Project Management Plan for 2 Degrees Organisation

This project management plan discusses the business strategy and project management of 2 Degrees Organisation, a telecommunication provider company in New Zealand. It covers the mission and vision statement, core competency, project management process, gaining competitive advantage, challenges of a project leader, reasons for project failure, traits of project team leader for successful project completion.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 2 DEGREES ORGANISATION
Project Management Plan for 2 Degrees Organisation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 2 DEGREES ORGANISATION
Table of Contents
Task 1: Business Strategy and Project Management.......................................................................2
1.1 Brief Introduction of 2 Degrees and Scope of the Business..................................................2
1.2 Mission and Vision Statement of 2 Degrees..........................................................................2
1.3 Core Competency of 2 Degrees.............................................................................................3
1.4 The Project Management Process..........................................................................................4
1.5 Gaining of Competitive Advantage with Project Management Approach............................5
Task 3: Achieve Strategy Objectives and Project Goals.................................................................6
3.1 Challenges of a Project Leader..............................................................................................6
3.2 Reasons for Project Failure....................................................................................................8
3.3 Traits of Project Team Leader for Successful Project Completion.......................................9
3.4 Link between Project Management Goals and Strategic Business Objectives....................10
3.5 Elements to the Success of a Project...................................................................................10
3.6 Meaning of Project Quality.................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................19

2PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 2 DEGREES ORGANISATION
Task 1: Business Strategy and Project Management
1.1 Brief Introduction of 2 Degrees and Scope of the Business
2Degrees is a telecommunication provider company situated in New Zealand. The
telecom operator primarily launched their business operations on 4th August 2009. The telecom
operator provides pay-monthly and prepaid monthly mobile services. They also offer broadband
and fixed-line services. 2Degrees was formerly named as NZ Communications and much
previously as Econet Wireless. At a much previous time, the company did not have a nationwide
mobile coverage. Later they expanded their services to different towns, rural areas and cities.
The company believes in connecting with people and thus find new opportunities for their
business (Hausman & Ros, 2013). Hence, they have mainly focused on building technology and
other content solutions, which would be simple and easy to use.
The primary form of products or services that are provided by 2Degrees are mobile
phones, monthly mobile recharge services, broadband and online recharge services. The target
market of the organisation is the customers who have a daily need of high speed internet or
mobile usage services. The company also offers new plans and exciting deals, which could
attract the customers in using their services. The company also advertises their services on their
website, which could be considered as an exclusive marketing strategy adopted by 2Degrees in
order to gain a competitive advantage in the highly competitive market. There are different other
telecommunication provider companies in New Zealand, which are the competitors of 2Degrees.
These include Spark New Zealand, Vodafone New Zealand and the Callplus Group.

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1.2 Mission and Vision Statement of 2 Degrees
The mission of 2Degrees is to lead themselves in the New Zealand market based on
simplification of products and services. This would be meant for improving the customer
experience, simplification of operations and reducing the cost base. The mission of 2Degrees
could be accomplished based on the implication of some kind of strategies. These include:
 Simplification of product offerings, elimination of customer pain points and creation of
digital experiences
 Establishing of a standalone business infrastructure for driving performance and thus
providing future optionality
 Greatly simplification of business structure and working on the empowerment and
serving of customers
 Industry leading portfolio management and cost reduction program
The vision of 2Degrees is based on enhancing their position in leading the
telecommunication and information services in New Zealand. They also strive for becoming a
leading provider of telecommunication services in the region based on their continuous efforts in
building a customer-centric relationship strategy for the business objectives. With the primary
vision of the organisation that is focused on providing customers with a wide range of services,
the company entails to:
 Optimise the returns from the traditional telecommunication products and services
 Develop and deliver value-added telecommunication, content and online services
 Transform the corporate culture and thus improve productivity
 Extend their global reach

