Concordia University Chicago

Master’s Program

Student: Nick Fleming

Nick.Fleming@cuchicago.edu

Assignment Title: Project Management of Improvisational Sales Training

Implementation
Date of Submission: 12/03/2020
Assignment Due Date: 12/03/2020

Course: Project Management for Instructional Design - IDT-6500

Section Number: 1
Semester/Term: Fall 2020 – 2nd 8 weeks
Course Instructor: John Schnack

Certification of Authorship: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I
received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. I also have cited any
sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. I certify that
this paper was prepared by me specifically for the purpose of this assignment, as directed.

Student’s Signature:

Confidential
Fleming-Nick_Project-Charter-FINAL
Last printed on 12/11/2020 9:18:00 PM
 Project Charter

Project Charter Document

Project Name: Improve Sales through Improv Techniques

Department: Housewares Retail
Focus Area: Sales Training Solution
Product/Process: Improvisational Sales Training Implementation

Prepared By
Document Owner(s) Project/Organization Role
Nick Fleming Instructional Designer/Project Manager

Project Charter Version Control

Version Date Author Change Description
1 10/22/2020 Nick Fleming Document created

2 11/29/2020 Nick Fleming Made updates to following areas:

 Project Scope (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4)
 Project Conditions (5.1, 5.3, 5.4)
 Project Structure Approach
 Project Team Organization Plans
3 12/2/2020 – Nick Fleming Made updates to following areas:
12/3/2020  Project Name, Dept., Focus Area, &
Product
 Project Scope (4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6)
 Project Conditions (5.2, 5.4)

4 12/10/2020 Nick Fleming Made updates to following areas:

–  Project Conditions (5.3)
12/11/2020  Overall formatting & Table of Contents
 Logo
 Project Closure Events
 Approvals

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 Project Charter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 PROJECT CHARTER PURPOSE .................................................................................. 4

2 PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................. 4

3 PROJECT OVERVIEW .................................................................................................. 5

4 PROJECT SCOPE ......................................................................................................... 6

4.1 Goals and Objectives ............................................................................................ 6

4.2 Departmental Statements of Work (SOW) ........................................................... 6

4.3 Organizational Impacts ......................................................................................... 7

4.4 Project Deliverables .............................................................................................. 7

4.5 Deliverables Out of Scope .................................................................................... 8

4.6 Project Estimated Costs & Duration ..................................................................... 8

5 PROJECT CONDITIONS ............................................................................................... 8

5.1 Project Assumptions ............................................................................................. 8

5.2 Project Issues ....................................................................................................... 9

5.3 Project Risks ......................................................................................................... 10

5.4 Project Constraints ............................................................................................... 10

6 PROJECT STRUCTURE APPROACH .......................................................................... 10

7 PROJECT TEAM ORGANIZATION PLANS .................................................................. 11

8 PROJECT CLOSURE EVENTS ..................................................................................... 12

9 APPROVALS .................................................................................................................. 12

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1 PROJECT CHARTER PURPOSE

I have always worked well with more defined boundaries. I will have to approach this course
by paying close attention to the readings for tips on how to think and work outside of my own comfort
zone. I have found being a self-learner challenging quite often, working myself into a panic when I
have homework/projects due and feeling like at any moment someone might call me out for being a
fraud. I need to work through my anxiety about impending deadlines and focus on the fact that I am
now more than halfway through the MS-IDT program and I have been doing well. I need to lean
heavily on progressive elaboration and accept my imperfections as perfection in the moment
(LaBrosse, 2013).
It is up to me to engage more with my classmates through their posts and projects so that I
may find ways to fine tune my own ideas. I am definitely more detail oriented. As I said above I often
have to remind myself of the big picture so I can relax looking back at the progress I’ve already
made. Then I can go back to taking on my tasks one at a time.
I think for my actual management of a project, I would focus on picking the right people to fill
the gaps I cannot. For example, I am not a very good cheerleader. I am good at providing facts and
reasoning much more than I am at eliciting enthusiasm for projects. I would look for someone on the
team to help garner enthusiastic support from stakeholders and participants in the training.

