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Assignment 4: Project Presentation
Due Week 10 and worth 300 points
In order to complete this assignment, you will consolidate the previous three (3) writing assignments into a PowerPoint Presentation.
Your project is now in its closing stage. You are ready to present a final report to your major stakeholders, and deliver the project to the client/customer.
Develop a closing process PowerPoint presentation. Your PowerPoint presentation must have speaker notes and these speaker notes must be written as if you were presenting this project to your stakeholders. A
template
is provided for your use. You can modify the template based on your professor’s instructions. Do not omit any information from the template because the information aligns with the rubric.
PowerPoint Resources
- Review the videos in the lynda.com playlist “Creating a Presentation in PowerPoint 2013”, located at http://www.lynda.com/SharedPlaylist/3a6dbf0365fc469580e3a974705a8f8d?org=strayer.edu, for tips on getting started using PowerPoint.
- Review the “Death by PowerPoint” presentation, located at http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint, for tips on effectively creating engaging presentations.
Prepare a twelve to fifteen (12-15) slide presentation in which you:
- Identify the project objectives, and conclude how the project team has met each of the identified objectives.
- Discuss how having a project charter contributed to the success of your project.
- Identify the stakeholders, and describe how stakeholders’ analysis has assisted in a smooth management of the project.
- Analyze the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) created, along with the explanation for each task.
- Present the project plan / network created, and make sure that critical path is properly depicted.
- Describe the techniques of reducing project duration, and describe if any such techniques are used for your project.
- Describe the project communication plan used for the project.
- Describe the main assumptions and exclusions (taken from scope statement), dependencies, or any other major issues of the project. Explain how they have been handled.
- Distinguish the scope, time, and cost constraints.
- Compile a list of six (6) best practices arising from this project’s lessons learned.
- Recommend methods to avoid similar obstacles in future projects.
- Compose a list of next steps with the assumption that there is a need to create another phase for this project.
- Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
Use the PowerPoint presentation template that can be found in the online course shell. Your professor will inform you if the template can be modified. If you need more than the maximum allotted number of slides for your presentation, contact your professor for the approval.
Include a Title Slide which contains the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The Reference Slide must follow APA format. A minimum of three (3) references are required. The Title Slide and Reference Slide are not included in the required page length.
Create Speaker Notes to accompany each slide that emphasize and embellish the key points to the stakeholders. Please be clear and thorough as if you are actually presenting.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Evaluate and assess the best practices used when outsourcing project work.
- Develop a process for measuring the progress of a project, providing oversight, coordinating project closure, and determining project effectiveness.
- Develop a project network to implement the project plan, manage projects effectively, and complete required resource allocation.
- Use technology and information resources to research issues in project management.
- Write clearly and concisely about project management using proper writing mechanics.
Running head: PROJECT INITIATION AND PLANNING 1
PROJECT INITIATION AND PLANNING 8
Project Initiation and Planning
Holly T. Dixon
Dr. McConnell
BUS 517: Project Management
February 11, 2018
Project Charter
A HD Clothing Line, LLC will be useful in officially starting the project, by giving direction and a sense of set activities from the start to the end. The charter will also highlight the authority given to each of the parties, especially the project manager, and how they can utilize allocated resources to achieve the project’s goals. The written document will capture and summarize key elements of the project such as the scope, deliverables, and assumptions. Therefore, a HD Clothing Line, LLC will be the foundation of the project’s success, and will be key in keeping the project in line by preventing any possible drifting off-course which may occur, due to the inability to focus on predetermined goals and objectives. The project can also be justified by the charter, since it will answer questions such as why the project is important and the parties who may be impacted by the project, as well as how success of the project can be measured.
The HD Clothing Line, LLC will announce the kick of activities, and will ensure that all necessary resources are onboard, hence avoiding time wastage due to occurrence of various unforeseen events. Therefore, the charter will announce that the project has begun, will ensure that the project is authorized, will highlight business owner’s support of the project, will define the schedules and the deliverables, and also aligning the project’s relationship to the business’ future set goals.
The Charter components which will be necessary for the HD Clothing Line business project include:
·
Business needs: This component will address the current need for pursuing the project. The section will include aspects of how carrying out the project will benefit the society, and how it will meet the current industry and business needs.
· Objectives: This section will highlight how the planned activities aim at meeting the overall short term and long term goals of the proposed business.
· Scope: This section will highlight what the project entails and how it realistically aims at achieving success. This will ensure accurate capturing of realistic time and resources allocation which will be channeled into the project, and will break various aspects of the project into smaller projects in order to ensure success.
· Resources: This component of the charter will include all the requirements for completing the project, especially labor, materials, and timelines (Davis, 2010).
· Deliverables. The deliverables component will include the measurable benefits of the project, and will help know when aspects of the project have been completed.
· Key Roles: This section of the charter will highlight who the ultimate decision maker is, as well as the individual responsible for the overall oversight of the project. The steering committee, project sponsor, and the project manager may disagree on some of the key decisions, calling for a need to confirm from the charter who ought to be in charge of certain decisions.
·
Risks and Assumptions: The charter will attempt to identify possible risks, constraints, and assumptions, and will help document the mitigation approaches to these risks before the project kicks off. The charter will help monitor these identified risks throughout the project’s lifecycle, and facilitate monthly risks assessments. Identifying these risks prior to the kick off will ensure that mitigation approaches are agreed upon by multiple parties, rather than the reactive mitigation approach of attempting to come up with solutions once the risk has already occurred. The project will also be carried out under various assumptions, hence a charter will help track down these assumptions and run the project under realistic expectations. Some constraints may also arise, hence the need to highlight them. Constraints such as limited funding, resource availability inconsistencies, and known natural disasters including flooding should all be listed under the charter. This will ensure that the constraints are foreseen, hence proper time allocation to activities which may not have sufficient funding or which may not be completed within a certain timeline.
