Project Objectives

To develop a web application design for the social media research Centre

To create an interactive utility website for the social media research Centre.   

Project justifications: Research forms an integral part of any learning institution. Learning institutions require a centre where research can be facilitated and learning materials can be shared. David unit requires a research Centre which will support learning activities through research. Development of the centre was prompted by a number of reasons. The associated organization which performs related research activities closed down its operations. There has been increased pressure from senior executives to provide a high quality focused research Centre. In recent times within the unit there has been attractive demand of masters and doctoral student’s performance in the area of research.  There been an increase in use of social media among students and other individuals that prompted to have a social media research Centre to be developed.

High level scope: this will include: development of a web application that will contain the intranet website and section of members on the intranet. The website in addition should contain other major projects like list of supervisors, masters and PHD projects, conference/journal papers and project reports. It should contain a login system for members to update any occurrence and changes.  

Project primary deliverables

The primary deliverables of the social media research Centre project will be as follows:

1. Drawing of the project charter and plan
2. Meeting for consultative pre-design of the application system with experts
3. Development of the web application system
4. Rolling out including pre-testing of the system
5. Communication and sensitization
6. Reviews and closure

Project benefits: The project will be beneficial to the organization because it will improve its image on research across the other learning institutions. It will also provide linkages with other institutions where they can share learning resources.

Exclusions and inclusion: The project team will participate in design & development of the deliverables of social media research Centre. It will not participate in stocking the research Centre with learning materials or training users on its usage. It will not participate in patenting of resources.

MOV – Measurable Organisational Value

The impact of developing a social resource learning centre will have the following values:

Strategy -The project will be higher placed over the other learning institutions in terms of research

Customer-The varying needs including interactive and sharing will be promoted by the Centre.  

Financial-The implementation of the social media research Centre will help reduce costs associated with stocking books and space acquisitions.

Operational-The systems employed will be a simple one that functions can be done on self-service basis.

Social-The social media will allow members to interact with each other and resources available

One metric that the project will bring is growth. Explained as follows:

• Growth of the unit as a learning resource center
• Growth of members accessing the service
• Growth of the center reputation in providing scholarly materials
• Growth of learning resources
• Growth of social network for interactions and sharing knowledge

Specific factors: Easy accessibility, Scholarly, less costly, plagiarism free, accommodative

Deliverables: Plan documentations, development & testing of software application, communication and reviews.

The project milestones which are scheduled for eight months will be as follows

1. Drawing of the project charter and plan will start on 1/07/2017
2. Meeting for consultative pre-design of the application system with experts will begin on 2/08/2017
3. Development of the web application system will begin on 25/10/2017
4. Rolling out including pre-testing of the system will start on 16/11/2017
5. Communication and sensitization will begin on 1/1/2018
6. Reviews and closure will take place on 20/2/18 onwards

Assumptions: the project assumes that the system will function well, and will be able to embrace only scholarly outputs. Clients will positive embrace the Centre for the project to be successful.

Constraints: Opposition from one of the senior executive may arise who was arguing that the project will not be able to provide scholarly output like that of Australian National University. Other constraint is how best it will be needed to prevent non-necessary scholarly functions in social media Centre.

High-level scope

The project should only focus on scholarly materials through interactions through social media. Plagiarisms should be avoided at all cost from other library experiences this might kill the credibility of an institution. Library standards and professionalism will be followed that guides how the unit will be managed according to national and international acceptable criteria of performance. Internet web aided system will not affect operations (Agrawal & Zeng , 2015).  Personal experience shows that when social media is used it brings more linkages and more interactions.

A communication plan is a useful component that ensures that all stakeholders participate in the project (Burke, 2013). It is formulated in order to provide guidance on how project information will be shared during initiation, executive and closure. It is purpose will vary with types of projects. The social media research Centre communication plan was developed in order to serve the following purposes:

1. To ensure the stakeholders are informed on project performance
2. To facilitate client and stakeholders feedback useful in corrective and monitoring functions
3. To increase ownership and sustainability of the project

The communication plan for the project was developed after carrying out a stakeholder analysis to identify their oversight role and interest towards the project. From the findings of the analysis the stakeholders were classified according communicative needs and participation towards the project. The social media research Centre will be guided by the philosophy of social involvement of clients in research through social media. Participation of clients through social media will enhance sustainability and ownership of the project. There are several techniques that can be used for communication they include: formal and informal meetings, emails, letters, telephone calls and memos (PMI., 2013). Through communication assessments based on the frequency of usage, type of stakeholder, affordability, and nature of feedback the project will utilize formal & informal meetings, emails and phone calls.

Projects are normally affected from changes on its scope, resources and schedule (PMI., 2013). A good project management team needs to plan for these changes. The project will use a change management log. The log will record all changes originating from project life cycle and steps to manage them. Table 1 shows the change management log.  

Table 5 change management log

Any changes to the three constraints (scope, schedule, resources) will be communicated to the responsible persons. Meetings will then be done to assess the impact of the stated change. Decisions can later be made to either to accept or reject the stated change. Change planning will take place either by employing a contingency plan.

Meeting agendas are useful activities for a project that can be used to review, track and revise project deliverables to ensure performance is met (Burke, 2013). The project will use different meeting to outline different roles, and objectives. Examples of the meeting agendas include: pulse meetings, variance reports, technical reports, management and project reviews.  In projects there are several meetings with different agenda with specified stakeholders. The frequency and timing of the meetings will vary with the needs and nature of the project. Table 2 summarizes the project meeting’s agenda.  

Table 6 Project meeting’s agenda

For the project management of social media research Centre project to be tackling the kind of information to be shared, frequency of communication, purpose and mechanism of communication they will need to formulate communication plan and communication techniques assessments. There are several communication techniques that can be employed in projects. In these project formal & informal meetings, phone calls, and emails will be used. Assessments will be determined to identify when and suitability of the methods to different stakeholders (Hedman, 2013).   

It is important for project managers to identify stakeholders and later employ communication strategies to meet their needs. A communication strategy matrix will be employed to determine the specific communication techniques for each social media Centre project stakeholder’s needs. The communication strategy matrix employs an analysis of oversight and interest role of stakeholders to design how communication will be managed (Burke, 2013).

The communication plan is formulated for project management and team meetings. In addition it documents management and project report reviews. It clearly shows the mode in which project managers would employ. Table 3 shows the communication plan for the social media research Centre project. 

Table 3 communication plan

Evaluation of the project performance will take place if the client is satisfied with the output and approved it the closure will take place (PMI., 2013). A smooth handing over will take place and necessary documentations will be closed off.    

References 

Agrawal & Zeng . (2015). Introduction to wireless and mobile systems. Chicago: Cengage learning.

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control tecniques. New Jersey: Wiley publishers.

Hedman, K. (2013). Project management professional exam study guide. Indianapolis: Wiley.

PMI. (2013). A guide to project management body of knowledge . Newtown Square: PA: PMI.