Project Charter For Relocation Of Insurance Office

Scope and Objectives of the Project

A project charter is defined as an overall basic plan for an upcoming project that serves as the predecessor to the full project plan and emphasizes on some of the basic but critical components of the project plan. In a project charter, there are a number of different elements that are discussed below with specific reference to literature.

According to Kerzner and Kerzner (2017), project scope refers to the set of goals and the overall boundary that has to be successfully fulfilled at the end of the project. On the other hand, project objectives represent the deliverables of the project and must be defined before proceeding with the rest of the project.

Project business case is defined as a set of various factors related to the project (Harrison and Lock 2017). These factors include the purpose of project, possible benefits of the project, appropriate reasoning for conducting the project and others.

Project schedule is the total estimated time period that is required to complete all the work in the project. The deliverables represent the work requirements of the project and milestones represent specific points within the project that reflects the end point of a particular phase or a group of work in the project (Sharp, Peters and Howard 2017). The deliverables of the project are assigned with several work packages that are required to fulfill the deliverables. These work packages are considered for developing the estimated schedule for the project.

Risk identification is a customary project activity that is conducted to identify the main risks associated with the project (Crawford 2014). Identification of the risks early helps to develop appropriate mitigation plan that will be used to neutralize the impacts of the risks on the project.

As per Flyvbjerg (2014), project assumptions refer to some assumptions that are made during planning the project. These assumptions are required when there are chances or possibilities of occurrence of certain impactful events that may or may not occur during the course of the project. Assumptions are also required during estimation of schedule and budget of the project. Project constraints are the factors that can hinder the progress of the project. These constraints must be identified during planning of the project so that possible modifications can be made on the project to avoid the constraints.

Any project requires various resources for execution. Again, resources are of two types – human resource and material resource (Schwalbe 2015). Estimation of resource refers to the identification of the quantity of the resources (both human and material) that will be required for successful execution of the project.

Deliverables, Milestones, and Schedule

For successful management of a project, it is important to identify the main stakeholders associated with the project (Mir and Pinnington 2014). Stakeholders are the personnel who have control over specific parts of the project and their duties include ensuring each of the parts are executed as per the plan.

Any project team requires a number of operating principles that each project team member must follow throughout the course of the project (Marcelino-Sádaba et al. 2014). These operating principles must be defined before the team members are allocated with tasks for the project.

This section allows the project team members to reflect on the success of their own works and how they have learnt throughout the course of planning of the project.

This is the final section of the project charter that includes a list of signatures of all the stakeholders associated with the project (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). After the signatures are received, the project charter is officially closed and forwarded to management for verification and approval.

Letter to Sponsor

To

The CEO

Barrier Reef Insurance Company

Dated: 28/03/2019

Subject: Regarding Office Relocation

Madam,

I hope you are already updated about the ending of our current lease in the office space we are using. However, I am disappointed to inform you that the owner does not want to increase the duration of the contract and has requested us to find a new office space. As a gesture of goodwill, the landlord has allowed us 2 months of time within which, we need to vacate the office premises. Accordingly, we have conducted a search for a new office space and we found a suitable one near the Kingston Suburb. We have also analyzed that we will require a budget of around $70,000 in order to complete the relocation process. I have attached the project charter with this letter and I would request you to please go through it and make a decision regarding approval of the budget that we have developed.

Thanks & Regards,

Name:

Branch Manager,

Barrier Reef Insurance Company.

The main scope of the project is to relocate the insurance office to the new selected office space without affecting the daily operations of the company. The preparations of the project need to be made throughout the month and the relocation process has to be completed within a weekend so that the operations need not be stopped at any point of time.

Project Assumptions, Risks, and Constraints

The objectives of the project are determined using SMART technique as follows:

Specific	To relocate to new office space due to expiry of contract for the current office space
Measurable	Two months are provided for completing the relocation process and vacating the current office premises; a maximum budget of $100,000 has been proposed for the relocation process
Acceptable	The relocation process is to be completed over one weekend without interrupting regular operations at the office
Realistic	The relocation process should not incur costs exceeding $100,000
Time Based	The relocation must be completed over the weekend

This project is required because the current office space cannot be further used and must be vacated within two months period. The benefit of the project is that the new office space will be rented for a long term contract and the new location will allow the company to attract new customers from a new suburb.

The main deliverable of the project is to relocate the office from one location to another. This is to be achieved by renting a new office space and relocating all the office materials including workstations, furniture and utilities.

The milestones of the project are specified as follows.

Task Name

Milestone 1: Receive Approval for Relocation

Milestone 2: Finalize Contract with New Office Space Owner

Milestone 3: Relocation Complete

Milestone 4: Sign Off

Finally, the complete schedule of the project is shown in the following table.

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Project for Relocation of Insurance Office	39.5 days	Mon 4/29/19	Thu 6/13/19
Initial Survey and Planning	17 days	Mon 4/29/19	Tue 5/21/19
Survey Area for Selection of New Office Space	10 days	Mon 4/29/19	Fri 5/10/19
Select a Space for Office	2 days	Mon 5/13/19	Tue 5/14/19
Discuss Regarding Rent and Relocation Plan	3 days	Wed 5/15/19	Fri 5/17/19
Submit Proposal to Authority	2 days	Mon 5/20/19	Tue 5/21/19
Milestone 1: Receive Approval for Relocation	0 days	Tue 5/21/19	Tue 5/21/19
Project Detailed Planning and Initiation	10 days	Wed 5/22/19	Tue 6/4/19
Assign SMEs and Develop Team for Project	2 days	Wed 5/22/19	Thu 5/23/19
Prepare Project Charter	1 day	Fri 5/24/19	Fri 5/24/19
Estimate Budget Required for Relocation	1 day	Mon 5/27/19	Mon 5/27/19
Estimate Overall Time Schedule for the Relocation Process	1 day	Tue 5/28/19	Tue 5/28/19
Make Assumptions and Identify Risks for the Project	3 days	Wed 5/29/19	Fri 5/31/19
Determine Project Constraints	2 days	Mon 6/3/19	Tue 6/4/19
Milestone 2: Finalize Contract with New Office Space Owner	0 days	Tue 6/4/19	Tue 6/4/19
Project Execution	7.5 days	Fri 6/7/19	Mon 6/10/19
Packaging and Cleaning Up	34 hrs	Fri 6/7/19	Sun 6/9/19
Loading Luggage on Relocation Truck	2 hrs	Sun 6/9/19	Sun 6/9/19
Relocate Everything to New Office Space	2 hrs	Sun 6/9/19	Sun 6/9/19
Setting Up and installation of Equipments and Utilities	16 hrs	Sun 6/9/19	Mon 6/10/19
Installation of the Employees’ Workstations	6 hrs	Mon 6/10/19	Mon 6/10/19
Milestone 3: Relocation Complete	0 hrs	Mon 6/10/19	Mon 6/10/19
Review and Closing of Project	3 days	Tue 6/11/19	Thu 6/13/19
Finish Payments for Previous Office	1 day	Tue 6/11/19	Tue 6/11/19
Advance Payment to New Office Space Owner	1 day	Wed 6/12/19	Wed 6/12/19
Review the Overall Office	1 day	Thu 6/13/19	Thu 6/13/19
Milestone 4: Sign Off	0 days	Thu 6/13/19	Thu 6/13/19

 

There are some risks associated with the project that are listed in the following table along with mitigation plan.

Risk Description	Mitigation Plan
During relocation, some office equipment may get damaged or broken	Ensure proper handling of the equipments and careful loading and unloading to and from the relocation truck
The relocation process may hamper daily operations of the company	The relocation process must be completed within the course of a weekend, working overtime if necessary
There might be contractual disagreements regarding the new office space	Ensure there are no disputes or disagreements left before signing the contract and relocating to the new space

The assumptions and constraints of the project are as follows.

• It has been assumed that maximum budget of $100,000 is sufficient for the relocation process.
• It has been assumed that the relocation process can be successfully completed over one weekend.
• Contractual agreements with the owner of the new office space can be a constraint as it can take a significant amount of time.
• The office shifts pose as a significant constraint as they cannot be stopped due to relocation process.

The following table shows the resources required (both human and material) for executing the project.

Resource Name	Type	Std. Rate
Project Manager	Work	$150.00/hr
Manager of CIT	Work	$95.00/hr
Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	Work	$115.00/hr
Subject Matter Experts	Work	$400.00/hr
Workers	Work	$350.00/hr
Transportation Costs	Material	$5,000.00
Additional Costs	Material	$1,500.00

These resources are allocated to the work packages and the overall estimated budget for the project is determined and shown in the following table.

Task Name	Resource Names	Cost
Project for Relocation of Insurance Office		$67,320.00 [TOTAL BUDGET]
Initial Survey and Planning		$19,800.00
Survey Area for Selection of New Office Space	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	$9,200.00
Select a Space for Office	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	$1,840.00
Discuss Regarding Rent and Relocation Plan	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration, Project Manager	$6,360.00
Submit Proposal to Authority	Project Manager	$2,400.00
Milestone 1: Receive Approval for Relocation		$0.00
Project Detailed Planning and Initiation		$9,720.00
Assign SMEs and Develop Team for Project	Manager of CIT	$1,520.00
Prepare Project Charter	Project Manager	$1,200.00
Estimate Budget Required for Relocation	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	$920.00
Estimate Overall Time Schedule for the Relocation Process	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	$920.00
Make Assumptions and Identify Risks for the Project	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration	$2,760.00
Determine Project Constraints	Project Manager	$2,400.00
Milestone 2: Finalize Contract with New Office Space Owner		$0.00
Project Execution		$32,700.00
Packaging and Cleaning Up	Workers	$11,900.00
Loading Luggage on Relocation Truck	Workers	$700.00
Relocate Everything to New Office Space	Workers, Transportation Costs[1]	$5,700.00
Setting Up and installation of Equipments and Utilities	Workers, Subject Matter Experts	$12,000.00
Installation of the Employees’ Workstations	Subject Matter Experts	$2,400.00
Milestone 3: Relocation Complete		$0.00
Review and Closing of Project		$5,100.00
Finish Payments for Previous Office	Project Manager	$1,200.00
Advance Payment to New Office Space Owner	Project Manager, Additional Costs[1]	$2,700.00
Review the Overall Office	Project Manager	$1,200.00
Milestone 4: Sign Off		$0.00

 

The main stakeholders required for the project are as follows.

Stakeholder Name	Stakeholder Designation
Mrs. Devina Clark	Sponsor
Mr. <PLEASE FILL YOUR NAME>	Project Manager
Mr. Martin Rogers	Manager of Supervision and Project Administration
Mr. William Watkins	Manager of Communications and Information Technology (CIT)

The project team will have to abide by the following operating principles.

• The team will have to cooperate with each other throughout the course of the project.
• The team will have to exhibit professional behaviour throughout the course of the project.
• Any issues faced during project must be immediately reported to Manager of Supervision and Project Administration.

From the development of this project charter, a lot of knowledge has been gained regarding the planning for a project. It has given insight on determining scope, schedule and budget for a project as well as prepare the plan so as it to avoid the risks and constraints associated.

Stakeholder Name	Signatures
Mrs. Devina Clark
Mr. <PLEASE FILL YOUR NAME>
Mr. Martin Rogers
Mr. William Watkins

 

References

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Crawford, J.K., 2014. Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.

Flyvbjerg, B., 2014. Megaproject planning and management: Essential readings (Vol. 2). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.

Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Marcelino-Sádaba, S., Pérez-Ezcurdia, A., Lazcano, A.M.E. and Villanueva, P., 2014. Project risk management methodology for small firms. International journal of project management, 32(2), pp.327-340.

Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International journal of project management, 32(2), pp.202-217.

Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and technology. Routledge.

Papke-Shields, K.E. and Boyer-Wright, K.M., 2017. Strategic planning characteristics applied to project management. International Journal of Project Management, 35(2), pp.169-179.

Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.

Sharp, J.A., Peters, J. and Howard, K., 2017. The management of a student research project. Routledge.

Špundak, M., 2014. Mixed agile/traditional project management methodology–reality or illusion?. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, pp.939-948.