Manager

Running head: Applying the Project Life Cycle -- Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting.

Abstract:

This paper discusses about the importance of applying the Project Life Cycle for Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project. In this paper I have discussed about communications plan, addressing how progress will be reported to the various project sponsors and executives, a forecast of the time required completing the project, project closure process, the project audit process, forecasted project outcomes and these can be applied to Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project.

The objective of communications plan activity is make sure that team members, customers and stakeholders have the information they need to do their jobs. At this stage the target groups for different types of communication are defined. The frequency, format, and results of the communication are defined. A project communication plan is the written strategy for getting the right information to the right project stakeholders at the right time. As a project manager, while developing your communication plan, you need to decide how often to contact each stakeholder and with what information.

Time is the bane of project managers. Despite all the advances in project management process and professionalism, too many IT projects still come in late. Project managers waste time by charging ahead too fast, communicating poorly or allowing their teams to get bogged down in stakeholder indecision, technical minutiae or business politics (Mearian, Lucas, 2004). Internal communication within the project teams is to meet their major communication needs and those are responsibility of each team member for different parts of the project, coordination information that enables team members to work together efficiently, status information tracking the progress, identifying problems and enabling team members to take corrective action, and authorization information - decisions made by customers, sponsors, and upper management - that relates to the project and its business environment, and enables the team members to keep all project decisions synchronized. Project managers need to be able to write, speak, and listen well, lead meetings and resolve conflicts effectively. Communicating with Upper Management and Customers also should be considered in communication plan. The communication plan should detail the strategy not only for informing these stakeholders, but for actively managing their expectations as well.

At Active International organization the Project Manager of the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project should be responsible for communicating with different levels of executives, team members and other external vendors about the status and the stages of the project. A project initiation Kick Off Report helps how you're going to kick off the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project. Project Initiation Report summarizes the results of the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project and recommends proceeding to the next stage. It defines what work is to be done, what is to be delivered, how long it will take, by whom, how much it will cost and why it is worth doing. Change Request Form, Change Request Log, flash status report, Project Status Report, Issue Log template, Project Board Agendas, Quality Review Agenda, Quality Review Exception Item List, Exception Situation Report. These reports are typically sent on the completion of the specific tasks of the project and will be sent to the team members, external vendors and executives supervising the project depending on their responsibilities. Project Summary, Project Performance, Administrative Performance, and Organizational Structure reports also need to be delivered during different stages of the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project.

The objective of forecast of the time required to complete the project is to decompose the project into activities, sub-tasks, and work packages. This allows the Project Manager to estimate the duration of the project, determine the required resources and schedule the work. The key responsibility of project managers is to create and maintain the project schedule. Project schedules depend on four inter-related factors: time, resources, scope and quality. These factors are inter-dependent: you cannot change one without affecting the others.

The forecast of the time and the budget required for the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project should be done using the PERT/CPM technique. Using this technique will give the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project the most accurate forecast and the most economical budget. Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) charts depict task, duration, and dependency information. Each chart starts with an initiation node from which the first task, or tasks, originates. If multiple tasks begin at the same time, they are all started from the node or branch, or fork out from the starting point. Each task is represented by a line, which states its name or other identifier, its duration, the number of people assigned to it, and in some cases the initials of the personnel assigned. The other end of the task line is terminated by another node, which identifies the start of another task, or the beginning of any slack time, that is, waiting time between tasks. If the scheduled the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project has milestones, checkpoints, or review points (all of which are highly recommended in any the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project schedule), the PERT chart will note that all tasks up to that point terminate at the review node. It should be noted at this point that the the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project review, approvals, user reviews, and so forth all take time. When drawing up the plan, be sure to include the Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project tasks for documentation writing, documentation editing, and report reproduction. These tasks are usually time-consuming; so don't underestimate how long it will take to complete them.

The deliverables from the project closeout serve two purposes and those are finalizing the project in the eyes of the stakeholders, and present a learning opportunity. The steps to be taken by Integrating Local Trade Inventory Management and P&L Reporting project for closure are: Release resources, Release/reassign personnel as their planned activity ceases, Distribute