Acme Project Management Training Program
Project Name: Acme Project Management Training Program
Executive Summary
The project was raised because inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in project management lead to 12.2% wastage of the aggregate amount spent in every project. The company has a limited annual project expense of $ 3 million; any slight loss of this money would mean the project goals would be hard to achieve. Therefore, the need to improve the competency and professionalize the project management teams made initiating a training and development program for the project managers and their teams necessary.
Improving the professionalism of the project managers and their teams align with Acme Company’s goal of becoming more project-oriented and improving efficiency and effectiveness to enable the company to grow more scalable manner.
The training will play a significant role in improving and ensuring effective implementation of the company’s projects in the future and ensure the efficient and effective use of the company’s resources. The
Goals
- The primary goal of the training program is to improve the professionalism of the project management team in Acme to enhance effective execution of strategic and tactical initiatives and ensure the success of the business.
- Create a pool of mission-driven teams with the ability to implement the strategic agenda of the organization and meet the project scope in the organization.
- Promote effective use of organizational resources and ensure timely execution of organizational projects.
Objectives
- The project’s primary objective is to impart the Acme project management team with skills and competency needed to improve their effectiveness in implementing Acme’s project.
- Initiate a training program to improve their project leadership competencies, improve communication skills, change management and scope management.
- Identify the need for investing in the training program.
Scope:
- What does the work of the project to meet goal include/not include?
| Work Includes | Work does not Include |
| Leadership training | Changing the organizational culture |
| Instilling project communication | Changing the project management team |
| Project scope management | Imposing new project managemnt requirements |
| Managing change of projects | Wasting organizational resources |
The scope of the project involves instilling the project management team with the necessary skills that will improve their efficiency and effectiveness in project implementation in Acme. The main work will involve instilling the project managers with project leadership skills, effective project communication skills, project scope management skills and managing change of projects (Araújo & Pedron, 2016). On the other, the project does not involve changing the organizational culture, changing the project management team and requirements and wasting organizational resources.
Phases ⁄ Deliverables:
The main components of the work needed to meet the objective of the project are improving project leadership skills, communication skills, scope management and change management in projects. In leadership training, the training program will involve imparting the project managers with skills needed in effective people management, influencing skills, team building skills, interpersonal communication skills and other skills needed to motivate and inspire teams. Communication training, the project managers, will be imparted with essential skills needed in active communication with stakeholders and project teams, managing conflicts and communicating goals and objectives of the projects effectively in organizations. Scope management training will involve imparting the project managers with skills needed to ensure that organizational projects proceed effectively through the essential phases from conception stage to completion. On the other hand, the managing change training will impact the project managers with skills needed to effectively manage changes to the project scope through effective risk management, effective planning, implementing and monitoring skills.
| Phase | Description of Phase | Deliverables | |
| Internal | External | ||
| Leadership Training | Imparting the project managers with leadership skills needed in the effective implementation of organizational projects. | Enhanced confidence in project management, motivate and inspire teams, team building and influencing project team members. | Increased competitiveness of the organization, improved organizational management and reduced waste of resources |
| Communication training | Impart the project managers with vital communication skills needed in the effective management of projects | Help team members develop an understanding of the project goals, benefits and objectives before committing resources, having a common language in describing project goals, improved awareness and ability to resolve conflict (Kumar, 2009). | Timely completion of the project. Improved stakeholder management and engagement |
| Scope management training | Project managers will acquire skills needed to ensure that organizational projects proceed effectively through the essential phases from conception stage to completion | Ensure acceptance of the final project, effective costing skills, detailed knowledge of scheduling and effective monitoring skills. | Earned value management, increased the growth of the organization and improved the financial status of the organization. |
| Project change management | The training will impart the project managers with skills needed to effectively manage changes to the project scope (Ahmed et al., 2013) | effective risk management, effective planning, implementing and monitoring skills to ensure project flexibility | Increased growth of the organization and improved the financial status of the organization. |
Assumptions:
- The project is intended to provide the Acme project managers with training to improve their effectiveness and efficiency in project management.
