Project Initiation – Case study

Question: Describe about the Project Initiation Case study. Answer: Introduction: In accordance with the task requirement criteria an attempt shall be considered to address the mentioned tasks of this particular assignment. The major inclusions of this assignment are a brief SWOT analysis based on the information provided in the case scenario, a blueprint of project charter plan and a communication plan relevant to the topic of discussion. SWOT ANALSIS This segment shall perform a brief SWOT analysis in compliance to the details provided in the given case scenario: Strength: The geographical location of the school with respect to its recognition The presence of few number of student in per class as an approach to effectively management the students The inclination towards adapting the applications of information and technology The presence of requisite amount of financial support for incorporation of information and technology setup within the school The positive response of the school administration towards incorporation of inputs fro PWC and co. PWC Weakness: The lack of awareness regarding the operational benefits of information and technology system within the staff members of the school The absence of the required man power to handle the student management related tasks The small operational network of the school with presence of mostly part time teachers Opportunities: The initiatives and support given by the higher administrative segment towards incorporation of information and technology system within the school The presently embedded operational division in the school has eased the development of IT setup The positive approach of the school administration towards incorporation of a IT development plan along with a proper mission and vision The high budget sanctioned by school administration Threat: The increasing pressure of student population The lesser number of staffs and teachers present in the school The absence of proper information technology support system to handle the administrative works and management issues of the school The time duration (only 3 months) that has been allotted for development of information and technology support system within the school Prepare Project Charter Basic details of the project: Project name: IT infrastructure establishment in Willow Brook School, Midwest, United States Email address of the project manager: Project tenure: 3 months Project budget: $80000.00 Project objectives: To embed an effective and stable IT support system within the school in order to ease and fasten the administrative and management works of the school To reduce the pressure of manual handling of school records and also to minimise the occurrence of errors while copying of information from one document to another To aid in effective management of the student records To improve the operational efficiency of the school administration To aid in strengthening the expansion niche of the school Primary deliverables of the project: Installation of internet line and internet connection within the administrative blocks of the school. Installation of computer system with Microsoft Office and PDF converter software Installation of relevant software that aid in checking the errors in the texts (eg: Grammerly software) Installation of Linux operating system and BASIC Installation of Google Chrome and Firefox Mozilla within each system Limitations of the project: The project will not include installation of computer language software namely C+, C++, Java, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, Algol and Prolog Acceptance Criteria of the Project: The delivery of resources particularly the materials required for installation of IT support system within the school is an important criterion related with the project. Apart from this obtaining feedback from PwC regarding the project is another criterion. It is also required to complete the IT support system within the stipulated time before the beginning of the new academic session (Garton McCulloch, 2012). Assumptions and Constraints of project: The primary limitation of this project is mainly the stipulated time period. Additionally availability of adequate space for setting up of the new IT infrastructure can also be a limitation (Wiegers, 2010). Stakeholders List: Executive Director of the school Victoria Ownes, Principal Mrs. Kathy Giliard, Administrative assistant Michelle Madrid, Susan Brown and the other teachers and administrative staff members associated with Willow Brook school of Midwest, United States are the major stakeholders attached with this particular project. Lessons learnt: It is always better to obtain the official permission before beginning of the project related work as to avoid the occurrence of undesired official conflicts. Further it is also a wise decision to specify all the requirements of the project along with an estimate of the expenses for this project for smoothing operation of the project work (Oosthuizen Venter, 2011). Charter Sign off: It is mandatory for every individual who have been enlisted in the stakeholders list to produce their complete signature in the project consent document and other related papers before beginning of the project work. Prepare Communications Plan: One of the primary requirements for initiation of an IT developmental project is formulation of a communication plan that should be relevant and also suffice the key requirements of the project operational activities. Prior presenting the detailed communication plan it is important to have an insight regarding the lateral, downward and upward communication process. The lateral or horizontal communication process reflect information exchange between professionals holding similar ranks with respect to their designation with an organization while downward communication include the practice of information sharing with the lower strata (Jones, 2007). The information sharing process with the higher strata in the professional domain is considered as upward communication plan. For development of this particular project communication plan is very essential and priority has been given towards both upward and downward communication process. The major stakeholders who have been included within t his communication plan are the principal; vice principle the teachers and the administrative staff of the concerned school (Purba Shah, 2000). Furthermore greater emphasis shall be given to convey information regarding the developmental status of the project, details regarding the amount of fund invested and the further official and other requirements of this project. Also the details regarding the purchase of resources have also been considered to be communicated by upward communication process. However providing the required information of how should the implemented IT support system can be useful for the employees has also been included within this particular plan. In context of frequency of communicating with the employees of the school fortnightly meeting with the schools stakeholders has been considered in order share the project status and other issues related with the project (Wiegers, 2010). Face to face communication or through kickoff meetings has been considered as a process of communicating. Project report presentation on monthly basis to the board of directors of the schools is included within the communicatio n plan. Hence the main purpose of communication plan is to deliver updated information regarding the project status to the school administration. However any changes or modifications in project that are require to be discussed with the school administration has also been included within the plan. The school office has been decided as the venue for exchange of project information (Dinsmore Cabanis-Brewin, 2011). Conclusion: In consideration to the information provided in the previous segments of this particular assignment it can be inferred that the task requirements were critically addressed. References: Dinsmore, P. Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2011).The AMA handbook of project management. New York: American Management Association. Garton, C. McCulloch, E. (2012).Fundamentals of Technology Project Management. Chicago: MC Press. Jones, R. (2007).Project management survival. London: Kogan Page. Oosthuizen, T. Venter, R. (2011).Project management in perspective. Southern Africa: Oxford University Press. Purba, S. Shah, B. (2000).How to manage a successful software project. New York: Wiley. Wiegers, K. (2010).Practical Project Initiation. Sebastopol: Microsoft Press.