Management Plan for EDUC 6145
Transcription
Management Plan for EDUC 6145
Running Head: PROJECT PLAN 1 Project Plan: Designing an Electronic Performance Support System Gerrit Geurs Walden University Dr. Deanna Romano EDUC 6145- Project Management for Education and Training 14 December 2014 PROJECT PLAN 2 Table of Contents: Section: Page Number: Title Page: Pg.1 Statement of Work: Pg. 2 Scope of Work: Pg. 6 Work Breakdown Structure: Pg. End of 9 Project Schedule: Pg. 11 Resource Allocation Plan: Pg. 13 Communication Plan: Pg. 14 Project Monitoring Matrix: Pg. 17 Project Close-out Checklist: Pg. 18 References: Pg. 21 Statement of Work Project Charter: Project Name: WidgetMart Electronic Performance Support System (from here on referred to as “EPPS”) Project Manager: Gerrit Geurs Date of Composition: 11/2/2014 Project Purpose and Justification: As WidgetMart’s operations have increased to include three different stores – WidgetMart, Universal Widgets, and BuyMore- across multiple countries and geographical locations, the company’s training needs also have increased (Ertmer, Quinn, & Glazewski, 2014, PROJECT PLAN 3 p. 237). What were originally known as “Sit With Fred” sessions where regional managers traveled to the various stores has evolved into an electronic collection of training materials (pp.237-238). While digitizing the training process is a good step, in its current form it is ineffective. As new information is added to the system, the outdated information is not removed (p. 238). There are instances where training material and information overlaps and is located in multiple locales. The current electronic system’s material needs to be consolidated and transferred into a four-function EPSS. With a team of four individuals collecting, sifting through, and sorting the current catalog of 1,100 topics in the online reference system, and then converting them into the new EPSS, the estimated time for this project from start to finish is three months (90 days). Ninety days will enable us to review the information for each topic, revise it to be updated, sort it into one of the four desired functions, put it into the new EPSS, and then pass it along to management for feedback. Project Objectives and Outcomes: By completing this project, the following tasks should be accomplished: 1. WidgetMart will have an EPSS with four functions: embedded knowledge, reference, job aid, and computer-based instruction (p. 240). 2. All training information will be accessible to employees at all levels in the company in a uniform format. 3. Outdated information used for training will be removed, redundant material will be consolidated. 4. The EPSS provided will have the ability to be updated as needed. Project Constraints: PROJECT PLAN 4 There are certain restrictions and constraints which may impede the progress and success of this project. Each member of this project already is an employee of WidgetMart with his or her own responsibilities. As it is, depending upon the busyness of the company over the next three months, if the employment responsibilities of the team increase, then progress on the EPSS will be slowed. Another possible constraint will be in what level of access to the current training infrastructure and technological resources the team has. Uninhibited access to the necessary information and tools that the company currently uses will speed up the team’s process by enabling us to more directly convert materials from one format to the EPSS’s format. WidgetMart’s management needs to determine whether the expectation for the project team is to make the EPSS project the main priority during business hours by freeing them up to focus on the EPSS specifically, or that the expectation for the team is that they work on the project outside of normal working hours and be compensated for their time accordingly. This rate will need to be established before work begins. Throughout this project, different materials will probably need to be purchased. The team will assume that any cost of around $75 or less will not need to be pre-approved. Anything with a greater price than that will be cleared by management unless immediately it is necessary and no one is able to be contacted. Also, should the team need to work after business hours, the team requests the ability to be reimbursed for meals up to $15 per meal per person. Project Assumptions: In order for this project to run smoothly, I am making a few assumptions up front. I am assuming management will want to be updated continually on project progress, but not be inundated with information. To this end, I will update management on Monday with the team’s PROJECT PLAN 5 