Project Management

This assignment has several different pieces that complete a project management assignment. I’ve included how many pages each section is required to be and all the details for each section of the project to complete the entire paper.

At the end of this paper, I’ve included what the project is about and the proposal. Go off this proposal to create the entire paper.

PROJECT CHARTER (1 and 1/2 pages)

There are many different parts and documents that comprise a project. In this activity you will create a project charter for your course project. The project charter is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides a summary of the project’s objectives and management. A project charter template is provided for you.

This assignment will construct another part of your course project. A Project Charter Template is provided for you. When completing the project charter refer to the sample in Chapter 3 of your textbook. Your finished product should contain all of the usual elements of a project including:

•  Project title and date of authorization (date in month/day/year format)

•  Project manager’s name and contact information (professional contact information – does not need home address)

•  Summary schedule or timeline, including planned start and end dates (in month/day/year format); milestone summary with milestones and scheduled dates of submission (in month/day/year format)

•  Summary budget or estimated cost allocation (with $ preceding all monetary amounts)

•  Project objectives

•  Success criteria (how the project will be evaluated)

•  Summary of management approach for the project

•  Roles and responsibility matrix

•  A section for key project stakeholders to sign off on the charter

•  A comments section for stakeholders to provide important comments related to the details

PROJECT SCOPE & TIME MANAGEMENT (1 and 1/2 pages)

By the end of this assignment, you should be able to draft a scope statement for the project you selected in Module 1 and construct a simple Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for your planned project.

A project scope statement is a document that specifies the requirements for your project. It defines the features and functions that are to be implemented in the project. It also describes any specific processes that must be used in the project. A project scope statement includes detailed characteristics, deliverables, and success criteria.

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) or Process Breakdown Structure (PBS), as noted in your text, helps assure project managers that all products and work elements are identified, to integrate the project with the current organization, and to establish a basis for control. The WBS is a hierarchical structure that facilitates evaluation of cost, time, and technical performance at all levels in the organization over the life of the project.

Your text includes examples of Work Breakdown Structures in Chapter 4. There is also a WBS template loaded for you.

Work Breakdown Structure Template for Project Name

Prepared by:                                                      Date:    

1. Main category 1

1.1 Subcategory

1.2 Subcategory

1.2.1 Sub-subcategory

1.2.2 Sub-subcategory  

1.3 Subcategory

1.4 Subcategory

• Main category 2

2.1 Subcategory

2.2 Subcategory

2.2.1 Sub-subcategory

2.2.2 Sub-subcategory  

2.3 Subcategory

2.4 Subcategory

• Main category 3
  • Subcategory
  • Subcategory

3.2.1 Sub-subcategory

3.2.2 Sub-subcategory  

• Subcategory
  • Subcategory

• Main category 4
  • Subcategory
  • Subcategory
    • Sub-subcategory
    • Sub-subcategory 
  • Subcategory
  • Subcategory

First, create a scope statement for your proposed project. Be sure the statement adequately covers the high-level items you plan to complete. Please refer to Figure 4-6 in the textbook for specific information that needs to be provided in a scope statement.

Next, create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for your project. You may create the WBS using Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, or Microsoft Word (using the shapes available in the program). The product you use to create the WBS is not as important as your understanding of your proposed project and how to break it down to the elements recorded in a WBS.

The length of this assignment will vary based on your project. The WBS should be contained in one or two pages and the scope statement can be on a separate page if you are using different software packages to complete this assignment. This assignment deviates from traditional Excelsior assignments in that you do not need references or APA format. You do, however, need to ensure the WBS is readable and properly labeled, and proper grammar and spelling are used. Please refer to Chapter 4 in the text for examples. A WBS template is loaded to this course for you.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL  (1 page)

Draft a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the project you selected in Module 1.

RFPs are standard in many industries as a means to identify potential suppliers, determine costs for products, and establish quality expectations for projects. In this activity, you will create an RFP for a product or input in your course project.

