Project Closing

3500 words

Week 4

Due 01/29/2018

3500 words

Project Closing

You will now complete the Project Closing section of your 

Project Charter/Project Management Plan

. You will finalize the project and discuss the closing processes. Assume the project can be closed.

Update your existing project management plan to reflect the following:

· Discuss how the deliverable will be accepted by the customer/client.

· Discuss the process for closing the project management plan.

· Explain how the procurement contracts will be closed.

· Provide a Lessons Learned section to include any information related to the project that could help in future projects.

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Project Management Capstone

Project Charter/Project Management Plan

Compensation Plan

NAME

January ,

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

2

1.0 Project Initiating

3

1.1 Project Charter

3

1.1.1 Justifying the Project

3

1.1.2 Aligning the Project to the Organizational Strategy

3

1.1.3 Identification of Stakeholders

5

2.0 Project Planning

6

2.1 Defining the Scope

6

2.2 Work Breakdown Structure

6

2.3 Project Schedule

7

2.4 Project Budget

7

2.5 Communications Matrix

8

2.6 Risk Identification

9

3.0 Project Executing

11

3.1 Quality Assurance Tools and Techniques

11

3.2 Managing the Project Team

12

3.3 Procurements

14

3.4 Managing Stakeholder Engagement

15

4.0 Project Monitoring and Controlling

17

4.1 Cost Control

17

4.2 Risk Control

17

5.0 Project Closing

19

5.1 Project Finalization

19

5.2 Closing Procurements

19

6.0 Program Management and Emerging Trends

20

6.1 Letter to Senior Management

20

6.2 Program Management

20

6.3 Emerging Trends

20

References

21

Appendix

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1.0 Project Initiating

1.1 Project Charter
1.1.1 Justifying the Project
The purpose of this project is to improve the profits of the business which will be attained through proper compensation of the employees in the business and thereby boosting their morale. In the presentation of a business life, the compensations and benefits given to the employees are important aspects. Fair compensation of employees inspires them to give outstanding performance in their execution of the tasks assigned to them which results in improved performance of the business. A good compensation system in the business also helps to improve the employee’s commitment to their employment.
1.1.2
Aligning the Project to the Organizational Strategy
In order to come up with an effective compensation and benefits plan for the business, I have to come up with a plan which will help me to revamp the existing compensation and benefits plan in the business. During the preparation of this plan, I have to consider what is best for the employees in the company and also the company in terms of sustainability of the compensation plan (Culpepper, 2014). An effective compensation plan must meet the following conditions; first, the plan must be documented on a piece of paper and therefore the company should provide the essential tools for the human resource manager to have access to the materials which are essential to the project. Secondly, an effective compensation plan must contain all the types of compensation given to the employees by the company which includes the following; basic salary, wages, merit enhances, dividends and overtime compensation along with other income sharing plans.
An effective compensation plan should have a policy which governs the number of hours worked by every employee per week. It should also have a policy which clearly defines the bases on which the dividends are awarded to the employees. Finally, an effective compensation plan should clearly indicate the minimum wages for all the job groups in the company and this should be indicated in the job description along with the skills required for different tasks.
On a normal basis, a compensation plan should encourage the employees in their execution of the tasks assigned to them in the company without necessarily having to create a sense of prerogative in the long-run. As the human resource manager, I will present this project to various stakeholders of the company one of which being the higher management in the company in order to seek support for the project. The most important aspects in having a successful compensation and benefits plan are to focus on proving the employees in the company with fair compensation and this among other benefits will help the company to retain the experienced and talented workers in the company. Fair compensation of employees enables them to support and work on achieving the goals and objectives of the company (Culpepper, 2014). The official salary and wage arrangements should be applied in the preparation of salary range in the company. Using the official salary arrangements as the basis for the determination of salary ranges in the company will help in the development of a plan which is fair to the employees and affordable to the company.
According to wages.com, 25% – 75% is the wages range that is proposed by corporations. This range takes into account various advantages and benefits which are reliable to the budgeting preparation of the company. When designing the company’s compensation arrangement, all the types and shapes of compensations and benefits are given to the employees in the company should be included in the compensation plan given that they are available to workers in the company.
1.1.3
Identification of Stakeholders
One of the stakeholders of this project is the management of the company. The successful implementation of any project must have the support of the management. The management is responsible for passing the budget for any project that is implemented in the company and therefore they are the main stakeholders of this project as it will require being sustained by funds provided by the company (eHow, 2014). Employees of the company are the second stakeholders of this project primarily because it involves their remuneration for services given to the company. As I stated earlier, fair remuneration boosts the morale of the employees which increases their productivity in the company.
For this reason, it is important to have the employees’ support before the implementation of this project and one way to do this is to involve them in the development of the project. Those who invest with the company are also stakeholders of this project. The investors provide the company with the required capital for various investments and they receive the returns for their investment mostly in form of dividends. Increasing employees’ compensation will increase the production costs which will reduce the returns for the investors and therefore it is important to get their support before the implementation of this project.