LaBrosse, M. (2013, October 15). Seven strategies to advance your career with project
management. https://pmhut.com/seven-strategies-to-advance-your-career-with-project-
management

2 PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 Project Goals Increase effective employee-customer engagement
Increase sales and build customer longevity

 Objectives Improve employee confidence in speaking with customers

Change a sales interaction to a store experience
Apply improvisational skills to real world sales scenarios

 Scope By participating in improvisational professional development activities

both seasoned and freshman sales associates can foster richer
engagements with customers. Changing a transactional interaction to a
sales experience will improve both sales quotas and promote customer
longevity.

 Assumptions Sales associates do want to be successful in sales. Through learning

more about the products and how to adapt to various buyer
personalities they can make more effective product suggestions.
Some buyers will not be swayed by any sales techniques, but they
might remember a suggestion or attitude for a future need and return to
the store.

 Risks Introverts may shy away from the improv training

The initial buy-in of entertainment based techniques transferring to a
business setting may be difficult to obtain.

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 Costs Employee wages during training

Facility if training cannot be done in store
Trainer wages
Lunches and incentive prize for morale

 Timeline Proposal
Team leader designation and planning
Execute training modules
Evaluation
Review and analyze final results
Report to executive leadership

 Approach Critical approach: since I am not dealing with development of new

technology for my training, I do not anticipate the need for many
iterations throughout. I would expect to complete the project in the
shortest possible timeline and sticking to it in order to maintain
stakeholder interest.

 Organization The entire concept of this workplace training is based on understanding

human interactions. Sales associates who can more effectively
participate in conversational aspects of sales will more effectively sell
products and the overall store experience to the customer. Customers
who buy into the store experience are more likely to become lifelong
supporters of its brand.

3 PROJECT OVERVIEW
This project will include development and implementation of a hybrid (face to face and online)
training program wherein sales associates at a housewares retail store can learn to better
interact with customers through improvisational and acting workshops as well as informational
product videos. These techniques in addition to increased product knowledge can give sales
associates an edge in increasing their sales numbers as well as the meaningfulness of the
store experience for customers, thereby increasing potential for customer longevity.
Associates are selling the store’s brand to the customer with every transaction instead of just
the products themselves.

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4 PROJECT SCOPE
4.1 Goals and Objectives
Goals
Increase overall profits at
the store more than 4%
(between increasing
sales and decreasing
returns/cancelations)
over the same quarter
from the previous year.
Engage customers more
effectively, encouraging
customer longevity
4.2 Departmental Statements of Work (SOW)
Departmental SOW
Budget and decide
organizational goals
Prioritize and organize
information to be pushed
for instructional videos
Perform needs
assessment utilizing
secret shopper surveys
Design training sessions,
working with
improvisational coaches
and marketing team
Implement Training
Evaluate Training
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Project Charter
Objectives
1. In conjunction with building product knowledge, train
sales team and floor managers using business
improvisational techniques.
2. Utilize training to better incorporate product knowledge
into each transaction conversationally to encourage
add-on items and to provide customers with exactly the
right product they need.
3. Apply learning to sales interactions to more confidently
exhibit the welcoming store experience as designated
by corporate.
4. Approach customers with the story of the sale in mind;
find the need the customer is trying to meet (gift for
mother-in-law for example) and strive to exceed it at
every point. If this is the best gift the mother-in-law has
ever received the gift giver will return next time they
need a gift.
5. Conversationally bring up the benefits of the store
credit card when appropriate beyond just at the point of
sale.
Owner/Prime Due Date/Sequence
Store Management/General Days 1 & 2
Manager
Marketing Week 1
General Manager Weeks 1 & 2
Instructional Designer Weeks 2 & 3
General Manager and Weeks 4 & 5
Improv Coaches
Project Manager Weeks 6, 10, and 18
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4.3 Organizational Impacts

Organization Impact to and Participation of Organization

Individual Store Increased revenue and further investment in
employees / participating in the training itself.
Regional Management Judging the value of the training, can implement
at other stores in the area expecting similar
increases in profit.
Company As a whole, the company could further implement
this training for its sales teams and expect better
brand recognition and word of mouth praise from
consumers in addition to higher profits.

