Project Charter forTeam #4 - IDeas, Inc.

11.15.15

Project Information (HM)

Project Name: Telephone Operator Training and Development Program

PJ Enterprises is a mail order catalog company that is looking to increase sales by $2 million and increase customer service scores by 10 percent over last year. PJ Enterprises hired IDeas, Inc. to assess needs, and design, develop and deliver a new training course for the telephone operator (TO) team.

Phase 1 of this program will include the development of a new product guide, product training, and sales and customer service training.

Phase 2 will include the development of a new employee handbook of policies and procedures for the TO team.

Project Sponsor - Jane MacKenzie-Smith

Project Manager - Heidi McFadyen

Stakeholders and Impact (HM)

Stakeholder Responsibilities Impact

Jane MacKenzie-Smith, Director of Sales Support, Project Sponsor

Final approval on all project milestones, manages relationship with Ideas, Inc. from a business standpoint, including receiving invoices. Communicates with leaders at PJ Enterprises (CFO and Vice President of Sales Support) on project progress and budget. Tie-breaker opinion.

Directs the strategic vision of the project by making key decisions.

Will benefit from increased sales and from using the telephone operator team as a sales force and strategic partnering team.

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Stakeholder Responsibilities Impact

Sheena Perez, Merchandising Manager

Project Advisor

Reviewer on final materials. Determines key products to focus training on.

Not involved in day-to-day decisions. Ensures final training messages align with needs of the product catalog team.

Will benefit by focusing time on developing products instead of training.

Ray Johnson, Assistant Merchandising Manager

Product/Catalog SME

Day to day SME for product related questions for revised guide. Attends regular meetings, may have to research questions for the project team. Reviews materials.

Collaborates closely on IDeas, Inc. in product guide and training development.

Will benefit with increased leadership role, will be in the position to greatly influence the product guide development and focus of product training.

Bruce Bennett, Vice President of Information Systems and Yun Tsien, Manager of new ordering system project

IT SME

Collaborates on development of electronic product guide.

Determines if electronic product guide will integrate well into the new ordering system.

Will benefit from collaboration with IDeas, Inc. in the development of the product guide tool on the new ordering system. The project provides business input to the development of their system.

Martha Merit or designee, HR SME

Collaborates on development of TO employee handbook. Attends meetings as needed. May have to research questions for the project team.

Will benefit from increased employee engagement and satisfaction from the telephone operator team. Decrease in turnover will decrease work for HR

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Stakeholder Responsibilities Impact

Helps ensure the handbook policies will be successful.

with new hires.

Sarah Commons, Maria Gomez, Paula Moore and Rosalinda Sanchez, Telephone Operator Supervisors

Telephone Operator SME

Provide TO team perspective for Sales and Customer Service Training. Attend regular meetings, may have to research questions for the project team. Reviews training materials.

Ensures training stays focused on the needs of TO team, and identifies potential barriers based on current state of the team.

Will benefit from having a trained staff that will be able to handle more customer service issues and sales. Allows supervisors to focus on developing and coaching teams.

Participating in the project is a development opportunity for the supervisor team.

Description of Work (HM)

Project Purpose

This project’s main goal is to increase sales and customer service scores through development of the TO team. The TO team has a direct line to the PJ Enterprises customer and, therefore, has a unique opportunity to directly impact both sales and service. The TO team also has a historically high turnover rate and low employee engagement.

Investing in the telephone operator team’s tools, sales skills, customer service skills, and development of clear procedures for their team will be the first steps in creating a strong, functioning sales team.

Business Objectives

• Increase sales

• Increase customer service satisfaction scores

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• Empower TO teams

• Decrease average call times due to customer product-related questions

• Decrease supervisor time spent on calls

• Create clear policies and exceptions for PJ Enterprises’ TO staff

Project Deliverables

Solution Seat Time or Pages

Description

Revised product guide

Estimated 48 pages

The new revised guide will organize product information in alphabetical order, provide an index by name and product type to help staff find items and include pictures along with product descriptions. The new guide will be available in a bound heavy cardstock paper version and in a searchable PDF version. IDeas, Inc. will work with PJ Enterprises IT to try to develop files compatible with the new ordering system.

