Project management for Geekson Company

Geekson Company’s undertakings mostly focus around the creation of furniture for clients. An ideal project for the organization begins with a query from a prospective consumer, whether via phone call, online interaction, or even a tradeshow sort of event. This is followed by a consultation in which consumers are visited and specifications, particularly table and chair dimensions, are gathered. Additional elements that correspond to the clients’ preferences, such as the necessity for accessories, lights, finishes, stains, or other personalization, are also documented. Geekson Company officials then conduct a follow up after a fortnight of meeting the customer. However, the company officials can always meet earlier or later with clients so as not to inconvenience them; fitting in with the availability of the customer is the pleasure of the company.

The moment a customer pays the deposit the order in question is confirmed some activities take place once officials get back to the office. The final design of the layout is started concerning the dimensions of the customer and then after the final total cost of the order with the customer is calculated. Again two weeks are granted to the customer so that quotes are realized and enough time is dedicated to designing details and confirmation. The moment the final total is agreed upon, materials needed to begin the construction are ordered.

Stakeholders and Responsibilities

The stakeholders involved in all of Geekson’s ventures include the principle of the company, the executive management of the company, the operating assistants, suppliers, investors and partners, and consumers.

The principle of the company is charged the responsibility of making sure that Geekson does not fall into a lot of liability. This is made possible by responsible capital budgeting. In the process; a balance is struck between the reserves committed to capital and those committed to spending.

The executive management of the company is charged with the responsibility of getting into the right partnerships, developing the right products, stewarding the progress of the business, promotion, and realizing good Public Relations for the business. In addition to that, they employ the middle-level management of the business who get involved with the larger responsibility of making the business operate with profitability.

Operating assistants are the employees of the company. Their responsibility usually resonates with the making of high-quality furniture for the customers. They are stakeholders since it is in their best interest Geekson succeeds.

Suppliers are supposed to deliver quality wood and fittings to the carpenters of the company so that theresult reflects a lot of quality. Geekson’s suppliers also require that the company pays them in good time. The symbiotic relationships between suppliers sand the police revolves around to give and take relationships that are defined by respect, responsibility and good will (Harvard Business Review 1991, 86).

Investors and partners of the company are the shareholders of Geekson. Shareholders expect that all the monies they invested in the company will pay off in the short run and the long run without fail. Their responsibility entailed injecting funds into the project so that it pays off.

Finally, customers desire that quality products are delivered to them whenever they make an order for furniture at Geekson. As such the responsibility of customers resonates with paying for products and making orders. These they expect to be honored through quality products.

Product specification/ detail from customer consultation

The pieces of furniture that are produced by the company are usually made to the taste and the specifications of the customer. Specific dimensions of the project are customized about the needs of the consumer, with a range of additional finishes, features, materials, and accessories that make every order unique. Customers decipher that it is no longer lead-time for their specific tables to be tailored vis-à-vis archetypal furniture. None of the products in question are made to stock, with every delivery making a distinct project that is headed by the unit production manager (Maylor 2010, 55).

Information on the planning work completed

Risks and mitigations

The most common risks to be addressed within a project that is involved in the making of furniture revolves around scope creep, delayed funds on the part of the customer, and customers who deny their designs. Scope creep occurs when the company fails tofinish making the furniture within the usual stipulated four weeks.As such, scope creep stems from the wastage of time. As a risk, scope creep can be addressed through close monitoring of the project. Being that it can be caused by a lack of money for buying resources or limited personnel, mitigation revolves around taking a proactive approach. When it comes to matter s of money scope creep can be mitigated using never making misappropriation of funds and never giving customers wrong quotations.

Secondly, delayed funds on the part of the customers usually stall any activities that would have made the making of furniture be completed on time. Usually, customers are supposed to pay for a deposit to allow for the company operatives to buy the right material. Later the deposit should be followed by another payment meant to finish up the purchase of any fittings, varnish, or paint. The very essence of paying on time is that it gets things done much earlier. To avoid any cases of inconvenience what the customer should do is to ensure there is timely payment of all the funds required. Such is the approach that can be used for mitigation because when a customer fails to bring funds on time, there is nothing much Geekson can do as a company. Besides, such a customer cannot blame the company for not finishing his or her work in due time.

As for the third risk which comprises customers who fail to acknowledge designs of their choosing, it is best thatthey are called to witness each of the project phases. Whenever the customers are called in to see the progress of their merchandise, they will have a chance to criticize and make changes to the readily available designs. A customer should be called up to four times to witness meaningful progress being that projects take approximately four to five weeks to be completed. Confusion and misunderstanding can also be taken care of if all the customers who make orders can provide a visual representation such as a sketch or a photograph of what they want to see in real life (Turner 2014, 45).

Project Breakdown

The work breakdown structure of the project pretty much plays the role of delegation for all the individuals that are involved in handling customer orders. There are several processes involved in the making of tables and chairs.

Production of chairs starts first, and each chair can take 4 days to produce. One employee is assigned a chair such that it takes four employees to make four chairs and six employees to make six chairs. This is different from the initial approach the company had assumed where a single craftsman oversees an entire project.

Table tops take about ten days to complete and then after the table legs can take a single day or less to complete.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that it takes one week to work on the final details of a project. These comprise activities such as the applying of varnishes and wood stains, installing lights personalized in the course of printing, and playing surfaces among other things.