short-term goals for the week and longer-term goals for the month. On Friday, I will update management on how the team has done to accomplish goals, as well as provide materials created during the week to be reviewed for feedback. I am assuming the WidgetMart will provide a work space for this project, the necessary technology to work with the current online information system, and access codes and passwords as needed to access the system’s framework to enable the coder on our team to get the information he needs. Since this will be an encumbering task, any communication to the team should go through me so that I may be able to distribute it accordingly. The scope and objectives for this project are our first priorities; any additional side tasks will be considered after the main project of getting the four-function EPSS operational. Rationale: For the course project, I selected the case study, “Davey Jones: Designing an Electronic Performance Support System” (pp. 237-241). I decided it would be better to leave my objectives segment in concise sentences, because as Portny et al. (2008) explain, “If a project plan takes an entire page to describe a single objective, most people won’t read it” (p. 35). Based on the details in the case study, I assumed that there will be necessary purchases for equipment and supplies. Since many managers would not want to be bothered for every little thing, purchases for under $75 are assumed to be okay. In my assumptions, I included a line about the objectives for the project being the main focus and that any potential tasks from the client will not be considered until after the main objectives are completed because of the caution from the course textbook authors that “clients, upper management, and the organization…want to believe that project managers can achieve everything asked of them with minimal or no cost” (p. 37). None PROJECT PLAN 6 of the assumptions are unreasonable; anything in the Statement of Work which is vague is in there because I do not know what assumption to make, such as whether the project team will be working on this as its focus during business hours or whether it is working on it outside of business hours. Scope of Work Project Name: WidgetMart Electronic Performance Support System (from here on referred to as “EPPS”) Project Manager: Gerrit Geurs Date of Composition: 11/16/2014 Scope Statement: WidgetMart has requested the development of multi-function EPSS to meet various needs of its operations staff. Specifically, we will develop the EPSS to accomplish four key functions as requested by the organization’s top stakeholders: provide an embedded bank of organizational knowledge, reference materials, assistance for various jobs, and instruction established on a digital, computer platform. The EPSS will have a consistent format throughout every piece of it, and this consistency will enable any member of the organization in any different locale to be able to use the same EPSS. While the EPSS is being developed, the project team will sort, consolidate, and compartmentalize information, as well as update outdated information. We anticipate completing this project in a time-span of three months (90 days). As this task is quite a large job, and we have not been given direction from management as to whether this will be our sole responsibility for the time period or if we will be trying to juggle this on top of other job responsibilities, so at this time we will not be able to make a more concrete PROJECT PLAN 7 statement regarding time frame or take on any extra deliverable opportunities for this project. Should we be temporarily relieved of other employment duties during this project, and as long as we have been able to maintain our project schedule, additional tasks and functions may be considered. Requests and suggestions should be taken directly to me as project manager, and I will in turn meet with the project team to decide whether the request is realistic, able to be accomplished and still keep the project on schedule, and how it may affect work on the rest of the project. Project Purpose: WidgetMart’s operations have increased to include three different types of stores in different states and countries. As the business has expanded, so have its training needs (Ertmer, Quinn, & Glazewski, 2014, p. 237). The “Sit With Fred” sessions have become obsolete, and the electronic collection of training materials has grown cumbersome and outdated (pp.237-238). Digitizing the training process has been a good temporary fix, but in its current form it is ineffective. New information is added to the system, but outdated information is not removed (p. 238). There