Product training 2-3 hours Training will focus on showing staff how to use the product guide as well as highlight key products for sale in this quarter’s catalog as directed by the PJ Enterprises team.

Sales training 3-4 hours The sales training will focus on basic sales and customer service skills including how to approach a new call, improving attitude, handling customer complaints, and other industry standard sales best practices.

Employee handbook

Estimated 24 pages

The employee handbook will define employee expectations, create policies for paid training and revise incentive program for telephone operators

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Work In Scope

Ideas, Inc. will undertake the following tasks to complete the above deliverables:

• Design and development of telephone operator training

o Includes all materials used in training and instructor guides

• Delivery of telephone operator training

• Creation of a revised product guide - both printed and electronic version

• Collaborate with PJ Enterprises IT department to create electronic product guide files compatible with the new ordering system

Out of Scope

IDeas, Inc. is not responsible for:

• Communication and roll out of new employee handbook

• Printing of materials - PJ Enterprises will be responsible for printing all training materials, product guides and handbooks

• Upload of revised product guide into the new ordering system

• Determination of key products to focus training on

• Telephone operator supervisor leadership training and associated leadership program

• Scheduling and invitation of telephone operators to attend training

• Budgeting and obtaining internal buy-in for future incentive programs

Project Completion Criteria

• Telephone operator training is delivered to telephone operator team

• Associated materials including product guide, training materials and instructor guides have been delivered to PJ Enterprises

• PJ Enterprises receives the final employee handbook

• Evaluation process is complete

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Project Parameters

Budget (KW)

Deliverable /Solution

Type of Training/ Deliverable

Seat Time or Scope Figure

Total Hours

Estimated

Cost

Product Training

ILT Instructor GuideHard Copy

4 hours 160 $8,000

Sales Training ILT Instructor Guide & Participant Guide/Job Aid

4 hours 160 $12,000

Hard Copy Product Guide

Participant Guide for Product Training/Job Aid

48 pages 48 $2,400

PDF Searchable Product Guide

Participant Guide for Product Training/Job Aid

48 pages 10 $500

Instructor-Led Sessions

2 Instructor-Led Sessions for each course

32 hours 32 $1,600

Employee handbook

Policy handbook for telephone operator team.

24 pages hours

24 $800

Total 434 $25,300

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Project Team Members & Roles (JB)

Name Role Responsibilities Est. Hours

Needed

Heidi McFadyen

Project Manager

Organize and oversee project tasks and timelines; engage in ongoing communication with sponsor, including task and budget reports

65

Eric Prochaska

Instructional Designer

Complete needs assessment; Write design document; Design training components to include instructional objectives, strategies, activities, assessments, and evaluation; Deliver training

220

Katie Williams Business Analyst

Complete all research; Lead focus groups about policies with JPE leaders; Negotiate parameters of searchable product guide with IT

49

Judy Ballweg Technical Writer

Write Employee Handbook; Produce final training materials and product guide

100

Total Hours for IDeas, Inc.

434 max

Jane MacKenzie-Smith,

Project Sponsor

Provide input to and review all materials; final signoff

65

Sheena Perez, Project Advisor

Review training materials and product guide; provide product information

16

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Name Role Responsibilities Est. Hours

Needed

Ray Johnson, Product/Catalog SME

Attend regular meetings; Research questions for the project team; Review training materials and product guide

24

Bruce Bennett, IT SMEAttend meetings regarding the development of the electronic product guide

6

Martha Merit or designee,

HR SMEAttend regular meetings regarding the development of the Employee Handbook; Research the answers to questions from IDeas, Inc.; Review the handbook

12

Sarah Commons, Maria Gomez, Paula Moore, Rosalinda Sanchez

SMEsAttend meetings to provide TO team perspective to training and product guide development; Research the answers to questions from IDeas, Inc.

