Online Activity Week 5

Read the following case study and respond to the questions below.
Case Study
A regional outlet for McDonnell's Office Supplies employs two administration/clerical staff, an office
manager, three full-time sales people, a floor manager, and a warehouse/purchasing manager. The
company's head office wants to run a trial to create an induction process for all staff that familiarises
them with the office layout, reporting lines and general duties such as locking the office at the end of
the day and evacuation drills. Additionally, they want some basic training in the types of products and
services they offer, which includes stationary supplies, binding services, photocopying and printing
services and home delivery.
You have been contracted by McDonnell's Office Supplies head office in Perth to fulfil this requirement
by utilising current staff at the regional office. You will report your daily progress to the HR manager in
Perth and submit a weekly expense report. Additionally, you will provide progress reports to the local
manager (a schedule has not yet been decided). You have been allocated a budget of $4000 (not
including your consulting fee). Within this budget, you must account for the time you allocate jobs to
employees (at a flat rate of $150 per employee per day). All stationery expenses and testing of the
process must also be covered by this budget.
The company is currently looking at all HR systems and processes including professional development
and certified training for managers through a registered training organization.
Once an induction process has been created, you are to submit it to the local manager for sign-off, who
will then forward it to national HR for sign-off and implementation throughout the company's 80 outlets
(of which another regional outlet is located just 30 minutes’ drive from your base).

1. Discuss how you would develop a comprehensive project plan. What information would you include?
Where and how would you source your information? Describe the major components of the plan - what
would each contain and why? How would you involve team members in this process?

2. The process of managing a project is a challenging one. Describe some of the biggest challenges you
might face as you administer and monitor the progress of the project. What tools and techniques would
you use to meet these challenges?
3. As the project nears completion, there are a number of key considerations that need to be
addressed. Describe what you believe are the three most important issues to remember when you are
approaching the end of this project. Why are they important? What would happen if they were not
attended to properly?
4. Reviewing a project brings many benefits to an organization. Describe how you would go about
conduction a review for this project. Who would you involve and how?
5. Explain why the review phase should not be forgotten once the operational aspects of a project are
complete. Describe the benefits that can be realized from a well-prepared review report and its
subsequent analysis.