2.0 Project Planning
2.1 Defining the Scope
The scope of the business is to develop a compensation plan that will benefit the company. By ensuring that employees are motivated, the company will be assured an increase in performance thus increasing productivity (Snyder, 2014). Overall, the project is intended to overhaul the current compensation and remuneration system thus benefiting both parties involved those being the company and the employees. All departments in the organization shall be analyzed thoroughly to monitor their performance. By understanding the performance of the employees it will provide the needed guidance on which branch of the organization shall need more motivation compared to the other (Snyder, 2014).
2.2 Work Breakdown Structure
Work breakdown structure (WBS) is a project tool that is used to breakdown the project into manageable portions. This will allow the management to have more control over the entire process and make the needed modifications to one structure without affecting the others. Nonetheless, this project will be broken down according to the respective departments available. With reference to the scope, the agenda is to measure performance and note areas that require more motivation than the others (Globerson, Vardi, & Cohen, 2016). This will allow the project manager to create a flexible and dynamic compensation plan that will adhere to the needs of each employee adequately.
The concept behind this notion is that not all departments have similar performance reviews as others are noted to be poor in completing tasks whereas others perform effectively (Globerson, Vardi, & Cohen, 2016). Therefore, by identifying the department that requires the most amount of motivation it can be instrumental in developing the compensation system that would benefit the company and employees (Snyder, 2014). However, for the compensation system to be impartial the data collected has to be strict and non-bias.
2.3 Project Schedule
The project will have to be conducted without affecting normal organizational operations and performance. Therefore, the project manager will have to develop monitoring teams that will collect data on every department (Mubarack, 2015). Moreover, the project manager can hire teams from the respective departments and thus limit the traffic of people. This would be vital, as it would reduce the amount of interruptions that may occur. However, the drawback with this strategy would be that the team that would be assigned the duty of collecting data would be overworked thereby resulting in poor performance.
This thereby limits the project manager to hiring extra team members on a limited contract (Mubarack, 2015). They will each be given specific tasks that will enable them to work without being affected by the normal operations of the organization. Data collection in this manner will be instrumental as each employee will work under normal conditions whereas the team members will be using observation and questionaries’ to collect data.
2.4 Project Budget
The budget of the project would be miniscule considering most of the work that would be performed would be the collection of data as presented in the scope. By reducing the project budget, it will allow the company to save up on funds that would be redirected in the compensation system that would be developed (Raudla, Karo, Valdmaa & Kattel, 2015). Nonetheless, the project will have to spend money in remunerating employees who may be overworked or for the team that will be hired to collect data on the respective departments within the organization. Moreover, the project team will be paid for the intellectual work performed by formulating a new system that will benefit the organization (Raudla, Karo, Valdmaa & Kattel, 2015). The budget not only allows the management to know the expenditure but also provides a list of activities that will take place in the company.
Moreover, the ability of a project manager to stay within the constraints of the budget determines their professional nature. Majority of project managers face runaway project costs, low-quality work, deliverables, and non-motivated teams. This is associated with improper project budgeting, a practice that can be stated to be common. This is because managers ignore the factors that have to be considered during budgeting. This results in high returns or poor quality work if the funds are insufficient. Managers need to train on the importance of budgeting properly as it is the backbone between the relationship of the management and personnel.
2.5 Communications Matrix
A communication matrix is a tool that is used to identify how the project manager is communicating and establish a logical goal for communication. This means that the project manager will have to identify all the stakeholders of the organization them being the management, employees and investors. The project manager will then be tasked by determining the information that will be passed to each stakeholder member concerning the project. The information passed may include for example the progress of the project, secondly, identify to the respective stakeholder the restrictions or problems encountered and provide guidance on how it can be eliminated (Snyder, 2014).
The project manager, before imparting the stakeholders with information, should be knowledgeable of the seven levels of communication behaviors. This means that the project manager has to view the faces of all the stakeholders. It was further discovered that these behavior is not trained but is natural (Snyder, 2014). Moreover, it was speculated that the results of that research had similar results as the relationship between parent and child.
2.6 Risk Identification
Risk identification is the initial step of the risk analysis and management process and it entails identifying the risks that could deter the achievement of a project (Kaplan & Mikes, 2012). This process entails the documentation and communication of the risks identified. With this kind of project as well as any other, risks are expected to be in place. As the project manager means of identifying or predicting these risks has to be formulated. The best technique that will be used will be the use of risk screening.
This technique allows the project manager to create a list of possible risks and then categorize them in to four categories (Snyder, 2014). The first is low impact and low probability, these are risks whose occurrence can be neglected or easily rectified. The main concern that the project manager will have will be the monitoring of these risks to ensure that they do not increase (Snyder, 2014). The second is high impact and high probability; they can cause project failure or termination and require close monitoring. The project manager will have the task of determining if the project is in a situation that may require termination or the benefits of taking the risk outweigh the drawbacks (Snyder, 2014).
With this in mind, it identifies the essentialities of risk management. Any project is bound to have risks and the action of either evading or pursuing the risk has to be calculated before any action is taken. For example if there are any engineering complications that can delay the project and may lead to termination by the client but may have overall benefits, the project manager will need to make the needed calculations. The third is low impact, high probability; they are mainly caused by uncertainties and can escalate from minor to severe risks (Snyder, 2014). These uncertainties can range from the cost of labor, deliverables, equipment or even the productivity of the staff.
Other uncertainties include the changes that the investors may require for the project. Overall, with this type of risk it should have interventions implemented within the project planning phase. This will allow the project manager to implement different solutions to the project. The final is high impact low probability, by definition these risks are rare occurrences and they are difficult to create probabilities (Snyder, 2014). With the lack of data the only means of creating probabilities will be through subjective valuations. With such estimations, it lacks the scientific accuracy. This, therefore, leaves the management with the only option of monitor, alleviate and manage risks.

