Fluent Essays

Write a brief introduction and complete the first three sections of your Project Management Plan using the template provided. The first three sections of this plan will cover the project managers record for the project overview (roles and responsibilities), project tasks (description, time, and dependencies), and project resources (alignment and evaluation). If needed, review the activities you completed in Modules One and Two to help you with this milestone. Project Management Template Stakeholder Register Template WBS Dictionary Template WBS Resource Alignment Template For additional details, please refer to the Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric document and the Final Project Part I document.Project Management Plan Template This template will take you through the required deliverables for the Final Project Part I. Please note that each section should be completed in the order of appearance as noted by in the Final Project Part I and Part II guidelines. Additional templates have been provided as needed for certain sections. INSERT A TITLE PAGE HERE Table of Contents Introduction I. Project Overview A. Roles and Responsibilities B. Scope and Schedule II. Tasks A. Description B. Time C. Dependencies III. Resources A. Alignment B. Evaluation IV. Risk A. Sources B. Strategies V. Budget VI. Schedule Note: For Milestone One, complete the following sections of this form and the associated templates as instructed: Introduction, I. Project Overview, II. Tasks, and III. Resources. Introduction Provide an introduction to the project plan. The introduction should include a sentence or two about all of the major aspects of the project. (The below categories for an introduction were taken from an open-source document provided through Project Management Institute (PMI), ensuring real-world applicability.) Write a sentence or two on each of the following topics. Purpose: State the purpose of the project plan. Indicate in a short statement that the plan will provide a definition of the project, including the business goals and objectives. In addition, state that the plan is a contract between the project manager, executive sponsor, project team, and other management of the enterprise associated with and/or affected by the project. To be clear, the purpose of the plan is to guide the project work, which is separate from the actual goal of the project. Purpose of Project Plan: Background Background Information: Describe the project history. Include information such as previous initiatives, business environment changes (may be related to competition, regulation, resource availability), and the impetus and rationale for the project. Describe, in essence, how the project came about. Background Information: Pro Project Approach: Explain how the various behavioral and team management techniques, methodology, and task structure will be utilized most effectively to meet the requirements and objectives of the project. Project Approach: Project Overview Introduce the project overview section. Only a couple of sentences are needed. This section should also indicate the below upcoming subtopics. Project Overview: A. Roles and Responsibilities Identify the project leader and all of the other stakeholders involved in the project. What are the responsibilities of the stakeholders involved? In industry practice it is extremely common to use a stakeholder register to capture this information. A Stakeholder Register Template has been developed to use for this section. You are free to use other templates, tools, or formats to convey the requirements outlined within the Final Project Part I Document as long as you satSheet1 Stakeholder Analysis Project Name: Project #: Project Manager: Sponsor: Updated: ID Stakeholder Role in Project Influence on Project Outcome Needs Responsibility Notes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sheet2 Sheet3Sheet1 WBS Dictionary The WBS dictionary contains all the details of the WBS necessary to successfully complete the project. Most importantly, it contains a definition of each work package, which can be thought of as a mini scope statement. Resources on the project will look at the WBS dictionary to determine the scope of the work package they have been assigned, so it is important to be clear when writing the definition. Most WBS dictionaries contain more information than we show in our sample. These things usually include Level of Effort, Cost Control Numbers, Resource Assignments, and Responsibility Assignments, just to name a few. WBS Code Task Name Description of the Associated Work Resource to Complete the Task Reference: http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/project-planning-templates/work-breakdown-structure-wbs.html Sheet2 Sheet3Sheet1 WBS Resource Assignments WBS ID Task Name Work Estimate (days) Resource Name Resource Reasoning Sheet2 Sheet3QSO 355 Final Project Part I Guidelines and Rubric Overview The final project for this course is divided into two parts. The first part is the creation of an Initial Schedule and Budget Report. Project managers play an important role in helping to complete successful projects. Often, they are responsible for tasks such as defining the project goal(s), identifying the tasks necessary to achieve the goal, evaluating project resources, and determining budgets and schedules. Project managers must then keep projects on time, on budget, and within scope and problem solve when this does not happen. This course focuses on resource estimating and scheduling. In the first part of this project, you will analyze the case study, A&D High Tech (A): Managing Projects for Success (located in the Harvard Business Review area of the course), which includes a scenario along with a work breakdown structure and other pertinent project requirements. You will write a report assessing the company’s resources and then develop a high-level budget and schedule for the project discussed in the case study. Note: The case studies for this project regularly reference the use of MS Project. While MS Project is a software tool that is often used for project management, the focus of this course is to understand the process, not this particular tool. As such, you will not be using MS Project to complete the milestones and your final project. Suggested templates needed to complete the critical elements of the final project are listed in the Project Management Plan Template. The following templates are provided for you in order to complete the final project:  Project Management Plan Template: This template will be used throughout the final project. This template will guide you step-by-step from Milestone One through your final submission. All other templates can be accessed through this main template.  