Project Management Plan for Queensland Health Payroll System Review

This report provides a comprehensive review of the Queensland Health Payroll System project, which aimed to replace an existing payroll solution with SAP for 85,000 Queensland Health staff. The project, initiated in 2007 and intended for completion in 2008, faced significant challenges, leading to delays and budget overruns, ultimately affecting over 75,000 employees. The report examines key aspects of project management, including scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communications management, risk management, procurement management, stakeholder management, and integration management. It highlights issues such as improper scope identification, inaccurate scheduling, and manual processes that contributed to the project's failure, resulting in inaccurate payroll payments, data errors, and substantial financial losses, with costs exceeding $1 billion. The report also identifies major risks, including schedule and budget overruns, and discusses the roles of key stakeholders such as IBM, Queensland Health, and The Queensland Treasury.

[ad d cover page in here as a bitmap, not text]

Project Management Plan
Queensland Health Payroll System
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 2

Table of Contents
1 PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4
2 SCOPE MANAGEMENT 5
2.1 Project Objectives 5
2.2 Requirements Collection and Verification 5
2.3 Work Breakdown Structure 6
2.4 Validate and Control Scope 7
3 TIME MANAGEMENT 8
3.1 Project Schedule 8
3.2 Project Milestones 11
3.3 Internal and External Dependencies 11
3.4 Schedule Control 15
4 COST MANAGEMENT 16
4.1 Cost Estimates and Budget 16
4.2 Control Cost 18
5 QUALITY MANAGEMENT 19
5.1 Quality Planning 19
5.2 Quality Assurance Reviews 19
5.3 Quality Control 19
6 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 20
6.1 Roles and Responsibilities 20
6.2 Project Organisation Chart 20
6.3 Availability and Commitment of Resources 20
6.4 Team Development 21
7 COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT 22
7.1 Manage Communications 22
7.2 Control Communications 22
8 RISK MANAGEMENT 23
8.1 Risk Management Processes, Systems and Tools 23
8.2 Assumptions and Constraints 23
8.3 Risk Response and Control 23
9 PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT 24
9.1 Conduct Procurment 24
9.2 Control and Close Procurements 24
10 STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT 25
10.1 Key Stakeholders 25
10.2 Manage Stakeholder Engagement 25
10.3 Control Stakeholder Engagement 25
11 INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT 26
11.1 Change Control 26
11.2 Project Closure 26
12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 27
13 APPENDIX A –GLOSSARY 29
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 3

Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 4

1 Project Executive Summary
The Queensland Health Payroll system was a project that was implemented in March 2010. The project
aimed in replacing the existing payroll solution. The project replaced the old ESP Kronos rostering system to
implement SAP. The project was uniquely complex as the new system that was to be implemented was for
85000 staffs of QH. Queensland had experienced certain challenges in implementation of the payroll system.
The main purpose of the project was to increase the efficiency of QH by automating the payroll process of
thousands of its employees. The project review has been undertaken by evaluating the project audit reports.
However, there are certain issues associated with a project as a result of improper project management. The
project was delayed unexpectedly and could not be completed within the set budget. The main reasons
behind the unexpected delays and failure of the project includes improper scope identification and improper
scheduling. The project started in year 2007 and was expected to be delivered in the year 2008. However,
the project could not be completed until the year 2010. Due to the failure of the project, over 75,000
employees were affected. The project was delivered about 18 months late. The process followed in
implementation of the project was highly manual that resulted in the delays of the project. The software that
was developed resulted in inaccurate payroll payments, defective and missing functionalities and data errors.
The cost breakdown of the project includes $1.01 billion spent on business, $220.5 billion on fixing problems
and $25.0 million on working on the future systems. The development and implementation of a defective
payroll system resulted in inaccurate payroll payments and error in data storage. There are certain major
risks associated with this project as well, which includes the schedule and budget risk. The risk could not be
mitigated while the project was in the implementation phase and hence the delay. This project plan will
document every stages of the project undertaken. The major stakeholders associated with this project
include IBM, QLD Health and The Queensland Treasury. The project plan will further document the identified
project objectives, project schedule, milestones, cost and budget and key stakeholders. The following
sections give an overview of the detailed scope of the project.
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 5