are even examples of training material and information overlaps in multiple locations. The current electronic system needs transferred to a more functional platform. Our team of four will collect, sift through, and sort the current catalog of 1,100 topics in the online reference system, and convert them into a new EPSS. We are estimating this project will take three months (90 days) to review the information for each topic, revise it to be updated, sort it into one of the four desired functions, put it into the new EPSS, and then pass it along to management for feedback. Project Objectives: As stated previously, the goals for this project are as follows: PROJECT PLAN 8 1. Provide WidgetMart with an EPSS with four functions: embedded knowledge, reference, job aid, and computer-based instruction (p. 240). 2. Make all training information uniform in format and accessible to employees at all levels of the company. 3. Remove outdated information used for training and consolidate redundant material. 4. Design the EPSS so that it has the ability to be updated as needed. Project Assumptions: I am assuming a few things about this project as we begin planning. I am assuming management will want continual updates on project progress without being inundated with information. I will update management on Monday with the team’s goals for the week and month. On Friday, I will update management on how the team’s progress in accomplishing our goals, as well as provide materials created during the week to be reviewed for feedback. I am assuming we will be provided with a work space for this project, the necessary technology to work with the current online information system, and access codes and passwords as needed to access the system’s framework to enable the coder on our team to get the information he needs. I am assuming we will need to establish a communication chain since this will be a large project. For this reason, any communication to the team should go through me so that I may be able to distribute it accordingly. The scope and objectives for this project are our first priorities; any additional side tasks will be considered after the main project of getting the four-function EPSS operational. Project Stakeholders: PROJECT PLAN 9 -Gerrit Geurs (Me): Project Manager; my job will be to do all the administrative tasks such as creating documents, charts, assign tasks, etc. All communications to the team will go through me as the main channel. -Davey Jones: Project Overseer; his main roles are to serve as the technical writer for the project and to support me on all tasks. -Ellen Tyson: Expert in merchandising processes; she will be consulted for feedback on pieces of the EPPS related to her area of expertise and throughout each day to gauge progress on her pieces of the project tasks. -Josie Bedmarks: Expert on acquisition who helped the define the current training system; she will be consulted for feedback on pieces of the EPPS related to her area of expertise and throughout each day to gauge progress on her pieces of the project tasks. -Tim Hosch: Translation expert; he will be consulted for feedback on pieces of the EPPS related to his area of expertise and throughout each day to gauge progress on his pieces of the project tasks. -Mr. Fred and those he represents (referred to throughout as “Management”): Representative of primary stakeholders; he will be contacted on Mondays and Fridays as well as throughout the week as necessary and for receiving feedback on project work. Work Breakdown Structure PROJECT PLAN 10 Rationale Statement: For the course project, I selected the case study, “Davey Jones: Designing an Electronic Performance Support System” (pp. 237-241). The case study does not provide any actual names for stakeholders to whom the deliverables will be given. For that reason, since original trainings referenced were called “Sit With Fred,” Mr. Fred is the representative for management. The case study is not specific as to what level of work members of the project team will be working on this project as well as other job requirements. For right now, I am leaving the project time at 90 days. Since stakeholders can come up with brilliant ideas for projects while they are already in progress, I worked in that all communication should go to the project management team so that they can make the decision as to whether to approach the team with ideas or not. Since Ellen and Josie have more of an understanding on the operations side of things and Davey and Tim work with language as technical writers and translators, I divided tasks on PROJECT PLAN 11 consolidating and reviewing material to the women and checking