An RFP is a solicitation for proposals from perspective suppliers. Regardless of any prior relationship between a supplier and the company offering the RFP, the seller would disclose, specifically, what products and/or services the company is offering, usually establishing some measure for quality of each product and/or service, and the price and quantity of each item.

In some industries such as information technology (IT) and healthcare, the RFP process can assist the company in determining whether the initial project plan is complete or whether key elements are missing. This is accomplished by comparing RFPs and reading the specific language provided including the descriptions of features and benefits. Often, companies may not have the necessary expertise to fully establish all elements for a project. Relying on an RFP to help identify missing or incorrect elements is potentially dangerous, but can provide insight to company personnel so that they may make the best decision regarding the implementation of their project.

First, review your project documents for this course. Your scope statement (created in Module 3) and your WBS (also created in Module 3) are helpful as you determine what product or service you identify as you craft your RFP. Remember that an RFP is crafted with caution, as you do not wish to alert competitors to proprietary business information or upcoming products your business is developing.

After a review of your documents, select a single product (input) or service (some type of work/effort that must be completed to finish the project) that is essential to the completion of your product. For example, if you determined your project for this course was to start a homemade baking business, you would not use a plastic wrap RFP for this project, as it is trivial to the final product. Instead, you would construct an RFP for a commercial oven or a vendor for organic flour or specific high-quality ingredients, without which your product would not be distinct or successful.

The length of this assignment will vary based on your project, but should not exceed three (3) pages maximum, any essential images or exhibits, or the reference page. If you have more than three pages, you have given away too much of your proprietary information. Please refer to Chapter 6 of your text for examples. Additionally, please adhere to common project management format for dates (month day, year or mm/dd/yyyy) and monetary amounts (include the $ with all monetary amounts) for ease of understanding by readers. In-text citation is not necessary, as it is not used in RFPs but a reference page showing where you found essential information such as measures, specifications, and details you included in your RFP is required.

EXECUTING PROJECTS (3 pages)

You will be presented with information concerning a company facing a situation that requires at least one decision to be made. Read the case and using the course material and your additional research, write a short paper that briefly identifies the issues and proposes a solution that includes a justification for your choice.

Managing team harmony is essential to successful projects and employee workplace comfort and quality. Unfortunately, conflicts can arise when working with others. Consider the following situation and write a short paper identifying how to best resolve the situation while preserving the team. Your work should include research and quality references to support your solution.

You are the project manager for a large multi-national project. Team members live in three different time zones and on three different continents. While all speak fluent English, there are many communication issues, most arising from the schedules of different team members. It has been difficult to get project updates and to interact with the various members of the team because of the differences in time and location. You created a communication plan, but most of the team has ignored it in favor of sending all issues, work products, and updates via email.

•  Identify which of the six conflict-handling modes discussed in Chapter 6 (confrontation, compromise, smoothing, forcing, withdrawal, and collaborating) would be the best approach to resolving the current conflict.

•  What should be done to address the communication issues?

•  What can be done to enforce use of the communication plan?

•  What measure will you use to determine if these changes are successful?

Write a 3-page paper in Word format. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) style (6th edition) for writing your assignment.

MONITORING AND CONTROLLING PROJECTS (3 pages)

Considering your project and the risk that exists. First determine what that risk is and how it could positively or negatively impact the successful completion of the project. In this module, you have witnessed several issues and events that can cause a project to exceed the budget or fail to meet the schedule. Considering your project, identify monitoring tools and techniques for at least three elements of your project. Share how your proposed techniques and tools will help prevent your project from getting off track. Consider a different element (not shared as one of the three above) within your project. For that element, describe what went wrong and how it failed to stay within the scope of the project. Determine a plan for bringing that element back within the approved scope of the plan.

Write a 3 – 5 page paper in Word format. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) style (6th edition) for writing your assignment.

