Task 1: Project Management
A. Discuss how you would plan the catered lunch project by completing each of the following 5
distinct project management phases:
1. Project Initiation
a. (A1A) Describe the project and the need for the project. Include information from the provided
scenario for support.
Starting with the first step of Project Initiation; I determine the project to be completed, start
laying out the details, and commitments/responsibilities that will be needed. In this scenario,
my project is to launch an organic catering company in my community. There is a proven
demand from customers asking for such a service and easier access to organic foods. I
already have an established organic food market that I would like to grow. I would be the
lead on the project but also have a great team to support the project.
b. (A1B) Identify three relevant stakeholders and discuss how the project impacts each stakeholder.
Farmers, customers, and the employees are three main stakeholders in this catering project.
Growth in demand for their products will be a positive impact on the farmers, but they will
need to be prepared to take on this increased product demand. Customers will also be
impacted positively with the added local options for organic lunch, not only organic but within
60 minutes. Additionally, the employees will be affected by a lot of changes within the
business switching from retail to bother catering and retail. These new tasks and having to
adhere to the 60 minutes delivery time will force them to efficient and learn quickly.
c. (A1C) Discuss whether the project is feasible by addressing each of the three triple constraint
components: scope, cost, and timeline.
My project is ambitious, to say the least; high goals are set across the board for all three
constraints of scope, cost, and time. Starting with the scope; we'd like to guarantee delivery
in 60 minutes within 25 miles with only one delivery van, which will be logistically and timely
difficult. Cost is already being exceeded on our 10 business lunches and it’s not even
completed. Given a budget of $7,000 for the lunch launch we’ve already hit $7,700. Time is
also constraining, we’d like to complete this all within 30 days but have run into issues on
supplies, and funds. This project without some crucial changes I don’t believe will be
feasible.
2. Project Planning
a. (A2A) List three milestones for the project plan and provide a timeline for each milestone.
Milestone 1 – Day 7- Identify the number of potential customers within the 25 miles and
market to them.
Milestone 2 – Day 14 – After determining the new needs, I’d meet with farmers to discuss
the increased demand and set up agreements on how to fulfill them.
Milestone 3 – Day 21- Training of my staff on the new procedures, tasks, and goals of the
company. Make sure everyone is aware of their part to play and that we have the proper
resources are hand to complete them.
b. (A2B) Write a SMART goal for the project.
S- Reduce costs to keep the budget at or under $7,000 for the free lunches promotion.
M- Reduce the cost of meals by 20%; the combination of smaller portions and different
products included.
A- Create alternative menus for when certain products are not available.
R- Maintain the earth-friendly mission by using recycled and environmentally friendly
packaging, plates, and utensils.
T- Review all costs after 30 days to evaluate where to make adjustments.
c. (A2C) Identify two different potential risks to this project’s success and describe how each risk could
be managed.
A risk to the success of my project would be the availability of enough organic
products. Farmers may not be able to keep up with demand or certain products from
the farmers may not always be available. A way to mitigate this would be to keep a
large portfolio of different farmers on our vendor's lists. Although some
circumstances by be a bad year for crops and just unavailable, so I would keep
diverse menu options if a product was unavailable. I would easily be able to switch
out that dish for something in stock. A second issue that may occur is not being able
to keep up with orders, and the 60 minute delivery time. As the business grows
especially we will need to keep an eye on logistics and timing. If it grows to be too
much for one delivery van another one or a rental must be made available.
3. Project Execution
a. (A3A) Discuss a way to address being over budget by 10 percent. Include information from the
provided scenario for support.
To adjust for being 10% over budget I would look at all costs to see where some
adjustments could be made. The first thing that would come to mind would be to
lower the food portions and food options. Instead of doing individual plates, I would
serve buffet-style allowing me to decrease the amount of food needed without it
appearing to look like less food, and with a bonus of less waste produced.
Additionally, I would cut one of my higher quality/costly dishes for something
cheaper to produce so that I could stay within my budget.
b. (A3B) Discuss a way to address a scheduling conflict that could affect the timeline of the project.
Include information from the provided scenario for support.
A scheduling conflict that has already arisen is the timing of the farmer's availability of
certain products as needed for our scheduled lunches. Given the new demand and volatility
of farming this issue may very well come up again. This conflict can be addressed by having
alternative farmer's vendors available if one is out of stock. Additionally, having switchable
menus will allow for changes if one product is not available. As with restaurants with a daily
switching menu based on what is fresh, we would switch based on availability and
freshness, and not waiver from our organic mission. We could even freeze certain produce
for times where there the fresh is not available to still supply our customers with quality and
organic foods.
4. Project Monitoring and Control
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a. (A4A). Discuss how scheduling conflicts and budget constraints could affect the scope of the project.
Include information from the provided scenario for support.
The increased demand on the farmers may lead to scheduling issues when it comes
to the availability of fresh products being delivered in time to serve our customers. If
this happens and we are unable to mitigate it then we will not be able to serve all the
customers in a 25-mile radius effectively, we simply won’t have enough product.
Additionally, we gave a promise of 60 minute delivery to our customers. If timing isn't
in our favor and we could end up not being able to make all the deliveries within that
time, given that we only have one delivery van. Ideally, we would buy or rent a
second vehicle but with our budget already being exceeded, we would not be able to
do so. To make our project feasible we may have to make our scope smaller. Either
having a shorter delivery radius, no time guarantee or allow for more time and a
higher budget.
5. Project Closure
a. (A5A) Discuss two ways to change how the project was planned, considering the timeline and budget
conflicts that were encountered.
Two changes I would make to the original project plan would be to lower the number of free
lunches offered in our promotion and to launch within 60 days and instead of 30 days.
Beginning with the lunch promotion although a great idea for marketing to 10 businesses, I
would decrease the 30 lunches to 20 lunches per business, but include some coupons for
the business to come back in the future. I could save over 30% on my cost of food needed
immediately and still reach these different businesses, and give them an incentive to return.
Secondly, 30 days is not enough time to have my farmers, or employees ready for this
increase in demand; as I saw with my lettuce fiasco. Many of these issues could have been
foreseen with better planning. A Gantt chart would have been a great addition to schedule
out our milestones to make sure we were achieving on goals on time before trying to
proceed on to the next. Our scheduling and budget issues could have been addressed
ahead of time with a work breakdown structure (WBS) by scheduling out our deliveries,
making our farmers accountable for these schedules, and vetting our vendors for our best
cost options. Our whole team and network would know their responsibilities and be able to
complete them more efficiently.
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