A project management methodology defines the way you will complete a project. It usually includes the steps, methods, processes, and roles that will occur as you work to complete the project. Since there are many differences in the methodologies, it is important to pick one that works well for your industry and your specific project.

Read the Customer Support Inc. Case Study and complete the assignment below.

Customer Support, Inc. Case Study

Customer Support, Inc. (CSUP) is a large corporation with international clients that provides customer support related to their bank, credit card, or other financial accounts of their clients. It has over 5,000 full-time employees across the United States.

Its HR department recently completed a skills gap analysis for its workforce using resumes, employee feedback, managerial feedback, industry data, and analysis of internal data related to task completion. It identified skills gaps related to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, and its new CRM software that needed to be improved across the organization. HR also projects a 10-15% productivity improvement across its workforce by providing these skills across its workforce.

The IT department has been assigned with the project of providing access to a third-party vendors training materials to all of its employees. The courses taken should be tracked within each employees HR information which uses a separate HR software package. Lastly, each employee will have a set of courses linked to their annual performance assessment which is tracked using a same HR software. Employees will only get their full bonus if they complete the courses their managers assign to them and link to their performance assessment.

You can assume that the project will take 5 months with an initial cost estimate of $150,000.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

1. Project management
2. Requirements definition
3. Vendor and course identification
   1. Identification of courses needed based on skills gap analysis
   2. Identification of potential vendors
   3. Creation of vendor evaluation process and metrics
   4. Evaluation of vendors including integration requirements
   5. Negotiation with selected vendors
   6. Finalization of course and vendor selection
4. HR Software integration
   1. Identification of integration information vendors need
   2. Integration of course assignments into employees profile
   3. Integration of course tracking into employee profile
   4. Integration of annual review with course assignments and course tracking
   5. Integration of course assignment and tracking views for employees and managers
   6. Integration of reports for managers on courses assigned, courses taken, and courses assigned that havent been taken
5. Testing
6. Training, rollout, and support

Part A:

Select a project management methodology you will use to implement the project discussed in the case study.

Create a 2- to 2-page, detailed task list for your project by applying your selected methodology (make sure you use the correct Example Plan below that matches the methodology you choose!). You should use either spreadsheet software or another software application of your choice to create the task list. Include at least the following for each task (you must include each of these for your tasks):

• Name
• Time needed to complete the task
• Prerequisite tasks
• Whether the task is completed internally or by an external vendor
• Additional notes

Tips:

• Research additional task lists or project plan examples online.
• Consider the project requirements when building your task list. Think about how the learning resources and their tacking will need to be integrated into the HR software.
• Read the 2 linked examples of project plans implemented as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets: Example Plan A and Example Plan B. Use these as guides in creating your own draft project plan. Notice the differences between these 2 examples.