just a brief explanation of the below-listed recommendation.

Recommendations

Project Planning Document Implementation

The first recommendation we suggest to the GRD corporation after thorough analysis of our findings from the completed surveys is to implement increased levels of project planning documentation. Planning documents would provide a form of stability to each project and benefit both of the main problems we identified at GRD Corporation which are having inadequate project planning and going over budget.

There are various ways in which planning documentation could be implemented as well as a multitude of different documents that could be used however here at Project Management Specialties, we suggest starting with a basic structure to learn from and moving on to more advanced levels of project planning.

When receiving a potential project, check how it fits into GRD's current project portfolio and decide if the project scope positively impacts the company and determine if GRD has the capability to complete the project according to their project portfolio. GRD is lacking direction when choosing which projects to accept and which projects to decline, which we can see from the survey results is causing inconsistencies between the project team and the capabilities the company has.

After the scope and specifications of the project have been defined, creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) provides a visual representation of what each milestone is, as well as what activities need to be completed in order to complete the project. The WBS is a great tool to identify exactly how much work a project will be, what it entails, and it creates smaller, manageable tasks within each milestone, providing an outline of what specifically needs to be done. This will illustrate to the team how far along they are in the project and give them something to compare against the reality of the project. It ensures the team are achieving smaller tasks at an appropriate pace to keep on time.

Creating a responsibility matrix is the next documentation we recommend. The Responsibility Matrix allows members of the project team to know what their responsibilities are as well as seeing what others are doing and may need additional support in completing. Each task on the WBS will be incorporated into the Responsibility Matrix and assigned to a member of the project management team. Using this, each member of the team can actively see what they need to do specifically which they can then plan around their personal schedule. This ensures people are aware of what their contribution to the project is and can manage their time accordingly.

At this point, when everyone knows what needs to be done and who will be fulfilling each portion, completing and implementing a Gantt Chart is very important. The Gantt Chart puts all of this into play and incorporates when each task needs to be accomplished by. Having a time frame for each portion plays a huge part in keeping the project on track and having the team able to work collectively but within their own schedule limitations. Team members at GRD Corporation can check the Gantt Chart and compare it to the responsibility Matrix in order to manage their time and ensure their assignments are completed by the schedule date on the chart. Keeping the team on track is detrimental to the performance of the project management team.

The final documentation we recommend is an evaluation after the project has been completed. The evaluation will allow for corrections and alterations to be made in the project process that will positively impact the team, the morale within the team, and the overall outcome of the project. The evaluations need to be specific to the process to ensure valuable information is being gained from them. They need to be specific to the project completed in order to gain the most insight as to how the project went and what could be improved.

If these documents are implemented the pay off could be considerable. They allow for the team to work together while valuing that each member has an individual schedule they have to work with as well as creating a clear distinction as to who needs to do what, and when the deadline is for each piece of the project. The project team needs to also be aware that these are active documents and should be accessed consistently throughout the project to ensure they are achieving their full potential use. Although some training may be required to ensure proper use of the documents, if the project managers at GRD Corporation utilize them it will ensure their project is planned to go smoothly, as well as ensuring the project is being completed on time and in budget.

Training program to increase performance of the project manager

The second recommendation we suggest is providing project managers with training and development which enables them to define the knowledge and skills they want to possess. This project's scope of increasing training and development programs can educate PMs about new skills or update existing skills to increase productivity regularly. These efforts encourage change, and are willing to take risks to improve processes without excessive supervision. Training and development plans can help organizations clarify to employees what they expect of them. This effort promotes a performance-based culture where PMs set achievable goals based on clearly defined organizational guidelines. When PMs know that they have the support of their employers, they will be more focused and enthusiastic about performing at a high level. Employers are willing to support employees throughout their careers.

