Using Sub Plans in OnePlan Work Plans

Purpose

This article explains how to use Sub Plans in OnePlan Work Plans. Sub Plans help you break down large initiatives into smaller, manageable components while maintaining visibility and rollup at the parent plan level.

What you will accomplish
After reading this article, you will be able to understand what Sub Plans are and when to use them, load Sub Plans into a Work Plan, and apply best practices when working with Sub Plans.

What are Sub Plans?

A Sub Plan is a child plan that sits beneath a larger parent plan in OnePlan’s hierarchical structure. A single parent plan can have one or many Sub Plans, and you can configure their tasks and summary data to roll up to the parent plan, giving you consolidated visibility across all related work.

Sub Plans are useful when you need to break big, complex initiatives into focused sections—such as separating a program into multiple projects or organizing work across different teams or plan types. OnePlan fully supports configurable plan type hierarchies, allowing Sub Plans to represent items like programs, epics, features, or projects depending on your organization’s structure.

Why Use Sub Plans?

Use Sub Plans when you want to:

• Break down large initiatives into smaller components while maintaining parent-level visibility.
• Organize work by team, methodology, or plan type, such as portfolios → value streams → epics → features.
• Roll up schedules, financials, and resource data to the parent plan for reporting.
• Keep separate workstreams independent, but still connected to a larger program or project.
• Improve clarity and governance by structuring work in a meaningful hierarchy.

How to Use Sub Plans

Open Sub Plans

In your Work Plan, click the ellipsis (...), then select Sub Plans.
The Sub Plans form will open.

Load Sub Plans into the Work Plan

If the current plan already has defined Sub Plans:

1. In the Sub Plans form, check the box next to each Sub Plan you want to add.
2. Click Load Sub Plans. The selected Sub Plans will load directly into your current Work Plan grid.
   
   Once loaded, Sub Plan tasks appear alongside the parent plan’s tasks, allowing you to view and work with all related schedules in one place. The Sub Plans retain their identity as separate plans, but their tasks and summary information automatically roll up to the parent plan for consolidated reporting.

When you update tasks in a Sub Plan (such as changing dates, percent complete, or dependencies) those updates are reflected in the parent plan’s rolled‑up data. This ensures the parent plan always shows the most accurate status across all workstreams.

Best Practices

Set Your Program or Parent Plan Start Date

Ensure the parent plan’s start date is earlier than the earliest start date of its Sub Plans. This ensures proper scheduling and accurate rollup.

Use Dependencies in Sub Plan Schedules

Make sure Sub Plans have complete schedules with appropriate predecessors and successors. This helps maintain logical sequencing when tasks roll up into the parent plan.

Apply Task Constraints Correctly

Set the first task in each Sub Plan to a Start On constraint to establish a clear schedule anchor and avoid unintended shifts.