Project Management Capstone
Assessment 1 Project Plan
Submitted By
Sangeeta Arya
00282923T
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Executive Summary of the Project 3
Project Charter and Assumptions 4
Project Constraints 4
Scope Management 5
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 5
Deployment Plan 6
Change Control Management 6
Schedule Management 7
Milestones 7
Project Schedule 8
Dependencies 9
Budget Management 10
Risk Management 10
Costs-Benefits Analysis 11
Issues and Procurement Management 11
Conclusion 12
References 13
Introduction
For any given project, it will be vital for the project manager and his team to look after deployment phases. They need to make sure that they have the desired resources and will be able to complete the given project on time.
Second, they will even need to define project charter followed by work breakdown schedule. It will thus make sure that the team will be working accordingly and will be carrying out communication as per the needs of the given project. Further, there is a need to launch the given project on time and make sure that the quality of the given project is not compromised (Adámek et al., 2017).
In addition, the project manager will even need to look out for control measures so that the project does not get deviated. He will need to track the performance and apply new strategies wherever required. Finally, once the project is completed, it will be the responsibility of the project manager to close down the project(Adámek et al., 2017). It will thus allow him to perform better and ensure success for the given project in a given working environment.
Executive Summary of the Project
In this case, the project includes deploying a chatbot option in the Torrens Application that will be used by the students. It will thus allow students to solve their common queries during any point in time. In addition, with the passage of time, there will be human conversation added in new modules to provide better services to the students (Bryan, 2018).
The key purpose of this project is to decrease the waiting time that the students face while calling for student services center. Thus, having a chatbot will allow them to resolve their minute queries and even make sure that they will be able to progress with their academic routines. The role of the concerned project manager will be to look out for the team and thus make sure that they are able to incorporate the chatbot option in the given application.
Besides, they will even need to identify the total time taken for this project, the costs involved, and other operational challenges in implementing the given project. It will thereby allow him to prepare the roadmap for the future.
Project Charter and Assumptions
The project charter depicts the roadmap through which the given project will be carried out in a given operational environment. It will be first important for the project manager and his team to determine the needs of this project. Second, they will need to look out for such options through which chatbot can be incorporated directly into the existing mobile application(Bryan, 2018). Third, they will need to complete the configuration and later complete the customizations.
Further, they will need to train the staff that will be working on the back-end side of the given project. It will thus allow the project manager and his team to complete the given project successfully. In addition, it is assumed that the given chatbot option will be working well with the given application and there will be no major operational issues related to it.
Project Constraints
It is assumed for the time being that the chatbot will be answering to only specific queries that are asked frequently by the questions. Thus, it might happen that there will be few questions, for which the chatbot will not have any answers to respond in a given situation. In addition, even the human interaction will be added in the upcoming features of the given project.
Scope Management
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
To ensure successful completion of the project, the project manager will need to design the work breakdown structure for the given project. It will be as shown below.
Figure-1: Work Breakdown Structure
Source: https://www.stakeholdermap.com/plan-project/plan-project-stage1.html
First, he needs to make sure that post the completion of the project, the chatbot will be live and available for the use. Second, he will need to divide the entire project into four major phases as shown.
These include – training the staff to operate on this module, completing the required configurations, making sure that customizations are carried out properly, and finally upgrading the existing mobile application so that the installation of the chatbot will get completed (Jian et al., 2018). The next level of activities for the given project will be carried out accordingly.
Deployment Plan
Now, for the given project, the key problem that will be addressed is to reduce the waiting time that is faced by the students while solving their queries. The purpose is to install a chatbot within the existing mobile application and thus make sure that the long list of queries of the students will be resolved quickly. In addition, students will save on their time from taking appointment with the staff and thereby resolving on their issues.
On the other hand, even the University staff will save their time and thus will be able to focus on their other work tasks. In some of the extreme cases, there will be chat option provided, as per which the staff member will be able to chat directly with the students as per any given schedule and thereby resolve on the queries.
Thus, the deployment plan for this project will comprise of – initializing the project, selecting lean methods to complete the given project, executing the project as per the planned project management strategies, overcoming implementation challenges, controlling the project through different parameters, monitoring the current performance, and finally closing the project once it is completed successfully (Jussi et al., 2018).
Change Control Management
It might happen that some of the team members will be facing difficulties in operating on the new modules. On the contrary, even the project team will be lacking the desired motivation to work on the project. Thus, it will be the responsibility of the project manager to review the challenges faced by the team, overcome the negative aspects associated with the project, and even guide the team in the right direction (Olawumi& Chan, 2019).
He will need to even make sure of deploying change management techniques that will empower the staff to perform better. However, he will need to make sure of providing all the desired resources and training to the staff for successfully completing the given project.
Schedule Management
Milestones
It will be crucial for the project manager to complete the given project on time. For this purpose, he can design the intermediary milestones that will allow him to track the entire project progress.
Figure-2: Milestones of Project
Source: https://www.spaceotechnologies.com/mobile-app-development-process-steps/
It will first start with project requirements discussion that will allow him to identify the expectations from the project.
Second, he will need to carry out business analysis pertaining to this project that will make sure that the given project will be completed on time and as per the expectations. Third, he will need to design wireframe for the given chatbot module in a given mobile application with the help of his project team. They can later design the UI/UX features of the chatbot so that it will fulfill the expectations of the end users(Olawumi& Chan, 2019).
