Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010Post Mortem Group 2 Team Members: Mohammad Al-Amoudi Ahmed Ali Babar Effatsadat Faregh Ravish Kalra Shannon MacDonald Scott Metrunec Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Table of Contents Introduction.............................................................................................................................. Page 1 Where Things went Right & What Factors Contributed to the Success.................................. Page 1 Where Things went Wrong & Basic Causes of Why............................................................... Page 1 Areas Requiring Improvement................................................................................................. Page 2 Comparison of Original & Final Schedule and Resource Estimates........................................ Page 3 Meeting Minutes....................................................................................................................... Page 5 References................................................................................................................................ Page 67 List of Tables Table 1 – Initial Task Timeline................................................................................................ Page 3 Table 2 – Budget by Personnel.................................................................................................Page 4 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Introduction Considering that our team members were all very busy throughout the semester with full course loads, it is not surprising that there were times when sections were rushed, or people were not able to get in touch with each other. However, all assignments were completed on time and to a high standard of work, despite the difficulty of getting all six members to collaborate on one assignment. There were several key areas that our group was lacking in knowledge and experience. The numbers for our finances were probably far from realistic due to the inexperience of our group in financial and research and development matters. We also recognized the need for a larger staff for production and language expertise, which was not identified earlier. The factors listed below are what we thought we did well, and where we could have improved. Where Things went Right & What Factors Contributed to the Success A Facebook group page maintained communication between group members, as well as allowed easy reference to meeting minutes, submissions, and announcements. Meeting minutes were recorded and posted for review by all team members to ensure clarity of the tasks at hand. As a result, even if someone could not attend a meeting, they were kept up to date. Work was posted to the group page to allow all team members to critique or applaud each other’s work. This ensured the highest quality submissions. There were a variety of skills within our group which offered multi-faceted points of view pertaining to the work at hand, resulting in submissions that were very thorough. Decision making strategies ensured that fairness was maintained among the team members. Where Things went Wrong & Basic Causes of Why All team members are in their fourth year and have heavy course loads. It was hard to find time where everyone was free, so we had to rely on the internet (Facebook group page) where we discussed our progress. It may have been more beneficial to have more face-to-face meetings. Page 1 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 All members had many assignments that were due at different times, due to the different engineering disciplines. This was understandable, so we would normally assign the task to another member who did not have quite as much to do at the time, take over other member’s tasks. The biggest problem related to “working away from each other” was that certain numbers within our data were discussed and revised, but not changed everywhere. Effort was made to give the task of reviewing the numbers and continuity by one member. Lots of presentation work was done last minute (except for the final presentation) and it was evident that the quality was not up to standards. Members would sometimes focus on not so important ideas and information that would waste time in the meetings, effort was made to plan the meeting schedule and details discussed prior to the meetings to utilize time effectively. We were de-motivated to attend classes and as a result the quality of work presented was not up to the standard of the professor, we had to encourage one another Areas Requiring Improvement Initially, things went right and everything was discussed properly, but due to the busy and clashing schedules of all the team members, there was a little miscommunication between the team members. Due to this miscommunication, the ideas and sections to be written were not properly discussed before they were written and therefore we had to go back and forth in the report to make everything consistent in the overall business. Having more meetings would have saved us time that was wasted correcting errors that were a result of miscommunication. To further improve the business plan, an addition of a person from a business management major would have been very helpful as the current management team consisted of only engineers. A person from a business background would have had a better understanding of marketing and business management, and therefore would have assisted better in the management team. Page 2 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Comparison of Original and Final Schedule and Resource Estimates The time table for our original plan was estimated as follows: Priority ranking 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 5.5 5.5 6 6 6 Task Description Initial research and consultation on the basic idea (how feasible is it?) Searching for spin off technologies looking for present and potential competitors Estimating the market (identifying the present and potential costumers) Searching for the required technology, licences, etc. Estimate the time for Purchasing & receiving the necessary equipment (licences, etc.) Make an estimation on the final product price (market sale price) Critical Risk/problem & Assumptions Finding a suitable sale tactic Planning the operation cycle Advertising the product Reaching current & potential investors Setting up the basic organization/ define the key management personnel’s responsibilities Solving any possible potential legal issues Defining the Management Compensation & Ownership Team Members Effat, Shannon Effat, Shannon Scott, Ahmed Mohammad, Ravish Shannon, Effat Ahmed, Ravish Scott, Mohammad Scott, Shannon Effat, Mohammad Ravish Scott Ahmed, Ravish Group Ahmed Group Time period (start-end) 1 weeks = 10 hrs/head (Sept. 20-26th) 2weeks=10hrs/head (Sept. 27th- Oct. 10th) 2 weeks = 10 hrs/head (Sept. 27th- Oct. 10th) 3 weeks = 15hrs/head (Sept. 27th- Oct. 17th) 3 weeks = 15 hrs/head (Oct.11th- Oct. 