Planning Document

1. Construct a project charter to revamp the compensation and benefits packages.

A project charter or contract is a necessary tool that helps get the ball rolling with any project. A charter should be a short, brief synopsis of the project that gives the project manager permission to start the project, help the sponsor and project team members develop a clear understanding, holds persons involved accountable, and screening project that have potential (Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler, & McAfee, 2012).

Title: Operation Fresh Start

Scope Overview: Operation Fresh Start project will initiate a companywide change in employee job satisfaction. There will be a restructuring of job task and roles to better fit employee skill level and include their involvement of decision making to improve job satisfaction. Compensation is a huge motivation since a job is the primary source of income and security for most individuals. Employees will now be subjected to annual raises based on performance reviews, the amount of time the individual has been with the company, and job structure. We will also add medical and life insurance to benefits packages. The new design and pay levels will create job satisfaction among employees while also motivating them to have better job performance.

Business case: According to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright (2011), job dissatisfaction can be caused by the task and roles associated with the job and pay and benefits. The tasks and roles of a job need to have some level of complexity to keep the employees satisfied and not small, repetitiveness that could bore the individuals. Compensation is the most important indicator for job dissatisfaction. We believe that by redesigning jobs and altering employee pay and adding to the benefits package, employees will become more satisfied with their job and will be motivated to improve their job performance so that the company can continue to grow and progress to compete with future competition.

Background: Children’s Closet is an infant and adolescent clothing store that purchases and resells gently used clothing, toys, and children’s furniture. A recent company survey has discovered that employees are dissatisfied with their overall job, pay, and lack of a benefits package. Full-time employees have requested a benefits package with medical and life insurance. Employees have also asked for a structured method for measuring employment status and eligibility for pay raises based on performance review.

Milestone Schedule with Acceptance Criteria: MilestoneCompletion DateStakeholderAcceptance Criteria

Survey EmployeesJanuary/15/2014EmployeesLearn what each employee wants out of their job

Job analysis/Job designFebruary/1/2014Managers and Human ResourcesReconstruct job tasks and roles

Contact VendorFebruary/15/2014Human ResourcesDetermine which medical/life insurance companies the company will use

Performance ReviewsMarch/1/2014Managers, Human Resources, and EmployeesImplement performance review policy

Employee raisesMay/30/2014Employees, Managers, and Human ResourcesEmployees receive raise based on performance review

Risks, Assumptions, and Constraints: In most business decisions, there are risks to be taken for the business to prosper. The first risk for most projects is that the project may take longer than expected or planned due to unforeseen circumstances. This risk falls single-handedly on the project manager. Providing medical insurance and life insurance to employee benefits packages can be very expensive. The company’s accountant and human resource manager will bear the risk on adhering to project budget and spending approvals. Employee participation is not always guaranteed and could cause problems in the company if employees aren’t formally notified of changes effecting pay structures. It’s important that the project manager or human resource manager inform and clearly explain the changes being made.

Budget Estimates/Spending Approvals: According to Krauskopf (2013), healthcare premiums average about $6, 271 per employee for small businesses. Children’s Closet employs 15 full-time employees that are eligible for benefits. The overall project is expected to cost about $100,000, and the project manager can spend up to $90,000 without further approval.

Stakeholder List: Store owner, Managers, Human Resources, and Employees

Team Operating Principles: To increase team effectiveness and to ensure that all team members are aware of what is expected of them; team operating principles must be established (Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler, & McAfee, 2012). There are five key principles that this project team will follow: 1. Team members will take responsibility for their commitment to this project. 2. Team members will acknowledge and respect each other’s viewpoints and differences. 3. Each team member will provide sufficient notice if they are unable to make scheduled meetings or deadlines. 4. There are scheduled weekly meetings that will normally last 60 minutes or less, each member is expected to all. 5. Team members should be prepared for every meeting with a status update of their assigned task(s).