The complete WBS is as shown below.

Task

Time

Production of Chairs

4 to 6 days

Making of table tops

10 days

Table leg making

1 day

Final details

7 days

Total

22 to 24 days

From the above table it is evident that the optimistic time for the project is 24 days; an approximate 3.5 weeks.

Timeline and Network Diagram

A Visual Timeline for the Project

The normal time for any one particular project assigned to the company by an existing customer (i.e., repeat customer) or a convinced prospective customer is usually four weeks. Secondly, the optimistic time for any one project the company is dealing with revolves around a period of 24 days, i.e., 3.5 weeks. Finally, the pessimistic time for project completion revolves around six weeks, i.e., 42 days. If a calculation were to be done based on time to determine the exact time projects will be completed, the following would be realized.

Project completion time= (optimistic time +normal time+ pessimistic time)/3

Project completion time=(24 +28+42)/3= 31.33

31.33 is approximately a period of one month.

Common Activities

There are four common activities that define the project. These include the production of chairs, the making of table tops, table leg making, and final details. It is undeniable that the four common activities are an equivalent of the four milestones to the project of each customer who trusts Geekson to make the right products for them. Delegation is made on a one-off basis so that there is no confusion between who is supposed to take over particular tasks. Job rotation and switching in between tasks is not advisable in the course of a project(Barker & Cole 2015, 34).

Dates, Milestones and Dependencies

Specific dates cannot be used since the company does not deal with one projects but many.

Milestone

Phase

Production of chairs

1

Making of table tops

2

Making table legs

3

Final details

4

Table: Key Dates, Milestones, and Dependencies

Establish Critical Path

Critical Path A-B-C-D

CommunicationPlan

For the company’s project, a communication plan is key since it assists in a couple of different things. First and foremost, communication would be very important because it would help the management in the delegation of tasks to all the operatives (mainly carpenters) that are involved in the project. The most appropriate methods of communication that would help Geekson to go about its projects successfully are the top down and down up methods of communication.

The top-down approach to communication would be very useful in helping the management not to be stranded whenever they want to reach out to the employees on matters revolving around work. Avenues that can be used include meetings, briefings, and memos among other things. In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that the management can communicate to individuals on a private level(Lock 2013, 59).

Bottom-up approach can also be useful in helping the employees to reach out to their bosses whenever they want to get more supplies that would enable them in doing their job in a much better way. In addition to that, they could air out their grievances albeit anonymously to the management.

So far the bottom up and the top down approach have proven to be very much helpful when it comes to matters of communication in the internal environment. In addition to that, the company will work on how it can communicate to customers, stakeholders, and other business on an external level. Business to Business relationships and Business to Consumer relationships are very much important to the growth and development of the company. The approaches that can be used include visiting businesses and prospective consumers, sending them emails, and calling them among other things. The suppliers of the company happen to be among the group of people that the business should make sure they communicate with on an external level.

Other Information

For Geekson to be successful in all its encounters with customers, there is a need for the company to make use of marketing. Marketing will help retain the existing customer base and attract more prospective customers. The best approach to marketing resonates with the 4Ps approach; these include Product, Promotion, Price, and Place.

When it comes to matters of product, the company can ensure that it makes chairs and tables of the highest quality. Quality ensures that repeat customers are realized. What’s more, the quality of products will inspire customer referrals, i.e., Customers will talk to friends who have never heard about Geekson’s products, and in turn they will be attracted to the point of securing an order for themselves. The products made by the company ought to exude the capability of Geekson to offer a unique selling position; this way they would not be hesitant to spend is that they think they are getting value for their money.

Secondly, getting prices right would be very much , important for Geekson since customers look to save money but still get the right quality from producers. As such, the company should embrace a second mover pricing strategy to lure customers. LEAN manufacturing and continuous improvement should precede the second mover pricing strategy so that margins are maintained, and profitability is not lost. If minimizing the cost of production through LEAN is not checked then the company is bound to compromise on quality and lose customers that they have enjoyed for the longest time.

For matters revolving around promotion, Geekson should make use of the social media as a lot of people have access to it. Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, MySpace, and LinkedIn are some of the social media sites that are frequented by a lot of potential customers. The social media will also do a lot of good because customers will get to give their ideas on how they would want their furniture to be made. Positive reviews and criticisms can also be made to help in the development of new products. In other words, the social media would be a good tool in the conducting of market research and development.

Finally, the place which the company would choose to disperse their products from is very important. In major cities and the rural areas, the challenge is making sure that visibility is realized. As such, products must be placed in places where potential customers can see them.

Other than marketing, the company will have to work on it’s after-sales services. More specifically, after sales services will have to revolve around the safe delivery of goods and services to the doorstep of customers. Whether customers make their pre-orders online or make a point of visiting the brick and mortar stores, deliveries have to be made all the same.

References

Lock, D. (2013). Project management (10th ed.). Farnham: Gower.

Barker, S., & Cole, R. (2015). Project management (Third ed., Brilliant). Harlow, England: Pearson.

Turner, J. (2014). Gower handbook of project management (Fifth ed.). Burlington: Gower.

Maylor, H. (2010). Project management (4th ed.). Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Harvard Business Review. (1991). Project management.Harvard Business School.