Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

Project Management Plan

CPMGT 305

Project Management Plan

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

2
Communication Plan

Project communication is one of the key determinants of how well a given plan will be
adopted in an organization. There are various stakeholders who are interested with the potential
benefits and risks that may be encountered in the implementation of the plan. The organization
will first need to inform the stakeholders of the desired change in the organizations systems. The
shareholders are the key stakeholders to an organization whose interests ought to be considered
in the communication process. There is also a need for the organization to inform employees of
the impeding change. This will be important in minimizing resistance to change within the
organization. There will be a need for the organization to develop an effective communication
tool. This may be in form of booklets that presents the specifications of the project, its associated
merits and demerits. This will ensure that all the relevant stakeholders have access to relevant
information regarding the project (Knutson, & Bitz, 2010).
A project communication plan will be critical in ensuring that there is effective
communication to all stakeholders to this particular project. The key objectives of this plan is as
indicated below

To increase understanding of the project by key stakeholders

To inform the stakeholders on the merits that the project generates as well as the manner
in which potential risks that the project may encounter will be addressed.

Target Audience
As indicated above, the organizations key audiences will be shareholders to the organization
as well as employees. The organization will also aim at informing its customers on these
challenges. This will be critical in ensuring that the reason as to why the organization may
not be in operation during down time. It will also be an opportunity to inform customers on
the merits that they are likely to realize because of engaging in this process (Lester, 2013).

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

Communication content
The communication will mainly include the resource needs during implementation. The
organization will require experts to implement the project. The communication identifies
other resources that will be necessary during implementation including the time line. For this
plan, the staffing requirements are as summarized below

The plan also informs stakeholders of timeline, indicating that the implementation of the project
will occur as below

June 1, 2015 Start initial process and design, development

November 1, 2015 Provide demonstration of the integrated process
December 1, 2015 migration to the new system begins

Communication frequency
In this case, stakeholders will be issued with booklets containing all the critical information
regarding the project. It is also evident that through media communication via television
advertisements, the organization will be able to reach customers and inform them of the
impeding change.
Risk analyses

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The implementation of the above project will be subject to a number of risks. These risks
need to be mitigated if the organization will operate effectively. One of the risks that the
organization faces is that of poor functionality. It is expected that the shift to a more modern
server will facilitate storage and exchange of information in the system. This may not always
work especially if the organization will not be in a position to implement the system effectively.
To address this challenge, there will be a need for the organization to ensure that experts carry
out the project implementation process. This will ensure that all the project specifications are
followed and incorporated in the system.
The other risk that the organization is likely to face is the operation down time. This
refers to the potential costs that the organization may incur because of closing operations due to
the project implementation. This may include loss of sales, as the organization may not be in a
position to serve its customers when the servers will be in the process of being changed. Failure
to serve customers may further result to loss of customers. They may seek services from other
competing firms. It is on this reference that the organization needs to minimize this challenge by
ensuring that the change takes the least time possible. The organization may also be in a position
to minimize this risk by ensuring that this task is carried out during weekends or public holidays
when its services may not be much required. This ensures that the organization fully cuts costs
associated with the operation down time (Kerzner, 2013).
The organization is at the risk of losing data during the transfer of servers. The
organization deals with massive data that needs to be safeguarded in the process. The
organization may fail to have effective external devices necessary for storing data. Such data
may also be lost because of the external devices being adversely affected by the virus. This
would result to massive loss of data. The accuracy at which data will be stored in external

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

devices may also be low. The employees may make mistakes in inputting such high amount of
data in the external devices. There is a thus a need for the organization to identify measures of
dealing with such challenges. The organization needs to ensure that the employees who will be
providing such data input services are well trained on the same. Orientation to the job will be
important in ensuring that such employees do not end up making massive errors in the process.
At the same time, there will be a need for the organization to acquire external devices that are
virus free. This will ensure that once such data is stored such viruses do not destroy it. There will
also be a need for the organization to provide system assurance. The organization should ensure
that authorized individuals only access gate passes to such information. This will avoid loss of
data due to malicious destruction or theft. Once these measures are put in place, information
security will be enhanced significantly (Kerzner, 2013).
The loss of proper control on the new system is equally a risk that the organization needs
to address. The organization has over the years operated successfully using the old system. At the
same time, the organization had in place control measures that ensured that the quality of data
stored in the system as well as the safety of such data is not compromised. These controls may be
rendered worthless by the new more effective system. There is nevertheless a need for the
organization to ensure that effective controls are adopted for application in the current system.
This will ensure that the system is well monitored and that potential threats that it may face are
addressed in advance enhancing the success of the project (Knutson, & Bitz, 2010).

References
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

Knutson, J., & Bitz, I. (2010). Project management: How to plan and manage successful
projects. New York, NY: AMACOM.
Lester, A. (2013). Project Management, Planning and Control. Elsevier Science: ButterworthHeinemann