3.0 Project Executing
3.1 Quality Assurance Tools and Techniques
For quality assurance to be performed for this project, there is need to apply a variety of tools and techniques such as quality management tools, quality audits and process analysis. The fact that the project is a compensation plan, there is need to have quality audits for every aspect in the organization so that every activity is validated and ascertained before the employees get their compensation. Obviously when the employees have their compensation, they will a high morale of working because they will have been inspired and thus give an outstanding performance when executing their tasks and this in the long run improves the profits of the business. Quality audits will be performed at a predefined time interval so that we get a clear definition of monitoring the internal procedures with regard to effective actions. This is because an audit is an effective tool for the verification of objective evidence for processes with the aim of assessing the success of the process during implementation (Arter, 2013). Once we are done with the quality auditing, it will be easier to determine the quality of work performed by the employees before coming up with the assurance procedures on how they will be compensated depending in their performance in the organization.
Additionally, as the managers, we will need quality management tools so that we come up with the best analysis for implementation of our project. One of the tools that we will use is the cause and effect diagram whereby we will be identifying several possible causes of an issue within the organization (Powell, 2015). It is also important to have a check sheet as it will help in in data collection and analysis for the employees and get the certainty of how the compensation plan will be implemented. In general, these tools and several others like the flow charts will help the management perform a quality management of the employees and the organizational process and thus come up with the best management plan that will aid in the compensation plan as our project. It is important to analyze every aspect in the organization before coming up with the compensation plan.
This must include the output per employee and it is measured against the goals of the organization and the expected output of the entire organization with the reality. This assessment also includes the motivations that employees get when working and what can be done so that they can work even better than their current performance. It should also analyze the entire process of the organization from the top management to the lower subordinates and revise their duties and responsibilities in the organization. The project needs quality outcomes and therefore the process analysis must include the supervisors and managers so that there is an assurance of the work process within the organization. In this regard, there must be a mention of what has been done, what was supposed to be done and yet it is behind time and the main reasons that make it lag behind as well as what is in progress within the organization.
3.2 Managing the Project Team
With regard to Lee-Kelley (2012), behind every successful project, there is a project manager who is influential and effective. The manager should begin by giving out a story that even though it is used to woo customers, it should be in such a way that it pulls the employees and connects them to the goals of the organization. This should include, among other things the vision of the organization, a highlight of why the project is so special to the organization, the roles of the employees within the organization and any other important information. These information pulls the employees towards the main agenda of the organization and thus it becomes a motivating factor for the team members in the project. Upon linking the project and the team to the company, it is important to explain the importance of the project, why it is desirable for employees to receive compensations on their work and how it will be achievable and thus its worthiness to be invested in. in such a case, it is important to state the benefits of the project and the outcomes which are, when the employees receive their compensation, they will be motivated to work harder within the organization and thus the general output of the company will increase since the output per employee increases. This will also act as a motivating factor for the team members because once the general output of the organization increases, they will stand to benefit greatly from such improvements and thus will give themselves into the project and perform everything that is required to make the project more successful.
Additionally, it is important to set targets for the team because defining the goals of the project is so useful. This is also a good way of motivating the team members because it gives them direction and thus they will be working while marking the deadline so that they also give out a good performance. The targets for our team should include assessing the performance of each employee on time, compiling the work that has been accomplished and the one that has been left behind. It is also important to manage project team conflicts when they arise so that the project becomes more successful without disputes. One key thing is acknowledging the conflict first before resolving it. Once we recognize an issues, resolving it will be easier.
The conflict needs to be discussed in details so that we ascertain where the real fault came from or who the person that is responsible for the fault is. If it’s an individual or a group of individuals, they need to be corrected but in the most polite way so that they do not feel a disgusting confrontation and this will encourage unity among team members for the project (Lee-Kelley, 2012). The impact of conflicts in the team should be discussed and how it may affect the outcomes of the project and the entire organization so that the team members can avoid such conflicts. In this regard, every individual that is involved in the team must agree to cooperate in making things right and this needs to prioritize the needs of the team first by setting aside ideas and opinions until everything is right among the team members. After the resolution, every team member must agree to be having an open communication to all members whenever there is an issue.
3.3 Procurements
This type of project does not involve purchasing many items as it is an assessment of the plan to compensate employees. However, there are few items that we may need during our assessment time. One thing that we might need to purchase for our project is some few laptops or computers to feed in our data for the project. This is because, even though the organization has computers, we cannot use them since they will be in use by other employees and that would cause a disruption of work and more so our data collection for the project may also be distorted when it gets into many hands. Therefore, we need our own devices and in such a situation we will have to interact with computer dealers to sell us computers that can support high data encryption so that the information that we will be using for assessing the employee compensation plan does not get breached before it is put into use (Maniatopoulos, 2015).
The prices for such devices may vary but we have to consider the security of our data and the gravity of the project to the well-being of the organization in general. We may need one camera that has a high resolution to capture the activities of the workers in all corners of the organization and this will be helpful in determining the workers that need to be compensated more than others due to the work they perform daily within the organization. This means that we will be meeting with the vendors in electronic devices and we have to make sure that we get the best devices that will help in success of our project. We will also need other items like books and pens to note down important factors during our assessment and this we can get it from the random suppliers of stationary.
3.4 Managing Stakeholder Engagement
This project is so sensitive towards organizational development and thus the stakeholders must be involved in all steps of the project until its accomplishment. The stakeholders have a variety of ideas and interests and they will be helping with the ideas to the project. Therefore there is a need to communicate with them and work together so that their expectations are met fully by addressing issues once they occur and coming up with appropriate solutions to any problems. According to Freeman (2010), this process is so important because it allows an increase in support to the project and reduce the probable resistance from the stakeholders and this is important to achieving the project’s success. This means that the stakeholders need to get constant updates throughout the entire project so that there is creation of a common understanding of the scope of the project, time and benefits as well as the estimation of costs.
There is also need to actively manage the expectations of the stakeholders. This is important and we need to employ it during the planning phase so that they inform us how they will like the compensation plan to be and the main factors to consider the before increasing the salaries of the employees in the organization. There is also need to maintain a good relationship between the project manager and the stakeholders by having a constant consultation so that they feel to be part of the project.
In conclusion, it is important to note that this project however simple it may appear, it has numerous activities during the execution process that need to be put into consideration for it to be effective. There is need to perform quality assurance such as process analysis and quality audits so that there is certainty of the project processes and activities with the aim of validating it to the stakeholders and the company management. The project has a team that needs to be managed and costs to be incurred also need to be controlled so as the project becomes realistic.

