CASE STUDY - Communities Supporting Communities

Overview

Purpose

The purpose of the Project Initiation Documentation is to define the project, in order to form the basis for its management and an assessment of its overall success. The Project Initiation Documentation gives the direction and scope of the project and (along with the Stage Plan) forms the ‘contract' between the Project Manager and the Project Board.

The three primary uses of the Project Initiation Documentation are to:

- Ensure that the project has a sound basis before asking the Project Board to make any major commitment to the project
- Act as a base document against which the Project Board and Project Manager can assess progress, issues and ongoing viability questions
- Provide a single source of reference about the project so that people joining the ‘temporary organization' can quickly and easily find out what the project is about, and how it is being managed.

The Project Initiation Documentation is a living product in that it should always reflect the current status, plans and controls of the project. Its component products will need to be updated and re-baselined, as necessary, at the end of each stage, to reflect the current status of its constituent parts.

The version of the Project Initiation Documentation that was used to gain authorization for the project is preserved as the basis against which performance will later be assessed when closing the project.

Advice

The Project Initiation Documentation is derived from the Project Brief and discussions with user, business and supplier stakeholders for input on methods, standards and controls.

The Project Initiation Documentation could be a single document; an index for a collection of documents; a document with cross references to a number of other documents; a collection of information in a project management tool.

The following quality criteria should be observed:
• The Project Initiation Documentation correctly represents the project
• It shows a viable, achievable project that is in line with corporate strategy or overall programme needs
• The project management team structure is complete, with names and titles. All the roles have been considered and are backed up by agreed role descriptions. The relationships and lines of authority are clear. If necessary, the project management team structure says to whom the Project Board reports
• It clearly shows a control, reporting and direction regime that can be implemented, appropriate to the scale, risk and importance of the project to corporate or programme management
• The controls cover the needs of the Project Board, Project Manager and Team Managers and satisfy any delegated assurance requirements
• It is clear who will administer each control
• The project objectives, approach and strategies are consistent with the organization's corporate social responsibility directive, and the project controls are adequate to ensure that the project remains compliant with such a directive
• Consideration has been given to the format of the Project Initiation Documentation. For small projects a single document is appropriate.
For large projects it is more appropriate for the Project Initiation Documentation to be a collection of stand-alone documents. The volatility of each element of the Project Initiation Documentation should be used to assess whether it should be stand-alone, e.g. elements that are likely to change frequently are best separated out.

There are a number of projects which contribute to this initiative. These are as follows:

1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will be implemented to replace their current system.

2. A website will be developed with the following functionality: foodbank locator, ability to register for support, ability to offer support (either time, particular skills, or make a financial donation).

3. An awareness campaign to raise the profile of CSC within the local community. This will be particularly targeted towards industry in the area with a view to soliciting financial and other support.

Portfolio elements

You should assume that you are programme managing all of the highlighted sub-projects. Your portfolio will include the following:

1. A Project Initiation Document (PID) to ensure that all participants and stakeholders are aware of the core attributes of the project. This should include, but is not limited to, all elements typically expected of a PID, as reflected in the lectures, examples given in the course and standard best practice from published examples. This document should also include a stakeholder analysis. Aim for between 1000 and 1500 words.

2. A comprehensive risk register including at least 10 detailed risk elements. This should be accompanied by a brief report of 500-800 words.

Project Definition
.
(Explaining what the project needs to achieve. It should include information on the sections given below)
Background
The CSC provide emergency support to those who find themselves unable to feed themselves or their family due to low income, illness, bereavement, or redundancy

Project objectives
(covering time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefit performance goals)

The project objectives are
To create awareness of the organisation
To replace their current system with Microsoft Dynamics CRM online that would suit the organisation as the organisation has grown and demand for its services has increased. Using CRM software will make the task of creating and maintaining a membership database a lot easier for the charity organisation. The software will keep track of your supporters and manage direct debits, Gift Aid and other financial tasks.
To Attract the younger people into the organisation.
To keep in touch with people they have previously supported.

Desired outcomes
To maximise profit, you need to view, manipulate and analyse every single interaction with your customers in other to provide customers with the highest quality of products and services they required for mutual benefits.

Attachment:- Project Documentation.zip