2012T1 Fortune Cookies: Team & Project Overview
Dashboard | Team & Project Overview | Project Design | Project Management | Progress Summary | User Testing |
Contents
The Team - Fortune Cookies
Fortune Cookies is a group of Third Year Information Systems Management students from Singapore Management University.
Members
- Dustin NG Yu
- Jane Iskandar LAU
- LEOW Si Wee, Hayden
- TENG Aladdin Young
- YOUNG Lilian
Roles and Responsibilities
Member | Management Role & Scope | Development Role & Scope |
---|---|---|
Hayden | Project Manager
|
Software Architect
|
Dustin | System Analyst
|
Database Designer/Manager
|
Jane | Requirements Gathering Manager
|
Implementer/ Reviewer
|
Aladdin | Technical Reviewer
|
Lead Developer/Software Architect
|
Lilian | System Analyst
|
User-interface Designer
|
The Client - Lodestone
Lodestone Management Consultants Pte Ltd is one of the global consulting firms that aim to bring excellence to its customers together with measurable business benefits. Lodestone handles a wide variety of clients ranging from the life sciences, chemical and finance industries.
The firm is one of the unique consulting firms, whose business model aims to provide a client-centric experience to bring about detailed advice on strategy, business optimization and IT transformation to various clients. It is unique compared other consulting firms as it is more client driven and deals with projects in a macroscopic perspective. The firm uses an integration of Information Technology together with Business as one of the key drivers for revenue.
Business Case
Project Management is one of the key areas of focus in the firm’s business process. The Project Managers are tasked to demonstrate proper Project Management Standards to implement the projects at hand. Lodestone Management Consultants specifically follows the 8 Pillars of Project Management, which include:
- Stakeholders are Committed
- Business benefits are Realized
- Risks are Mitigated
- Issues are Managed
- Scope is Realistic and Managed
- Program Planning is Highly Disciplined
- Team is Highly Skilled and Motivated
- Engagement in Performing to Expectations
Currently, Lodestone Management Consultants employs these standards through the use of Microsoft Excel to be able to manage, track and record past projects. Standard formulas and algorithms are used by Project Managers and their clients to expose projects which are behind, on time or ahead of schedule.
While using Microsoft Excel is one of the ways to implement such a complex process, it clearly lacks scalability, flexibility and usability for long term usage. It cannot accommodate a sudden increase in number of clients within the system. It is difficult to customize functions for each project to different roles in the company. It is also very impractical to use in terms of worldwide communication with clients. Given these disadvantages, it is recommended that a more suitable application be made to accommodate the management of projects within the company.
To develop a configurable application that allows:
- New Project Set-up
- Modification to criteria/questionnaire, formulas and weighting
- Access control (Authorization)
- Alerts to remind Project Managers
Project Objective
To develop an easy-to-use management tool for Project Managers to:
- Aid in the assessment of the project status based on the 8 Pillars of Delivery Excellence
- Provide visibility to Partners globally and regionally on the progress of projects per country
- Provide a common base for project status reporting
- Provide input to monthly Steering Committee meetings
Project Description
We are developing a Delivery Excellence Dashboard, an application to be used by Lodestone Management Consultants for more effective management of projects and clientele. The application will allow users to manage projects (pertaining to different roles) based on the company’s standard of the 8 Pillars of Delivery Excellence, provide visibility to partners globally and regionally and provide a common base for status reporting as well as input into monthly steering meetings. A report will be generated in power point file. The application will be suitable for web browser Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox.
For the Delivery Excellence Dashboard, we have identified 3 distinct views for each user role. They are the following:
- Admin Dashboard – Manages user access rights and the creation of projects
- Project Manager Dashboard – Allows Project Managers to report the status of their projects in a standardized manner
- Management Level Dashboard – Helps Lodestone Management to visualize the current state of projects through a map view
The administrator view is one of the key components of the entire dashboard as the project creation is made from this perspective. The administrator adds in the general project details, such as the client and the project managers involved to facilitate the entire project process. Through usage of the system, the people involved in the specified project are notified through emails.
The functionalities in the project manager view include functions such as viewing the list of projects assigned to him, viewing the individual project details, as well as editing and saving project details. Some of the key features of this perspective however, include answering questionnaires and generating reports. Answering questionnaires is a function used to keep members of the project involved as to where the current status of the project is using the 8 Pillars of Delivery Excellence. The purpose of generating reports is for higher management to identify the current progress and indications of the project.
The management level dashboard view is used to identify the projects catering to a specific region on a worldwide level. This perspective pertains to mainly informing the higher management personnel regarding the projects assigned together with its details to help in higher management decision making.
Project Motivation
To create a common platform locally for:
Higher Management to monitor the status of projects in line with Lodestone's 8 Pillars of Delivery Excellence
- Higher Management will be able to understand the performance for projects which are assigned to him / her at a glance by looking at the map, and to know more into project details if he or she is interested.
Project Managers to report the status of their projects in a standardized manner
- Project Manager will know the status of the projects which are assigned to him or her by answering the questionnaire set by Admin. This will make the standardized reporting status within the company. Project Manager will understand how each project is performing in his or her dashboard.
Project Goals
This application aims to provide flexibility, where customization is available for different users of the application as well as a convenient platform for communication. Lastly and most importantly. Most importantly, the application is meant to provide an easy to use and convenient platform for higher management to monitor the projects handled by Lodestone MC.