Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN (WEEK 2)

Project Management Plan (Week 2)

CMGT/411

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

Project Management Plan

McBride Financial Services has determined a need to establish and
staff eight offices within the five states of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North
Dakota, and South Dakota. The first step is to develop a project plan that will
allow the flexibility needed in regard to any updates or issues that may arise.
The project plan will enable the project team to manage and control the
project. The project plan will have a methodology that will be followed to
ensure the project team remains on point and organized to achieve the
project expectations.
Project Plan
The project plan is a formal document that McBride Financial Services
will use to manage and control the establishment of their new offices. The
details of this project plan will be reflective of the scope, complexity, and risk
of the project. A properly developed project plan will include deliverables
determined during the initiation and planning phase of a project. The first
step is to determine the methodology that will be used to complete the
mission, goals, and objectives of this project.
Methodology
Using an appropriate methodology will give the project team the
knowledge and understanding of what needs to be completed and how to
complete those tasks. The project plan methodology will assist the project
team to provide the framework to initiate, plan, manage, and close out the
project.

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The initiation phase will consist of the development of the project

charter to help ensure McBrides success of opening eight new offices. The
project charter will ensure effective communication and understanding within
the project team. The project charter will allow the project team to review
the projects goals and objectives and assist the team to move toward the
planning phase. The following are steps within the initiation phase that
McBride will need to progress into the planning phase (Project Management
Methodology Template, n.d.):

Select a Project Manager

o Assign a team to assist with the initiation phase

Identify the need/opportunity

Identify the objectives and benefits

Define the overall project scope

Define the objectives

Identify the constraints and assumptions

Identify and engage the key stakeholders

Identify potential risks

Determine the cost and schedule estimates

These steps will assist the project team to develop the Project Charter.
The project manager and team will review the charter and move on into the
planning phase of the project. Key components that will be included in the
project plan include the following aspects:

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Project Charter
o Project Overview

Scope Statement
o McBride Financial Services objectives
o Project Objectives
o Assumptions and Constraints
o Project Deliverables and Milestones

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Project Procurement and Sourcing Strategy

Project Schedule

Project Organization and Governance

o External Interfaces
o Internal Interfaces
o Roles and Responsibilities
o Resource Plan
o Staffing Plan

Phase Exit Criteria (Systems development Life-Cycle Phase

Checkpoints)

Project Cost Estimate and Budget

Risk Management Approach

Issue Management Approach

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Scope Management Approach

Organizational Change Management Approach

Quality Management Approach

Stakeholder and Team Communication Approach

Configuration Management Approach

As this shows, there are many tasks that McBride Financial Services
project team must accomplish to successfully open and staff eight new
offices in various locations. Prior to beginning this project, the project
manager will review the documents that are prepared to ensure familiarity
with the background, scope, and objectives of this project. The Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS) will be completed after the goals of this project
have been established. The WBS will identify resources accordingly. Quality
assurance and control will be implemented to ensure the project meets the
expectations of the company and its customers and is completed on time
and within budget. The project plan will be monitored and updated as
needed throughout the project. The project plan will finally be reviewed and
approved prior to implementation.
Project Goal
The goals of a project are very important in helping a company know
what is ahead in any project and should be the first things defined by a
company (Marchewka, 2009, p. 17). The major goal of McBride Financial
Services is to have eight operating offices in a five state area each of which

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needs to be self-sustaining. The offices will each have a minimum of a

licensed broker and an administration assistant, except the home office
which will have a managing broker, receptionist and two administration
assistants (Apollo Group, Inc., 2005, 2011). This is the minimum for the
company and will later have as much as three brokers and two
administration assistants in each office location.
McBride Financial has set two financial goals. The first is to achieve a
break-even point in cost by six months of business and the second is to have
a company profit by the end of the first year (Apollo Group, Inc., 2005, 2011).
The projected first years sales for the company based on its Pro Forma
Summary will be $918,000, while the estimated expense will be $944,850
with a noticeable increase to profits starting in the seventh month through to
the end of the year (Apollo Group, Inc., 2005, 2011).
The total undertaking of the company will be to have as few as
eighteen associates working in the eight offices and ramping up the
employment to as many as forty four associates working within the company.
Each associate will be paid on commission with a fixed price for services to
the customers of $1500. The services include a credit report, Mortgage,
Inspection, and Appraisal of the home all for the one standard set fee.
Other Milestones
Part of the project development process is establishing milestones
intended to mark an important event such as the completion of a major
deliverable. For the McBride Financial Services staffing project, this is no

