Project Management – Assignment 3

Project Management – Assignment 3

Robin, a senior consultant for a large consulting firm, was just assigned to be the project manager for a $100 million project to upgrade the information systems for the state Department of corrections. Robin’s boss and mentor, Jill, knew that Robin had a lot of potential and wanted to give her a challenging assignment. Robin had a lot of experience with the technology involved in the project, but she had never worked with the state government and she knew little about the state legal system. Her firm assigned its top legal person, Fred to assist Robin. Fred had worked on several projects with the state and understood the correction process, but his expertise was in law, not technology. Fred had also never worked for a woman before and he was surprised that robin was ten years younger than he was.

At the kickoff meeting for the projects, Robin could see that understanding and meeting stakeholder needs and expectations for the project would be a huge challenge. The new governor attended the first few minutes of the meeting, an indicator of the high profile of the project. The governor, who was known for not trusting consultants, questioned the value of spending more money on information systems for the Department of Corrections, but the decision to fund this project had been made before he was elected. The federal government would be funding half of this project, since the new system would have to interact with the new federal system. The head of the state Department of corrections, Donna knew the correction process and the problems they faced, but she knew very little about information systems and preferred doing work the old-fashioned way. She had heard horror stories about inmates released because of computer errors. Donna’s new assistant, Jim was very computer savvy and seemed most supportive of the project. No federal representatives were invited to the meeting. The meeting did not go well, as it seemed disorganized and highly political.

Part 1: Prepare a stakeholder analysis for this project using the sample table provided. Then write a memo to Robin’s boss, Jill making suggestions on what top management could do to help robin manage this challenging project.

Answer:

Robin should ask for support for the project from the top management in her memo, and set for some special meeting with senior management.

or

Part 2: As part of the project planning, Robin and her team decide to emphasize the importance of communications. They decide to document a process for communicating with stakeholders, especially for status review meetings and change control. They plan to discuss these drafts documents with their key stakeholders to reach agreement and get off to a good start. Write a draft document describing the process for status review meetings and a process for change control. Include templates of key documents that could be used in both processes, such as an agenda for a monthly status review meeting and a change request form.

Answer:

• View project management as a process of constant communication and negotiation
• Plan for change
• Establish a formal change control system, including a change control board
• Use effective configuration management
• Define procedures for making timely decisions about smaller changes
• Use written and oral performance reports to help identify and manage change
• Use project management software and other software to help manage and communicate changes
• Focus on leading the project team and meeting overall project goals and expectations

KEY STAKEHOLDERS