Fundamentals of Project Management - Case Study Example

My experience in project management was when the management of Sumo hardwares involved me in the marketing campaign of their products. Sumo is a hardware company in my locality, and they gave me a one month contract to develop their marketing campaign strategies, and implement them. Managing the sales process is an efficient mechanism of increasing the revenue and profitability of a business organization. Sales as a process in an organization require effective management, for the process to succeed and the organization to realize profitability (Jobber and Geoffery, 2006). This is because to achieve profitability, the financial record of a business organization has to depict a high value of sales. On this note therefore, a project management team ensures that the objectives and aims of a company are met. It is important to develop structures of managing a sales team because of the following roles that they play in an organization, (Jobber and Geoffrey, 2006). 1. Members of a sales team directly engage with customers, and are responsible for selling the products of the company, and maintaining the existing customers of the organization. It is their duty to conduct market research, collect feedback on the performance of their products from the customers, and develop a strategy that will make the organization achieve its sales targets. 2. The sales team determines the profitability of an organization, therefore understanding their role in a business organization helps the management in developing a marketing strategy that will efficiently serve the interest of the organization. 3. The purpose of a sales team is to generate revenue for the organization, and therefore the department must align itself to the needs of customers. To effectively align the sales team to the needs of the department, it is important to create a sales management plan. The key to building and initiating a successful sales project is to develop a document that outlines the specific goals of the organization, tasks, deadlines and costs. The scope provides information on the roles and duties of team members and methodologies of verifying and approving completed works. For instance, the major aim of our sales team was to develop and execute a plan of establishing new markets for the products of Sumo hardware’s. In building an effective project scope, it is important to use facilitative meeting procedures, and collaborative decision making methodology. Facilitative meetings involve the use of tools such as Joint Application Design (JAD). These meetings are moderated by a neutral facilitator, for purposes of engaging all the stakeholders of the business organization in developing decisions that will guide the operations of the project (Gonçalves and Brian, 2008). In collecting information from participants, the facilitator will use collaborative techniques such as taking a keen interest on the ideas, and interests of participants. This information will help in coming up with a relevant scope of the project.The scope will provideguidancefor purposes of developing the plan and strategies of the marketing campaign. The scope of the project that I undertook with Sumo Hardware’s was to develop a sales plan, and execute it, for purposes of increasing the revenue of the organization. The sales process satisfies the four stages of project management; which are initiation, planning, execution and control, and the last stage is closure. At the initiation stage, the manager defines the scope of a project, and the methods he or she will use to achieve the objectives of the project. It is at this stage that members of a team are selected, and the manager outlines their roles (Heagney, 2012). For instance, as members of the sales management team at Sumo hardware’s, it was our duty to set realistic target for the sales revenue of the organization. For instance, basing on the size and target market, we did set a target of 200,000 dollars a month. In meeting this target, it was essential to conduct an aggressive marketing campaign that involved radio stations, print media and social networks such as twitter and facebook. The second stage of a project life cycle is the planning stage, and this involves analyzing the risks of the project, and assigning tasks to the various members of the sales team (Gentle, 2002). For instance, my sales team had five members, and each one of us had different roles and duties. I was the sales team manager, and my duty was to identify potential markets for our products, look for talented sales people, and develop advertisement programs for the company. Risk analysis is also an important element of the planning stage, and it involved analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors, and developing a strategy on how to compete with them in the market. In our company, the strategy that the sales team developed was to capitalize on the strengths of the organization, and take advantage on the weaknesses of our competitors. One of the strengths of Sumo Hardware’s is that the company sold affordable construction products, but of high quality. This ranged from cements, binding wires, steel, window panes, etc.The third stage in the project management cycle is execution and control. This stage involved implementing the plan of the sales team, for purposes of achieving its goals (Gentle, 2002). For instance, in implementing the plans of our organization, we had to research on the major companies dealing with hardware supplies in our region, after which we had to conduct an analysis in identifying their weaknesses and strengths. One of the weaknesses of our competitors was the high prices of their products, and to effectively compete with them and win; we had to lower the prices of our products. My duty was to monitor and ensure that the sales team met its objectives. Gentle (2002) denotes that the final stage of project management cycle is closure.At this stage, the project manager writes a report, which contains the behavior of a customer in relation to the product of the company, recommendations, and lesson learnt. For instance, the outcome of our sales campaign was an increase to the customer base of Sumo hardware’s. The company managed to increase its profitability due to the aggressive sales campaign that my team undertook. I wrote a report highlighting this outcome, denoting that our campaign was successful.One of the lessons I learnt was that a proper sales management plan expands the opportunities that an organization has. For instances, successes in improving the sales target of a company, might result to the expansion of the organization. This is because profits are pooled back into the business environment. Another lesson learnt is that proper project management initiative’ results to an increase to the risk assessment of the business organization. This makes the organization to gain knowledge of their competitors, and the likely results of their products (Lock, 2007). My team was organized in an hierarchical manner, and the top most organ was the project review board. The board consisted of the investors, and sponsors of the company and the sales project manager. The duty of the board is to analyze the strategies developed by the sales team, and there after approve or disapprove the strategies of the project (Heagney, 2012). It is this board that offers leadership, and is responsible for the outcome of the project. My role, as