16 each

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Project Milestones (JB)

Milestone Date

Sponsor review and sign-off of design document December 4, 2015

Review product guide January 8, 2016 (final review)

Pilot test training materials and revise January 14, 2016 (final review)

Product training sessions January 19-20, 2016

Sales training sessions January 21-22, 2016

Complete focus groups with leaders; Develop outline for Employee Handbook

February 12, 2015

Revise and finalize Employee Handbook March 31, 2015 (final review)

Evaluation:

Average handling time of calls

Call volume (per hour per Telephone Operator)

Customer review scores

Customer complaints

Number of calls escalated to customer service supervisors for handling

Average order amount

Overall sales volume

Telephone Operator job satisfaction

Staff turnover

April 29, 2016July 29, 2016October 31, 2016January 31, 2017March 31, 2017

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Vendor Assistance Required: No outside vendor assistance will be necessary to complete this project.

Possible Problems (EP)

Problem Area Likelihood1 – 5

Problem Owner

Project Impact Mitigation Plan

Employees not available during training

2 PJ Enterprises

A lack of attendance (due to illness, etc.) will reduce training effectiveness company-wide

PJ Enterprises will schedule a “make-up” training session to be conducted by IDeas, Inc. Additional training may involve additional costs for PJ Enterprises.

SMEs not available or not prepared

1 PJ Enterprises

Critical. If SMEs are not prepared/available to provide information, the quality of the training and materials, and entire timeline will be affected

Maintain open dialogue with PJ Enterprises on SME performance

Computers that PJ Enterprises has committed to acquire for training are not set up and/or product guide is not uploaded

2 PJ Enterprises

If computers are not available in time for training, this may push back the training timeline or require participants to use paper copies vs. hands-on practice

PJ Enterprises will inform IDeas, Inc. if computers will not be prepared in time for training and will negotiate a new training timeline or method for training

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Problem Area Likelihood1 – 5

Problem Owner

Project Impact Mitigation Plan

High call volume

1 PJ Enterprises

Unexpected high call volume could require TOs to stay on phone and miss training

PJ Enterprises will schedule a “make-up” training session to be conducted by IDeas, Inc. Additional training may involve additional costs for PJ Enterprises.

Assumptions (EP)

IDeas, Inc. assumes the following about the project:

IDeas, Inc. is responsible for

• Delivery of telephone operator training

• Development of telephone operator training instructor guides

• Creation of revised product guide – print and electronic versions

• Providing all deliverables in a timely manner to allow client to print and prepare materials in advance of training

• Monitoring and adhering to project budget and schedule

• Informing client of changes to project schedule or budget

PJ Enterprises is responsible for

• Providing SMEs and necessary content in adherence with the proposed timeline

• Providing training facilities

• Setting up training facilities, including preparing computers and software

• Providing pay for employees during training

• Scheduling training sessions to accommodate all employees who shall receive training

• Publishing training information (to include times, dates, etc.) to employees

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• Scheduling/registering employees in each training session before training dates and allowing only as many employees as can be accommodated per session to enroll per session

• Informing IDeas, Inc. of changes to schedule or other issues that could affect training timeline

• Providing IT time for the electronic product guide to be uploaded

• Printing and binding of all text materials, including instructor guides, print version of product guides, and materials used by trainees in training

Constraints (EP)

The timeline is dependent on availability to SMEs for gathering and reviewing training content.

Development of electronic product guide materials is dependent on information regarding compatibility requirements of PJ Enterprise’s database, and the availability of product information.

While no competing projects are currently forecast, additional projects on both the IDeas, Inc. and PJ Enterprises teams could impact the project timeline.

External Influences/Dependencies (EP)

Seasonal volume of calls - customer need over the holidays may take staff time and focus away from the project.

Staffing changes at both IDeas, Inc. and PJ Enterprises.

Approvals

Role Signature Date

___________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________

_____________________

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