4.0 Project Monitoring and Controlling
4.1 Cost Control
Cost control in our project will have to apply several simple mechanisms as it does not involve heavy cash inflow. It is just a mare assessment of the work, the entire process of production and the performance by employees by our project team so that we get to know the mechanism of compensation plan for the workers of our organization. The few costs that we will incur during the execution of our project include the purchasing of the computer devices and the camera. In this case, we will have to analyses the gravity of the workload and then decide if one computer will be necessary so that we don’t waste too much resources on computers. Additionally, one camera will be enough to collect data in the organization because the process will not take one day and thus one camera can do that work.
It does not need to be so expensive because in this situation we are not buying items for luxury but for a short term work. In fact, it will be necessary to hire the camera instead of buying it because it will only be used for the project and then left idle. It is also important to note that the team that will be working in this project will need payment. They might be some of the employees in the organization or outsiders but all in all they will need to get some payment for aiding in the execution of the project. However, the payment should not be too high such that the project causes a loss to the organization during execution.
4.2 Risk Control
To control risk within our project, we have to identify it first and it can be anything that can prevent or cause distortion to the success of our project. The best technique that we will use in this project will be risk reassessment. We will list all the probable factors that can deter or cause an effect to our project and re-examine them so that we can control them before they get out of hand. Such risks include the changes that the investors may want the project to amend. Such a situation should be in the planning phase of the project so as to allow the manager of the project to implement several solutions (Grumbach & Bodenheimer, 015).
To control such a risk, it is important to reassess it and hold a meeting with the investors during the planning phase so that they can give out what they feel like it needs to be changed before we commence the execution phase. It will also be important to reassess the risk of inadequate data during the execution process and ensure that the process of data collection is effective and efficient, including noting down the important issues about employees and recording the production process with the camera. This will ensure that there is sufficient data for the project execution and thus a move towards compensation plan.

