Projects are essential to practically every working routine in almost all companies. No matter its size or its focus, it is through different projects that you can move your business forward. Creating a project is not simple, and ensuring its success will require more than just the project plan. 

Here is where project overviews come in. Any project manager needs to create a project overview before the project begins. It must be one of the first key steps in any company, as project overviews can be the difference between the success or the complete failure of anything you are about to put on your business case.

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What is a Project Overview?

So, right now, you must be wondering what exactly a project overview is, what it is for, and its impact on the project team and the entire project itself. Well, let’s see a little bit about all of that before you start project planning anything.

Project overviews are documents containing a brief outline of the project. It works like the project summary with a detailed description and project’s key deliverables. It’s designed for the project managers, team members, and all the project stakeholders to understand and have a big picture of what is about to happen.

That way, a project overview will summarize all the information into concise sections, so the process of looking for specific project information doesn’t get as time-consuming as it could be. This document, beginning all the important details into one page, is perfect for convincing senior management of the steps team members and the project management staff must take. It also helps them to stay organized. 

What is the Key Data a Project Overview Must Contain

As mentioned before, a project overview exists to inform the project manager and the team working on it about some essential aspects directly related to the project scope. The critical data for any project overview are

• Project’s goals and Objectives
• Project Purpose
• Business Need
• Potential Risks and Issues
• Entire Project Resources
• Expected Project Progress
• Time Expectations, Project Schedule, and Important dates 
• Budget
• Other Resources Required

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Why Should I Create a Project Overview

We already know what it is, the key data it must contain, and, in theory, the advantages of a perfect project overview. But it is also essential for us to specify what project details can bring for the team members. 

With this information, the team understands many aspects of the project ahead of them. A good project overview documentation will help clarify all the aspects of a project, giving references and explanations of essential things related to project organization.

• All the details and the key steps to ensure the completion of project goals.
• Members of the many teams working on the project and all the tasks they are responsible for. 
• The deliverables necessary for the project to succeed.
• When these deliverables and other essential tasks are due.

Putting this information in a document is extremely important to keep all the stakeholders aware of project nuances. That’s why a project overview statement is so important. Project status, budget, milestones, and costs are some of the most important aspects, and the best project overview contains all these data. 

What are the Structure and the Format of Project Overviews

Another factor that can cause doubts in a beginner manager is the format of your project overview statement. Well, the thing is that it depends on the company you’re working for, the objectives you want to accomplish, and the type of project that is going for your business case. You can communicate with the different teams, the project management staff, and other stakeholders involved in the current project to decide on these project details.

One good rule we recommend for your visual representation is keeping all the essential information on the same page. That way, it won’t be too complex for the operational teams to find specific data. After communication with all the stakeholders, you may define a layout and start using it as a project overview template. 

Project overview templates will help the project management staff and all the involved members save time. Besides, finding information will be far more accessible as everybody gets used to the project overview template. The more detail you can add in a concise way to your project overview template, the better it will be.

Tips for Producing a Great Project Overview Template

We present you with some development tips to help you create a high-level view and simplify the creation of excellent project overview templates. That way, you will help your team better organize itself, having all the technical information they need to be presented concisely. That way, your templates will facilitate communication and the framework, allowing the responsible teams to use their tools to solve problems and manage risks before they can break the sound development of any project.

Dominating the Scope

The first thing we have to say is that you must understand the scope of your project more than anyone else. Understanding the project scope helps you to give your team the right direction for what they are about to do. Dominating your extent protects you and the team against unpredicted changes and problems. That way, you will be in the perfect position to check the progress and concentrate on the most critical objectives first.

Research the Unknowns

Before creating a project overview and starting to establish milestones, timelines, and productivity criteria, you must determine the general context of the moment your new project will begin. For example, if you start a project related to NFT and Cryptoactives, you must look at the fluctuation of such markets.

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An important thing to do is check, for example, if the Bitcoin or Ethereum tendencies favor your project. If they don’t, you may prefer to delay or, at least, highlight both coin fluctuations as potential risks to your project. That way, your team will be informed and may start looking for solution ideas. Outlines and responsibilities may also change depending on the risks you and your team track.

Keep a Concise Communication with Your Client

Another crucial thing is to keep clear communication with your clients. Even though it may be obvious, many organizations soon discover how hard it is. A project overview facilitates the talk with your clients, but you have the task of working with them before starting the project planning itself.

Both sides can explain their main objectives, establish realistic results and deadlines, and manage expectations. With all of that set, your project overview can become a reality. You can also create a specific project overview template to fit the new project peculiarities.

What Tools You Can Use to Create a Project Overview

To complete, the only thing left is to talk about the software you can use to create any project overview. There is a simple and very well-known software that, among other things, is perfect for project overview: Microsoft Office.

The Best For Small Companies

Applications like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are the most complete you will find in the market. And as such, they have several features that will help you with your project overview. They fulfill all your necessities, making the project overview software unnecessary.

This unique software is great because your company doesn’t need to pay much to have one software for each task. Paying only for Microsoft office means you can save money for other necessities, making it perfect for small businesses.

Microsoft Word and Excel Templates

In order to facilitate your life, even more, you can download free project overview templates. We have listed some great templates you can use to create the best project overview.

Simple Project Overview Template

Get this template

Project Management Overview Template

Get this template

Where to get Microsoft Office

The best place you can get your Microsoft office keys is on the RoyalCDKeys site! We offer safe and working keys for the Professional Plus version of Office, ensuring you have all the tools and the necessary support to make your business fly. All of that with excellent prices you won’t find anywhere else.

On Microsoft Store, the official way to get office applications, you will find office plans for far higher prices than you should pay. Some examples are

• Microsoft Office Home and Student - $149,99
• Microsoft Office Home and Business - $249,99 
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus - 439,99

But, if you go for RoyalCDKeys, you will find keys such as these, with far better prices!

• Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus Key Retail Global
• Microsoft Office 2021 Professional Plus Key Retail Global

Conclusions

After all that, you already know the importance of a good project overview in the project creation process and understand all the difference it can make. Ensuring the proper distribution of budget and other resources, dividing the tasks between the team working, and guaranteeing the whole project advances as expected are only some of the factors a good project overview allows. 

If you want more articles with tips, guides, comparisons, and general information about Microsoft Office, Windows Operating System, antivirus software, and other productivity-related applications, check RoyalCDKeys! Besides the best products with the best prices, we produce high-quality content focused on helping you to develop your business more and more.