Appoint an editor-in-chief and find out the funds that are delegated to the project each year from the school, whether a university or high school.
Figure out the amount of pages that will be used in the book. Organize it into different sections -- e.g., sports, classes and classmates.
Organize a team and designate a number of positions. Assistant editor, design editor, head photographer and section editors are good positions to create.
Sign a contract with a yearbook printer, and figure out the kind and weight of paper to be used, as well as the cover thickness.
Use a design program, such as InDesign or the design program given by the yearbook printer. The company will also have layout ideas or templates that can be used instead of creating every page from scratch.
Set up a time and date for head shots with a portrait taking company. Contact the printing company to see whether the shots have to be manually placed in or if they can be flowed into by the printer.
Set a deadline for when the book will have to be delivered to the school by and work back from that, creating deadlines for each section and for when all the files will have to be sent to the printer.