4.4 Project Deliverables

Milestone Deliverable
1. Training Modules  Instructional videos created – What makes this
Designed organization’s product special? When should one
item be chosen over another similar item and vice
versa? This is what sales associates learn through
these videos which will consist of three 20 minute
sessions.
 Improv Training designed – Improv coaches and
instructional designers will have the staff meetings
mapped out to include ice breaker sessions,
demonstrations of effective communication, and
assignments for each group of sales associates.
2. Training Implemented  Sales associates have completed first improv training
session.
 They complete their 60 minutes of product
knowledge training throughout the next 14 days.
 Two weeks after the first session, sales team has
completed the second improv training session,
incorporating the skills and knowledge learned into
their own improvised and written scenes.
3. Training Evaluated  Check in again using secret shoppers to assess
application of training tools to on the job behavior.
 A full sales quarter after the training concluded,
compare KPIs to the same quarter of the previous
year.

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4.5 Deliverables Out of Scope

I believe the store will have a much more confident sales staff after the training is complete.
For some individuals the benefits of this training might extend to their lives outside work.
Using the techniques and principals of improvisation can help people become more active
listeners in their everyday lives. Beyond that, performing the scenes will be fun and hopefully
entertaining. The sales staff will get to share in a more playful experience with each other as
well as their managers, strengthening their working relationship and boosting morale. Staff
members can feel bolstered to work with management to build their store up, perhaps to
compete with other locations’ KPIs.

4.6 Project Estimated Costs & Duration

Project Date Confidence

Milestone Estimate Deliverable(s) Included Level
1.Training 02/25/2019- Instructional Videos – Wages paid to Medium – We
Modules 03/09/2019 instructional designer and 1 or 2 know our own
Designed marketing staff members (salary). costs, but hiring
Improv Training – Designer works with two different
improv coaches & secret shoppers. outside parties is
a large variable.

Training 03/24/2019- 1st Improv Session – 2 hours wages High – The store
Implemented 03/24/2019 for entire sales staff, managers has had
(salary), as well as the rate for the meetings of this
coaches for off-hours meeting. size and duration
Product Knowledge Videos – Web enough times to
hosting the videos, store paying for a know the cost. By
slight increase to staffing to cover the now we know
floor while staff members take time to what the improv
participate. coaches cost.
2nd Improv Session – Same as 1st.

Training 03/25/2019- Secret shoppers paid to return and High

Evaluated 07/10/2019 evaluate.
Instructional designers working with
store management to determine KPI
development.

5 PROJECT CONDITIONS

5.1 Project Assumptions

 Sales associates could use more confidence in speaking with customers effectively.
Through this they can more efficiently incorporate sales pitches for add-on products into
their conversations.

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 Improvisation skills help build confidence in finding the right thing to say in the moment,
assuming that there is a performative aspect to a sales person’s interaction with
customers.
 Some sales will not directly be affected by these techniques. For example, a customer
coming in just to buy one specific item may leave with exactly that one same item, so we
also want to sell the idea of the store experience to them. They will be more likely to visit
this store again next time they need something sold there.

5.2 Project Issues

Priority Criteria
1 − High-priority/critical-path issue; requires immediate follow-up and resolution.
2 − Medium-priority issue; requires follow-up before completion of next project milestone.
3 − Low-priority issue; to be resolved prior to project completion.
4 − Closed issue.

Status &
# Date Priority Owner Description Resolution
1 02/19/2019 2 Store Managing Staff Schedules Must be decided
Manager - The store has to confirm before moving
that the project timeline forward to the
will work for their sales next step.
staff. They need to get as Luckily they
close to 100% of their should already
staff as possible to two have experience
meetings which are two planning this
weeks apart. They also same sort of
need to coordinate how to training.
cover the floor while an
associate or two leave to
watch videos.
2 02/18/2019 1 Project Determining how best to We would have
Manager mitigate costs of the two to bring in the
third-party entities. improv coaches
ourselves, but
the store might
already have a
contract with a
secret shopper
company. If all
goes well
perhaps we
would hire our
own in house
trainers and
shoppers for
future versions
of the training.

