Case Scenario:
Project Wand is approaching us sooner than we expected in about 6 months from now, therefore, we need to schedule an overview meeting for the project stakeholders to identify and meet their expectations. Our meeting will take place Thursday July 20, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. in the Holliday Inn, Naperville, IL. We will be reviewing the primary project plan and getting as much inputs from the participants as possible to serve drive a successful project that requires a lot of organized thoughts and delegation.
Background/summary:
It is my responsibility as a project manager to ensure that every stakeholder’s expectations are documented and satisfied. It is essential that we get sign off from all stakeholders before beginning the project.
Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the project’s objectives and outcomes. The project management team must identify the stakeholders, determine their requirements and expectations, and, to the extent possible, manage their influence in relation to the requirements to ensure a successful project
The following are the selected stakeholders for PROVISION’s new wand release project.
Project manager – responsible for managing the project (PMBOK Guide, 2004, p. 26)
My name is Nidal Damati, I have been selected from the Product Development department/ software team, to lead this project. My experience in the software field will be a good asset in the process of updating and upgrading the new version of the software to be in compliance with the selected hardware.
Performing organization – is the enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in doing the work of the project. (Ten Step, 2006)
PROVISION is the performing organization. To continue to support doctors and patients, PROVISION is committed to ensuring the safest and best product it can deliver.
Customer – doctors and hospitals’ owners will be our major stakeholders who in turn will use our product, and will provide us with a valuable feedback about its performance.
Project team members – produce the outputs (deliverables) for the project; participate in the project management process; contribute their skills and effort to perform tasks. (Ten3 Business e-Coach, 2006)
For project New Wand, we will acquire resources from:
Product Development – to test the software fixes (already developed) going into the new wand release. Test that the new software and hardware work properly together.
Product Manufacturing – to design packaging indicating the new release and to provide upgrade instructions. (Banna, 2006) Product manufacturing will just need to stay abreast about what changes are being implemented in this release.
Product Distribution – to test the new procedures/instructions and to give feedback related to functional requirements. (Banna) Product distribution will need to work closely with product development and product manufacturing to understand all new changes/fixes and that the new instructions are accurate according to the changes/fixes.
Sales & Marketing – to create marketing campaigns and to have in person marketing calls with hospital administrations and doctors to educate them on the updates to the wand and the government safety regulations that were upgraded in the release.
Project management team – members of the project team who are directly involved in project management activities. (PMBOK Guide, p. 26)
It is important that the managers of the employees in the project team understand the importance of the project timelines and dedicate those employees’ times to only this project until completion.
Government agency – all provisions, changes and fixes to the new wand have to meet government safety regulations.
Potential Conflicts:
Project managers must manage stakeholder expectations, which can be difficult because stakeholders often have very different or conflicting objectives. For example:
• The manager of the manufacturing department may desire low cost, the system architect may emphasize technical excellence, and the programming contractor may be most interested in maximizing its profit.
Identified potential conflicts are disagreement amongst stakeholders as what the most important implementations are, who is responsible for each task and time and resources needed for each task. It is vital to the timeline of the project that each stakeholder agrees and signs off on their responsibilities. As stated earlier, the success of this project is dependent on each of us.
Banna, H. (2006) Live discussion for Unit 1. Retrieved July 13, 2006
Ten Step (2006) Project stakeholders. Retrieved on July 15, 2006 from:
https://www.tensteppb.com/2.3OrganizationalInfluences.htm
Ten3 Business e-Coach (2006) Project stakeholders, their roles and contributions. Retrieved July 15, 2006 from:
https://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/project_stakeholders.html
Klaassen, David. "The Provenance of Archives Under Library Administration: Organizational Structures and Organic Relationships." Journal of Library Administration 7, no. 2/3 (Summer/Fall 1986): 35-47.
Clemons, Eric K. "Evaluation of Strategic Investments in Information Technology." Communications of the ACM 34, no. 1 (January 1991): 22-36.