the manager of the sales project was to lead the sales team on a daily basis, and provide feedback to the board. For instance, one of the strategies of our sales team was to search for the markets of the products of the organization. It was my duty to give the results of the search to the review board. The sponsors of the project were the investors of the business, and their role was to outline the objectives of the business organization. It is also their duty to provide feedback on the results of the project, and provide assurances of support. The next hierarchy on the organizational structure of our sales management project was the project team manager. This position was occupied by me, and my duty was to develop a sales strategy that would help in achieving the objectives of the organization. In this role, I was assisted by my four assistants, who were professionals in sales industry. The following is a chart that depicts the organizational structure of my project This structure denotes that there are two teams in the sales project that I undertook. The first team consists of the review board; the second team is the manager and his four assistants. In definition, a project team is an assembly of people tasked with developing, executing and developing a project. Building a project team requires an understanding of the project undertaken, and its objectives. Lock (2007) observes that to build an effective and efficient project management team, the first step is todevelop a resource plan that identifies the objectives of the project, and the human capital needed to achieve the objectives of the project. For example, as a manager of the sales team, I was to identify the objectives of Sumo hardware’s, after which I was to develop a plan that outlined the number of employees my department needed to achieve the object. The next step is to hire talented and self-driven people as part of my team. This was after seeking approval from members of the review board. It is after this process that I managed to hire the people who served as my assistants. It is important to define the roles of each member of a team, as it would help in averting conflicts that arise out of poor job definition structures. This is an important element in the team building process. Another technique of building a successful team is to manage the assumptions, and hopes of the members of the team. To effectively manage their assumptions, it is important for the project manager to define the rules of engaging the team members. It is during this time that the project manager will identify the assumptions of team members, after which he or she will correct the assumptions in case they are wrong. Another strategy is to develop efficient communication amongst team members. Effective communication is essential for any organization is they want to meet their objectives (Lock, 2007). In our sales team, the first task was to assign roles to various members of my team. For instance, the role of assistant number one was to research on our competitors and provides a solution on how to counter their threats. My duty was to supervise the team for purposes of ensuring that each and every one of them carried out their duty, in the most efficient manner. I also managed to engage the members of my team in regard to their assumptions and expectations. Most of them assumed that the job was permanent with a stable source of income. However, I managed to notify them that the job was not permanent, and they were to earn on a commission basis. From this project, I acquired skills on how to create and develop a work break down structure, and applying the knowledge. A work break down structure is important in project management because it identifies the various tasks that a team has to accomplish, and how to do it. Due to my in experience in the area, one member of my sales team helped in developing the structure. The approach taken to develop a work break down structure was to identify the objectives of our sales team, after which I assigned tasks basing on the objective. For example, the objective of our team was to find new markets for the products of the hardware company, for purposes of increasing the revenue of the organization. I developed a list of duties for my four assistants, gave them a time frame of accomplishing the tasks, and had a work appraisal form for purposes of monitoring if they successfully and effectively did their work. This was the most challenging part of my job, because I had to identify in detail the various tasks of my assistants, and explain it to them. To guard against failure of the project, I had to develop a contingency plan. This is because chances were high that my sales team could fail to achieve their objectives, therefore a plan outlining the next step of action was necessary. The review board, constantly asked for a phase review form, and this was their method of reviewing the performance of our team. In the form, I wrote on the performance of our team in regard to each task we did, and how we used the money from the organization. The plan also identified measures we took to control and mitigate the risks associated with our work. For example, during our sales campaign, there was a risk that we could fail to acquire new markets for the organization, therefore failing to meet its objectives. To control and mitigate on this risks, we sought to conduct aggressive advertisements, as it was the most efficient method of convincing customers on the quality of our products. An important tool that the management might use in developing a project plan is project management software.This is because the organization takes into consideration the goals of its business operations, and how to achieve them. The software is important because it enables business organizations to focus on their objectives, and goals (Lock, 2007). In conclusion, it is prudent to denote that a project management team ensures the success of the aims and objectives of a business organization. It is correct to denote that the sales process is part of the project life cycle. For instance, the sales process has faces, and stages and this includes developing the plan, executing the plan, and concluding the plan. These stages form part and parcel of a project life cycle as explained in the entire document. The process of marketing requires discipline, and for any project initiatives to succeed, discipline is an essential requirement. In sales, discipline is depicted by the manner in which the sales manager develops the goals of the sales team, identification of the various activities and tasks of the sales team, and executing the plan. The sales manager is the project manager of the ream, and is answerable to the owners of the organization who are the sponsor. References: Gentle, Michael. The CRM project management handbook building realistic expectations and managing risk. London: Kogan Page, 2002. Print. Gonçalves, Marcus, and Brian E. Porter.Global management strategies: sales, design, manufacturing and operations. New York: ASME Press, 2008. Print. Heagney, Joseph. Fundamentals of project management. 4th ed. New York: American Management Association, 2012. Print. Jobber, David, and Geoffrey Lancaster.Selling and sales management. 7th ed. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2006. Print. Lock, Dennis. Project management. 9th ed. Aldershot, England: Gower, 2007. Print. 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