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5.3 Project Risks

# Risk Area Likelihood Risk Owner Project Impact-Mitigation Plan

1 Shy sales Medium Improv More reserved sales associates
associates Coaches need this part of the training more
may not than others and may shy away from
participate participating as much as more
extraverted sales people (who may
already exhibit more of the skills we
are teaching). The improv coaches
should have tools in place to help
break the ice with more reserved
participants. Hopefully they can call
on them to participate without
embarrassing them and causing
further introversion.

2 Gaining Medium Project There may be some initial

initial by-in Manager hesitation from management to
of implement entertainment-based
managers business training. The concept of
to improv skills used for business is
implement not new and is more mainstream
this type of than it was in the past. Provide
training articles and case studies of past
successes in this area.

5.4 Project Constraints

 Time is an issue when it comes to planning the meetings with the full sales staff. We have
to schedule them all together during a time in which the store is closed.
 We also have to allow for associates to break from the sales floor during the week to
watch the instructional videos. Any time someone leaves the floor we have to make sure
there will be enough coverage.
 Paying for two separate third-party entities (secret shoppers and improv coaches) in
addition to the instruction design team will raise the cost.

6 Project Structure Approach

This project happens over a very short period of time with several activities happening
simultaneously at the beginning. I will use the Critical Path Method to track and manage the
activities as they need to happen. The actual training period only lasts about a week really
and it is dependent on design of the different training modules incorporating information from
a needs assessment. While secret shoppers are reporting their surveys to managers for the
needs assessment, the marketing team is prioritizing what information is most important for
sales stuff to recall during sales. These activities funnel into the design, which then leads to
the implementation of the training itself. There will not be much slack in the critical path
through these activities. Keeping everything moving quickly is vital in this project since we do
not have much time overall. Any time is we ask the sales staff to come in for training in

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addition to their time spent on the actual sales floor is precious and sparse. They will become
irritated if they have to come in too often on days they would otherwise have off or a shorter
shift.

7 Project Team Organization Plans

Project Team Role Project Team Member(s) Responsibilities

Trainers Improv Coaches (2) Instruct sales staff in
General Manager thinking about their
interactions with customers
within this new framework.
Exhibit the behavior we want
to see on the sales floor.
Designers Instructional Designer To design instructional
Marketing videos which will provide the
most impactful, but practical
product knowledge
Assessment Managers Decide which areas are
Secret Shoppers lacking and relate that
information back to Design
team so that special
attention can be given to
those areas. Assess the
results and transfer of
training over the weeks and
months following the event.
Sales Team Furniture Associates Attend first training session
Housewares Associates Follow up with instructional
videos and plan for the
second session.
Attend second session and
participate in scenes
demonstrating the new
knowledge and skills gained.
Transfer knowledge and
skills to their work on the
sales floor.

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8 PROJECT CLOSURE EVENTS

Milestone Deliverable
Post Mortem Meeting Meet with stakeholders and determine what parts of the
project worked and what did not. Hopefully sales
increased and the secret shoppers found the store
experience more pleasant and personable, less
transaction-like. We want the stakeholders to feel like
we delivered what we promised. From here we can
decide if we want to pursue this training at other stores
and/or repeat the training at this location at a later date.
We will use notes from this meeting to tweak the parts
of the training that need work to make it more
successful in future iteration.

Participants update Prepare a statement or a short presentation for the

sales staff who participated in the training program.
Participants are often curious of what the results were.
How did sales change? What did the secret shoppers
say? Are there any comment cards addressing the shift
in their on the job behavior? Letting them know how the
overall process went and how the performance of the
store has (hopefully) improved will be empowering and
encourage them to participate enthusiastically in future
training events.

9 APPROVALS
Prepared by Nick Fleming________________________
Project Manager

Approved by __________________________________
Project Sponsor

__________________________________
Executive Sponsor

__________________________________
Client Sponsor

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