strategy

House4Housing – Rave for a Reason

Posted on by house4housing

Brief description of the project

We hosted an electric event in downtown Chinatown, keeping it local while bringing to community together for a night of fun and purpose. We raved for a reason-dancing all night with friends and family while supporting Heartland Housing. With over 100 guests, free street parking, security, open cash bar, immersive visuals, smoke machines, and vibrant decorations, we created a safe and enchanting atmosphere for everyone. By the end of the night, we raised enough to cover over venue costs and proudly donated over $1,000 to Heartland Housing.

Brief description of the charity

As Chicago’s immigrant and low-income communities evolve, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights adapts its services to meet their changing realities. As supportive and affordable housing becomes an increasingly urgent need, the organization establishes Heartland Housing, Inc. In 1988, a dedicated development arm was created to provide stable, affordable housing for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Factual analysis of success in terms of project objectives

Objectives:
—At least 35 attendees (breakeven point)
—Reach over 50k+ views on social media
—Donate at least $500

Results:
—100+ attendees
—90,000+ people reached on social media
—$1,000+ to donate

4) Two or three lessons learned about managing projects

Having extra time is one of the most valuable assets in a large-scale project. Unexpected obstacles will always come up, and building in time to respond before deadlines creates a crucial safety net. It’s also essential that everyone on the team is prepared for the workload and committed to holding each other accountable or stepping in to help when someone falls behind. Our event succeeded because we built a strong sense of teamwork from start to finish.

5) Advice for future teams doing similar projects

Choose a venue that’s easily accessible by multiple types of transportation, whether by train, car, or ride share. Market your event as much as possible—social media can help you reach a large audience quickly. Get tasks done ahead of schedule, because things rarely go exactly as planned, and extra time allows you to adjust smoothly. If you have multiple performers, keep backup equipment on hand and test everything for each artist before the show begins to avoid delays in the set list.

*We all had a great time. We all put in effort, we all had a say in decisions, and we all had access to the marketing and financial records throughout the entirety of the project. Building a team that is actually invested in the shared goal and wants to work together goes a long way.*

6) Photos related to the project. Examples could be event photos, website, team members, etc.

 

Presented by House4Housing

Netflix Post Event Video

Website @ House4Housing.org

Instagram @ House4Housing

Facebook @ House4Housing

Reddit @ House4Housing

Youtube @ House4Housing

TikTok @ House4Housing (which keeps getting banned because it’s not a business account)

Email @ House4Housing@gmail.com

A Correlation

Posted on by caleb598fall15

https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/keeping-tabs-on-projects.php

After completing my project management course at DePaul, the dots began to connect. The course has created a well round view of what goes into managing a project. The various tools, skills, and resources necessary to being a successful project manager. From estimating project cost and timelines, managing risk, to scheduling resources and cost, this course has taken me from an unclear idea of what project management is to a more refine idea of what a project manager does. The experiences I have encountered while working on our group project and the individual interview helped immensely define and illustrate the responsibilities of a project manager.

Furthermore, after reading the article “Keeping Tabs on Projects,” I have drawn similarities to my experience in the group project and to Kevin Wood’s experiences (the person I interviewed) as a project manager. Projects have a lot of moving parts as I have discovered in our teams experience. I would imagine at a company, one might even have multiple projects going on simultaneously. To successfully run a project, being able to keep tabs on every aspect of the project is vital. In my experience with my group we did this extensively through emails, meetings, formal reports for class, and informal conversations over the phone/texting. In the interview with Kevin, this was one of the topics we discussed in-depth. He mentioned some days he only spends reporting on various aspects of his project, whether its to his supervisor or his client.

“Keeping Tabs on Projects” discusses implementing a systematic way to keep tabs on everything without having to dig through emails and notepads. My group did this by creating a workflow chart. Its important to keep upper management informed along the way. By doing so, it can make the project easier with them as far as support and proper resource implementation.

In the article it discusses that in the beginning of the project its important to identify the roles every player will be responsible for. By identifying those individuals and what roles they each will play, the project manager will understand what information they will need for further execution. By keeping tabs on the individual deliverables, it allows the project manager and the group to help identify problems and potential roadblocks. In my groups experience, I was responsible for finding potential locations for our event. By getting the appropriate information to my group early on, we were able to make a sound decision on where our event would best benefit our cause.