CLOSING OUT THE PROJECT (2 pages)

As you have learned, there are differences that must be considered when engaging in international projects. Consider your project for this course. Imagine you are either planning to offer your product or service for sale in another country or sourcing elements for your project from another country.

Respond to the following:

•  What countries are you considering for the sale of your project or outsourcing inputs for your project? Why did you select those countries?

•  What should you learn about the countries you are considering? Would you make contact or outsource this part of the project to another country? Why did you make this choice?

•  Now consider that something went wrong in the outsourcing process. An employee at your company has insulted a manager at the company you were working with and now you must try to salvage the relationship. What specific steps would you take?

Write a two-page paper in Word format. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) style (6th edition) for writing your assignment. Be sure to support your position with quality resources.

HERE IS THE PROPOSAL FOR MY ASSIGNMENT AND WHAT THE ENTIRE PROJECT WILL BE WROTE ABOUT:

Project Proposal Form

Date: 1/01/2017

Project Manager:

Name of Project: Crestar Project

Project Sponsor: Barclays bank. To provide for these upgrades, the project will acquire funds from different sources. The primary sponsor of the project will be a financial institution, preferably an international banking corporation like Barclays Bank. Sourcing for an external donor will allow the business continue its day to day activities without interruptions due to shortages of funds (Eduardo, Serra, & Kunc, 2015). The business will also assist to sponsor the project to reduce the amount of loan acquired from the bank.

Project Classification: Infrastructure

What business problem does this project solve? Crestar project will help solve the backlog of operations affecting the flow of activities in the firm. By incorporating better technological devices, Crestar project will facilitate easy communication and linkage between different levels of the business in an effective and timely manner, increasing efficiency and productivity of the firm.

How does this project align with our organizational strategy and support our mission and vision? The project aligns with the business organization strategy in that it supports the company mission and mission of providing quality services to clients in an efficient and timely manner. By improving technological infrastructure, the project provides for fast delivery of services, and also a platform with which the management can utilize to identify and improve shortcomings in operations of the business.

What are the major deliverables of the project?

Project derivatives of the Crestar project will be tailored towards the customer. The project will provide for timely and fast delivery of services to the client. The software delivered by the project will provide an interface for client interaction with the employees thus creating a platform where the client can better express his or her requirements and also provide feedback regarding the quality of services offered. Systems will also be derived from the project. Here, a detailed way of implementation will be laid out identifying trainers of the upgraded software and how these will be tested for the business. Milestone to be achieved is another derivative that will be obtained from the project (Eduardo, Serra, & Kunc, 2015). A due date for project implementation will be set, within which all accomplishments required will have been achieved. By this time, the test products will have been tested and approved for implementation.

What is the impact of not doing the project?

Therefore, failure to do the business project will make the business continuously offer low quality services to the customers. The enterprise will also not be able to identify measures necessary to improve their operations as customer interactions will be tense, and feedback not recorded.

What are the 3 major risks for this project?

The project, however, has some risks. The project requires high funding which may cause the business have a massive debt. Technological advancement may put off conservatives and technological illiterate customers, causing a reduction in the customer base. The technology chosen may become obsolete within a short period and thus not serve the intended purpose.

How is success of the project measured?

Customer feedback will be used to evaluate the success of the project, measuring if the intended purpose of providing customer satisfaction has been met (Kaiser, Arbi, & Ahlemann, 2015). The number of customers served will also be compared to that served before implementation of the project. A larger number of customer served will thus signify success of the project, while a lower number signify its failure.

Will this project require?             

