MGT4109 Project Time Management and Technology

MGT4109 Case Study (2)

You are a project scheduling manager, working for Pria-Tel Consulting. Pria-Tel Consulting has been contracted by PASK Technologies to provide Telephone Technical Support as well as a Customer Support Manual, following the launch of the new PASK Snow-Detecto-2000 product line in March 2021. The length of the contract is 8 weeks, after which it may be renewed.

The Snow-Detecto-2000 is a snow detecting device which sends signals to a customer's cell phone via home internet to alert the customer as to when snow must be shoveled. Snow levels display in the downloaded mobile software application. The product is set to launch in March 2021, as the company believes that this will be a particularly heavy snowfall season in Ottawa and is hoping this will be a popular holiday gift.

The contract awarded to Pria-Tel Consulting has a start date of March 1, 2020. The first deliverable in the contract is for a Customer Support Guide and Manual. This manual will be produced in the Ottawa office of Pria-Tel, written by Robin, the company's technical writer. The Manual will take 1 week to produce, at a cost of $5000.00. This manual must be available to all Customer Support staff in order for them to provide Telephone support. Once the manual is complete, it will be distributed via email to all telephone support staff, who will be given 1 day to read the manual before their first scheduled phone support shift.

Following the distribution of the manual, Pria-Tel Consulting will provide Phone Support to all PASK customers who purchase the new Snow-Detecto-2000 device. Support will be offered 7 days a week, from 10am to 8pm each day.

IT Updates to the Telephone and Computer Systems at all Pria-Tel offices, responsible for all offices, are conducted between 6:00am and 8:00am and Daily Office Cleaning takes place between 8pm and 10pm each day. The project scheduling manager is not responsible for the cost or schedule for these activities.

Telephone Coverage will be handled as follows:

Ottawa Office:

10am to 8pm Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

Staff - Edrei, Pat, Tina, Krishna - each available to work a MAXIMUM of 40 hours per week at a rate of $18/hr

Toronto Office:

10am to 8pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Staff - Damian, Margo, Nomusa, Anika - each available to work a MAXIMUM of 40 hours per week at a rate of $18/hr

Each Customer Support employee will have to certify that they have read and understood the Customer Support Guide and Manual before beginning Phone Support work.

The contract also stipulates a Quality Assurance milestone task - all staff are required to record 1 hour of customer support calls during their first shift doing telephone support. These call recordings will be submitted to PASK Technologies to ensure quality standards and customer service principles are being met.

You are the Scheduling Project Manager for Pria-Tel, responsible for the scheduling for ONE office only:

STUDENTS WITH FIRST NAMES BEGINNING WITH A to M: Ottawa Office

STUDENTS WITH FIRST NAMES BEGINNING WITH N to Z: Toronto Office

1. Please show the Resources you scheduled for this project (Screenshot from MS Project)

2. (a) Depending on your first name (A-M or N-Z) show the Calendar (with working hours, such as 10-8) for ANY ONE of your staff members for March 20, 2021. (Screenshot from MS Project)

(b) Show the Calendar (with working hours, such as 10-8) for the SAME resource (depending on your name) for March 21, 2020.

3. What is a milestone stipulated in this contract? How did you show this in MS Project?

4. (a) When (on what date) do you expect the milestone to be achieved? Why?

(b) Is there a risk of setting the milestone on this date as a specific (fixed) date? Why?

5. Please paste a view of your complete GANTT Chart, including tasks, here.

6. What additional questions would you have asked? Is there information missing? What additional information would have been useful to your scheduling process?