 

Product manager vs. project manager: who is what, and why is each important

Posted on by matthew598fall15

During our first 2 weeks of class, I have been assessing how my company handles project management, and where to find our PMO group. Regrettably, our company does not have a dedicated group that handles all our company’s projects. This led myself to re-assess how our company operates under its current organization, which based on our customer needs, Hotwire serves to be a fun, spontaneous travel site that attracts advantageous travel geeks. Our goal is to develop a great travel experience, and this hinges on product development. Product development has similarities with project management, developing a scope, executing on the deliverables, quality control, and completion. So I searched what was the main difference between these organizational groups, and found an article that describes how a product manager sees the difference (listed at the end of this post).

The article discuss the differences between product and project management. Product management is “focused on the end-to-end life cycle of an identified value-proposition”, and I see this group supporting an on-going goal. Ultimately, product managers serve the purpose of delivering products to its customers. The article breaks down project management simply as having a “narrower scope, delivering an outcome defined by someone else”, and which gives the impression that project managers have a purpose based on around strategic decision makers.  The article gave me the impression that product managers are miss understood, and should have a clearer view of their role in the organization.

So, I as reflect on the author’s view of product management and project management, I see the similarities with my own firm, but in the reverse. Project managers have an unclear role in our organization because of how our company organizes it’s priorities around product development. As a Hotel Account Manager, I work closely with our product teams, who oversee different functionalities on our site. These functionalities include product placement, special tagging, promotion features, and specialized amenities (like free parking or complimentary breakfast). In addition to these different product types, our product teams are organized into different categories like mobile, supplier tools, content, pricing and email marketing.

When it comes to our company’s project managers, they are involved in new product releases, technology conversions, and having ownership over key initiatives. Some of these initiatives are related to our companies score card that track different strategy goals, and our project managers are either key senior managers or proven contributors assigned to a special project. To give further insight, our team assigned one of Regional Managers a project to oversee a conversion of a sister travel site. Our Regional Manager led the project for 3 months, and after completing the project, continued to manage his region. Ultimately, I believe our company is set up for success, but I wonder how we could be a better organization with a dedicated PMO team.

Does anyone see a similar project management set up with their organization?

http://www.jtpedersen.net/2013/01/25/whats-the-difference-project-manager-vs-product-manager/

 

Project Management: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Posted on by jacky598fall15

Do you sometimes see your project manager as just the “jerk in charge?”

The course material has resonated with me in that I am able to identify the need for project management in certain areas of my workplace where this is lacking; such as developing systems for interdepartmental communication and talent acquisition and retention. But, can this be done in the project/program setting with definitive time lines, goals, budget, planning and execution? I think so!

To examine this further, let’s review two examples of projects that I’ve taken part of during my career in the Association Management Field which starkly contrast with each other. One, the successful implementation of a global acquisition strategy for a stand alone association. The other, an abysmally failed attempted to reorganize the digital file structure of an Association Management Firm representing 40 clients and employing almost 250 people.

The latter project, in my opinion, was the attempt of an executive assistant to prove her worth to the company. Beginning with the notion that a one size fits all file structure would be suitable for different account teams representing vastly different clients from many different industries was mistake number one. The project managers did not take the time to properly assess what the organization’s true needs and wants were and simply operated under assumptions. They may have been doing this to avoid scope creep, which often happens in the Association Management Firm setting because there are so many different agendas that come to the table. However, in this instance where the project largely affected day to day operations, failure to involve the entire organization in the planning process lead to a great amount of internal imbalance.

The next mistake was formulating an unreasonable timeline, which included several hours of pointless meetings and then full days, or even weeks, where entire account teams were taken away from their work and forced to moved files around within the network to comply with the new uniform structure. I was personally affected by this as my account team had a system in place for invoicing which relied heavily on file paths – all of which would have to be changed due to the relocation and none of which was considered or anticipated by the project manager. This was an absolute waste of human capital and client’s suffered because of it.

The successful project was one that was carefully cultivated over a two year period by a project manager with a strategic and forward thinking mindset. The Global Development Department at my current company put together an ROI tool which will allow them to assess how to approach various different markets. Each department had a seat at the table and everyone’s role in the process was considered. While implementation is just now beginning, there is great excitement! A good project manager should be able to generate positive feelings about the project – as opposed to the previous example which generated a lot of groaning and eye rolling. I hope to be able to partake in and lead more successful projects like this one in the future.

 

Nike’s Slogan

Posted on by zach598sum15

Just Do It
I found the article below interesting as it discusses the idea that in new projects, specifically those that may be in unfamiliar or unpredictable environments, it may be better to simply act instead of analyzing.
https://hbr.org/2012/03/new-project-dont-analyze-a

This concept makes me think about our class assignment to build a structure with uncooked spaghetti noodles and marshmallows and how our team reacted (and failed miserably) to that project. We took the first 25% of the project time to map out our strategy, sketch out our detailed design plans, review our budget forecast for materials, and create a rough work breakdown structure. We assigned tasks to team members such as collecting specific supplies, breaking noodles into correct sizes for our base and support beams, configuring the correct marshmallows (small or large) in the right sections, and monitoring the time we had left to complete the project.

