you will work with a project team made up of your fellow students using basic project management skills to plan for the design, construction, outfitting, and stocking of a new retail store in Brazil for a US-based home improvement company. As this is the first time the company has opened a store in an international market, your team will blaze a new trial for the company and set the example for future international expansion.
This project will require you and your team to create several documents (using templates provided in the steps below or developing your own) to ensure that the new store is fully operational by the target date. You will have three weeks to complete all twelve steps.
Recall that by the end of Week 2 in Project 1, you should have completed several tasks in preparation for this project: (1) joined a team, (2) posted your team agreement to your group discussion area, (3) posted your project work plan to your group discussion area, (4) Accessed MS Project software for Project 2 on Aloft platform (see the link and instructions in the Discussion area) and got familiar with its features.
To get started, click Step 1: Become Familiar with Project Scope.
Step 1
Step 1: Become Familiar with Project Scope
A few hours after your call with Latoya Green, you receive an email from her executive assistant that defines the high-level deliverables and timelines for this project in a project statement of work (SOW).
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Deliverables and Timeline for Store Opening
From: Cassandra Seltzer, Executive Assistant, TCS, Inc.
To: You
Greetings,
You will need to know the high-level deliverables and timelines for this project, which can be found below in the(SOW).
The SOW for this project lists the following requirements:
design the new store building (including the garden center), parking lots, and landscaping
obtain required licenses and permits
prepare the site and lay the foundation
construct the new store building and finish the interior
construct the garden center
outfit the store with shelves, fixtures, and IT systems (e.g., communications and payment systems)
pave the parking lots and landscape the exterior of the store
stock the store with inventory (For this project, stick to a storewide, high-level inventory budget, though you may have to make estimates based on different product categories, such as lumber, hardware, appliances, etc.)
staff, hire, and train store personnel
The store should be prepared for opening in approximately 10 months.
The SOW specifically notes that your project scope does not include the following:
marketing or publicity
other actions and costs related to the operation of the new store
This project will require that you and your team create the following documents within the time frames described in this project, using standard templates provided in subsequent steps by TCS management or creating your own. These steps will ensure that the new store is fully operational by the target date. Those documents, described in detail later, include the following:
a project charter
a stakeholder management plan
a high-level work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project
a project schedule and a Gantt chart showing key project activities and the projects critical path
a high-level project cost estimate, with supporting justifications, for the new facility to be ready for operation by the assigned target date
a plan for hiring and training employees for a new store
a risk register that identifies at least 10 key project risks and the teams proposed responses for handling such risks
a procurement plan
a project management plan
Thank you for your attention. Our group will be in touch.
Cassandra Seltzer
From your client file on Terrapin Construction Supply, Inc., you are informed that there are five major product groups at each TCS store: plumbing and electrical supplies; building materials; hardware and tools; seasonal, garden, and yard items; and paint, flooring, and wall coverings.
Each TCS store has a store manager, assistant store manager, bookkeeper, information systems manager, a manager for each of the five major product groups, customer service employees to assist with purchases on the store floor, cashiers, receiving and stocking employees, and maintenance and janitorial employees.
In summary, you know a lot about what you need to have 10 months from now, but how will you get there? You do not have much experience with formal project management so you message a colleague who recently acquired a project management professional (PMP) certification.
In the next step, your friend delivers the requested help, outlining several key project management topics.
Step 2
In the previous step, you received a SOW and the authorized templates from the CEOs office. You also put out an SOS to a friend, who emails you the next day.
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Re: Help!
From: Jorge Linville
To: You
Got your message, good to hear from you and glad to hear youre still with Maryland Creative Solutions.
Sounds like a big project youve been tasked with. Im happy to help out where I can.
To begin, Id suggest doing some background reading to familiarize yourself with a few key topics. I’ll help get you get started:
First of all, you should know what a project is and what it isnt. Basically, you need an .
Next, youre going to need to understand how to apply , because these concepts are going affect a lot of other project components.
Youll need to draft a and understand the concepts of .
Youll also need to plan the nuts and bolts of the work to be done with a , and youll need to know how to determine the .
And of course, nothing is free, so youll need to understand .
Critically, you should understand so that you can actually develop a project risk register.
And youll need to be able to write a good .