Devising and Implementing a Project Management Plan - Essay Example

?Project Management Table of Contents Devising and Implementing a Project Management Plan 3 1.Roles, Responsibilities and Contribution of Individuals and Teams 3 1.2.Project Scope & Process Type Required 4 1.3.Management Process (Staff Plan, Risk Management & Escalation Procedures) 5 1.4.Difference between the Testing Required Before Implementing the New System 8 2.Project Activities 9 2.a. Network Diagram 10 2.b. Delay in Duration of the Project 11 3.Summary 11 References 13 1. Devising and Implementing a Project Management Plan 1.1. Roles, Responsibilities and Contribution of Individuals and Teams It has been noted that an organization largely depends on the employees it has acquired for its operations. It is fundamentally due to this particular reason that organizations need to build both effective as well as efficient teams as well as individuals so that organizational goals can be accomplished with ease. However, assigning proper roles and responsibilities to the employees at the individual level as well as team level is also important so that they can contribute towards the accomplishments of the organisation. These aspects are further argued to be highly crucial in the field of sales and marketing which act as the major constituent and driving force of organisational productivity. It has been apparently observed in this context that the roles of employees in this section of business are different from other organisational dimension. The primary roles of the employees in this area are to follow and accomplish the goals and targets of the organization. He/she should be clear about what the organization expects from them and deliver accordingly. Furthermore, the employees should be more involved towards the operations of the organization in accordance with the set standards and organisational vision. Alongside, the employees must be essentially motivated to strive for better performance continuously. Moreover, the employees of the organization should also need to be innovative in implementing new sales and marketing systems being adequately aware of the determined objectives so that the chances of any sort of error can be minimised efficiently (Griffin & Moorehead, 2009). Additionally, at the team level, the employees need to understand their roles and responsibilities for the organization and deliver their performance accordingly. All the employees in the team should work with equal dedication for the overall accomplishment of organisational goals and should provide topmost priority to the organizational targets rather than individual’s own interests. This aspect can be determined as a vital contribution for the team, towards the marketing and sales department of the organization (Griffin & Moorehead, 2009). 1.2. Project Scope & Process Type Required It has been noted that the implementation of a new sales and marketing system will be vital and advantageous to facilitate the performance of the company in terms of increasing revenue and brand value. In this context, it can be affirmed that implementation of a new sales and marketing system is quite likely to standardize the entire process of sales and marketing of the company. As sales and marketing acts as the backbone of any organization, this aspect is considered to be highly crucial. Furthermore, it has been noted that with the incorporation of a new sales system in organization, there is every probability of increase in sales as well as enhancement of the brand value. Furthermore, the implementation of the new system shall also enable the organization to have a more comprehensive prediction about the further demand fluctuations in the market building better coordination within the two end of the supply chain, i.e. the manufacturing or marketing units and the ultimate customers. Apart from this, the new sales and management system will also enable the company to automatically record the sales and marketing activities of the employees and hence diminish errors in the weekly sales reporting activities, thus making the entire process more effective. This aspect shows that the company will have a vast range of scope with the inclusion of a new sales and marketing system in its operations (Thomas, 1995). The process for the implementation of the new system is also considered to be crucial in regard to the fact that the outcome of the new system will directly depend on effective implementation of the same. The company therefore must need to follow certain steps in this regard. The process would start with the evolvement of the idea of new sales and marketing system. In the next step, the project manager will be focused on analysing the needs of the implementation of new systems and justify it on the basis of certain aspects in accordance with the organisational goals and set vision. In the next step of the process, the new system will be implemented with the help of the required resources (Daft, 2009). 1.3. Management Process (Staff Plan, Risk Management & Escalation Procedures) Staff Planning It shall be pious to affirm that a new sales and marketing system in the organization shall be quite efficient to work with proper and efficient staffs with less supervision. In this context, it can be stated that staff planning is also a crucial aspect for the company to be considered in this case. Staffs or employees are often regarded as the key to any organization’s productivity. In this regard, it will be vital for the management of the company to depict the type of workforce needed to effectively deal with the new sales and marketing system. Staff planning will also help the company to acquire potential staffs for present as well as future needs of the new sales and marketing system. Furthermore, with proper staff planning, the company will be able to acquire an effective set of employees who can deliver positive results for the company with the implementation of the new system (SkinnyOhio, n.d.). In addition, the management of the company will need to ensure that they acquire the right number of productive staffs for the project so that the cost can be easily managed. This can be done through the efficient implementation of recruitment process based on particular guidelines and benchmark performances deciphered by the old team. Furthermore, the management of the company should need to properly communicate about the tasks or their expectancy from the inclusion of the new system which can encourage the new recruits and the internally recruited members to work accordingly. Moreover, proper training should also be provided to the staffs so that they are adequately acquainted with the new sales and marketing system and work towards the accomplishment of positive outcomes in organisational interests (Peoplesmart, 2012). Risk Management Risk management is another key aspect of this project that should be given high priority by the management of the company. Theoretically, risk management can be defined as the process that follows the identification and assessment of risks associated with a particular approach of the business. In this case too, there are certain risks associated with the project of inclusion of a new sales and marketing system in the present operation which needs to be assessed for any sort of risk (Frenkel & et. al., 2005). Contextually, innovation is a key aspect to deal with in order to meet the changing needs and demands of the customers which is often identified as a major risk of similar projects as establishing of a new sales and marketing system. The inclusion of new technology or system can also be identified as a major risk factor for the company with limited assurance of the expected results. In order to deal with such risks, the company will need to incorporate a low risk approach with minimum involvement of risk factors