Project requirement: Utilize the attached PROJECT CHARTER and STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT PLAN templates to develop a project charter and stakeholder management plan for the project. Please ensure that the project directions are read thoroughly and that you read the attachment titled “Intro to Proj” prior to starting the charter and stakeholder management plan.
Start Here:
In this three-week team project, you will work with a project team made up of your fellow students using basic project management skills to plan for the design, construction, outfitting, and stocking of a new retail store in Canada for your US-based home improvement company. As this is the first time your company has opened a store in an international market, your team is going to be blazing a new trail for the company and setting the example for future international expansion.
This project will require you and your team to create several deliverables using templates provided in the steps below to ensure that the new store is fully operational by the target date. You will have three weeks to complete all nine steps.
When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below to self-check your work before submission.
• 1.7: Create neat and professional looking documents appropriate for the project or presentation.
• 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem.
• 2.3: Evaluate the information in a logical and organized manner to determine its value and relevance to the problem.
• 3.1: Identify numerical or mathematical information that is relevant in a problem or situation.
• 3.4: Employ software applications and analytic tools to analyze, visualize, and present data to inform decision-making.
• 4.1: Lead and/or participate in a diverse group to accomplish projects and assignments.
• 4.2: Demonstrate the ability to plan and execute a project, articulating clear objectives and goals for the team.
• 4.3: Contribute to team projects, assignments, or organizational goals as an engaged member of a team.
• 4.4: Demonstrate diversity and inclusiveness in a team setting.
• 6.1: Identify the general (external) environment in which an organization operates and discuss the implications for enterprise success.
• 11.1: Recommend strategic plan for the use of technology to meet the strategic goals of organization.
• 13.2: Create and implement new initiative or enterprise.
Step 1
A few hours after your meeting with the CEO, you receive an e-mail from her executive assistant that defines the high-level deliverables and timelines for this project in a project statement of work (SOW).
The SOW for this project lists the following requirements:
• design the new store building, garage, parking lots, and landscaping
• obtain required licenses and permits
• prepare the site and lay the foundation
• construct the new store building and finish the interior
• construct the garage and garden center
• outfit the store with shelves, fixtures, and IT systems (e.g., communications and payment systems)
• pave the parking lots and landscape the exterior of the store
• stock the store with inventory (For this project, stick to a store-wide, high-level inventory budget, though you may have to make estimates based on different product categories, such as lumber, hardware, appliances, etc.)
• hire, train, and staff store personnel
The SOW specifically notes that your project scope does not include the following:
• marketing or publicity
• other actions and costs related to operation of the new store
In addition, the e-mail contains a list of documents and templates. This project will require you and your team to create the following deliverables within the time frames described in this project, using standard templates provided by TCS management to ensure that the new store is fully operational by the target date. Those deliverables, described in detail later, include the following:
• a project charter
• a stakeholder management plan
• a high-level work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project
• a risk register that identifies 5–10 key project risks and the team’s proposed responses for handling such risks
• a Gantt chart showing key project activities and the project’s critical path
• a high-level project cost estimate, with supporting justifications, for the labor, materials, and overhead for the new facility to be ready for operation by the assigned target date
• a project management plan
You know from working in previous positions within TCS that there are five major product groups at each TCS store: plumbing and electrical supplies; building materials; hardware and tools; seasonal, garden, and yard items; and paint, flooring, and wall coverings.
Each TCS store has a store manager, assistant store manager, bookkeeper, information systems manager, a manager for each of the five major product groups, customer service employees to assist with purchases on the store floor, cashiers, receiving and stocking employees, and maintenance and janitorial employees.
In summary, you know a lot about what you need to have 10 months from now, but how will you get there? You do not have much experience with formal project management. So you message a friend who recently acquired a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. In the next step, your friend delivers the requested help, outlining several key project management topics.
Step 2
In the previous step, you received a SOW and the authorized templates from the CEO’s office. You also put out an SOS to a friend, who e-mails you the next day:
Hi there,
I think you should do some background reading on the Internet to familiarize yourself with a few key topics:
• First of all, you should know what a project is and what it isn’t. Basically, you need an introduction to project management.
• Next, you’re going to need to understand how to apply project management processes and the triple constraint, because these are going affect a lot of other project components.
• You’ll need to draft a project charter and understand the concepts of stakeholders and stakeholder management.
• You’ll also need to plan the nuts and bolts of the work that needs to be done with a work breakdown structure (WBS) and Gantt charts, and you’ll need to know how to determine the critical path.
• And of course, nothing is free, so you’ll need to understand project cost estimating and project procurement.
• Critically, you should understand project risk and risk register so that you can actually develop a project risk register.
• And you’ll need to be able to write a good project management plan overview.
Those are the basics, at least. Hope this helps, and good luck!
Step 3
Now that your team has established guidelines for communication and accountability on this project, the team will develop a project charter using the provided project charter template. The Project Charter will be included in your final report in Week 3 and will guide your development of the project management plan. Note that CEO Latoya Green is your project sponsor and the key stakeholder who must approve and sign the project charter.
When you have completed your project charter, continue to the next step, where you will develop a stakeholder management plan.
Step 4
In previous steps, TCS management provided you with information and templates for this project, your team set guidelines to work together effectively, and you used that information to develop a project charter for the CEO to approve. You are ready to begin thinking about stakeholders and stakeholder management.
Develop a stakeholder management plan using the provided stakeholder management plan template. The stakeholder management plan should identify potential stakeholders by their general role, such as CFO, local government, vice president of marketing, etc. There is one exception: You must name Latoya Green as your project sponsor.
When you have completed your stakeholder management plan, continue to the next step, where you will develop a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.
ATTACHMENTS:
STEP 1 : Proj statement of work
STEP 2: Introduction to project management, project planning, project management overview, framework for project management, project management processes and triple constraint, project scope, project schedule and time management, project costs, project phases, project charter, project charter and example, defining the project charter, your project needs a charter.., stakeholders and stakeholder management, stakeholder management
STEP 3: Project charter, project charter template
STEP 4: stakeholders and stakeholder management, stakeholder management plan template