Prepare a Project Management Plan
Project Management Plan
Widgets 'R Us Widgets 'R Us (WRU) is a medium-sized firm specializing in the design and manufacturing of quality widgets. The market for widgets has been stable. Historically, WRU has had a functional organization design with four departments: accounting, sales, production, and engineering. This design has served the company well, and it has been able to compete by being the low-priced company in the industry. In the past three years, the demand for widgets has exploded. New widgets are constantly being developed to feed the public's seemingly insatiable demand. The average life cycle of a newly released widget is 12-15months. Unfortunately, WRU is finding itself unable to compete successfully in this new, dynamic market. The CEO has noted a number of problems. Products are slow to market. Many new innovations have passed right by WRU because the company was slow to pick up signs from the marketplace that they were coming. Internal communication is very poor. Lots of information gets kicked upstairs, and no one seems to know what happens to it. Department heads constantly blame other department heads for the problems.
Questions:You have been called in as a consultant to analyse the operations at WRU. Based on the readings, what would you advise Widgets R Us to do in order to sustain the competitive advantage in the widget market? Prepare a project management plan to implement your suggestions. You may use the following structure for your report with sub-headings as appropriate:
Project Management Plan Outline
- Title page
- Project title
- Name and student number
- Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Background
- Describe the needs for improvement (i.e. issue, problem, market gap, etc.) the project is set to address.
- Describe how and why existing or similar approaches, products, technologies and/or projects might be applicable and/or relevant to your project.
- Evaluation of Alternatives (Refer textbook -Chapter 3)
- Briefly describe the alternative solutions for the project (recommend to use Weight Scoring Model)
- Briefly explain and justify the criteria, rankings, weightings, and rating schemes used in developing the Project Selection Matrix.
- Provide a summary and analysis of the outcome.
- Project Concept
- Describe the project. Include whatever pictures, sketches and/or drawings that you think best convey the project concept.
- Project objectives
- Project requirements and deliverables
- Project Key Performance Indicators - (Identify at least 5 KPIs – measureable)
- Project Feasibility
- Discuss the feasibility and sustainability of the project, and identity key areas of strength and weakness.
- Approval requirements
- Project assumptions - (Identify at least 5 assumptions)
- Known constraints - (Identify at least 5 constraints)
- Possible improvements - (Identify at least 5 improvements)
- Project Stakeholders Management:
- Describe the specific target(s) / users of your project, including:
- Who would use it?
- What would they use it for?
- How would they use it?
- Project organisational chart (PRINCE2)
- Any information related to HR and Communications Management.
- Describe the specific target(s) / users of your project, including:
- Project Schedule Management:
- Schedule milestones
- Project WBS to 3 levels (with activity list, activity attributes). Present in chart form.
- Project Gantt Chart
- Describe how the schedule will be managed during the project
- Any information related to time managementM
- Project Cost Management:
- First pass estimated costs of the ‘real-world’ construction in Australian dollars. Costs need only be approximate for large-scale projects.
- Provide justification or basis for cost estimates. Where did your numbers come from?
- Describe how the costs will be managed during the project.
- Any information related to cost management.
- Project Quality Management:
- Describe the quality items that will be measured during the planning, executing and monitor/control phases of the project. (Identify at least 5 quality items)
- Briefly explain and justify the measurable items and units of measure in a Quality Definition Table.
- Present the final Quality Definition Table developed for quality management.
- Any information related to Quality Management:
- Project Risk Management:
- Complete a risk register for the project including development issues and operational issues. (Identify at least 5 risks)
- Provide the risk matrix
- Any information related to Risk Management:
- Project Procurement Management:
- Describe the various types of required contracts
- Provide the make-or-buy analysis where relevant
- Any information related to Procurement Management