- One of the assumptions in the project is that the project manager will attain the competency and professional skills that the project was intended for.
- The second assumption is that the return on investment in the training project will outweigh the cost of the project.
- The other assumption is that all necessary resources will be available to support the implementation of the training project to completion and other projects will not be affected.
| Assumption | Rationale | The probability of Assumption being True | Impact to Project if Assumption is not True |
| The project manager will attain competency and professional skills | Abilities differ from one person to another, and the intended results will be achieved by imparting the managers with skills and competency required to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in project implementation | The probability of the project managers failing to acquire the skills intended by the training program is limited since if all standards and training goals are considered the program will be useful. | If the assumption is not, the organization will fail to attain effectiveness and efficiency in project management and hence fail to reach its growth and financial goals. |
| The return on investment in the training project will outweigh the cost of the project. | The value of any investment should have a long-term impact on the organization, and the benefits should outweigh the cost involved. Over $170,000 will be involved in the project against the backdrop of a small organizational budget. | The probability of the training program failing to generate long-term benefits that outweigh the cost involved is small since the managers involved in the training are professionals, and they will respond positively to the training. | If the assumption is not correct, the organization will lose significant resources ($170,000) and fail to achieve the projected 3% increases in profits in the first year and 4.5% in the second year. |
| All necessary resources will be available to support the implementation of the training project to completion | Time, funds, trainers and other supportive resources are required to make the project a success. However, the availability of the resources is limited to the level of budget available. | Setting out too many resources for the project may affect the implementation of the project in a large as the company experiences budgetary constraints. | If the assumption is not correct some of the essential projects in the organization may stall due to lack of funds. |
Risks:
| Risk | Supporting Detail (Analysis to be continued in Risk Management Plan/ Register) |
| Implementation of the project management training program may cause other projects to stop as the training will consume a significant chunk of the manager’s time. | The project managers are involved in the implementation of other projects within the organization and given that training project will take 8-10 weeks means that significant time will be lost. |
| Inaccurate cost estimates | It is possible that the cost estimates made for this project could be inaccurate as the implementation phase may raise new requirements that will need more resources. |
| Inaccurate dependencies | Inaccurate dependencies between trainers, stakeholders, and the trainees may cause the project to fail as each of them has a significant contribution to the project. |
Constraints:
Time is a significant constraint for this project. The project managers will have to act in their project management capacity and at the same time engage in the training program.
Consent forms all necessary stakeholders must be gotten before the project is implemented.
Financial constraint is another major challenge for this project. The organization has a small budget to cater for all organizational operations.
| Constraint | Supporting Detail |
| Financial constraint | The organization has a small budget for this training project ($170,000). The limited budget may fail to achieve all the intended goals for the project. |
| Time constraint | Time availability is another major challenge for this project. The project will take 8-10 weeks while projects managers involved in the training will be required to oversee the projects running in the organization. |
| Consent from All stakeholder | Consent from all stakeholders is needed for budget approval. This may cause delays in project implementation due to conflict of interests. |
Initial Project Sizing
- What are the estimated costs to complete this project (document variability, range, precision at this point)
- The project will cost a maximum of $175,000. The money will account for all expenses involved in the training project. The training will be divided into two weeks for every session
| Item code | Budget Item | 1st and 2nd weeks | 3rd and 4th weeks | 5th and 6th weeks | 7th and 8th weeks | Total | |
| 1. | Hiring trainers | $14,000 | $14,000 | $14,000 | $14,000 | ||
| 2. | Travel expenses | $1000 | $2000 | $1000 | $1000 | ||
| 3. | Supplies | $15,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | ||
| 4. | Equipments | $17,000 | |||||
| 5. | Printing and reproduction | $17,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | ||
| Total | $ 64,000 | $ 41,000 | $40,000 | $30,000 | $175,000 |
Benefit-Cost Analysis
| Benefits | Cost |
| Improved workflow efficiencies | $58,000 |
| Limited lose of project funds | $ 360,000 (12% of the $3000,000 project budget) |
| Enhanced productivity | $350,000 (3% increase in profits in the first year) |
| Total | $ 759,000 |
Cost-benefit is equal to (759,000-175,000) = $584,000
- What financial gains are there to doing/not doing this project?
