Information Needs

During the initial kick off of the project there will be a meeting with all clients, customers, stakeholders, and project participants. This is to ensure that everyone is clear about the direction and the details surrounding the project. Weekly highlight reports will ensure communication from project managers to library personnel. If problems occur which need to be dealt with immediately, leaders will be addressed and will be responsible for letting their team know of the changes.

There are a wide variety of information needs to be tracked and managed during the span of the project. The budgeting of the cost, time, and scope are the three main areas of concern.

Time

The actual time schedule will be measured against the proposed time schedule. This measurement will help track estimates and outcomes of labor.

Cost

The project can be broken down into a variety of areas: materials, labor expense, funds committed but not paid, and dates.

Scope

The scope of the project is harder to manage. The PM will be involved in every aspect of the process to insure the integrity of the project. The project workers are being held to the highest standards. The renovation materials are of the best quality and we have been assured our satisfaction is guaranteed.

The removal of the furniture will be done in house. The shelving units are dated and need to be replaced but several of the professors have indicated they would like the units in their office. The university maintenance will handle removal of the units. Jennifer has communicated with the professors. Any remaining units will be disposed of. Since there are summer classes in session it was felt the reference collection could not be boxed up while the renovation was under way. Moving the collection was designated to the reference personnel so they would have firsthand knowledge of where the materials are when needed.

Data Collection

A standardized template will be implemented in the beginning of the project. The template will be easily recognized with the school emblem and the title of the project. This is to: “ensure a consistent look and feel access a range of communication tools – textual, visual, verbal and non-verbal” (Stanley, 2003). Nancy Pearl, the head of the project, will be using Intellsys Project, a medium priced project management program. Each of the team leaders, Matt, Stacey, Jessica and Jennifer, will compile data on a team leader level and will email stats to Pearl who will be monitoring the project. The data compiled from each of the team leaders will be collected and stored in shared files such as a Wiki, so all the team leaders and the project manager have access to the data at any time.

What reporting methods will be used to compile data? Intellsys Project will be used for reporting and compiling data. By using this tool the project will be able to be better managed because resources, time and cost are being monitored throughout the lifecycle of the project. A variety of different types of graphs and reports will allow members of the team to see updated information on the status of the project such as: scheduled status reports, summary of scheduled status reports, cost reports, cumulative reports, and cumulative cost line graphs. This allows the project manager to see the milestones within the project being met, and it will also show the team members and stakeholders the progress of the project.

Controlling Objectives

A final audit on the objectives will be made at the conclusion of the project to verify that the objectives of the project were met. This is to ensure everyone with a vested interest in the project is happy with the outcome of the project even if the objectives may have needed to be tweaked. We know the students and the staff are going to be thrilled at the result of the remodel, but as a final summary a survey at the opening will be disbursed. On a team leader level, an evaluation of each of the members and the project manager will take place. This information will be used for future personal reference.

Monitoring the Team

Team meetings will be held weekly and will include the four team leaders and the Project Manager.  Progress of the project will be assessed at these meetings and this will include updates from each team leader as to how their respective function is working.   In between weekly meetings team members expect to communicate via email and in-person since all members work in the library.  Any problems that arise will be discussed as a group.  If there are any performance issues, the Project Manager will address those individually with the team member. 

Dealing with Changes

The Project Manager has ensured thorough front end planning to stave off 'scope creep.' Because the library is the client we do not anticipate last minute additions to the project. Changes, however, are bound to occur, no matter how thorough the construction company's plan. There are balances built into the bid so that there is room to maneuver a bit in time and budget. In order to ensure that the timeline, budget, and scope stay in balance, we have implemented a change control process. Changes that affect the budget for each major task area by 1% or more, or affect the timeline by three days or more, must be appoved by the management team as a whole. The team member in charge of the task area in question must submit a written description of the change, the reason for the change, effects it will have on the budget and timeline, and any alternative options to the change. The weekly team leader meetings will include reviewing change requests. If the changes affect the budget by less than %1 or the timeline by less than three days, so-called minor changes, they can be approved by the team leader available at the time.

A change control log will exist electronically. All team leaders have access to the change control log and must log the change with notes including the impact on time and budget with their initials and date/time stamp the day the change is approved.

Communicating with Stakeholders

There are numerous stakeholders to consider in this project:  students and alumni, Library administration and staff, University administration and faculty, other University departments and community members.  Because of this there are different strategies for communicating project updates to each group.  Our library website will have a mock-up photo of the new interior information commons area along with blueprints of the new layout.  We will be videotaping construction progress and will have a live video-cam of progress and time-lapse of the first few weeks, updated every two weeks (for an example of live video-cam library construction and time lapse video, see: www.cu-portland.edu/giving/success/librarylive.cfm).  This will aid students in understanding what the project entails and what the final outcomes will be, as well as get them excited about the newly remodeled library.  Students and alumni will also be encouraged to fill out online comment cards with any questions, concerns, or comments they may have.

We will hold weekly team meetings where all aspects of the project will be discussed, including potential changes or issues, monitoring of the timetable and budget, and staffing updates or problems.  Emerging from these meetings will be written updates for various stakeholders.  We will post brief updates weekly on the library's intranet for library staff, with a space for questions and comments, and will produce bi-weekly written status reports for University administration and faculty, each containing information appropriate to that group (for example, University administration will be updated on the budget; faculty does not need to receive this information).  We will also include periodic updates in the school's newspaper for students and community members.