4. Software Training Project Hands On IT Company has 50,000 employees in its headquarters. The company wants to in- crease employee productivity by setting up an internal software applications training program for its employees. The training program will teach employees how to use software programs such as Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Project 2007. Courses will be of- fered in the evenings and on Saturdays and will be taught by qualified volunteer employees. The instructors will be paid $40 per hour. In the past, various departments sent employees to courses offered by local vendors during company time. In contrast to local vendors' programs, this internal training program should save the company money on training as well as make its people more productive. The human resources department will manage the program, and any employee can take the courses. Employees will receive a certificate for completing courses, and a copy of the certificate will be put in their personnel files. The company has decided to use off-the-shelf training materials, but is not sure which vendor's materials to use. The company needs to set up a training classroom, survey employees on what courses they want to take, find qualified volunteer instructors, and start offering courses. The company wants to offer the first courses within six months. One person from human resources is assigned full-time to manage this project, and top management has pledged its support of the project. Project Focus 1. Using Microsoft Project create milestones and summary tasks. Assume that some of the project management tasks you need to do are similar to tasks from the Project Tracking Database example. Some of the tasks specific to this project will be to: a. Review off-the-shelf training materials from three major vendors and decide which materials to use. b. Negotiate a contract with the selected vendor for the materials. c. Develop communications information about this new training program. Disseminate the information via department meetings, e-mail, the company's intranet, and fliers to all employees. d. Create a survey to determine the number and type of courses needed and employ- ees' preferred times for taking courses. e. Administer the survey. 1. Solicit qualified volunteers to teach the courses. g. Review resumes, interview candidates for teaching the courses, and develop a list of preferred instructors. h. Coordinate with the facilities department to build two classrooms with 20 personal computers in each, a teacher station, and an overhead projection system (assume that the facilities department will manage this part of the project). i. Schedule courses. j. Develop a fair system for signing up for classes. k. Develop a course evaluation form to assess the usefulness of each course and the instructor's teaching ability. L. Offer classes. 2. Enter realistic durations for each task and then link appropriate tasks. Be sure all tasks are linked in some fashion to the start and end of the project. Assume that you have six months to complete the entire project. 3. Allocate appropriate resources, including one other person that will assist you in the project. 4. Save your project as Software Training.mpp. 5. Print the Gantt chart view for the project