with a timeline known as a GANTT chart. 

For a 12 to 18-month project, we recommend five to six work packages (including a project management work package). An effective work plan should: establish a clear roadmap for the project; ensure buy-in from key stakeholders; and help to manage expectations on both the stakeholder level as well as on the managerial and team member levels. 

Our Top Tips for Building a Work Plan 

You could start building your work plan by creating a table in a document, adding in your work packages down the left-hand side, then listing the objectives, key tasks and activities, and milestones and deliverables for each one.   

The approach to build a successful project work plan needs to: 

• Identify the project’s purpose and general timeline 

• Have context as a progression from technical milestones previously achieved 

• Describe the main goals and objectives 

• Define and coordinate the resources required to complete the project 

• Understand the project constraints (for example, the time, budget, and resources required) and have a clearly defined lead for each work package and underlying sub-tasks; it should be clear what resources (for example, labour, materials, capital, time, travel) are required to deliver each component of your plan from your work package table