Project Management Sample Strategy

You have been hired on as project manager for a university. Over the next 6 months you will be redesigning the Message Board. Your deliverable is to create a community-centered Message Board where students learn and socialize. Based on your readings on project management, what phases of project management would you have?

Phase one is project definition. Here my team will clearly define each of the projects goals and expected outcomes. We will decide what things are necessary for the successful completion of the project. In this project we will be redesigning the school's message board system. Our goals are to make the message board system easier to navigate, stable across all platforms, OS independent, and have faster load times.

Phase two is where we decide what needs to be done. Here our team will compile a list of all tasks necessary for the project, as well as the expected date of completion. For this project our tasks include redesign of site navigation. Ensuring the code is fully compliant and works across all browsers, Ensuring the code is OS independent, and optimizing code and design for a fast loading site. Each of these tasks will be assigned to a group. All aspects of the project have a six month completion deadline.

Phase three is resource gathering. In this phase our team will acquire all materials necessary to see the project through to implementation phase. Aside from acquiring necessary raw materials, this phase also includes managing man hours of team members and ensuring there is sufficient time and resources for all tasks to be completed. Phase four is budget. Here out team will reconcile projects needs with available funds.

Phase five is managing the project. The projects has begun, now we must ensure we are staying on schedule and on budget. We must ensure the changes we are implementing are effective and helpful as intended. The final phase prior to project implementation includes reporting progress and coping with any changes.

What kinds of questions would you ask?

The questions I would ask would include, How do we make site navigation easier? How do me make page load times faster? How do we ensure OS independence? How do we ensure fully compliant code that renders properly across all platforms? How do we perform all these tasks within the necessary time frame? Can we accomplish these tasks with the resources and budget provided?

How you would place your team? I would create four different teams each responsible for a different element of the sites overhaul. There would be a team for each of the following: Site navigation, Compliance and multiple browsers, OS independence, and Page load times. Each team would handle the coding aspect relative to their task. The team as a whole would create the new site layout and make all "appearance" design decisions in advance. List at least two problems you expect might arise. How would you address these issues? How would you assess if your Message Board is a success?

Creating a web site that works well, regardless of Operating System or browser used is challenging. I expect there will be difficulties and challenges along the way. Finishing any project on time and within budget is a challenge unto itself. One way to help ensure time and budget goals are met is to avoid changes to project scope without having equal changes to time and budget. The team will feel the message board project is successful if after implementation students find message board login and use to be easier and faster than it was previously. We have surveys pre-designed to elicit feedback on these issues after project implementation.

References

Rey, F. J. (n.d.). Project management 101. Retrieved Mar. 09, 2006, from about.com Web site: http://management.about.com/cs/projectmanagement/a/PM101.htm

Project managment basics. (n.d.). Retrieved Mar. 09, 2006, from skenterprises.net Web site: http://www.skenterprises.net/project/pr_helpbasics.htm