2 Scope Management
The project scope can be described as a detailed set of deliverables and the features associated with a
project. The deliverables of a particular project is generally derived from its requirements along with the
project objectives. It is essential to develop a scope management plan for a project as it helps in easier
implementation of the same. The scope of a particular project involves the necessary information required to
start a project along with the work, a project needs to accomplish in order to deliver a project or a particular
service. The scope management process of a project identifies the tasks that are needed to be completed to
ensure that project is implemented successfully. Improper scope management resulted in failure of the
Queensland health payroll project. The project objectives and requirements collection and verification
process that were followed in this project are discussed in the following sections.
2.1 Project Objectives
The identified objectives of the project are as follows-
1. The project was a government initiative and it intended to produce a higher standard of corporate service
functions.
2. The project intended to lower the cost to government by reducing the acquisitions, licensing and the
workforce cost.
3. The project aimed in centralizing the IT management process and operations.
4. The payroll system that was to be developed aimed in simplification of the different systems and
business processes. The developed business processes can be reused by the government agencies.
2.2 Requirements Collection and Verification
The requirements of project are collected by examining the existing system and identifying the
loopholes in the system. The requirement collection process associated with the Queensland
Health Payroll project included a number of stages, which are as follows-
1. Establishing the goals and objectives of the payroll project
2. Documentation of requirements of the project
3. The requirement documentation process for the project should be transparent.
4. Project requirements should be correctly communicated to the stakeholders of the project.
The requirement verification process that was followed in the Queensland Health Payroll
project includes evaluation of the requirements and specifications identified for the project.
The formal verification technique that was followed relied on mathematical proof and
correctness in management of the project. The collected requirements were further examined
to check whether it meets the specification of the software that is needed to be developed.
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 6

2.3 Work Breakdown Structure
The work breakdown structure of Queensland Health Payroll Project is represented in the Following picture
Queensland Health
Payroll Sy stem
Project Starts Requirem ent Gathering
Identification and
Validation of Pay roll
sy stem Requirements
Validation of the
specifications of the
Project
Identification of Project
Objectiv es
Identification of the Scope
of the Project
Development of the Initial
Project Plan
Sharing and
communicating the
Project Plan w ith the
Stakeholders
M1: Approv al of Project
Plan
Project Inititaion and
Planning
Preparing the Final Project
Plan
Estim ating the Schedule
of the Project
Estim ating the Project
Budget
Documentation of the
rev ised Project Plan
Approv al for start of
Project
M2: Initiation of
Development of the
Payroll Sy stem
Project Implementation
Understanding the
Specification of the
softw are to be
developed
Designing the Interface
M3: Approv al of the
Project Design
Softw are Coding
Coding the Database
Linking w ith Database
M4: Completion of
Softw are Coding
Testing
Unit Testing
Sy stem Testing
M5: Completion of Testing
Phase
Softw are Release
Softw are Demonstration
Softw are Go Live
Users' Training
Bug Fix ation
M5: Successful Release of
a Functional Softw are
Project Closure
Project Evalutaion
Documentation
Paym ent Completion
Client Sign Off
Resource Release
M6: Project Ends
Figure 1: Representing the WBS of Queensland health Payroll Project
(Source: Created by author using MS schedule Pro and MS Project)

2.4 Validate and Control Scope
The scope validation is performed by the project manager. Validate scope is a process of formalizing that the
project is completed according to the specifications identified for the project. There was a problem with scope
validation process of Queensland Health payroll project as could not be successfully completed within the
scheduled time.
Control scope is a process of accurate monitoring of the status of a project to check whether the project is
implemented according to the requirements specified. The process of control scope manages the changes to
scope baseline in order to ensure that the scope baseline is maintained throughout the execution phase.
On reviewing the project implementation process it has been observed that there was an issue with the
scope management of the project. Proper scope identification and scope management in a project is an
essential aspect of project management as it is one of the 10 PMBOK knowledge areas. Had the scope been
identified accurately, the project could have been successful with no delays or complexities.

3 Time Management
Time Management is the most important aspect of project management and it is one of 10 knowledge areas
of PMBOK. One of the major risks associated with any large project is schedule risk. Appropriate
management of project time ensures delivery of the project within a given schedule. Time management is
essentially the ability of organizing and planning each activity in a project. The most significant benefits of
time management are that it increases the effectiveness and productivity of a project team. Accurate time
management is directly related to project planning, setting the goals of project and prioritizing the most
important tasks associated with a project.
Queensland Health Payroll project was a clear case of improper time management that led to the failure of
the project. The scheduling process was incorrect considering the complexities of the project. Thus the
project could not be completed within a specified project schedule.
3.1 Project Schedule
The schedule estimated for the Project is represented in the following table-
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 Queensland Health Payroll
System 819 days Mon 03-09-07 Thu 21-10-10
1 Project Starts 0 days Mon 03-09-07 Mon 03-09-07
2 Requirement Gathering 122 days Mon 03-09-07 Tue 19-02-08
2.1
Identification and
Validation of Payroll system
Requirements
30 days Mon 03-09-07 Fri 12-10-07
2.2 Validation of the
specifications of the Project 30 days Mon 03-09-07 Fri 12-10-07
2.3 Identification of Project
Objectives 25 days Mon 15-10-07 Fri 16-11-07
2.4 Identification of the
Scope of the Project 30 days Mon 19-11-07 Fri 28-12-07
2.5 Development of the
Initial Project Plan 30 days Mon 31-12-07 Fri 08-02-08
2.6
Sharing and
communicating the Project
Plan with the Stakeholders
7 days Mon 11-02-08 Tue 19-02-08
2.7 M1: Approval of Project
Plan 0 days Tue 19-02-08 Tue 19-02-08
3 Project Inititaion and
Planning 70 days Wed 20-02-08 Tue 27-05-08
3.1 Preparing the Final
Project Plan 30 days Wed 20-02-08 Tue 01-04-08
3.2 Estimating the Schedule
of the Project 15 days Wed 02-04-08 Tue 22-04-08
3.3 Estimating the Project 20 days Wed 02-04-08 Tue 29-04-08
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan 9

