Problem:
You are a project manager in the marketing department for a global investment management firm, LRH Financial. The company is launching a multi-million dollar TV and print marketing campaign, which will include sponsorship of major golf and basketball tournaments. You have been discussing the project with the VP of Marketing, Alana Shapiro. Alana just informed you that the company's vendor relationships have enabled them to make arrangements for Terrence Smith, a world-renowned golf champion, to be the company's spokesperson. The first golf tournament is being held ninety days from today. You will need to complete enough planning to begin work on the golf tournament marketing.
You have been involved with several projects that have had tight deadlines in the past. This one is slightly different in that it involves a celebrity figure with a demanding schedule. Plus, you are already working under very tight project deadlines.
This is a critical project for LRH, and you are honored (and a little nervous) to be the project manager. This project is part of a larger strategic initiative to reach new markets and grow the company's revenues over a three-year period. The budget for the project is clearly defined and seems to be adequate. Senior leadership is supportive of the project. However, they have not reached clarity or consensus around the specific scope and objectives of each portion of the campaign. While that will be worked out during the initial phase of the project, you need to move forward aggressively with the upcoming golf tournament.
You will need to carefully identify, monitor, and control the risks for this project to ensure that the marketing campaign can be released on schedule and within budget. Good luck!
Linda, the event planning specialist, was targeted for your project because of her experience planning sporting events and working with celebrities. Today, Linda approached you with information that she has been staffed on another high-priority project. Although her schedule was already tight, it has just gotten tighter. You are concerned about her availability to the project because she is now working on three other projects, all having deadlines near your golf tournament dates.
Your contingency plan was to pull two other people from Linda's department into the project as soon as you determined her limited availability could negatively impact the project.
Go to the discussion board and describe how you will monitor the situation with Linda by answering the following questions:
- How will you monitor Linda's availability? Who will you involve?
- What information will you need to monitor the situation? Who will provide it? How frequently?
- How will you know when it is time to implement your contingency plan?
- Does your contingency plan need to change as the deadlines approach?