So what went wrong? Within the first minute of the ‘build’ stage of our project it was clearly evident our design was not going to be successful. Even though we had mapped and planned out the entire project in detail, and we had two professional engineers working on the project, none of us had any experience building a structure with uncooked noodles and marshmallows. What made us believe our unproven ‘plan’ would be even remotely successful to follow?

The article goes on to discuss the concept of “learning through action” and the steps a project manager can take to move forward, making right and wrong turns, to learn more about the eventual correct direction for the project. The project manager is not ‘flying blind’ in the project, but instead moving carefully into action by simply starting and evaluating the results.

Act:        Take a smart step toward a goal.
Learn:    Evaluate the evidence you have created.
Build:     Repeat Act and Learn steps until you accomplish your goal, opt to change direction based on findings, or discover the goal cannot be competed.

The paper examines how the old methods of planning, forecasting, analyzing, and allocating for new and uncharted projects simply do not result in success. Instead, the authors discuss some points to consider in using the act-learn-build concept above.

Stay within your Acceptable Loss
The act-learn-build model is inherently low risk, but not risk free. Within each phase consider how much you can lose in terms of time and money and still continue moving forward.

Secure only the Commitment you Need for the Next Step
Instead of asking “How do I get everyone committed to my idea?” ask, “What’s the least amount of commitment I need to act?” The idea is to have just enough freedom to continue to explore the concepts.

Manage Expectations
Make it clear to management this is a proof of concept rather than full scale project plan.

Have you ever experienced something similar with being on or managing a ‘new’ project at your company?  Do you have examples where the Act-Learn-Build method may have been a better approach to a project?

“Doing more, with less”

Posted on by arif598sum15

“Doing more, with less” is a phrase most small business owners can relate to. This phrase refers to reaching goals and standards with reduced or limited resources compared to other organizations. This limitation of resources creates obstacles in various aspects in an organization, particularly project management. Having firsthand experience in a small business for the past 10 years I can attest to the phrase “doing more, with less”. Small businesses face many challenges, but by utilizing the following tools effective project management can still be delivered

Schedule

Maintaining a schedule is important in all businesses, particularly small businesses. Many projects in a small business context are limited in time and resources but also need to meet a high standard. As a result, utilization of PERT or Gantt charts can effectively manage the progress of a particular project. I have personally have not used these charts in my small business, but understand the benefit in doing so. By having a Work Breakdown Structure, each project can have more specific deliverables and evaluation of these deliverables is more easily done.

Cost

“Doing more, with less” is often times speaking to financial resource limitations. In a small business setting, financial resources are almost always a challenge. There are various programs and software used in the business world to track costs, but in my organization we utilize a budget system. The budget allows us to see what we estimated for a project and what we have paid for that project. By comparing the estimated and actual cost we can determine if we are on track to meet the budget for a given project or if we need to re-evaluate the estimations and/or find other cost effective ways to meet the budget.

Control

Controlling costs and scheduling is pivotal to successful project management. For example, if you do not control employees who are purchasing products for the project or you do not have control measures in place for scheduling then there will be a greater variation from the mean timeline and budget you have set forth to begin with. Generally, this issue has not been a problem in my organization particularly because I have been solely in charge of developing projects, estimating costs, scheduling, and carrying out the projects. This article sheds light on the areas of improvement that my small business can achieve.

Evaluation

Effective communication and developing a work culture where collaboration is valued and sought after is an important aspect for evaluations. Individuals must understand that their input is valued and there will not be blame or punishment for voicing their opinions. This environment is conducive to learning from previous projects and as a result improves project management processes for future projects.

 

I aim to further develop and improve on my project management by utilizing the tools discussed above. As a result I will be more effective at “doing more, with less”. Have you had a time in your organization or life where you had to “do more, with less?”

 

URL: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-project-management-small-business-organization-41274.html

Citation:

Markgraf, B. (n.d.). Effective Project Management in the Small Business Organization. Retrieved August 10, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-project-management-small-business-organization-41274.html

No….no…..no….PMO?

Posted on by kevink598sum15

I wanted to share some lessons learned about how my company integrated a PMO Platform process.  The feedback and comments during classroom discussions had a mixed bag of positive or not so positive on having a PMO process, so I wanted to share my experience.

