Outcome 2 – Team Structure, Dynamics, Roles and Responsibilities
Students have been assigned to manage a corporate website development project that will support online ordering. Inventory is already managed online, but the catalogs are only in print format. There is also an existing customer relations management (CRM) system what will have to be replaced to be able to interact with the new online ordering website. The new website must: 1. Display the catalog, 2. link to the existing inventory software and update inventory based on orders, 3. communicate the necessary information to the shipping department, 4. Include or link to a new CRM system, and 5. track customer clicks through the website to automatically provide information to the advertising and website maintenance teams.
The students’ job as the project manager is to staff the project with the people necessary to successfully complete the project. Most projects fail because the people who will use the system were not involved in the design of parts of the system that directly impact their work, so identifying the key stakeholders and consulting with them during the planning, development and implementation stages of any project is crucial.
Students need to describe in 7 to 10 pages what type of team they would create, how they would staff it, the roles and responsibilities of team members, and how they ensure the project team was properly constituted. They must also identify other key stakeholders that need to have input into the project.
Students may propose an alternative project of their own design that shows attainment of the corresponding course outcome. The mentor must approve the alternative project.
Answer preview
The process of staffing a project needs various considerations. First, there is the type of team which is influenced by the nature of the project (Heldman, 2018). For this project, the best approach is to have the people who will be involved in running the system as the key players in the design. For instance, there is a need to have a team member from the logistics and the IT department. For this corporation the inventory is online, but the catalog had been maintained in print format. This means that personnel from the sales department will play the role of linking the inventory system to the new website. The second aspect is the skills needed for designing the website (Bechky, 2011). In this case, a web developer will be included in the team to program the website. Although there is an existing customer relationship management (CRM) system, there is a need to upgrade for interaction with the established digital marketplace. This is effective to enhance immediate feedback from customers on satisfaction and response to promote loyalty. Also, a new system is critical to include various online strategies of engagement of the customers to build the relationship.
Staff evaluation is also needed to ensure the team is appropriately constituted. For this team to define success, there is a need to consider that each of the members will play a key role in running the system. The team members also need to have key skills of working in a team (Baiden & Price, 2011). The employee…
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