¶ … Motorcycles -- The Comprehensive Project Plan 1.Describe project scope project management plan. Align plan strategy recommended senior executives Assignment 2. 2.Analyze type staff company order make manufacturing switch motorcycles larger motors. Project Scope

The scope of the project is to switch the manufacturing process to larger motors motorcycles. This is an important strategic decision that affects not only the future of the company, but also its current situation. Switching to manufacturing motorcycles of larger motors requires significant investments. It is likely that the company should reallocate certain funds from other activities to this project. Therefore, it is important to carefully develop the project plan so that the investment is made efficiently and risks are reduced to the minimum.

Project Management Plan

Project management approach

The authority and responsibility for managing and executing this project belongs to the project manager. The project manager is in charge of the project team that is formed of several members. The project team is a cross-functional, multidisciplinary one, in which members of different backgrounds are gathered. The resources allocated for this project will be planned by the project managers in accordance with established or arising needs.

The project plans developed by the project manager and his team must be approved by the company's top management. Any change to initial plans that affect the deliverables and resources must be submitted to top management's approval. All additional resources must be approved by the company's top management.

Communications management plan

The complexity of this project requires well-managed communication within the team and between the team and other departments. In addition to daily communication it is necessary to provide weekly status reports from the project manager to the company's top management. This communication can be performed in written form, through email.

The project team will meet on a weekly basis in order to discuss the project's progress, analyze results, and propose new courses of action. A monthly review is also necessary in order to inform top managers on project metrics and progress.

Required Staff

Switching to middleweight cruisers is a complex strategic move that requires staff from several departments. The project requires technical staff that designs the new motors, integrates them within a functional and esthetic frame, and decides the most appropriate production method. In addition to this, the technical staff is responsible for planning raw materials supply and for establishing quality standards.

Financial staff is also required in this project team. This is because this part of the team is in charge of monitoring expenses, performing financial analyses of different project stages, and determining the required resources for further development. Although financial management skills must be an attribute of the project manager, it is recommended to have specialized staff that deals with specific tasks in this field.

In addition to this, the team requires support staff. An assistant is required in order to ensure all tea members have everything they need in order to develop the project. An internal communications specialist is also required in order to ensure proper communication within the team. Communication is a very important factor that can affect the project's success. This is because the team is formed of members of different backgrounds, with different approaches on the project. Therefore, it is important that one of the team members ensures that everyone speaks the same language, that team members focus on common issues instead of on differences between them, and that information is sent within the team and with the exterior in the required parameters.

Team-building Strategies

A newly formed team is usually affected by lack of cohesion between team members. This is a normal situation, as it takes some time before team members bond. In the beginning, relationships between team members are characterized by lack of trust, by trying to get to know each other, and by being careful not to say or do the wrong things. In such situations, it is important to facilitate relationships between team members through team-building programs. The most important strategies that can be used by the team manager in order to develop a strong team are: promoting trust between team members, identifying objectives, ensuring open communication, assisting in conflict resolution.

Promoting trust

The first step in developing cohesive teams is to ensure trust between team members. Trust is an important issue that it might not be easy to attain. People usually get to trust one another after they experience important situations together where they prove that they can be trusted. However, the team manager cannot wait for such situations to occur within the project's progress. Instead, the manager must arrange trust-building exercises through which relationships between team members can be strengthened (Schreiner, 2015). In this case, the...

This is because objectives establish the direction. If the team does not know the direction, it does know where it is going and what to do to get there. Therefore, the project manager must start by establishing the general objectives of the project. But he must not stop there, as these objectives might seem too high and difficult to attain by team members, so chunking down is necessary. Smaller sets and subsets of objectives are necessary in order to ensure that everyone understands what they have to do and are properly stimulated.
Ensuring open communication

Communication is one of the most important factors that can influence team building. The team manager must ensure that team members have the psychological and technological framework for communicating in an open manner (Rayl, 2013). The manager should set the tone and establish himself as an example to be followed by team members. In addition to this, team members should have phones provided by the company, computers, and an internal chat system.

Assisting in conflict resolution

It is impossible for conflicts not to interfere in the team's activity. This is because the pressure associated with the importance and complexity of the project determines minor or more important conflicts to develop. Certain project managers consider it is better not to step in, but experience has proven that managers should step in and help team members resolve conflicts before they escalade.

Effective Project Manager Characteristics

The most important characteristics that the project manager should have in this case are: commanding authority naturally, possessing quick sifting abilities, and communicate effectively. A project manager should have authority, but not the kind of authority that comes with exerting force over subordinated (Baker, 2015). It is about the kind of authority that comes from proven experience and skills and from peers' respect. Team members would easily follow such a person, not because they have to, but because they want to. They would be proud to be in the same team with such a valuable person.

The quick sifting abilities allow the project manager to easily determine what to note and what to ignore. Not everything going on in a project is important, or as important as other issues. It is a science and an art to be able to determine the importance of such issues. Placing attention on a less important aspect, while more important ones go unnoticed is a difficult thing to deal with within a project.

Communicating effectively is another characteristic of great project managers. This is because the success of the project relies on how members communicate. It is the project manager's job to ensure proper communication within the team.

Critical Path Importance

The critical path of a project is represented by the shortest path that leads from current situation to desired situation. The importance of this technique is that it helps teams reach projects' objectives in the established timeframe, while focusing on key tasks. Each project has important tasks, urgent ones, and nice to have ones. Some of them are more important to the project than others. The critical path technique helps project mangers determine which are the most important tasks and how they influence the project's progress. The critical path method also determines the interdependence of tasks, which leads to better decision making processes.

Pricing and Costing Strategy

The pricing and costing strategy relies on having a ROI in three years since project completion. In the first year since project completion the company aims for break-even. Switching to middleweight cruisers is an important investment that is not limited to production. The marketing and communication strategies will also require significant investments. This is because the newly introduced motorcycle models must be promoted on the market. Awareness must be created around them, and this means reaching a large number of people in a relatively short time.

Work Breakdown Structure

Reference list:

1. Schreiner, E. (2015). Seven Strategies for Developing Cohesive Teams. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved February 27, 2015 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/seven-strategies-developing-cohesive-teams-17354.html.

2. Rayl, J. (2013). Strategies in Team Building. Retrieved February 27, 2015 from http://acb.org/node/1287.

3. Baker, D. (2015). Top 10 Characteristics of Great Project Managers. Retrieved February 27, 2015 from http://99u.com/articles/6946/top-10-characteristics-of-great-project-managers.

Middleweight motorcycles

Financial management

Technical management

Communications management

Planning

Monitoring

Analyzing progress

Planning, projecting, applying

Continuous communication within the team and with other departments