Background:

My company, along with eight other companies form a portfolio of brands that are owned by a parent company.   Each of the nine total companies have been acquired by the parent company in the last 20+ years, some as recently within the past year.  It is truly a global conglomerate with half the brands based in North American (U.S. and Canada) and the other half based in several countries throughout Europe, including the parent company.  Seven years ago, the parent company made a change in their strategic direction and went from purely a holding company of the brands to a controlling company and essentially wanted all the sister companies to start to implement similar processes, platforms, systems, business structures across the board.  In theory, a new strategy could then be set by the parent company and each of the sister companies had all the right parts and components to implement it versus coming up with nine similar but slightly different strategies catered to each sister company.  Overall, the alignment has created some successful platforms (Finance, IT, Operations, to name a few) while other functional areas are still coming along but given the individual uniqueness of the brands and their respective business it is understandable that there are some bumps in the road.  Enter the PMO Platform…..

PMO Platform:

When first introduced was not very well received as many of the sister companies were still navigating their way on the other integrative platform changes.  Plus, the original PMO process also did not give the brands any additional resources (headcount) and key people with certain functions were asked to take on the additional duties.  The feedback was acted upon and a very much condensed format was later presented.  The initial cumbersome requirements and details were streamlined, as well as a consolidation of how the communication process would flow up through senior management at the brand level to management at the parent company.  The consolidation and simplification of the communication flow, a single page that has just enough detail/signals that any manager through CEO can easily determine how strategic projects are progressing, was ultimately the secret sauce that got the ball rolling with all the brands.

Lessons Learned:

Wikipedia has a sentence that describes PMO as “A group or department….that strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.”  The key word there is standardization and it is not just the execution of projects, but also the standardization of how those projects are communicated.  So in my case, can you imagine the types of responses our parent company would receive when they inquired to the brands as to how certain strategic projects were progressing?  Do you think the European brands and the North American brands would have presented their updates in the exact same way?  Before PMO, it was mess. After PMO, much more standardized.  I will admit, I was initially frustrated with the PMO process, but once I got a better understanding of foundational problem of why it was needed I flipped my stance.  So anyone that has to deal with a PMO, truly understanding “why” it is being implemented is necessary to understand the benefits of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_office

 

 

 

 

Dunkin’ into Success

Posted on by leonel30131f14

image.axd

 

I’m not an frequent coffee drinker, but I do find myself going to Dunkin’ Donuts for the occasional hot drink. What I do find particularly interesting about the franchise, is that almost every time I go, there seems to be little to no line. So what is it that keep’s its operations running smoothly and efficiently? Dunkin’ Donuts takes a disciplined approach that is able to balance consumer demand with operational execution. Its strategy of offering limited time offer deals has been among the best to work in the restaurant industry. Their strategy allows them to offer a differentiated menu to its wide array of customers. Through this method, Dunkin’ Donuts is able to introduce new products bringing in new customers. Setting themselves apart from its competitors is a key factor that has helped keep Dunkin’ Donuts a thriving business. Limited time offers allows Dunkin’ Donuts to explore new options, to get a feel for what customers want. Many times they find that customers really like a particular item, and they end up integrating it into their core menu.

Dunkin’ Donuts’ success comes from a vast and diverse pipeline that allows them to offer similar but different products engaging its customers to try new things, leading to increased sales. Customization is Dunkin’ Donuts’ core competency, not only does product quality matter, but its service as well.

Dunkin’ Donuts has a very low capital requirement relative to the rest of the coffee retail industry. This is due in part to its business model, centered around establishing franchises across the world. So what are some ways in which it keeps driving profits? One factor to consider is the flow of customers, something very important to managers at Dunkin’ Donuts. Being able to stay on top of demand, especially during peak hours, is an essential factor for their success. Dunkin’ Donuts usually offers little to no in-house dining space. Allowing them to reduce expense and continue to increase their contribution. They focus on giving the customer the convenience of getting an on the run breakfast and or coffee.

What is your opinion about Dunkin’ Donuts?

Do you believe their success is due to their diverse menu or more closely related to coffee demand?

Do you think that by offering quick service, Dunkin’ Donuts is neglecting product value?

Any good or bad experiences?

http://marketrealist.com/2014/02/dunkin-brands-unique-player-maturing-industry/

http://www.qsrweb.com/articles/how-dunkin-donuts-keeps-operations-simple-with-fast-lto-pace/

Burger King Vs. McDonalds

Posted on by mason30121f14

1104_BKGlobal                          1104_BKAmerica

Burger King and McDonalds have historically been pretty similar companies. They both provide fast and convenient food for a low price, and tend to offer similar types of food. This past year, however, the two companies have been losing some of those similarities. As a result of this, both have been performing differently as well.