High-Level Schedule:
- When are the phases/deliverables planned to begin/end?
| Phase/Deliverable | Time | ||||||||
Milestones:
- Reduced wastages in product funds by less than 3% in the first year after the training program.
- Improved project communication, team motivation, and satisfaction after six of the training program.
- Improved project flexibility and adjustment to changes after the first year of training.
Resource Requirements:
- What specialized resources are necessary to complete this project?
| Team Member | Role | Responsibility |
| Acme Directors | Sponsor | Acting as the project’s titleholder and so long as the path and upkeep to the team. He will approve the appeal for finance, support the project scope signified in this document, and sets the precedence of the project comparative to other projects. |
| C.E.O | Project Manager | He will perform the day-to-day administration of the project and has specific responsibility for managing the scheme within the permitted constrictions of scope, quality, time and cost, to bring the specified supplies, deliverables and customer fulfilment. |
Management Approaches:
- How will the risk be managed?
A risk register will be created identifying all possible risks, their potential and likelihood impact. Risk response strategies will be developed and individuals assigned to deal with the risks.
| Communication Type | Stakeholders | Frequency | Agenda/ Content | Responsible | Distribution Media |
| Interactive communication | Trainers, suppliers, trainers, sponsors and organization management | Everyday | To provide a better chance to elucidate the project status, with charts, examination, and can get instant feedback from shareholders, which will alter project plans according to the inputs given by the investors. | Project manager | live chat, and phone calls |
| Push Communication | Trainees (project managers) | Everyday | sending meeting notes, and other information to the trainees | Project Manager | Memos and Emails |
| Pull Communication | Project sponsors and stakeholders | After every one month | To communicate the milestones achieved in the training program, training sessions covered and the impact it has had on the organization | Project manager | Notice board |
Sign-offs/Reviews:
| Reviews | |||||||
| Sponsor | 12th May 2019 | ||||||
| Customer | 13th May 2019 | ||||||
| Project Manager | 4th April 2019 |
Acceptance Criteria:
| Acceptance Criteria | Detail | Priority | Requestor |
| Return on Investment | The benefits of the training project should outweigh the cost involved in the training process | Improve efficiency and effectiveness in project management | Sponsor |
| Business Growth | Promote implementation of quality projects in the future and reduce resource wastage during project implementation to ensure organizational growth | Increased financial returns and business expansion | Stakeholders |
| Competent Project Manager | Create a pool of competent and quality project managers who play a vital role in the success of the organization | Impart Project managers with the right skills to manage projects effectively. | C.E.O |
Impacted ⁄ Interdependent Projects
| Project | Interdependency Relationship |
| Sponsor s | They will be relied on for project funding, determining project direction and priorities. |
| Suppliers | They will be depended on for timely delivery of supplies and equipment needed to make the project a success. |
| Trainers contracted | They will be relied upon to provide timely training services that meet the intended quality |
Recommendations
Increase resource allocation for the project- The resources set aside for the project are too limited for the training program to achieve all the intended goals.
Consider involving the team members- Project team members play a very critical role in the success of project management. It is vital for the organization to consider expanding the project to involve the project team members to equip them with vital skills needed in useful implementation projects.
References
Ahmed, R., Azmi bin Mohamad, N., & Tahir, M. (2013). The essence of project leadership is significant to project management. Research Journal of Recent Sciences, 2(5), 44-48.
Araújo, C., & Pedron, C. D. (2016). The Importance of Soft Skills and its Project Managers’ Personality Type. Intern. Journal of Profess. Bus. Review, 1(1), 40-59.
Kumar, V. S. (2009). Essential leadership skills for project managers. In PMI® Global Congress 2009—North America, Orlando, FL. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