31st) 2weeks=10hrs/head (Oct.11th- Oct.24th) 2weeks=10hrs/head (Oct. 25th-Nov. 7th) 1week=5hrs/head (Nov. 8th-Nov.14th) 1week=5hrs/head (Nov. 8th-Nov.14th) 1weeks=10hrs/head (Nov. 8th-Nov.14th) 2weeks=10hrs/head (Nov.8th-Nov. 21st) 2weeks=10hrs/head (Nov. 15th- Nov. 28th) 1week=5hrs/head (Nov. 29th-Dec. 5th) 1weeks=5hrs/head (Nov. 29th-Dec. 5th) 1week=5hrs/head (Nov. 29th-Dec. 5th) Table 1 – Initial Task Timeline As the above table shows, for each task one or two people (and in some cases, the entire group as a whole) were responsible to the accomplishment of the task. Page 3 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 According to the original estimation, the following table was constructed to show the approximated required time for each individual to fulfill his/her parts. Budget by Personnel: Person Effat Shannon Mohammad Ahmed Scott Ravish Team (Hours) Individual (Hours) 10 35 10 35 10 30 10 35 10 35 10 40 Table 2 – Budget by Personnel Total 45 45 40 45 45 50 However, we were unable to pursue our plan as closely as we had anticipated. The estimated time had to be adjusted throughout the term as each team member had to deal with his/her workloads from other courses as well. Unexpected situations (especially during the exam period of the term) and sometimes underestimating the required time for each task were the main two reasons for falling behind schedule. The parts of the plan that we were unsuccessful to complete during the term are as follows: Finding a suitable strategy for advertising the product Reaching current and potential investors (basic research was done by the team, but a more accurate investigation is required in order to proceed with the business plan ) Finding a suitable sale tactic (although we had a sale strategy in our business plan, we didn’t have much experience in this area, so it definitely needs to be looked at more closely by the appropriate expertise). Also, due to the nature of any team work, sometimes some of the team members were lacking in their parts, so some other team members were had to help them out. This issue caused the budget table (i.e. Table 2) to be very different from what we thought we would have at the beginning. In the original budget table, time was distributed very evenly, while what we ended up with wasn’t as evenly distributed. Page 4 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Meeting Minutes It was difficult to match six schedules and find common free time for every person in the group. In order to avoid this hassle, an online Facebook group with very high privacy settings was used to conduct online meetings and discussions. Along with this, free time at the end of the lecture was exploited to conduct frequent meetings. The following are the meeting minutes and discussions conducted online over the period of the course. These include both, online discussions, as well as meeting minutes from meetings conducted at the end of the lecture. Page 5 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 6 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 7 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 8 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 9 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 10 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 11 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 12 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 13 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 14 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 15 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 16 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 17 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 18 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 19 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 20 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 21 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 22 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 23 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 24 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 25 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 26 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 27 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 MEETING MINUTES (October 13th, 2010) ------------------------Old Business: - The section "Economics of the Business" Does not have to be completed (similar to "Financial Aspects") ... - If there are any new "References" make sure I get them BY TOMORROW AT 3:00 PM! ------------------------New Business: - I will be uploading the MARKED "Business Opportunity Document". Take note of where we lost marks (Market, Product, Technology). If an instance where we lost marks appears in your section, MAKE SURE IT'S INCLUDED in your new section. - I will be uploading a copy of the "Business Plan Proposal". Everyone PLEASE review it. If any changes need to be made, let me know BY TOMORROW at 3:00 PM. Future Presentations: - Dehydrated Plan Presentation (Nov 1) Page 28 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 --> Scott & Ravish ...- Business Plan Presentation (Nov 24) --> Shannon & Mohamed ------------------------Next Assignment: Dehydrated Business Plan / Progress Report Hard Copy (Nov 10) ------------------------Next Meeting: October 15th, IN CLASS - Scott will have necessary sections prepared for the "Dehydrated Business Plan" so that we may distribute them between the team members. - If you are not present, your tasks will not be your choice Page 29 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 30 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 31 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 32 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - 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Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 63 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 64 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Meeting Minutes ( December 3, 2010): Task Distribution: Introduction (Scott) Where things went right & what factors contributed to the success (Shannon) Where things went wrong & basic causes of why (Mohamed) Room for improvement (Ahmed) Meeting minute compilation (Ravish) Comparison of original and final schedule and resource estimates (Effie) All work to be completed and posted by 4:00 PM on December 9th, 2010 Entire report due at 11:00 AM on December 10th, 2010 Post Mortem worth 10% of final grade Dont forget to write your peer evaluations as well and submit them on December 10th, 2010 Page 65 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 Page 66 of 67 Eng M 402 – Project Management & Entrepreneurship Post Mortem - Group 2 December 10th, 2010 References eClass –ENG M 402 – PROJ MGMT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP (LEC A1 Fa10). (n.d.). EngG 402 – Post Mortem – Group 6 – Human Power. Retrieved from https://vista4.srv.ualberta.ca/webct/urw/lc5122011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct Page 67 of 67