Stakeholders
The HD Clothing Line teams will be key stakeholders in the project, and will be responsible of actively working on all phases of the project. The HD Clothing Line teams will be made up of both in-house staff, who will be working on full time or on part time basis, and will also compose of outsourced experts whose expertise will be required at various phase of the project. The HD Clothing Line team members will be working as a single team as well as sub teams depending on the project needs. Some of the team members will only be required for a certain phase of the project, and most of the teams will be disbanded due to completion of the phase, or will be reallocated to other phases.
Team members will be key to the project’s success, with their duties including contributing to the project, carrying out various individual deliverables, providing expertise, or could be tasked with working with suppliers and other service providers to ensure that all required materials are delivered on site. The HD Clothing Line teams’ understanding of the deliverables could have positive or negative impact on the project, especially the ability to understand the HD Clothing Line’s needs. The team is responsible for the quality of work done, hence the need to ensure that they understand the project’s goals and objectives, as well as the possible risks which could arise. The HD Clothing Line team should always be keen to identify potential risks and provide recommendations on how to remove or work through them.
The HD Clothing Line team will be headed by the project manager who is a key stakeholder. The project manager’s responsibilities will include ensuring successful execution and completion of the project. The project manager will also be tasked with ensuring that resources are sufficient and properly allocated. Due to the possible strain of relationships among stakeholders, the manager will manage these relations between the stakeholders and intervene whenever there is a strain. The project manager will be responsible of ensuring that scheduled activities are completed within the set timelines, will serve in liaison with the steering committee, will be guided by the committee, and will supervise consultants and suppliers to ensure that quality is upheld. Therefore, the project manager will be responsible of working closely with everyone towards achieving project’s objectives as well as working within the budget (Vivek N. Mathur, 2007 ).
The project sponsor will also be a key project stakeholder, and will be responsible of assuming the overall accountability of the project. The project sponsor will ensure that the project delivers the deliverables agreed upon. The project sponsor will work closely with the project manager, HD Clothing Line team, suppliers, and keep them accountable in terms of quality of output. The sponsor will act as a representative of the HD Clothing Line business owners, and will help create a conducive environment for the business’ future operations by engaging external stakeholders such as community leaders. Therefore, the project sponsor will be the key champion of the project, who will provide expertise and guidance to the project implementation team. The project sponsor will act as the link between the project, the owners, and the community.
The steering committee will be formed before the project kicks off, and will be responsible of committing resources, approving various resource allocation needs, making possible changes on resource allocation, resolving resource allocation conflicts, providing the project manager with direction on certain matters, as well as reviewing the project’s deliverables compared to the set goals, and advising as required (Winch, 2007).
Suppliers will also be significant in this project, especially in providing the delivery vans, providing necessary materials for putting up the huge store, for delivering necessary information system assets, and for providing the necessary raw materials. Establishing a good relationship with a few trusted suppliers will ensure long-term relationship which will be beneficial for the business’ future operations (Norman, 2007). Subject matter experts such as designers will also be key in providing guidance and expertise. These individuals will have a positive impact on the project’s outcome, by employing the best strategies towards achieving set goals.
The community within which the company is to operate in is also a key stakeholder. Unless the business is willing to coordinate and work closely with the community, issues may arise, hence the need to consider environmental factors while putting up structures and opening the business. The community will be responsible for providing the business a conducive working environment. Therefore, establishing these relationships early and participating in community activities can help strengthen these relations and can build the company’s reputation in the community. In addition to the residents, there are other groups and organizations which may have interests and concerns in the project and in the community. These stakeholders include developers, government agencies, community groups, and the neighborhood leaders. Having the full support of these communities can help eliminate some of the resistance which the business may face in future.
The project will have a high number of stakeholders, some of whom will be actively involved in the project while others will be indirectly involved. Stakeholders such as the company owner, project manager, and team members will have a high influence and interest on the project while others are likely to have both low influence as well as interest in the project. However, despite their level of influence on the project, the implementation will be designed with their interest in mind. The various stakeholders should each be involved in the project implementation process where necessary.
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Plan
Activity
Activity Number
Dependency
Duration (Months)
Start
Finish
Market Research
A
Start
2
0
2
Constructing Premises
B
Start
6
0
6
Installing efficient Information Systems
C
Follows B
1
6
7
Developing Product Designs
D
Follows A
1
2
3
Purchasing delivery vans
E
Follows C
1
7
8
Hiring Employees
F
Start
1
0
1
Opening the Business
G
Follows E
1
8
9
Planning for demand
H
Follows G
3
9
12
1st priority – A, B, and F
2nd priority – C, D, and E
3rd priority – G, H
References
Davis, U. (2010). Project Management Plan (PMP) . UC Davis Project Management Plan, 20.
Norman, E. S. (2007). Developing and elaborating effective work breakdown structures. Retrieved from PMI: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/developing-elaborating-work-breakdown-structures-7241
Vivek N. Mathur, A. D. (2007 ). Defining, identifying and mapping stakeholders in the assessment of urban sustainability . International Conference on Whole Life Urban Sustainability and its Assessment , 18.
Winch, G. (2007). Managing Project Stakeholders. The Wiley Guide to Managing Projects, 321 – 339.
Clothing Business Project
Deliverable 2:
A huge room to be used as main store
Deliverable 3:
Installation of an efficient informationSystem
Deliverable 4: Hire workers
Deliverable 5: Purchase delivery Vans
Deliverable 6: Come up with various product designs
Deliverable 1:
Market Research
Deliverable 7:
Opening the Business
Deliverable 8:
Planning for demand