and well-evaluated planning of the determined strategies. Moreover, the management of the company will need to properly convey the managers about their role in regard to managing the risks associated with the new system implemented. A proper risk management plan will also help the company in dealing with the threat or negative aspect associated with the new sales and marketing system. To be precise, it can be depicted that the management of the company will need to be prepared to face the problems associated with the implementation of the new system in the operation of the organization with adequate evaluation mechanisms and reserve resources to counter the risk probabilities (American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2012). Escalation Procedures This is also among the key management aspects that need proper consideration for the incorporation of a new system in an organization. The escalation procedure for the implementation of a new technology in a particular system includes two vital steps which comprise of project stage and series stage. This process aims at depicting the problems associated with the new system during the development stage as well as operational stage of the same (Wahler, 2008). Apart from this, escalation procedure has two basic approaches namely, the technical approach and the management approach. In the first approach i.e. technical escalation, the technical strengths and weaknesses of the project will be evaluated to ensure that appropriate resources are being utilized in order to solve the identified probable problems associated with the implementation of the new system. Similarly, in the later approach i.e. management notification, the team will attempt to report the problems and the resources required for the solving the identified weaknesses to the management of the company to assist them in overcoming the challenges in the ultimate decision making (Indo, n.d.). 1.4. Difference between the Testing Required Before Implementing the New System Implementing a technology or system in an organization needs severe testing to identify as well as predict its effectiveness in efficiently reducing the risks associated. In this regard, the management of the company will need to incorporate the extensive as well as the automated testing before implementing the new sales and management system in the organizational operations. Contextually, extensive testing involves the thorough analysis of every aspect of the new system. This aspect of testing further will depict the type of risks associated with the new system and its probable consequences for the company over the short-run as well as in the long-run. This aspect of testing also tends to ensure an almost error free operational procedure for the organizational interests as the process will assist the decision makers to identify the risks or problems associated with the new system prior to its final implementation. On the other hand, the automated testing is also a vital prospect in this project which can ensure the company with maximum effectiveness and efficiency of the new system. Furthermore, this particular testing process involves less amount of human intervention which ensures that there is less number of errors in the operations. Therefore, in precise it can be stated that both extensive as well as automated testing will be vital and effective in this project of implementing a new sales and marketing system (Samson & Daft, 2012; Hayes, 2004). 2. Project Activities 2.a. Network Diagram Fig: Network Diagram (Field & Keller, 1998) Critical Path Critical path in a project is often considered as the shortest path through which the entire project can be completed with maximum effectiveness (Baker, 2004). In this project the critical path will be in the following form. Fig: Critical Path of the Project 2.b. Delay in Duration of the Project It has been noted that if there is delay in any section of the project as planned above, the entire process is likely to get hampered thus diminishing the effectiveness of the overall system. Thus, it is important for the project manager to manage the critical path of the project quite effectively. It has been observed that if there is a delay of 18 weeks in the overall process of the project completion as planned, there is every chance that the critical path of the project will also get exceeded. In this regard, the manager must make certain steps or actions so that the current length of the critical path can be maintained. For instance, to overcome the deficiencies caused by the delay, the project manager should provide special attention to the tasks that are included in the critical path. This aspect will ensure the effective completion of the project on time irrespective of the delay in particular sections (Microsoft Corporation, 2013). 3. Summary With reference to the overall analysis, it can be summarized that project management is a systematic process where the manager intends to complete the project effectively and on time following a precise critical path. It has been noted from the overall understanding of the paper that there are various steps that needs to be considered in order to ensure effective project management such as planning, risk evaluation, continuous monitoring of the implementation process and effective communication between the various dimensions. It is in this context that effectiveness in all the steps are most likely to result in a positive outcome with reduced chances of errors and various uncontrollable risks and therefore increasing the probabilities of successful accomplishment of the determined objectives of the project. References American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2012. Risk Management for New Process Technology Implementation – Some Key Components. Home. [Online] Available at: http://processdevelopmentsymposium.aiche.org/content/risk-management-new-process-technology-implementation-%E2%80%93-some-key-components [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Baker, S. L., 2004. Critical Path Method (CPM). Home. [Online] Available at: http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/courses/J716/CPM/CPM.html [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Daft, R. L., 2009. Organization Theory and Design. Cengage Learning. Frenkel, M. & et. al., 2005. Risk Management: Challenge and Opportunity. Springer. Field, M. & Keller, L. S., 1998. Project Management. Cengage Learning EMEA. Griffin, R. W. & Moorehead, G., 2009. Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organisations. Cengage Learning. Hayes, L. G., 2004. The Automated Testing Handbook. Software Testing Institute. Indo, No Date. Escalation Process. Home. [Online] Available at: http://home.indo.net.id/~tossy/smc/EscalationProcedure.PDF [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Microsoft Corporation, 2013. Managing Your Project's Critical Path. Home. [Online] Available at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/project-help/managing-your-project-s-critical-path-HA001021173.aspx [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Peoplesmart, 2012. Staff Planning. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.peoplesmart.co.nz/UserFiles/DairyNZPeopleSmart/File/Managing%20people/FS%20Staff%20Planning.pdf [Accessed June 05, 2013]. SkinnyOhio, No Date. Human Resources Management. Home. [Online] Available at: http://skinnyohio.org/humanresources/staffplanning.html [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Samson, D. & Daft, R. L., 2012. Management. Cengage Learning. Thomas, M.J., 1995. Gower Handbook of Marketing. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Wahler, 2006. Escalation Procedure. Downloads. [Online] Available at: http://www.wahler.de/fileadmin/wahler/Einkauf/downloads/Escalation_Procedur_08.07.pdf [Accessed June 05, 2013]. Read More