Internal Resources           Yes                         Resources Available?      Yes        

External Resources          Yes                         Resources Available?      Yes        

Estimated cost of the project (in USD) $_240, 000

Budget Breakdown (List large budget items and corresponding portion of the budget below – expand as needed):

1)            Purchasing of new PCs   $100, 000

 2)           Database Upgrade                           $80, 000

 3)           Personnel training                           $60, 000

Project Time Frame: Start Date: 2/01/2017           End Date: 5/01/2017

Estimated length of the project (days, months, or years) __3 months

Project Team (Add more lines as needed):

Name: Mary Jones           Position on Team: Chairperson

Name: Sod Muniz             Position on Team: Secretary

Name: Walter Douglas   Position on Team: Member

Name: Roy McClain         Position on Team: Member

Name: Fester Miller        Position on Team: Member

Business Management Proposal

A business enterprise requires constant improvement of both personnel and equipment employed. This allows the business remain competitive within a changing business environment. Staff training should, therefore, be complimented with equipment upgrade for better business outcomes. Crestar project is an infrastructure type of business project meant to upgrade existing equipment for better performance. Crestar project will help solve the backlog of operations affecting the flow of activities in the firm. By incorporating better technological devices, Crestar project will facilitate easy communication and linkage between different levels of the business in an effective and timely manner, increasing efficiency and productivity of the firm.

Donors

To provide for these upgrades, the project will acquire funds from different sources. The primary sponsor of the project will be a financial institution, preferably an international banking corporation. Sourcing for an external donor will allow the business continue its day to day activities without interruptions due to shortages of funds (Eduardo, Serra, & Kunc, 2015). The business will also assist to sponsor the project to reduce the amount of loan acquired from the bank.

Project derivatives

Project derivatives of the Crestar project will be tailored towards the customer. The project will provide for timely and fast delivery of services to the client. The software delivered by the project will provide an interface for client interaction with the employees thus creating a platform where the client can better express his or her requirements and also provide feedback regarding the quality of services offered. Systems will also be derived from the project. Here, a detailed way of implementation will be laid out identifying trainers of the upgraded software and how these will be tested for the business. Milestone to be achieved is another derivative that will be obtained from the project (Eduardo, Serra, & Kunc, 2015). A due date for project implementation will be set, within which all accomplishments required will have been achieved. By this time, the test products will have been tested and approved for implementation.

Organizational strategy

The project aligns with the business organization strategy in that it supports the company mission and mission of providing quality services to clients in an efficient and timely manner. By improving technological infrastructure, the project provides for fast delivery of services, and also a platform with which the management can utilize to identify and improve shortcomings in operations of the business. Therefore, failure to do the business will result in poor quality of services offered by the business. The enterprise will also not be able to identify measures necessary to improve their operations as customer interactions will be tense, and feedback not recorded. Customer feedback will thus be used as a tool to evaluate the success of the project, measuring if the intended purpose of providing customer satisfaction has been met (Kaiser, Arbi, & Ahlemann, 2015). The number of customers served will also be compared to that served before implementation of the project. A larger number of customer served will thus signify success of the project, while a lower number signify its failure.

Project risks

The project, however, has some risks. The project requires high funding which may cause the business have a massive debt. Technological advancement may put off conservatives and technological illiterate customers, causing a reduction in the customer base. The technology chosen may become obsolete within a short period and thus not serve the intended purpose.

The project will require both internal and external resources. The project will run for three months commencing on 2/01/2017 and end on 5/01/2017. Estimated total costs of this project will be as follows:

Purchasing of new PCs – $100,000

Database upgrade – $80,000

Personnel training – $60,000

Total average cost = $240,000

The project will have five team members.

Name: Mary Jones           Position on Team: Chairperson

Name: Sod Muniz             Position on Team: Secretary

Name: Walter Douglas   Position on Team: Member

Name: Roy McClain         Position on Team: Member

Name: Fester Miller        Position on Team: Member

References

Eduardo, C., Serra, M., & Kunc, M. (2015, January). Benefits Realisation Management and its influence on project success and on the execution of business strategies. International Journal of Project Management, 33(1), 53-66.

Kaiser, M. G., Arbi, F. E., & Ahlemann, F. (2015, January). Successful project portfolio management beyond project selection techniques: Understanding the role of structural alignment. International Journal of Project Management, 31(1), 126-139.

 

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