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1.3 Core Competency of 2 Degrees
As a major telecommunication network provider, the core competency of 2Degrees is
based on continuous development, management and operation of the various telephone network
services, re-cabling and equipment handling. In the recent times, there have been major kind of
changes within the telecommunication sector (Ghezzi, Cortimiglia & Frank, 2015). 2Degrees
have marked a deep market analysis, which is currently based on cloud computing technologies,
broadcasting and telecommunication. With the linking of these technologies, the company could
be able to expect the highest level of sustainable growth within the industry.
1.4 The Project Management Process
The current approach of project management is based on the inclusion of training for the
current and new employees based on the using of software systems within the project.
(Fig 1: Project Management Process Diagram based on Training)
(Source: Created by Author)
Planning of the
entire training
tenure and
modules
Defining the
Training
Requirements
Selection of
Training Vendor
Preparing of
Training
Modules and
Sessions
Performing the
Entire Training

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1.5 Gaining of Competitive Advantage with Project Management Approach
In the global marketplace, there is a huge level of competition with the rise of new kinds
of developed technologies. The impact of project management approach would prove to be
extremely beneficial for developing a strong base for the business. With the high rise in
competition in the global marketplace, different companies are in the process of adoption of
project management approach (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). 2Degrees is one such company
that highly makes use of such kind of approach based on gaining a competitive edge in the global
marketplace and gaining profits.
In the recent times, there have been a huge need for the telecommunication provider
companies to adopt such useful technologies such as cloud computing, broadcasting and
improved methods of telecommunication services. Different other telecommunication companies
are also in the race of developing their existing services such that they would be able to
improved services to their customers and thus be also able to gain their attention within the
global market (Jones, 2013). This form of improved and innovative services would require the
major form of training, which could only be provided through proper training vendors. With the
impact of training on the new and existing employees regarding the use of such latest
technologies, it would be of utmost help for the employees and the organisation to employ such
services within the global market.
With the help of the project management approach, it would be helpful to plan the entire
set of activities that would be needed for deploying the training session (Pearlson, Saunders &
Galletta, 2016). The project management approach would help in deciding the entire set of
events that would be taking place during the planning of the training schedules. Hence, with this

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approach there would be a high kind of competitive advantage of the business in the global
marketplace.
Task 3: Achieve Strategy Objectives and Project Goals
3.1 Challenges of a Project Leader
The primary role of a project leader is to create and maintain a kind of balance with the
different complex elements engaged within a project. The daily routine of a project leader is to
put the different perspectives of the project in a certain manageable order and thus be able to
manage the unexpected obstacles that might arise within a project (Mueller, 2015). Encountering
the major issues faced within designing of a project is the min work of a project leader. The
project leader would be engulfed within dealing with every aspect of a project in order to deliver
the projects on time. This would ensure a successful and healthy relationship with clients.
However, the five main challenges that are faced by a project leader are:
 Challenges within Corporate Projects – Among the different challenges that are faced
by project leaders, one of the most important challenge is based on defining of scope and
changes of goals within the organisation. Without a proper from of clearly defined goal
of a project, the entire project would fail to meet the objectives (Pemsel & Wiewiora,
2013). The project leader should also be efficient for managing the creep of the project
scope. They should not also try to extend the timeline of the project beyond the original
set objectives. With a proper form of discussion on the project objectives, it would be
essential for a certain form of discussion on the deadlines and the entire budget of the
project (Ramazani & Jergeas, 2015). A project leader should also need to prepare

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themselves for the upcoming project management problems, which would arise from
different undefined goals and scope creep.
 Working with the members of team – A challenging project would require some
efficient kind of skills that would be unique within the team. It is the entire responsibility
of the project leader to decide whether the designated member within the team should be
trained on the certain project or would it be important to include a member who has
already some required skill set (Tyssen, Wald & Spieth, 2014). Some other forms of
problem based with working with teams is the lack of proper form of accountability on
the part associated with members. Some of the problems faced with the team members
are based on finger-pointing and blaming of each other. These would be unproductive
and can lead to the project to a halt.
 Management of Project Risks – The management of risks within a project could be
considered as the most important issue that should be needed to be dealt with utmost
importance (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). An effective project leader should have the
proper knowledge about the impacts based on collection of proper information,
development of trust and anticipation of the parts of project that would likely to get
failed. The project leader should be proactive and thus develop measures in order to
prevent them from getting occurred (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Contingency plans should be
developed that should be clear and thus proves to be effective.
 Communication Challenges – Poor mode of communication could be considered as the
most important form of project management challenges based on managing a vast team.
An effective project leader should be efficient for delivering instructions such that it
would be clearly understood by the team members (Sheng et al., 2013). There is also a