Budget
3.4 Documentation of the
revised Project Plan 10 days Wed 30-04-08 Tue 13-05-08
3.5 Approval for start of
Project 10 days Wed 14-05-08 Tue 27-05-08
3.6
M2: Initiation of
Development of the Payroll
System
0 days Tue 27-05-08 Tue 27-05-08
4 Project Implementation 325 days Wed 28-05-08 Tue 25-08-09
4.1
Understanding the
Specification of the software
to be developed
15 days Wed 28-05-08 Tue 17-06-08
4.2 Designing the Interface 60 days Wed 18-06-08 Tue 09-09-08
4.3 M3: Approval of the
Project Design 30 days Wed 10-09-08 Tue 21-10-08
4.4 Software Coding 100 days Wed 22-10-08 Tue 10-03-09
4.5 Coding the Database 90 days Wed 11-03-09 Tue 14-07-09
4.6 Linking with Database 30 days Wed 15-07-09 Tue 25-08-09
4.7 M4: Completion of
Software Coding 0 days Tue 25-08-09 Tue 25-08-09
5 Testing 90 days Wed 26-08-09 Tue 29-12-09
5.1 Unit Testing 30 days Wed 26-08-09 Tue 06-10-09
5.2 System Testing 60 days Wed 07-10-09 Tue 29-12-09
5.3 M5: Completion of
Testing Phase 0 days Tue 29-12-09 Tue 29-12-09
6 Software Release 145 days Wed 30-12-09 Tue 20-07-10
6.1 Software Demonstration 15 days Wed 30-12-09 Tue 19-01-10
6.2 Software Go Live 10 days Wed 20-01-10 Tue 02-02-10
6.3 Users' Training 30 days Wed 03-02-10 Tue 16-03-10
6.4 Bug Fixation 90 days Wed 17-03-10 Tue 20-07-10
6.5 M6: Successful Release
of a Functional Software 0 days Tue 20-07-10 Tue 20-07-10
7 Project Closure 67 days Wed 21-07-10 Thu 21-10-10
7.1 Project Evaluation 30 days Wed 21-07-10 Tue 31-08-10
7.2 Documentation 15 days Wed 01-09-10 Tue 21-09-10
7.3 Payment Completion 7 days Wed 22-09-10 Thu 30-09-10
7.4 Client Sign Off 10 days Fri 01-10-10 Thu 14-10-10
7.5 Resource Release 5 days Fri 15-10-10 Thu 21-10-10
8 M7: Project Ends 0 days Thu 21-10-10 Thu 21-10-10
The Gantt Chart of the Project is represented in the following picture-
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan
10

Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan
11

Figure 2: Representing the Gantt Chart of the Project
(Source: Created by author using MS Project)
3.2 Project Milestones
The Major Milestone of the Queensland Health Payroll project is represented in the following
Table-
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 Queensland Health Payroll
System 819 days Mon 03-09-07 Thu 21-10-10
2.7 M1: Approval of Project
Plan 0 days Tue 19-02-08 Tue 19-02-08
3.6
M2: Initiation of
Development of the Payroll
System
0 days Tue 27-05-08 Tue 27-05-08
4.3 M3: Approval of the
Project Design 30 days Wed 10-09-08 Tue 21-10-08
4.7 M4: Completion of
Software Coding 0 days Tue 25-08-09 Tue 25-08-09
5.3 M5: Completion of
Testing Phase 0 days Tue 29-12-09 Tue 29-12-09
6.5 M6: Successful Release
of a Functional Software 0 days Tue 20-07-10 Tue 20-07-10
3.3 Internal and External Dependencies
The schedule of the project has certain internal and external dependenciesThe external
dependencies of a project develop the relationship between the project activities and the
activities outside the project. The external dependencies include the events associated with the
project which is outside the control of project manager. The internal dependencies include the
relationship of the preceding tasks and the succeeding task.
The external dependencies associated with the Queensland Health payroll project include
timely resource availability, timely resource allocation and budget approval. There were certain
issues with the management of external dependencies of Queensland Health payroll project
that contributed to failure of the project.
The Internal dependencies include the dependencies associated with each activity in a project.
The table below gives an idea of the predecessors of each activities of the Queensland Health
payroll Project.
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
0 Queensland Health
Payroll System 819 days Mon 03-09-07 Thu 21-10-10
1 Project Starts 0 days Mon 03-09-07 Mon 03-09-07
2 Requirement 122 days Mon 03-09-07 Tue 19-02-08
Queensland Health Payroll System Project Management Plan
12