GRD Corporation should emphasize cross-training to spread out the burden and enable different employees to step in with projects as workload increases or emergency situations arise.The team members should have an understanding of what each person is doing and how their role benefits the company and the project. By cross training it enables each member to understand and recognize things in their role that they could possible do a little differently to in turn make another member responsibility easier. It also provides a safety net for unexpected external or internal forces that may be unmanageable otherwise. We recommend doing this through interactive and fun seminars which would also be a beneficial avenue for team bonding.

Training staff to prioritize time-related issues is a detrimental skill in project management because everything needs to be complete on time in order to meet the project deadline. When simple tasks start to fall behind it can decrease morale, teamwork, and the final outcome of the project. Determining which projects are more time-sensitive, therefore, escalate their priority in the schedule is a skill that could be taught using simple tasks to ensure each member understands how to manage their time and complete tasks in an appropriate order.

Creating an organized schedule on day-to-day basis to efficiently plan the project workload.Training on project planning documents needs to be implemented at GRD Corporation. These training sessions could take place on the job or be sourced out using university courses based on project management to ensure an acceptable level of knowledge is placed behind the documents. The documents should then actively be used to manage time and project requirements.

When it comes to any part of the project that needs to be submitted electronically, having a second person review it to ensure there are no errors would be an easy fix to the potential errors.This simple task can avoid big errors and missed deadlines and budget overruns which would increase GRD Corporations shortcomings in project management. This would not necessarily take training, however it is a technique that can be easily implemented with minimal resources and once it has turned into a regular practice individuals would know when and what they needed to double check without taking much time at all.

A new project management standard would be to implement end-of-day progress updates. It is a lot easier to correct time delays on a day-to-day basis than to let a delay continue to the point of no return.Practicing end-of-day progress updates may take some time to begin with in the form of getting individuals to better manage their time to allow for this meeting, however once it has been implemented the members of the project team will have sufficient information and time to meet briefly to provide insightful, valuable information regarding the project, keeping each member accountable and on schedule.

Budget Tracking Software Implementation

For GRD Corporation to begin addressing the issues of inadequate project planning as well as problems faced with improper budgeting and cost overruns, the third recommendation we have is the immediate implementation of specialized project management software. With a large organization like GRD Corporation having unique planning and budgeting needs, we believe a heavily specialized software program with a focus on bottom-up estimating for large organizations is required. While there are many different project management software programs available our firm believes Celoxis would be the perfect choice for a company of GRD's size and structure to implement. Employed by some of the world's largest and most successful companies such as Tesla, NASA, and LG among others it is the ideal all-in-one solution to overcome GRD's current project planning and budgeting challenges. Below is a step-by-step strategic plan for the company's management to immediately integrate Celoxis into its business processes.

While the process of integration can begin at any time we recommend the transition start on a quarterly cycle. This enables easier comparison to previous quarters as each step is brought online. Starting with Purchasing Celoxis software and training package (Comprehensive Package) and completing live, company-wide training sessions for all employees.

Once company-wide training is complete GRD can then begin integration of Celoxis software with current applications being used by company employees. With 64% currently using excel and another 18% of employees using MS Projects to monitor budgets Celoxis can seamlessly integrate up to 400 applications if needed. With GRD facing challenges in implementation and execution streamlining all the information into Celoxis software will help eliminate these previous issues.

Next, we recommend beginning project planning and tracking. Now that employees are trained and equipped GRD can begin integrating current projects and assessing planning and budgeting issues that have plagued previous projects. With 64% of employees citing scheduling challenges when working in teams having a central hub for all projects will allow for optimized teamwork and workflow for GRD Corporation.

Following completion of project planning and tracking transitioning to a bottom-up budgeting method using Celoxis software which will allow coordination between project managers and department heads. Creating a clear, transparent budget tracking process allows management to easily decide on budget and resource allocation. With only 85% of employees using some sort of budgeting software currently, this integration will be a massive step towards solving GRD's current budgeting problems.

Lastly, GRD would then complete fully Integrating Celoxis project management software into GRD's business processes. With 70% of current project managers having teams that were not chosen by them, Celoxis will help enable seamless employee resource management between departments.