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high need for employing collaboration tools in order to ensure that every member would
be within the loop of project development.
 Higher Expectations – The project leader should be able to estimate the expectation of
the team members. The entire team should be held responsible for knowing about the
expectation of the project leader. Hence, they should be able to discuss about the
sufficiency of resources. This would be efficient for the successful project completion.
The deadlines should be reasonable for the proper completion of the project (Garrison &
Vaughan, 2013). The stakeholders associated with a project should also be engaged about
the concerns throughout the entire project.
3.2 Reasons for Project Failure
The failure of projects could occur to any organisation and there could be infinite number
of reasons for the failure of projects. Some of the major reasons for the failure of projects are
discussed as:
 Poor Preparation – There should be a proper definition for each of the elements that
would be included within a project. The picture of the entire project should be clear to the
project manager in order to prepare for each of the steps included within a project (Kaur
& Sengupta, 2013). Without a proper definition of the terms, it would be difficult to
manage the project, which would hence lead to failure of the project.
 Poor Leadership – Poor skills of leadership would be extremely harmful for putting an
impact on the project. The management of an organisation should be proactive for
leading the entire project (Hornstein, 2015). The impact of leadership skills would be
extremely important for ensuring that the project would be able to meet with the
expectations placed during the design of the project.

9PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 2 DEGREES ORGANISATION
 Inexperienced Project Managers – The project manager would have the entire
responsibility for handling every aspect of a project. Inexperienced project managers who
would have lower skill sets be inefficient for performing the entire project. Leading the
projects would be in the hand of the project leader.
 Inaccurate Cost Estimations – The costs that would be incurred within a project should
be properly calculated. The cost estimation should be proper such that the resources
would not run out and lead to a stoppage of projects (Alzahrani & Emsley, 2013). This
could be prevented based on the identification of the lack of resources on an early basis.
 Little Communication at Every Managerial Level – Poor form of communication
would be leading to disastrous situations within the project. There should be a
transparency within each of the working levels of the project (Briel et al., 2016). This
would be beneficial for the successful completion of the project.
3.3 Traits of Project Team Leader for Successful Project Completion
Some of the key traits of a project team leader in order to lead to success of a project are:
 Positive Attitude – A project team leader should have a positive attitude towards work.
The leader should have a positive attitude towards managing the entire project. Being
able to display confidence and commitment towards a project would be able to impact the
project on a positive manner. This would be beneficial for developing a happy and a
productive environment of work.
 Integrity – The project leader should be able to establish a level of trust on their team.
Based on the demonstration of ethical practices and values, the team members would
recognize that there is an efficient team leader within a project.

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 Competence – The project leader should be competent enough to demonstrate their skills
within designing of the project (Burke & Barron, 2014). The team should feel confident
about doing the entire project and should know exactly what they would be doing.
 Good Problem Solving Skills – The project team leader should be able to solve different
problems in an excellent manner. The team leader should be resourceful and creative
based on the approach of solving different problems that would arise within the
development purpose of the project.
 Decision Maker – The decisions made by a project team leader would be extremely
beneficial for the success of a project. It would also ensure that the success of the
business. The right kind of decisions made within the project would be beneficial for
handling of any kind of situation of errors, be accountable and take different forms of
responsibility within the project.
3.4 Link between Project Management Goals and Strategic Business Objectives
In order to align the business goals with the approach by project management, the
different leaders should be effectively involved within different strategic planning sessions
alongside with the senior-level management. The foundation of the entire success of the business
and the initiatives of the project would be imperative for executive sponsors to be linked with
project leadership (Serra & Kunc, 2015). With the linking of the goals of project management
and objectives based on strategic business, it would be likely to meet the success ratios of the
project. The primary step towards strategic focus would ensure the alignment of the business
across different stakeholders and thus minimize the risks of business processes. A proper balance
with the project management approach and strategic business objectives would prove to be
extremely beneficial for success of the business.

