Question:

You are an employee of Grand Wines Ltd and project leader of a proposed project to equip each of the company's 20 sales representatives with a wireless data entry device by which they could instantly communicate customer orders to the company's central sales database in Sydney. The sales representatives operate over all areas of NSW and service around 400 independent wine and liquor stores in the state.

Currently, the sales representatives complete customer orders manually and after leaving a copy with the customer, they forward the customer orders by mail or fax to the sales department in Sydney, where the orders are entered into the sales database and processed through the inventory system for shipment to the customer.

The problems with the current process are:
At least one-day is lost in supplying customers with products because of the delays in getting orders into the system.
Sales representatives do not know the latest inventory position of their products when they accept orders from the customer. Delays in delivery can result when orders are placed on "back-order" because of a lack of stock.
Orders are often "lost" or entered into the sales database incorrectly through human error.
The sales representatives and many customers are dissatisfied with the current situation.
Competitive wine companies have improved their order systems and are outperforming Grand Wines Ltd in terms of delivery speed, order accuracy, availability of ordered stock and overall customer satisfaction.

Your CEO has stressed the importance of the project to the company and asked you to use your skills as a project manager to make sure the project is successful by following the relevant project management processes.

You have been assigned a project leader of this project. Your manager has given you guidance that the project needs to be completed within 6 months and that costs should be minimised wherever possible with given budget of AUD 60000.00.

Task 1: SWOT ANALSIS

Conduct SWOT analysis giving 5 points each for S, W,O,T as per descriptions below to help project managers.

Task 2: Prepare Project Charter as per below template

Template for Project Charter

Basic details Including: Title of the project, Name and email of the Project Manager(yourself), Duration of the project, and High level budget

Project Objectives

Clear, concise reasoning for why the project is being performed

Clear, concise definition of what the project's activities will entail

Brief description of primary deliverable(s)

Clear description of the project's benefits to the organisation

Recognition and description of any limits that the project will not cover and address

Acceptance Criteria

Identification of specific factors against which the project can be compared to determine success/failure

Identification of specific deliverables not only for class, but for the project as a whole

Agency-specific deliverables

Inclusion of due dates for the deliverables

Clear identification of milestone and milestone exit points

Factors should include a specific metrical comparison

Assumptions and Constraints

Any assumptions made during the course of the project

List of constraints that entail the limitations that are required to be addressed

Stakeholder List
Complete list of stakeholders including the sponsor, PM, executive members and few important members that are required to contribute to high level decisions

Lessons Learned
Identification of pitfalls to be avoided, based on the student's past experience

Evidence of thought as to what can and cannot affect the project in terms of how the project will run
Charter Sign off

Task 3: Prepare Communications Plan as per the template

Communication Plan Template

Plan purpose - A brief description of why and how the plan was developed, and an overview of the overall team communication philosophy. Also states types of communications planned, for lateral, downward, and upward communication.

Identification of stakeholders - The "who" in the project that requires information, (i.e. team members, project sponsor, class professor, etc.) and also the responsible parties to receive and/or communicate information.

Information to be shared - The "what" in terms of project information communication. Describes types of information that the team uses to communicate amongst its own team members, and also to the agency sponsor and the class professor.

Frequency of information exchange - The "when" describes how often communications will be held (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, as needed, etc.)

Location of information exchange - The "where" states the location of the meeting or other interactions

Purpose of communication - The "why" description assures that communications are held effectively.

Mechanism for communication - The "how" describes the media for communication (i.e. physical meeting, email, phone, message group, etc.)

Change management - Description on how the team will handle changes in the project, whether it is in terms of project scope, schedule, or resources. This includes how the team plans to communicate changes as well as how the team plans to make decisions about changes.

Meeting agenda - Gives a brief overview of what the team plans to accomplish in each of its meetings, how it documents goals and objectives for meetings, and defines and assigns actions for the team to accomplish project objectives.

Rationale

This assessment task covers first five topics and has been designed to ensure that you are engaging with the subject content on a regular basis. More specifically it seeks to assess your ability to:

Identify the responsibilities of a Project manager when participating in a real world project;

Define the role of management in projects, particularly from the view point of the practitioner as a member of the project team;

Apply project management skills, methods, techniques and tools to a real world problem typical of a project manager;

Explain areas of knowledge relevant to project management; and

Discuss the many problems facing the project manager and to note the "best practices" being utilised in order to produce effective, efficient and quality projects on time and within budget

Marking criteria

SWOT Analysis

Strengths - what the organization currently has the capability to do well.

Weaknesses - areas in which the organization is not competitive.

Opportunities - possible things a project team can do for additional success.

Threats - areas where outside competition may limit effectiveness.

Each of these provides insight into the possible choices of projects as well as how to structure each to capitalize on strengths and opportunities and to avoid or overcome weaknesses and threats.