Signatures of Team Members: (Commitment)

2. Design a communications plan for the project.

According to Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler, & McAfee (2012), a communications plan is a document that describes the communication needs and expectations of the project. It goes into specific details stating when and where each communication will be made, how and in what format information will be communicated, and who is responsible for providing each type of communication.

Stakeholder Purpose Structures Methods Timing

All stakeholders Initiation Meeting Create project charter Meeting Before Project State Date (First meeting)

All stakeholders Charter Meeting Distribute hardcopy of created project charter Meeting Before Project State Date

All Stakeholders Project Kick Off Use existing organizational forms (communications plan and role and responsibilities of team members) Meeting At or near Project Start Date

Project Manager and Stakeholders Status Reports Use adopted template for status updates Distributed electronically in the intranet (company website) Regularly scheduled bi-weekly updates

Sponsor(s) and Project Manager Sponsor Meeting Scheduled verbal updates Meeting or Telephone or Videoconferencing Regularly scheduled monthly updates or as needed

Entire Project Team Team Meeting Use existing organizational forms Meeting Regularly scheduled weekly updates

Project Manager, Sponsor(s), and key stakeholders Post Project Review Report of how the project progressed Meeting End of project

Source: Princeton Project Methodology

3. Define the scope of the project.

Defining the scope is the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product (Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler, & McAfee, 2012). The purpose of Operation Fresh Start is to improve employee job satisfaction to ensure that Children’s Closet will continue to be a successful organization that will be able to compete with other leading organizations. One key element in a successful business is job satisfaction; employees have to be content and find fulfillment in their work in order to perform job duties well enough to keep that company flourishing and it’s the company’s responsibility to keep employees motivated to do so (Hellriegel& Slocum, 2011). Children’s Closet will conduct a job analysis of each position so they can be redesigned to make the roles and responsibilities more defined and challenging to give employees a sense of being needed and important. When employees fill that they’re needed, they have a greater degree of fulfillment from their job which will cause them to perform far and beyond what they are expected to do. Another key element in job satisfaction is compensation. The one number reason to be employed is having a source of income to provide for one’s self and/or family. It’s important that employees are happy with their pay level and benefits that the company offers. There will be a new policy in place to govern how performance reviews will be administered and reviewed to determine how much their annual raise will be. Healthcare has become an essential benefit for employees since private insurance is so expensive. As a result, we will be including healthcare and life insurance in benefits packages to ease the burden on employees. A survey will be given to each employee to determine what they want out of their position. Then the project manger and human resources will meet to redesign each job to ensure that roles and responsibilities will fulfill employee desires. The company will decided on a which healthcare and life insurance agencies to work with. Then, the performance review will be created and implemented.

4. Create a work breakdown structure including numbered components.

A work breakdown structure is needed to give a visual aid to all the requirements needed to complete the project (Piscopo, 2013).

1.Reconstruction of Compensation and Benefits Packages

1.1Initiation

1.1.1Develop project charter

1.1.2Submit project charter

1.1.3Project stakeholders and sponsor review charter

1.1.4Project charter approved/signed

1.2Planning

1.2.1Define project scope statement

1.2.2Select project team

1.2.3Survey employees

1.2.4Project team kick off meeting

1.3Execution

1.3.1Project team kick off meeting

1.3.2Designate team member roles and responsibilities

1.3.3Conduct job analysis

1.3.4Contact medical/life insurance agencies for quotes

1.3.5Select a medical/life insurance agency

1.3.6Create performance review policy

1.3.7Test performance review policy

1.3.8Implement performance review policy

1.3.9Employees receive raise and eligible benefits

1.4Control

1.4.1Project Management

1.4.2Project status meetings

1.4.3Risk management

1.4.4Update project management plan

1.5Closeout

1.5.1Report on how project was a success/failure

1.5.2Lessons Learned

1.5.3Update all documents

1.5.4Gain formal acceptance

References