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3.5 Elements to the Success of a Project
The elements that would be critical to the success of the project would include:
 Committed Project Sponsor – The sponsor of the project is regarded as the high-level
person within the organisation who would own the entire project (Joslin & Müller, 2015).
A committed sponsor within the project would expect that the project would succeed and
would do things that would ensure the fruitful success of the project.
 Clear Scope and Goals – Before the start of the project, the sponsor of the project
should be able to express clear goals and scope of the entire project. The goals of a
project would be beneficial for customizing the learning process based on the business
needs. Good project managers and project sponsors would be able to guard against the
scope creep and should also be reluctant for adding the scope mid-project.
 Efficient Project Manager – An efficient project manager would be able to plan the
work and thus organize different resources in order to deal with the project. The project
manager would be the person who would be the link between the project sponsor and
project team (Todorović et al., 2015). They should have the necessary skills in order to
take the project along to a positive direction. The project manager should also be able to
generate trust within the team members such that they would be able to develop an
important relationship between the project sponsor and project manager.
 Engaged Stakeholders – The stakeholders involved within a project have vested
interests within the success of the project. Stakeholders should have their level of
motivations in order to stay ahead of the project activities. It would be the responsibility
of the project manager to align themselves in different ways in order to remain attached
towards the goals of the project.

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 Dedicated Team Members – The project team members should be able to accomplish
the entire work of the project. The dedication of the team members would be extremely
valuable for the successful completion of the project. With a proper form of dedication, it
would be extremely beneficial that the project would be completed within the exact
deadlines.
3.6 Meaning of Project Quality
Project Quality – This could be defined as a kind of service or product that would have
the ability to perform a satisfactory work and would be suitable for the intended purpose.
According to the definition supported by American Society for Quality (ASQ), the quality
assurance could be defined as the systematic and planned set of activities that would be
implemented within a quality system such that the quality requirements for a service or product
would be fulfilled.
The application of the seven commonly known tools for quality assurance within the
project management process are:
1. Cause and Effect Diagram – These kind of diagrams would be able to define the
different kinds of inputs and based on them would also be able to identify the potential causes of
defects. This kind of diagram would also be referred as Fish-bone diagram (Dixon et al., 2013).
This would be helpful for analysing the root causes of the problem.

13PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR 2 DEGREES ORGANISATION
(Fig 2: Cause and Effect Diagram based on Training)
(Source: Created by Author)
2. Control Charts – This is a form of graphical display based on data over time and
these would be established over certain control limits. Control charts could be defined as a way
of visualizing the ways in which different processes would be doing overtime.
(Fig 3: Control Charts)
(Source: Created by Author)

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3. Flowcharting – The depiction within the diagram would be able to define the inputs,
process actions and outputs based on one or more processes. The use of flowcharts could be
defined as a useful way of showing the entire set of processes in a visual manner (Ann et al.,
2013). Flowcharts would also be useful for showing that the tasks within a project would be able
to interrelate based on their dependency.
(Fig 4: Flowchart based on Training)
(Source: Created by Author)

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4. Histogram – These would be able to provide a fair idea about the breakdown of the
structure of data. Histograms would be useful in comparing different characteristics based on
data and thus would be helpful for making different informed decisions.
(Fig 5: Histogram based on Training)
(Source: Created by Author)
5. Pareto Chart – This could be defined as a bar chart that would be ordered based on
the frequency of occurrence. This kind of chart would be able to depict the results that would be
generated based on identification. The Pareto Analysis could be defined as a statistical technique
that would be used within selection of a limited number of certain tasks, which would be helpful
in producing an overall form of significant effort (Sunder, 2013). The use of Pareto charts would
be helpful for figuring out the impact of problems.

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(Fig 6: Pareto Chart)
(Source: Created by Author)
6. Run Chart – A run chart could be defined as a line graph of data that would be plotted
over time. This kind of chart would be able to show trends within the variation of certain
processes. These kind of charts would be used in conjunction with the control charts.

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(Fig 7: Pareto Chart)
(Source: Created by Author)
7. Scatter Diagrams – A scatter graph or scatter diagram could be defined as a graphical
representation based on quantitative analysis based on mathematical statistics of two different
variables with the use of Cartesian coordinates. Scatter diagrams would be able to show the
different kinds of data and would be able to relate each other. They would also be able to show
the progress of the work.

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(Fig 8: Scatter Diagrams)
(Source: Created by Author)

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