There are many project management templates out there in the marketplace. Project Management consulting firms, training companies, large government organizations, and educational institutions are among those who produce and often sell project management tools and templates. These are generally geared toward implementing particular methodology and addressing a particular common problem space. There also are template providers – firms who produce many templates to service the open market. Some of these might be free, but generally the best cost some money. Here is a list of the more notable template providers I have found. I plan to add to the list as I find more. Please let me know if I have missed a good one. The list below will give you a flavor for what is out there. Note that these are oriented to project management processes, and do not include MS Project or other tool-oriented templates.
| Source | Description |
| Method123 | Dedicated template web site, with comprehensive set of templates geared for project management. For purchase as a packages. |
| ProjectConnections | Project management portal, with combination of professionally done free and for sale templates, combined with clear and concise training and explanations. |
| gantthead.com | IT project management portal, with some free templates (not necessarily IT project management) that are worth a look. |
| ITProjectTemplates.com | Extensive offering for sale of specifically IT project management templates, such as Sarbanes Oxley, CRM implementations, waterfall development, and hundreds more. |
| ProgramControl.com | Project Management consulting and software development firm that has developed for sale templates. Some focus on smaller unique niches. |
| ProjectSmart | Provide a few free templates, and a package of 20 or so templates in Excel and Word. Oriented toward Prince2. |
| ITtoolkit.com | Fill in the blank pdf’s and MS Office files for sale for managing projects and IT operations. |
| UK - Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform | UK resource, Prince2 oriented. About 10 fill-in=the=blank Word templates. |
| MPMM – Method123 Project Management Methodology | Includes all Method123 templates plus an entire methodology for managing projects. |
| This multi-office project management services firm offers about 15 free templates, and many more subscribing for consultants and clients. | |
| allPM.com | Project management portal with limited offering of free templates, some from Method123. |
| BOT International | Provider of software solutions, including for sale ‘Processes On Demand’ template packages, for project management processes, with a specialty in PMO templates and IT project management. . |
| Cornell University | CPMM - Cornell Project Management Methodology. About 25 free templates mapped to 5 project management processes. |
| Electronic Project Office (EPO) | Extensive collection of templates, e-Books, PM Tools on a comprehensive collection that is well worth a look. |
Note also that many of the project management software and online resources have templates incorporated in them. Many templates were VERY basic, and do not offer a large amount of background info and guidance for how to use. In other words, they did not provide TRAINING. If they were not substantive enough, I excluded them from the list. The differences between free and not are:
- There is a consistent look and feel to the template.
- The template generally has been tested and refined in many situations.
- There is typically a lot of ‘training’ embedded in the template.
- The template is usually in an easily adapted format. Often, free templates come in html or pdf format and cannot be as easily adapted.
In general, I think it is reasonable to expect to spend more time refining, customizing, and investigating free project management templates than others, but not always. It would seem that you should take a good hard look at the templates you are going to use, and not be too stingy about paying. They are really not that expensive in any case. ____________________________ John Reiling, PMP Project Management Training Online Lean Six Sigma Training Online
1 response so far ↓
1 gordpmp // Oct 26, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Great list John - here’s a couple of others to add:
Several state governments have excellent PMO sites. Here’s the URL for the state of Minnesota’s PMO:
http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?subchannel=-536890651&programid=536910277&id=-536890276&agency=OETweb
Or check out the Tasmanian government PMO site:
http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/
I would also humbly add the Electronic Project Office site - we have over 100 templates and 42 e-Books providing program, portfolio and project management guidance and template instructions. New releases are published annually.
http://members.shaw.ca/epo/
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