Question

The Woolong Company produces high-end vacuum cleaners and sells them to consumers online. They are designing a new product, and you have been hired as the project manager to oversee it.

Discuss the tools and techniques you should you use to identify the project stakeholders.

Describe potential risks associated with this project, and explain what risk management processes can be utilized.

Share other important components that a project manager should consider as this project continues into the execution phase.

Answer 1

1. To identify the project stakeholders, the following tools can be used to assess the internal as well as external temperament of the vacuum cleaner business.

• Conduct a SWOT analysis of the company to understand its strengths and weaknesses
• Conduct a 5 Forces analysis and PESTLE analysis to have an overview of the market conditions and opportunities
• A demographic study can be conducted to understand the potential customer disposition and their preferences
• A benchmark study can be conducted to understand the best practices being followed in the industry

2. The potential risks which can impact the production of vacuum cleaners are:

• Project does not finish in time
• Project gets over budget
• The resources need to be allotted to some other project
• The quality of the final product is below customer expectation

To manage the risks which may impact the project, the project manager needs to develop a comprehensive project plan and stick to it for implementation. The project plan would facilitate the execution of the project, based on client’s needs and requirements. Usually a project plan is based on 4 factors:

• Time limit for project
• Cost of project
• Quality of resources to be used in project
• Quantity of resources to be used in project

The structured way of developing a project plan is as follows:

• Project Scope and Objectives must be drafted based on the customer’s needs and requirements
• Milestones and Major deliverables of the project must be identified and highlighted
• A work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project must be developed
• Based on WBS and availability of resources, the project budget must be decided
• Based on WBS, task allocation must be done to the available resources. A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) must be developed
• Comprehensive risk management plan must be developed based on various perspectives of the stakeholders
• Project must be executed
• Project monitoring must be done on regular basis to identify any kind of deviations and non-conformities

3. The other important components which a project manager must consider while the project is in execution phase:

• Requirements of all stakeholders have been met
• The project is adhering to the compliances and laws of the region
• Resource utilization is 100%
• Waste is disposed or recycled effectively