the language and preparing it for formatting to the men. Project Schedule Primary Task Prepare Content Sub-Tasks Persons Responsible Estimated Duration Start/Finish Dates Total Hours Sort information by content area Remove redundant information Update existing information Davey, Ellen, Josie, Tim Tim and Josie 8 days 1/5-1/14 192 2 days 1/15-1/16 24 Davey and Ellen 2 days 1/15-1/16 24 Design EPSS framework Write coding for EPSS Input information and content for each function Format appearance of all sections to appear uniform Ellen, Josie, Tim Davey 5 days 1/19-1/23 90 5 days 1/19-1/23 30 Davey and Tim 10 days 1/26-2/6 120 Josie and Ellen 4 days 2/9-2/12 48 Deliver EPSS to management for feedback Conduct trial runs with stakeholders in various geographical regions Compile user/stakeholder feedback Revise EPSS Davey 1 day 2/13 6 Ellen, Josie, Tim 5 days 2/16-2/20 90 Josie and Ellen 3 days 2/23-2/25 36 Davey, Ellen, Josie, Tim 2 days 2/26-2/27 48 Create EPSS First test run EPSS PROJECT PLAN 12 Second test run of EPSS Deliver EPSS to management for feedback Conduct trial runs with stakeholders in various geographical regions Compile user/stakeholder feedback. Revise EPSS Davey 1 day 3/2 6 Ellen, Josie, Tim 8 days 3/2-3/9 144 Josie and Ellen 3 days 3/11-3/13 36 Davey, Ellen, Josie, Tim 2 days 3/16-3/17 48 Finalize EPSS Davey, Ellen, Josie, Tim Davey, Ellen 3 days 3/18-3/20 72 7 days 3/23-3/31 96 Davey 1 day 3/31 6 Total Days: 186 Total Hours: 1,116 Deliver EPSS Train management/ key stakeholders in use/updating information Deliver final product PROJECT PLAN 13 Resource Allocation Plan Human Resource Capital: Davey Jones Ellen Tyson Josie Bednarks Tim Hosch Time Resource Capital: Without clarification from management regarding how this project will be worked in on top of regular work duties, we are operating under the assumption that for each day we will be putting in an extra six hours of work per day. The estimated days of work time total put in by each member of the group for the tasks above, not including weekends, is 186. Each day shall consist of an estimated six (6) hours, for a total estimated 1,116 hours of time. Individual tasks will not be priced as this could prove lengthy and many tasks are inter-dependent. At a flat hourly rate of $20 per hours, the compensation equation breaks down as such: 186 days x 6 hours x $20 = $22,320 labor cost for this project Labor + additional costs = $30,000 to compete the project (approximately). Note: These costs are only estimates; the final totals may be more or less. Additional Costs: As previously mentioned, the following items are also potential costs: • Reimbursement for meals up to $15/meal per person • Various supplies not to exceed $75/purchase unless management is consulted first • Travel expenses if management wants project team members to travel regionally to train company stakeholders. PROJECT PLAN 14 Rationale: Case study 26 from The ID Casebook (Ertmer, Quinn, & Glazewski, 2014) focuses on Davey Jones who leads a team consisting of him and three other individuals to create an electronic performance support system for WidgetMart, the company which employs all of them. There are many things left unclear after reading through the case study, including how this project is to be completed along with the regular work load, what the current compensation model for employees is, and how long of a time frame there is for completing the project. Since the team initially meets together on a morning during the work week (p. 240), I assume that they will be doing this on top of their other work responsibilities. For something which should ultimately benefit such a large company, I felt that charging $20 per hour was a fair rate, especially if the company will benefit all the more from the deliverable. Communication Plan Who: Davey Jones Ellen Tyson Josie Bednarks Tim Hosch Mr. Fred What information to get from this person: Project progress, project team needs, etc. Additional project progress feedback Updates on EPSS design and format Updates on progress with technical writing and coding Feedback on timelines, schedules, product deliverables, etc. How often: How: To whom they communicate: Daily Email Me/ Davey/ Team Daily Email Daily Email Daily Email Me/ Davey/ Team Me/ Davey/ Team Me/ Davey/ Team Monday/Friday of each week Phone Me PROJECT PLAN 15 For the “Project Communication Calendar,” anything in strikethrough indicates that successful communication has occurred with that team member or stakeholder. Anything in bold indicates the need for a follow-up. January 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 Saturday 3 4 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 