Design Phase Summary

23 September 2014

Professor Aref

South University

Offex Limited is in the business of selling office equipment in Boston and wishes to increase market visibility by having a presence on the Internet. The CEO of Offex Limited has assigned you the responsibility to analyze the requirements for building the company website.

· Project objective:

Projects aren’t done for fun—there must be a driving business need behind the decision to invest capital into a project. IT projects are risky: they fail, come in late, run over budget, and sometimes are never completed at all. Even the best project manager can wrestle with risks, issues, and unforeseen delays in IT project management; this is why management and stakeholders need assurance that there is a genuine need and return on investment for their organization’s efforts and funds. (Phillips, pg. 54) In this case the project needs to expand the reach of Offex Limited outside the Boston area. By having a presence on the internet they will have the capability of reaching customers globally instead of locally. The project would be considered successful if people or businesses outside of Boston are becoming customers. Here are some examples of what Offex might want to achieve.

Cut costs

Increase revenue.

Secure the organization’s technology assets.

Improve customer satisfaction.

Improve employee satisfaction.

Adhere to new or pending regulations.

Become more efficient.

· Manager's authority:

The project manager faces the daunting task of working with authority or functional managers. It makes it hard to make decisions on a project especially if it is a large project for a large business. In most cases a representative of the functional managing group should be working hand in hand with the project manager. The functional representative will have the authority and basically the intent of what they want in the project. They can also convey to the project manager without the conflict of project manager making the decision themselves. This can also help meet the milestones of a project based tasks. Project managers and the project team must follow the organizational governance for your organization and industry. Understanding how your organization does business, how the organization allows projects to move forward, and what’s expected of you as a project manager is paramount to project success. This also means the project manager must be aware of the standards, regulations, and best practices that will affect the planning and execution of the project. (Phillips, pg. 134)

· Project deliverables:

In project management a deliverable is a product or service that is given to your client. A deliverable usually has a due date and is tangible, measurable and specific. A deliverable can be given to either an external or internal customer and satisfies a milestone or due date that is created and produced in the project plan. A deliverable can be software product, a design document, a training program or other assets that is required by the project plan. (Burley, 2014) For Offex to be successful you would have to create a website that may be searchable through search engines (e.g. Google, Bing). The website must fit in the objective of the business. You may have to tie in a database, update emails and toll free phone numbers. This must be all completed on the date specified by the stakeholders and managed by the project manager with the assistance of the functional manager.

· Approach of the project:

I would use the six step approach to the project to successfully complete this project.

1. Identify the project. Have a clear idea of what the project involves and does it mesh with the objectives and intent of the business.

2. Determine the desired outcomes. Understand what the project goals are. Really meet with the stakeholders to set the goals and milestones so there are no communication gaps of what the outcomes are.

3. Delineate each of the projects component tasks. You need to indicate in thorough detail what’s involved in the project. Being specific with certain project based tasks will help in completing deliverables on time.

4. Identify the players. The stakeholders of the project are not the only important part of the project. You need to identify who is responsible for certain project based tasks and non-project based tasks. The responsibilities should be clearly outlined so that the project’s participants understand which person is responsible for which task.

5. Determine a time line for each project component. The project’s major components can be broken down into stages, and each of those stages might have its own segmented time frame. A GANTT CHART is a useful tool for keeping track of these time frames. It shows how long each task should take, but it also shows which tasks can be done at the same time and which must be done sequentially.

6. Review, revise, and reallocate. Run through these Rs on an ongoing basis. Review the status of each project component relative to that components completion date. If a particular project component is ahead of or behind schedule, take a look at your GANTT CHART and revise the start and completion dates of other components accordingly. In reviewing the project, you may find that you need to reallocate resources, whether that’s cash or people. Keep everyone informed and provide direction when change occurs. (Laurita, 2007)

Date / Time 23 September 2014 0900am

Location: Offex Conference Room

Meeting Objectives:

1. Venture of increasing market and visibility outside local area

2. To identify high level requirements and/or issues to obtain business objective in association with the project

3. To foster team building and establish working relationships and lines of communication

Attendees: CEO, CFO, Sales Managers, Project Manager, Project Teams

References: