Setting the scene

You have been hired as a contract Project Manager at a convention centre.

The company has a portfolio of projects to be completed over the next 12 months. The projects all support the company's environmental sustainability strategy (part of its ESG strategy) to reduce waste, increase recycling and reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions.

You have been hired to manage one of these projects.

Product Scope

The scope planning is mostly finished. There are 3 main scope items:

Awareness campaign: The project team will create & deliver a communication campaign to educate employees about how costly printer paper is and the effect on the environment (deforestation, waste). The goal is to encourage employees to "buy-in" to the corporate goal of reducing printing by 75%.

Monitoring capability: Enable business automation to track how much printing is done by each employee and use it to send a usage report (including the cost of paper) to each employee & his/her manager on a weekly basis.

New productivity & communication platform: Deliver an enterprise-wide software platform, such as Slack, that will make it easy for employees to create, share and stor...

Meet Unnati

Hi, nice to meet you!

I'm the Back Office Manager.

I have 20 full-time staff on my team.

We work with event organizers to help them book the rooms they need, plan all the equipment & supplies, put together their itineraries and choose their snacks and meals.

We are very busy!

Meet Zain

Hi, nice to meet you!

I'm the Manager of Information &

Communication Technology.

The convention centre uses a PMS and a CRM, so my team manages those systems. We manage all the software used internally, plus the website.

All of our electronic communications fall under my umbrella, too: Wifi, telephones, connectivity and networking for all the audio-visual equipment. Whether it is used by guests or employees, my team & I take care of it.

I have eight staff on my team.

Meet Santhosh

Hi, nice to meet you!

I'm the Front Office Manager.

I have 40 FT & PT staff on my team.

My team and I are responsible for assisting guests in every way they need. We welcome and direct guests, process on-site payments, distribute lanyards and welcome kits. F&B is almost always part of our events so I have a team responsible for service.

If there is any customer service issue, my team coordinates to make sure the problem is solved & as soon as possible and everyone is happy.

Meet Christina

Hi, nice to meet you!

I'm the Facilities & Operations Manager.

I have 10 FT staff on my team.

We are responsible for facilities maintenance, security, procurement, shipping/receiving, and managing all the equipment and supplies.

If there's a broken bulb or we're short on toilet paper, if the floor needs to be mopped or trucks are lined up with deliveries, if there's a drunk guest or tables needing to be moved, my team & I can take care of it!

Christina

How will this project impact you and your team? This is for Christina.

OK I am quite worried about this project. For a few reasons. First, the change management. 3 of my employees are 60 years of age or older. It will be challenging for them, I think, to adapt to the new technology and to easily change their work patterns, since we currently do so much printing and filing. Second, I am worried that my team overall will think that the new reporting capability and reminder emails will feel like we as managers are "micro-managing" them, and that they will worry if they will be reprimanded or punished for printing, which I'm sure is not the case. Plus, I am worried about developing new procedures for saving and storing documents in the new software system replacing the current procedures we have for printing and filing our invoices, purchase orders, contracts, supplier agreements, etc.

Do Santosh have any concerns about how the project impacts santosh& his team?

I am not so worried. My team members don't do any printing. He do bit of printing, but not that much. So very little impact to my team, I think.

For Unnati

Will reducing paper usage affect the quality of service you provide to the event organizers? Are there any risks associated with this change that you foresee?

I'm not really worried. We already use Docusign for some of our contracts when we don't meet the event organizers in person. So we would probably just switch to Docusign for everything. That's not a very big change management piece since it is a process we are already familiar with.

How is this project going to affect unnati team operation?

I have all of the same concerns that Christina expressed. Eight of my staff are 60 years of age and older, and I see the exact same issues in terms of adjusting to technology replacing a printing/filing process, and the "micro-managing" issue - That could be a major issue for employee morale. Finally, I think we will have some issues if we don't find time to schedule specially training for our staff, which I don't know is included in the project schedule. Especially my older staff will need extra support and I don't see that in the project scope statement.

We have around 40 printers throughout our business operation.

Zain, how will this project impact you and your team?

Once the new software solution is identified, whether it is Slack or something similar like Trello or something else, my team will implement it into the production software environment for the company. After that, we will support it, in case there are any technical issues. But since Slack is an "app" then I don't see issues, really. We are used to this sort of thing, it is our job. No concerns on my part. Plus, my team doesn't really do much printing, so I don't see change management risks either.

Are there any recurring printer issues that require repair or replacement of current printers ?

That would be a question for Zain, but I know that our current support contract covers the costs for printer maintenance, repair and replacement. I know that reducing this expense is a major part of the project business case.

Have Christina thought about the logistics of switching to a reduced paper usage system? Are there any risks associated with the supply chain or procurement process that you foresee?

I think I already said that I'm not worried about switching to Docusign for our contract process with vendors and suppliers. But I know, in terms of our internal work process, we will need to put some effort into developing new processes, which I have already stated and I think is an important risk in this project.

I do understand these challenges but to address concerns about change management, a gradual rollout plan with support for employees can be provided, along with examples of successful transitions in similar organizations. Micro-management concerns can be addressed by emphasizing that the new reporting capabilities and reminder emails are not meant to punish or reprimand employees, but rather streamline processes and reduce costs. Finally, the concern about developing new procedures for saving and storing documents can be addressed by providing training and support to help employees understand the new system and how to properly save and store documents, while also offering reassurance that the new system will ultimately be more efficient and effective than the current manual process.

OK that all sounds good but it will work only if the messaging/communication is designed and executed really well. This needs to be included in the project plan since both Unnati and I are very concerned about these points. Without the right messaging and support provided to employees, this could develop into a very serious issue and could undermine the project's success.

Prepare Risk Register base on above information .