10 11 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 17 18 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 24 25 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 31 February 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 7 Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. PROJECT PLAN 16 8 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 14 15 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 21 22 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 28 March 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 7 8 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 14 15 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 21 22 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 28 PROJECT PLAN 17 29 Mr. Fred Davey J. Ellen T. Josie B. Tim H. 31 Project Monitoring Matrix Task Sort information by content area Remove redundant information Update existing information Design EPSS framework Write coding for EPSS Input information and content for each function Format appearance of all sections to appear uniform Deliver EPSS to management for feedback Conduct trial runs with stakeholders in various geographical regions Compile user/stakeholder feedback Revise EPSS Scheduled Start-End 1/5-1/14 True StartEnd 1/5-1/12 Status1 Notes C All information given ahead of project start; were able to finish this part early. 1/15-1/16 1/13-1/15 C 1/15-1/16 1/13-1/15 C 1/19-1/23 1/16-1/22 C 1/19-1/23 1/16-1/22 C 1/26-2/6 1/23-2/7 C Time-consuming. Took longer than expected. Had to work on Saturday to get it done. 2/9-2/12 2/9-2/13 C Previous task put us behind; have to get this done by lunch. 2/13 P 2/16-2/20 I 2/23-2/25 I 2/26-2/27 I Ability to find everything we needed is keeping us ahead of schedule. PROJECT PLAN 18 Deliver EPSS 3/2 I to management for feedback Conduct trial 3/2-3/9 I runs with stakeholders in various geographical regions Compile 3/11-3/13 I user/stakeholder feedback. Revise EPSS 3/16-3/17 I Finalize EPSS 3/18-3/20 I Train 3/23-3/31 I management/ key stakeholders in use/updating information Deliver final 3/31 I product 1 Status Coding: I= Incomplete; P= In progress; C= Complete Rationale: In this part of case study 26 (“Designing an Electronic Performance Support System”), there is not much in the way of spelling out what steps need to be taken in order to complete this project. From experience, it’s good to notch out extra time when possible because sometimes things take less time than expected and other times they take longer than expected. The matrix demonstrates this in that I created it to reflect a few tasks running ahead of schedule and then one that had to be completed on the weekend. Project Close-out Checklist Name(T)= Team Member (S)= Stakeholder Mr. Fred (S) Required Actions to Complete -Be available for feedback and to answer questions. Approval/Completion Date of Final Task -Continual Completed -TBD PROJECT PLAN 19 Davey J. (T) Ellen T. (T) Josie B. (T) Tim H. (T) -Review deliverable during beta testing. -Receive final product and sign off on all expense forms. -Sort/update existing information. -Write EPSS coding. -Input information into EPSS. -Assist in two rounds of beta testing EPSS. -Deliver final product. -Sort/update existing information. -Design EPSS framework. -Format EPSS. -Assist in two rounds of beta testing EPSS and collect feedback. -Finalize EPSS. -Train management in use. -Sort/remove redundant information. -Design EPSS framework. -Format EPSS appearance. -Assist in two rounds of beta testing EPSS and collect feedback. -Finalize EPSS. -2/16 -3/2 -By 3/31 -TBD -TBD -TBD -1/16 -TBD -1/23 -2/6 -TBD -TBD -2/13 -3/2 -By 3/31 -TBD -TBD -TBD -1/16 -TBD -1/23 -TBD -2/12 -2/25 -3/13 -TBD -TBD -TBD -3/20 -3/31 -TBD -TBD -1/16 -TBD -1/23 -TBD -2/12 -TBD -2/25 -3/13 -TBD -TBD -3/20 -TBD -Sort/remove redundant information. -Design EPSS framework. -Input info and content for EPSS. -Assist in two rounds of beta testing EPSS. -1/16 -TBD -1/23 -TBD -2/6 -TBD -2/25 -3/13 -TBD -TBD PROJECT PLAN 20 -Finalize EPSS. -3/20 -TBD Rationale: For case study 26, the only thing that can be understood for sure is that an electronic performance support system is the expected deliverable. Since the case study does not leave much to go on, I pulled on what the study lists as the strengths for each person on the project team and gave them tasks and assignments relevant to their areas of expertise. PROJECT PLAN 21 References Ertmer, P., Quinn, J. (Eds.) & Glazewski, K. (2014). The ID casebook: Case studies in instructional design (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc. Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.