Widgets 'R Us Project: A Detailed Project Management Plan Outline

This project management plan outlines the strategies for Widgets 'R Us (WRU) to enhance its competitiveness by transitioning to a project-oriented organization. The plan addresses WRU's challenges, including slow product development, poor internal communication, and missed market opportunities. It proposes adopting a project-oriented organization structure with cross-functional teams to improve decision-making and communication. The Weighted Scoring Model is suggested for prioritizing projects based on market needs and customer demands. The implementation plan, inspired by PRINCE2 and PMBOK, includes a project plan, WBS, Gantt chart, risk and procurement management plans, as well as schedule and cost control measures. Key aspects covered are project feasibility, stakeholder management, schedule management, risk management, and procurement management, all aimed at transforming WRU into a more agile and competitive entity.

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

because it ensures goal orientation and the projects will enhance organizational learning, making
WRU have a high level of industry knowledge and skills in widgets- this increases its
competitiveness. This will also naturally solve some of the problems faced by WRU, such as poor
internal communications and lack of flexibility to adapt to a fast changing market.
Evaluation of Alternatives
a Project Oriented Organization
In adopting the Project Oriented Organization (POO) approach, new approaches must be
incorporated in order to focus on the products that bring the best returns (commercially) while
better meeting the needs of the customer. There are always several alternatives to invest in and
choosing the best alternative, given scarcity of resources requires novel approaches; in this case, the
chosen approach is the Weighted Scoring Model (WSM). The WSM is a tool the offers systematic
approach and process for the selection of projects based on several criteria and is best suited to a
portfolio environment that the project selection team can apply.
b Weighted Scoring Model
The use of the WSM is used to create a project selection matrix which is the output of the project
scoring matrix. The POO must engage only in projects and activities that meet set objectives and
this requires a systematic approach to selecting projects using quantitative and qualitative methods.
Every project will have an evaluation criteria which are then divided among a given set of
categories, determining a scoring scheme based on evaluation criteria, giving weights based on a
sound criteria, and computing scores for all alternative projects to select the best one. This ensures
decisions are arrived at systematically and logically based on supporting evidence; the process is
also simple, fast, and applicable to all kinds of situations.
c Outcomes
The outcome will be an organization that creates products focused on the customer and the market ,
be able to innovate and develop competitive product designs, coordinate the product-process better,
reduce the time-to-introduction of products into the market, ensure effective group decision making,
and ensure the decision process is documented for latter review and for organizational learning.
This way, WRU will solve its present challenges and take advantage of available market
opportunities, innovate, and become more competitive in the market.
Project Concept
a The project will entail a transformation of WRU from a top-down hierarchical model to a POO
and in this particular case, the concept includes market opportunity, transformation, and innovation
in order to become competitive. The market opportunity is for WRU to take advantage of rising

demand to improve its commercial performance while innovation concept is to ensure the widgets
made by WRU meet customer needs. The innovation is also aimed at making widgets aligned to
present market trends where their lifetimes average between 12 and 15 months. The diagram below
shows the overall concept of this project
b Project objectives
To evauate the current organizational structure and processes at WRU including communication
channels and decision making
To suggest changes to be made and how they are to be made, including to introduce the concept of
POO at WRU
Execute the recommendations while following project management principles
c Project requirements and deliverables
The project will require the creation of a project team
Funds to undertake the project
Authorization and support from the project owner
Time for delivery

A project office
Project management tool (software)
The deliverables include the following:
A detailed analysis of the current status of the organization (internal)
An identification of the current problems and their characterization
A proposed organizational structure based on the POO
A detailed process for prioritization of projects
A stepwise approach to changing organizational culture
d KPI’s
Earned Value
Planned Value
Percentage of projects completed on time
Resource utilization
Schedule performance index
Percentage of completed tasks
Project Feasibility
a This project is aimed at changing the organizational structure, culture, and processes at WRU and
implement the POO as well as develop a project prioritization matrix. The project will be conducted
based on effective change management practices to ensure not only the structure and culture at the
organization change, but the people adopt and own the change. The project is feasibe given it has
support from the CEO and its benefits will ensure it is adopted. The strengths of the proposed
project lie in increased productivity, effective and fast decision making, greater collaboration, and
adaptability to market conditions as well as innovation. The main weakness is the potential for staff
resisting the change, because for example, closure of some projects can mean some people losing
their jobs, it has a cost implication, especially during implementation.
a Project approvals
The project will have a charter that defines what is to be done and the expected deliverables. The
approvals will be done by the main sponsor (CEO) such as approving project charter and
deliverables as well as project plans and any changes as defined in the change management plan.
The CEO will also approve and sign off on the project budget and changes to the budget
management plan an also approve and sign off during closure. The PM/ consultant will develop and
approve the project schedule and WBS.

