Project managemnt

Strength

Weakness

1. Ease of staff in handling the change in nature of work as several staff are already involved in research in the area.

2. It is the most appropriate and viable research area, as identified by thorough analysis with several consultants.

3. Potential for Bruce and his staff to grow and further develop their research skills.

4. Good guidance and an experienced outside perspective as the international expert in research in the area has offered his expertise to Bruce.

5. Research in the area can benefit the university in better handling its own social media initiatives.

6. High support from senior executives for the project.

1. Tremendous pressure from the senior executives, to carryout high quality and focussed research.

2. Lack of experience and reputation of the staff in providing scholarly research output.

3. Increase in the workload of employees, may affect their overall performance in other tasks.

4. High pressure from senior executives for results may lead to high pressure on staff, affecting work quality/productivity.

5. Frustration among staff due to the continuous need to learn as technology and trends evolve.

6. Credibility of the research may be a question as the university is not known well to provide quality research output.

Opportunity

Threats

1. High market share due to the associated centre ceasing its operations.

2. Increased students could enrol in the university due to the existing demand from Master’s and Doctoral students for programs in the area.

3. High public interest and involvement in research in the area, due to the nature of the industry.

4. Interest of media in the area would lead to increased media exposure for the university.

5. Opportunities to collaborate with other research centres doing research in the area.

1. High volatility in the social media industry due to rapid changes in trends in the social media due to changes in technology.

2. Research in this area demands for a high adaptability to change in order to keep pace with the constantly changing world of social media.

3. Errors or mistakes in the research may prove costly as they could lead to widespread criticism in the media, which may lead to negative publicity and affect the image of the university itself.

4. Student may choose not to enrol due to instability/changes.

5. Social media security threats existing today, can lead to a fall in demand for social networking .

Project Charter

April 4, 2013

Project Tile: Centre Website Project Project Start Date: April 4, 2013 Project finish date: 1 February, 2016

Budget Information: The Centre has allocated a funding of $1,000,000 for this project. More than half of these expenses will be for an outsourced team of web development experts who would build the website in collaboration with the staff at the centre. The rest of the expenses would be for training the staff and IT team as required, in order to continue to develop and manage the website themselves.

Project Manager: Raza Ali Khan, 042 911 1802, raplusk8@gmail.com

Project Objectives: Develop a website for the research centre that allows them to showcase their research and findings in an easy to use and presentable manner. This will include providing vital information about the current research projects being carried out by the centre, the outcomes of the completed research projects and information about current events and happenings which are open to public participation.

Provide the users of the website with an easy and interactive layout with simple, easy to use navigation throughout the website. Provide researchers with easy to use templates and tools, allowing them to present their research in an effective manner.

This website will also feature an archive of all research articles and a “Researcher’s forum”, where the users can discuss and/or collaborate on the projects and ideas that they are working on and also get advice from people involved in the same area.

Most parts of this website will be free to users, except for more advanced features such as research data download, which would only be allowed to the relevant stakeholders in the respective research project. This website will also feature options to subscribe to a weekly/fortnightly newsletter to be released by the research centre, which would then be sent via email to the subscribers. Both, the ‘Researcher’s forum’ as well as the weekly/fortnightly newsletter are only accessible to users who have subscribed to the website. Users will have the option to subscribe via email or by using the provided social media plug-ins (Facebook, Twitter and Google plus) to link to their personal social media networks, also making it easier for these users to share the information.

Approach:

· Communicate with the Bruce and his staff in order to understand their expectations of the website and the type of templates they require, by carrying out a survey to understand their requirements.

· Build various sample templates and get feedback from staff, to come up with suitable fits as per staff requirements and current trends.

· Research the most suitable software, in order to maintain website security and provide a suitable platform for the “Researcher’s forum” and article retrieval service.

· Design a suitable and attractive layout for the website.

· Open the beta version of the website for a trial by the staff and get their feedback, making iterative changes as required.

· Provide a short training to the staff on the format of the templates and site layout if required.

· Train the IT department of the university on managing the website and handing over site maintenance to them.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Name and Signature

Role

Position

Contact Information

Bruce Willis

Project Champion

Research Project Manager

bruce@gmail.com

Alex

Project sponsor

Vice Chancellor

alex@gmail.com

Raza Ali Khan

Project Manager

Project Manager

raplusk8@gmail.com

Eric Kolarov

Consultant

International expert on Social media research

erickolarov@gmail.com

Michael Cera

Steering Committee member

Team lead- Website Development

michael@gmail.com

Comments: (Handwritten or comments from above stake holders, if applicable)

We need to make sure this project is completed with absolute quality, as this will be the face of the project - Alex I’m available 1 day every week for any questions or feedback- Bruce

We need to be careful that the subscribe feature of the website does not drive people away thinking of spam- Raza

Name

Position

Internal / External

Role

Contact Information

Email/ Phone

Bruce Willis

Research project manager

Internal

Project Champion

bruce@gmail.com

Alex

Vice Chancellor

Internal

Project Sponsor

alex@gmail.com

Raza Ali Khan

Project Manager

Internal

Project Manager

raplusk8@gmail.com

Eric Kolarov

International expert on social media research

External

Consultant

erickolarov@gmail.com

Michael Cera

Team lead- Website development

External

Steering Committee member

michael@gmail.com

Hina Khan

Head of IT

Internal

Steering committee member

hinakhan@gmail.com

Name:

Bruce

Alex

Raza Ali Khan

Eric Kolarov

Michael Cera

Hina Khan

Organization:

Research project manager

Vice Chancellor

Project Manager

International expert on social media research

Team lead- Website development

Head of IT support

Role in project:

Project Champion

Project sponsor

Project Manager

Consultant

Steering Committee member

Steering Committee member

Unique facts:

Skilled MBA with great business acumen, an expert at juggling multiple projects.

Highly experienced professional, with a strict regard for timelines and quality of work.

Successfully handled a few IT projects, showing potential as a leader, although relatively less experienced.

A well known name in the social media space, with a PhD in psychology and a social media research.

Excellent technical skills and a real professional at delivering quality work under strict timelines.

Good technical skills and has a good say in all IT projects. Weary of external contractors and the quality of work they deliver.

Level of interest:

Very high

Very high

Very high

Low

Medium

Medium

Level of Influence:

Very high: Can call the shots.

Very high:

Calls the shots.

High: Subject Matter expert

Medium: An expert on social media research

Medium: Single point of contact to convey feedback and ensure it is acted on.

High: Gets her points across very well at meetings.

Suggestions on Managing relationship:

Ensure he reviews work and ask questions wherever required.

Keep informed of the progress and important milestones.

Have him constantly review work and get his signoff before managerial review.

Try to get him interested in the project more as his feedback would be crucial.

Ensure that he talks to Hina so that she and her team can be on the same page regarding the project and provide their input as well .

Get her involved in all parts of the project, so that she understands all crucial aspects so that the project handover becomes easier.

Milestones

Date

Status

Responsible

Issues / Comments

Initiating

Project Manager assigned

April 4, ‘13

Completed

Bruce

Business case created

April 14, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Project Charter signed

April 25, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Project Kickoff meeting held

May 2, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Planning

Scope statement completed

May 5, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Team contract signed

May 18, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Went well

WBS completed

May 26, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Prepare Schedule and cost baseline

June 1, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Prepare work Management schedule

June 23, ‘13

Completed

Raza

Discussed and reviewed with relevant stakeholders.

Identification, discussion and prioritization of risks complete

June 27, ‘13

Completed

Raza