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different. Our project consists of staffing eight new offices for the McBride
Company, in efforts to expand their operations to new territory. When
staffing new offices, there are some major milestones that need to be
reached before the project can be completed.
The first major milestone that cannot be overlooked is simply selecting
the proper locations for the new offices. Demographic research will need to
be done to determine the age of the citizens of an area, and an analysis will
need to be completed to identify the likelihood of these residents seeking
new housing or relocating. This will need to be done prior to hiring staff for
these locations.
The second milestone is to determine the qualification requirements
for each position that needs filled. The idea behind a strategic staffing
project is to develop a context for decision making, not predict future staffing
needs (Bechet, 2). We have identified three main positions that will need to
be staffed at each location; licensed broker, administrative assistant, and
associate. For each of these positions a decision needs to be made as to the
minimal educational and experience qualifications a candidate for each
position mush have.
Once the staffing qualifications have been determined, there is the
issue with establishing compensation for these individuals; namely benefits.
For this project, McBride will be expanding their operations two-fold, and in
doing so it may be necessary to evaluate new benefits packages. The
retirement compensation for each position may be different, so it will be

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necessary to determine these packages prior to hiring the staff for these new
locations.
The milestones listed above are easily overlooked as they dont
necessarily play the most important roles when it comes to staffing a new
office location. With that being said, they cannot be overlooked during our
project planning process, so they can be classified as additional milestones
that need to be addressed by our team, during this project planning process.
Stakeholders
A stakeholder is any organization or person actively involved in a
project, or whose interests are affected negatively or positively by the
execution of the project. The public at large often becomes a stakeholder to
be considered during the project ("Identify Stakeholders," 1999-2012).
Important external stakeholders are professionals and retirees purchasing
primary or secondary residencies. Because McBride Financial Services
provides affordable mortgage services, the real estate markets in Idaho,
Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota are external
stakeholders. The ability of potential homebuyers to secure affordable
mortgages affects positively the markets in these states. Real estate agents,
insurance companies, retail businesses, and other homeowners benefit from
the successful McBride mission. According to Wardrip, Williams, and Haque
(2011),
Households with modest means need safe, suitable housing that they
can afford. When housing is affordable, low and moderate income

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families are able to put nutritious food on the table, receive necessary
medical care, and provide reliable daycare for their children (p. 3).
A project manager must be sure to identify and list all potential
stakeholders for a project. Other external stakeholders include competitors,
government regulatory agencies, and industry trade groups. One of the
most important exterior stakeholders is the home building industry. Access
to affordable financing stimulates new home construction and purchasing of
existing properties. Potential homebuyers will either purchase a new
construction property or renovate an older property. Either decision creates
construction work and stimulates the regional economy.
Internal stakeholders include personnel from the home office in Boise,
ID, and each state office. The home office has a managing broker, a
receptionist, and two administrative assistants. The seven regional offices
employ a licensed broker and an administrative assistant/receptionist. Hugh
McBride and Abram LaBelle are two of the most important internal
stakeholders. LaBelle is the systems consultant responsible for installing the
computer network as McBride Financial Services expands to the planned
regional offices.
The scope of the project must be refined so that each success is
measurable. As McBride discussed in his interview with LaBelle, potential
space for each region has been identified. However, not all final decisions
have been made. McBride must decide on the type of space and if to remain