c Project Assumptions
The CEO/ sponsor will support the project until its completion
The change management processes will ensure the staff accept change
Te project will be completed on time
The changes capture the actual needs of the client
The Methodology for implementation best suits the project and will guarantee its success
d Known constraints
The triple constraints of time/ schedule, scope and the project cost.
The available human resources for successful project delivery
organizational constra9nts; some resources must be shared with existing teams
Process constraints where there must be adherence to a set procedure
Risk tolerance for the project
Procurement
e Possible improvements
Cutting the costs of production
Cutting design and engineering/ development time
Reduced time to market
Improved process visualization
Reduced wastage
fast decision making
Improved communication and communication channels
Project Stakeholders Management
a Targets and Users
The company management of WRU: They will use the POO model and prioritization approaches to
determine what products to produce in a systematic way. They will initiate and support the
implementation of changes company-wide
The executive sponsor (the CEO): Will understand how to run the company using the POO model
and prioritization in order to gain benefits such as increased commercial performance of WRU
The project execution team: Ensure the project objectives are achieved within the set constraints
The staff at WRU including departmental heads: Learn how to work collaboratively to innovate,
design, and deliver better products that meet market needs cost-effectively. They will benefit from
improved productivity using the POO, as well as improved communication processes.
The customers that will use improved products hat meet their needs

b Project Organization Chart
Developed based on PRINCE 2 as shown below;
c All the human resources necessary for the project will be sourced prior to project execution, after
approval by the sponsor and they will be briefed and trained on what needs to be done, including on
the deliverables and each assigned a role. The communications plan will incorporate stakeholder
communications plan; the execution team will meet regularly to evaluate progress while e-mails and
memos will be used for day to day communications with the regularity defined in the overall
communication plan.
Project Schedule Management
a Schedule Milestones
The project schedule milestones for this project include;
Conception and Initiation of Project
Definition and Planning for the Project
Launching and Execution of Project
Control of Project Performance
Closure of Project
b Three level WBS

c Gantt chart
d Schedule management
The schedule will be managed based on the PRINCE 2 approaches and methods following the
processes listed below;
Plan schedule management- development of project charter, development of a plan for managing
the project, scope definition and project approach considering environmental factors (enterprise)
and assets. Will be done using meetings, judgment, and tools like project software.
Activities definition – Activities defined in the WBS and project schedule which details tasks, their
dependencies, and duration. The project schedule and plan as well as scope base line are the inputs
for this step that generates activity list and milestones
Activity sequences- defined in the project schedule and the aspects of finish to start, the critical
path, start to finish, and start to start incorporated. The criteria path method to be used
Activity duration estimation- Will be done by project team as realistically as possible

Schedule development- Developed based on the project management plan and this schedule must be
followed to completion
Strict schedule control- The project deadlines will be met based on the schedule baseline and
continuous monitoring for the project
e Time management
The project schedule and critical path will be followed strictly based on set project durations;
progress will be monitored constantly; if the time-lines start to vary, measures will be taken, such as
compression of tasks and using additional resources to maintain schedule and time durations
Project Cost Management
Developed by fist planning for resources, developing estimates, developing a budget, and
controlling costs.
a Project cost estimates are shown below
Item Unit cost per hour/ item Duration Total Cost
Project management 50 640 32000
Project assistant 40 600 24000
Project accountant 35 640 22400
Software 600 600
Logistics 2000 2000
Stationery 250 250
Computers 1000 4 4000
Miscellaneous 2000 2000
Contingency 6325
Total 69575
b Justification
The costs and rates have been obtained fro employment sites and hourly / weekly remuneration and
also based on the project tasks and their duration to compute the total costs
c Project Cost management
based on the PMBOK and PRINCE 2 as detailed below;

The cost management plan for the project has four main steps that includes planning for resources,
estimating the costs, developing a budget, and then controlling costs.
Resource Planning: This entails determining what resources will be needed for the project and uses
the project schedule and WBS as inputs, especially in determining the human resources needed for
the successful execution of the project.
Cost estimation: This involves estimating the costs for each activity and resource needed for the
execution of the project and also used the project schedule and WBS as inputs; the costs were
estimated by looking at current prices for software and labor costs per hour (Project Management
Institute, 2013).
Budgeting: Was developing using cost estimates and the project schedule; using these the total
budgets were developed by multiplying unit costs, say for labor, with duration of resource use to
find the total costs and these were added up to form the budget, with a 10% contingency provision
factored in to the total budget (Roseke PMP, 2016).
Cost control: The cost baseline as per the cost budget and schedule will be the basis for monitoring
performance at each stage to check for variances in actual expenditure from the cost baseline. The
changes in the baseline will be recorded and monitored continuously and used to create the
expected final total project cost forecast on a continual basis. The cause of variances will be
identified and explained and this will help avoid having to make adjustments. Software for cost
control will be used (the project management application) with resource allocation, cost baseline,
and utilization used for evaluation (Project Management Institute, 2013).
Project Quality Management
a Quality items
Item
Cost
Scope
Risk management
Schedule
Deliverables
Customer acceptance
b Measurable items
The project actual costs measured against the project budget and cost baseline
The time of delivery of project, measured as completion of tasks and entire project against the
schedule baseline (on-time performance)
Whether the project objectives have been met fully