Problem:
The CRM implementation of the project has been underway for three months. Ben has been reviewing the invoices from the IT vendor that is providing design and programming services for the CRM implementation. Ben is working with this vendor on a number of different projects, and there are a handful of people that work on multiple projects for him, including the CRM implementation. He just told you that there are some problems with the invoices, and he's not sure what to do about them:
George is working on the CRM implementation and two other smaller projects. His hours look o.k. when Ben first looks at them. However, when Ben adds up George's hours for the past month across all three projects, they total more than 65 hours per week. Ben knows that George is barely on-site more than four hours per day and doesn't feel that George is producing anything close to 65 hours of work.
Two hours per day were billed for Louise for a week when she was on vacation. As far as Ben knows, Louise was not invited to any project conference calls, nor were any critical project emails sent to her during that time.
The rate for Betsy increased by 15% half-way through the second invoice. No explanation was given.
Nothing was billed for Ron his entire first month on the project.
Provide a memo that you will send to the vendor contact. Be sure to raise your concerns and identify the next steps you want the vendor to take. Accompanying your memo, provide some guidance to Ben on what to do next. Then, respond to one other post as the vendor, addressing the project manager's concerns.