5.0 Project Closing
5.1 Project Finalization

5.2 Closing Procurements

6.0 Program Management and Emerging Trends
6.1 Letter to Senior Management

6.2 Program Management

6.3 Emerging Trends

References
Arter, D. R. (2013). Quality audits for improved performance. ASQ Quality Press.
Culpepper. (2014). Creating Competitive and Equitable Pay Levels. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/compensation/Articles/Pages/SalaryStructures.aspx
eHow. (2014). How to Write a Compensation Plan. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/how_2076418_write-compensation-plan.html
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge university press.
Globerson, S., Vardi, S., & Cohen, I. (2016). Identifying the Criteria Used for Establishing Work Package Size for Project WBS. The Journal of Modern Project Management, 4(1).
Grumbach, K., & Bodenheimer, T. (2015). Mechanisms for controlling costs. JAMA, 273(15), 1223-1230.
How to define the scope of a project. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.cio.com.au: http://www.cio.com.au/article/401353/how_define_scope_project/
Lee-Kelley, L. (2012). Situational leadership: Managing the virtual project team. Journal of Management Development, 21(6), 461-476.
Maniatopoulos, G. (2015). A comparative analysis of procurement.
Mubarak, S. A. (2015). Construction project scheduling and control. John Wiley & Sons.
Noreils, F. R., & Chatila, R. G. (2015). Plan execution monitoring and control architecture for mobile robots. IEEE transactions on robotics and automation, 11(2), 255-266
Powell, T. C. (2015). Total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study. Strategic management journal, 16(1), 15-37.
Project Management Institute. (2013b). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). [VitalSource version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781935589815/cfi/6/4!/4/2@0:94.1
Project Management Institute. (2013a). The standard for program management (3rd ed.). [VitalSource version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781935589839/cfi/6/2!/4/2@0:13.5
Raudla, R., Karo, E., Valdmaa, K., & Kattel, R. (2015). Implications of project-based funding of research on budgeting and financial management in public universities. Higher Education, 70(6), 957-971.
Robert S Kaplan & Anette Mikes. (2012). Managing risks: a new framework. Harvard Business Review
Snyder, C. S. (2014). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK (®) Guide. Project Management Institute.

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Appendix
Each Appendix appears on its own page.