Stakeholder Register Template: You will use this template in Milestone One to identify the role of each stakeholder in your project.  WBS Dictionary Template: You will use this template in Milestone One to describe the tasks and sub-tasks that will fulfill each of the project deliverables.  WBS Resource Alignment Template: You will use this template in Milestone One to align resources to each of the sub-tasks you described. Justify your reasoning for your alignment decisions.  Risk Register Template: You will use this template in Milestone Two to identify likely sources of risk for the project. Make sure to consider the project scope, budget, and time. http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/undergraduate/qso/qso355/qso355_project_management_plan_template.docx http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/undergraduate/qso/qso355/qso355_stakeholder_register_template.xlsx http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/undergraduate/qso/qso355/qso355_wbs_dictionary_template.xlsx http://snhu-media.snhQSO 355 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric In the first part of this assessment, students will analyze the case study A&D High Tech (A): Managing Projects for Success (located in the Harvard Business Review area of the course), which includes a scenario along with a work breakdown structure and other pertinent project requirements. Students will write a report assessing the company’s resources and then develop a high-level budget and schedule for the project discussed in the case study. Note: The case studies for this project regularly reference the use of MS Project. While MS Project is a software tool that is often used for project management, the focus of this course is to understand the process, not this particular tool. As such, you will not be using MS Project to submit case study assignments. Suggested templates needed to complete the critical elements of the final project are listed in the Project Management Plan Template. Prompt: Write a brief introduction and complete the first three sections of your Project Management Plan using the template provided. The first three sections of this plan will cover the project manager’s record for the project overview (roles and responsibilities), project tasks (description, time, and dependencies), and project resources (alignment and evaluation). Go over the activities you completed in Modules One and Two to help you with this milestone. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Project Overview A. Roles and Responsibilities: Identify the project leader and the other stakeholders involved in the project. What are the responsibilities of the stakeholders involved? B. Scope and Schedule: What is the project scope? Identify the key deliverables that are part of the project scope. When does the project need to be completed? Describe the timeline for the project. II. Tasks A. Description: Describe the tasks and sub-tasks that will fulfill each of the project deliverables. What impact do the tasks and sub-tasks have on the project schedule? B. Time: Analyze the time estimates for task completion. How do the task time estimates impact the project schedule? C. Dependencies: Identify dependencies between tasks. In other words, which tasks must be finished before other tasks can be started? III. Resources A. Alignment: Align resources to each of the sub-tasks you described. Justify your alignment. In other words, why does the company need the resource types to complete the sub-tasks? B. Evaluation: Evaluate the company’s resources. Does the company have the resources available to support the project? Are there any areas where the necessary resources may not be available to complete the sub-tasks? http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/undergraduate/qso/qso355/qso355_project_management_plan_template.docx Rubric Guidelines for Submission: This milestone will be submitted using the Project Management Plan KEL156 ©2006 by the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. This case was prepared by Derek Yung ’03 and Alex Gershbeyn ’03 under the supervision of Professor Mark Jeffery. Cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Some facts within the case have been altered for confidentiality reasons. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 800- 545-7685 (or 617-783-7600 outside the United States or Canada) or e-mail [email protected] No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Kellogg School of Management. MARK JEFFERY A&D High Tech (A): Managing Projects for Success In his twelve years as a technology project manager at A&D High Tech, Chris Johnson had a strong track record of delivering projects on time and on budget. His techniques for project planning, estimating, and scheduling had become best practices at the St. Louis-based computer products company. He had just led a project team that successfully revamped the supply chain systems in less than eighteen months. He was especially proud since many observers had doubted that the project could be completed on time. As part of the strategic initiatives set forth by its CEO and founder, Ted Walter, A&D was to be second to none in utilizing technology to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs. The supply chain project therefore received notable attention in the boardroom and with its competitors. Time and again, Johnson was asked to tackle difficult assignments that were critical to the company’s growth and profits. He had already been mentioned as the successor to the vice president of e-business, Chuck Gagler, pending his retirement. (See Exhibit 1 for the A&D High Tech organizational chart.) In early May 2003 Johnson received an urgent message from the company’s CIO, Matt Webb. Webb asked Johnson to join him for a meeting with A&D’s senior managers to discuss taking over the company’s online store project. Johnson realized that up to that point the company’s top brass had virtually ignored the Internet and its sales potential. But that situation was about to change. As Webb explained, A&D’s vice president of sales, Jeff White, had advised CEO Ted Walter that A&D was losing its competitive advantage by not selling online. As a result, Walter had made the online store project the company’s highest priority. Walter wanted to know whether the project could be completed in time for the holiday shopping season, when A&D’s cyclic business traditionally boomed. The current project manager, Eric Robertson, was taking a one-month leave of absence due to a family emergency, just as he was about