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flexible in terms of office expansion. If business grows, the organization

must be ready for that growth so that efficiency does not suffer.
Historical Records
There are several reasons a project manager should consider historical
data and corporate lessons that have been learned when attempting to
implement a successful project. If a business is truly looking to improve
ongoing and future projects it must pay detailed attention to any mistakes
that may have occurred in the past in an effort to keep from repeating those
same mistakes.
Being that McBride Financial Services is a startup company lacking
years of experience to go on when considering new projects, the organization
must take a look at comparable project implementations in similar markets
as a guide to help determine a time schedule for completion of the project as
well as anticipated overall cost associated with the project installation.
In cases where you have an opportunity to view historical data as a
guide of what not to do, historical data also has the ability to provide you
with a guide of what to do as well. Understanding what positive steps and
procedures you can take from historical data can help you develop a project
in a more timely and efficient manner. Author Bonnie Biafore states
identifying and repeating past successes are just as important as learning
from your mistakes. From these accomplishments, your team can develop
best practices, which are case studies of how to do something efficiently.
(Biafore, 2012)

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11

A Risk Register is a common tool that project managers often employ

to illustrate the risk involved with a particular project. McBride Financial
Services will benefit from the risk register supplied which will list the
description of the risk, the impact felt should a negative event occur, the
probability of its occurrence, the Risk score (which is the multiplication of
probability and impact). Also included in the Risk Register is a summary of
the planned response should the event occur, as well as the summary of
mitigation (which states what action will take place in advance to reduce the
probability or impact of the event.)
Shown below is a sample Risk Register and definition of associated
terms:
Risk Identification

Qualitative Rating

Risk Response

Risk Risk Category Probability Impact Risk Score Risk Ranking Risk Response Trigger Risk Owner

Key Terms
Risk: The risk stated in a complete sentence which states the cause of the risk, the risk,
and the effect that the risk causes to the project.
Risk Category: Categorization of risks by area of project affected, source of risk or other
useful category.
Probability: The likelihood that a risk or opportunity will occur (on a scale from 0 to 10

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12

with 10 being the highest).

Impact: The impact of the risk on the project if the risk occurs (scale from 0 to 10 with
10 being the highest).
Risk Score: Determined by multiplying probability and impact (scale from 0 to 100).
Risk Ranking: A priority list which is determined by the relative ranking of the risks (by
their scores) within the project with the number one being the highest risk score.
Risk Response: The action which is to be taken if this risk occurs.
Trigger: Something which indicates that a risk is about to occur or has already occurred.
Risk Owner: The person who the project manager assigns to watch for triggers, and
manage the risk response if the risk occurs
Environmental enterprise factors are described as both the internal and external factors
that surround or have the ability to influence a project. It is very commonplace to see
environmental enterprise factors either enhance or constrain project management options which
can result in either a positive or negative influence on the project outcome. McBride Financial
Services will face several environmental enterprise factors that will determine the success of the
proposed project. McBride will face infrastructure and resource factors including but not limited
to equipment and facilities needed to complete the project, project management information
systems such as software that will be used to schedule project timelines, and the implementation
of communication channels at new facilities. There are also external enterprise factors that
McBride must consider such as market place conditions. McBride will need to consider current
interest rates and the relative economic impact for this project and organizational operations.
McBride Financial Services will be required to list all organizational process assets. By
providing the OPAs any elements that have the ability to affect the success of the project in one

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form or another. The assets listed should include any created plans or policies and procedures as
well as an outline and delineation of the organizations knowledge base or any knowledge gained
from the recording of the historical data if applicable.

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References

Apollo Group, Inc. (2005, 2011). McBride Financial Services. Retrieved from McBride
Financial Services:
https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/McBride/intranet/index.html
Bechet, Thomas. Developing Staffing Strategies That Work: Implementing Pragmatic,
Nontraditional Approaches. (8/25/2012).
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN021815.pdf
Biafore B. (2012). Improve project performance using historical data. Retrieved from
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/improve-projectperformance-using-historical-data-HA001225291.aspx
Identify Stakeholders. (1999-2012). Retrieved from
http://www.truesolutions.com/pdf/identify_stakeholders.pdf
Marchewka, J. T. (2009). Information Technology Project Management (3rd ed.). Hoboken, New
Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Project Management Methodology Template (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.inc.com/tools/project-management-methodologytemplate.html
Wardrip, K., Williams, L., & Haque, S. (2011, January). The Role of Affordable Housing in
Creating Jobs and Stimulating Local Economic Development. Center for Housing Policy,
3-22.