In addition, they will then start working on the coding part of the application so that they can complete the given project on time. They will then carry out quality testing of the module and thus ensure that there will be no operational issues arising in a given project(Olawumi& Chan, 2019). Finally, they will even make sure of providing post-completion support so that even the staff of the University will start learning the new module and subsequently operating on it.
Project Schedule
The project manager will need to carry out the given project as per the given schedule and also make sure that the team is working on the given project as per the needs. Now, the major activities that will be undertaken for this project will comprise of – project planning, selection of the chatbot module, providing resources to the team, focusing on incorporation of the module in existing mobile application, carrying out quality testing, and later making it live so that it will be available to the end users (Saadat&Eskandari, 2016). The following table demonstrates all these activities of the project along with their completion time.
Figure-3: Project Schedule
Source: https://naadispeaks.wordpress.com/tag/gantt-chart/
The team will thus need to follow this Gantt chart demonstrated in the above shown figure.
Dependencies
There are no major dependencies in the project; however, the project manager will need to make sure that all the required resources for incorporating the chatbot are available before the project begins. In addition, once the project is completed, the IT team will need to train the users so that they can provide appropriate responses to the queries of the students.
Budget Management
According to PMBOK(2017) managing budget is very important as it helps to know how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored and controlled.
The following table demonstrates the total costs associated with this project. It comprises of – implementation of a chatbot, integrations with the existing systems, administration UI, and training of the staff.
| Activities | Costs |
| Implementation of a Chatbot | $19,000 |
| Integration with existing system | $12,000 |
| Administration UI and Support | $5,000 |
| Training to the Staff | $4,000 |
It will be the responsibility of the finance department to approve these costs and also make sure that they are within prescribed limits.
Risk Management
As far as risk management is concerned in this project, the role of the project manager will be crucial as he will need to first analyze the major risk factors pertaining to this project. It will include – operational challenges, lack of participation of the working team, lack of communication and coordination, and even lack of support from the students’ communities (Sarah, Rohr, & Panton, 2018).
Thus, he will need to incorporate risk management plan that will allow him to overcome these identified risk factors in a given working environment. In addition, it will even allow the project manager to manage the workflow as per the requirements of the given project.
Costs-Benefits Analysis
As far as costs-benefits analysis is concerned for the given project, it should be noted that the key costs associated with this project will include – project costs, developmental costs, project organizing costs, maintenance costs, legal costs, and even costs for future upgrades as and when required (Um et al., 2018). It will thereby allow the project manager and his team to consider these costs while working on the project and make sure that they remain within the mentioned limits.
On the other hand, the key benefits that will be delivered through this project will comprise of – solving queries of students, reducing waiting time, reducing operational costs, create positive impact on the reputation of the given University, and even increase the overall business prospects for the given University.
Issues and Procurement Management
The key deliverables identified in this project include – incorporation of chatbot within the mobile application, ensure easy problem-solving approach for the students, provide new channels of communication to the students, and even make sure that the International Students will not be facing any issues pertaining to the English language.
For this purpose, the IT team is even planning to have multilingual chatbot during the later stages in the Torrens application. There are no major issues pertaining to this project, however, some of them are already discusses earlier. On the other hand, the team will need to be procured with desired resources such as hardware, software, connecting network architecture, and access to the central database of the University system(Um et al., 2018). It will thus make sure that the given project will be completed on time and within given budget limits.
Conclusion
This report focuses on the aspects of project management related to including a chatbot option in the Torrens Application. It is observed that students are facing multiple queries and they are not able to solve them on time due to long queues. Thus, it was recommended to include this chatbot in the existing application and thereby reduce the waiting time and increase operational efficiency of the University administration processes(Um et al., 2018).
This report even focuses on the aspects of project management pertaining to this project, identifies the role of a project manager, examines the risk factors, timeline, and overall budget required, and accordingly provides recommendations to complete the given project successfully.
References
Adámek, P., Bauerová, R., Kadlubcová, J., &Zapletalová, Š. (2017). The business excellence models in Czech enterprises: The effects of business strategy on performance. Central European Business Review, 6(4), 20-29.
Bryan, F. (2018). Total construction management: Lean quality in construction project delivery. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 25(2), 295-296.
Jian, Z., Xianbo, Z., Nguyen Quan, B. M., Ma, T., & Shang, G. (2018). Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project success factors. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 25(3), 425-442.
Jussi, M. S., Saari, A., Männistö, A., &Kähkonen, K. (2018).Indicators of collaborative design management in construction projects. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 16(4), 674-691.
Olawumi, T. O., & Chan, D. W. M. (2019).Building information modeling and project information management framework for construction projects. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 25(1), 53-75.
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge : (pmbok guide) (Sixth ed., Pmbok guide). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute
Saadat, V., &Eskandari, Z. (2016). Talent management: The great challenge of leading organizations. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 5(2), 103-109.
Sarah, S. S., Rohr, S. L., & Panton, R. N. (2018). Human resource management and ethical challenges: Building a culture for organization success. International Journal of Public Leadership, 14(2), 66-79.
Um, J., Han, N., Grubic, T., &Ghalib, A. (2018).Aligning product variety with supply chain and business strategy. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 67(9), 1837-1853.
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