For almost every player currently in the fast food industry, the last couple of years have been rough. Consumer preferences have been changing, there is more competition, and economic problems have hit the industry hard in comparison to many other industries. Burger King, however, has been able to make some progress while their biggest competitor, McDonalds, has continued to take a hit. The reason behind this seems to be the difference in strategy both companies have chosen.

As Burger King continues their attempts to rebrand themselves, they’ve done a couple things that have worked out well for them. Most notably, they have reduced the size of their menu but increased the quality of items they continue to offer. McDonalds on the other hand continues to develop and offer more items. This has caused an increase in complexity and a decrease in the quality of what they’re offering. After looking at how both companies have performed over the last year, it’s pretty obvious that Burger King has taken the better route.

When attempting to choose the process strategy of a company, the executives need to focus on customer requirements, cost, and efficiency. Burger King’s strategy has done a good job in all of these aspects. They’ve been able to increase the quality of the products they offer, tailoring them the preferences of their customers, while also reducing cost. Their money isn’t tied up in new product development or in item lines that aren’t attractive to the market. McDonalds has basically done the opposite. By continuing to develop and introduce multiple new products, their cost has risen and they haven’t been able to focus on what their customers’ preferences are. McDonalds is big enough and does have the money to do this and not notice any substantial loss in market share, but if they continue to do it, that might not continue. If the trends of this last year continue, the gap between them and Burger King is only going to get smaller.

The view of McDonalds seems to be that their strategy has worked in the past, so eventually it should work again. Do you think that Burger King is just utilizing a recovering economy, and that their new strategy will eventually stop working when it fully recovers, or is this a trend likely to continue? Is it better for a fast food restaurant to place more value on quality or variety?

Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-05/hard-times-for-hamburgers-hurt-mcdonalds-more-than-burger-king#r=read

Apple Creates The Weak In A Week

Posted on by jeffl30121f14

Recently, a new form of payment has been introduced to the world: Apple Pay. This is a “digital wallet” which allows people to make purchases with a single touch on their mobile devices. Although this form of payment has been around, such as the Google Wallet, Apple Pay has already dominated the mobile payments market in only one week. What makes Apple Pay so special and why has it already become the most popular mobile payments platform?

appley pay into

 

There are numerous locations that provide NFC (Near Field Communication) payments, and Apple Pay seems to be the easiest to utilize. Unlike other methods, Apple Pay requires consumers to only hold their finger on the mobile’s fingerprint scanner called the Touch ID. There will be no more of reaching into your wallet and trying to find a piece of plastic. Comparing to the Google Wallet, individuals are required to take a few more steps to complete the transaction such as entering their pin number. Apple Pay seems to be more convenient where it outperforms its competitors.

More to Apple Pay’s popularity is their secured system. According to NBC News, “The tokenization system built into Apple Pay is considered one of the most secure, fraud-proof ways to make payments, because it keeps consumers’ actual credit card data from ever entering a retailer’s point-of-sale system”. Furthermore, Apple Pay requires biometric verification to continue with the transaction. Security is an important aspect that grabs consumer’s attention. Since the hacking incident on CurrentC, one of Apple Pay’s competitors, people are starting to be very cautious on using the NFC payment method. Apple Pay is known to include a secured server that may even be safer than using credit cards. These key features of Apple Pay have brought its service on top within one week of their release.

As appealing as Apple Pay sounds, other NFC payment platforms provide more features that do not exist in Apple Pay. For example, Google Wallet is able to accept any type of major credit and debit cards. Apple Pay does not accept discover which limits their target market. Also, Google Wallet is also available in both iOS and Android devices. Using Google Wallet, individuals are able to send and accept money from others. With other digital wallets capable of much more features, Apple Pay still beats its competitors. Its feature of being highly convenient and secured has boosted up their amount of users. You now can understand how quality improves profitability.

Fulfilling customer expectations with the services Apple provides can gain additional sales. Apple Pay has also boosted up iPhone 6 sales, as it is only compatible with that type of device. Not only has its features bring in more users, but help generate more sales in the market. It’s clever to see how Apple Pay is also used as a marketing strategy. The creation of Apple Pay may be the beginning to a generation of solely mobile payments.

Do you believe that Apple Pay will remain on top of its competitors? How much longer?
As an Apple user, I may come out biased on over-crediting Apple Pay. Do you believe their service is superior to others?

Sources:

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/gadgets/can-apple-win-mobile-wallet-war-n240011

http://bgr.com/2014/10/28/apple-pay-vs-nfc-competition/