Project Management Plan Outline

Project Management Plan Outline
Widgets ‘R Us Widgets (WRU)
Student Details

Table of Contents
Executive Summary..............................................................................................................................3
Background...........................................................................................................................................4
a Needs for Improvement................................................................................................................4
b Why this approach is better...........................................................................................................4
Evaluation of Alternatives....................................................................................................................5
a Project Oriented Organization.......................................................................................................5
b Weighted Scoring Model..............................................................................................................5
c Outcomes......................................................................................................................................5
Project Concept....................................................................................................................................5
Project Feasibility.................................................................................................................................8
Project Stakeholders Management.......................................................................................................9
Project Schedule Management...........................................................................................................10
Project Risk Management...................................................................................................................14
Project Procurement Management.....................................................................................................15
Procurement Process......................................................................................................................17
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................18
Reference............................................................................................................................................19

Executive Summary
This report is based on the evaluation of WRU, a manufacturer or widgets that is facing challenges
internally and so have not been able to be more competitive. Te widgets market has been booming
in the past three years, yet WRU has not been able to take full advantage; the company has missed
opportunities to innovate and adopt new types of widgets demanded by the market. Its faced with
internal communication problems and poor decision making that is not helped by a vertical
organizational hierarchy. The report proposes WRU adopts a project oriented organization structure
that uses cross functional teams and makes decision making fast while improving communications.
Because there are many products to be made, decisions should be based on a priority matrix in
which weights are given to various selection criteria and the Weighted Scoring Model used to
determine the best projects. This approach will ensure the company produces widgets that meet
customer and market needs, is able to respond fast to client needs, and is cost-effective in its
production. These initiatives are implemented using a PRINCE 2 and PMBOK inspired project
implementation plan and approach that entais a project plan, a WBS, a Gantt chart, risk and
procurement management plans, as well as schedule and cost control plans.

Background
a Needs for Improvement
For a long time, the company WRU has been a leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of
quality widgets and its success is partly due to a stable market and its operational and organizational
structure consisting of a sales, design and engineering, marketing, and production departments.
This organizational structure (and culture) worked to serve WRU well over the years and with a
stable market and its price leadership strategy (competing based on the lowest price), things have
been rosy. Business was supposed to even get better given demand has been increasing in the past
three years and new widgets are being developed constantly to meet the seemingly insatiable
demand from the public. At present, widgets have a lifespan of between 12 and 15 months.
Inexplicably, WRU is unable to compete successfully in the new progressive market and a number
of problems have been noted by the CEO including slow to market products, several new
innovations passing by WRU since the form has been slow to pick up market place signs and adapt
accordingly, while internal communications are extremely poor. A lot of information is kicked
‘upstairs’ and nobody seems to know where it ends or what happens to it while departments are
blaming other heads of departments constantly for the problems being experienced. This project
management plan outlines what needs to be done, and how it should be done to make WRU able to
compete and thrive again in the new dynamic market with a huge opportunity for growth.
The recommended approach for WRU is to change its operational structure and internal
communications structure to become a project oriented organization. Becoming a project oriented
organization means having most of the company’s activities and processes being run in the form of
projects and this also means changing its silo/ compartmental organizational structure and rigid
pyramidal hierarchy being changed to a horizontal matrix structure with lots of flexibility
characterized by cross-functional teams where teams do not work in compartmentalized
departments but as flexible teams that change depending on the project being undertaken. This will
imply not just making the traditional widgets WRU is used to, but manufacturing widgets that the
market needs such as toaster widgets, those used in the beverage industry, or industrial widgets.
b Why this approach is better
The project management organization (PMO) approach where different products (widgets) are
manufactured depending on market demand has several benefits and it will definitely work for
WRU; it ensures decentralization of management activities and responsibilities as well as
differentiation of the organization. This makes decision making fast and assigns responsibilities
while also improving communication. It inculcates quality assurance, holistic definition of projects,
and collaboration among teams to better meet market and customer needs. This approach will work