ProjectManageVirturalOfficeFinalPaper Master Thesis April2010

Title: Virtual Office Plan for Project Management

By:

Arlene McClain

A Project Management Capstone

Submitted to the Worldwide Campus

In Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

Masters of Science Degree in Project Management

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Los Angeles Metro Campus

December 2009

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ABSTRACT

Researcher: Arlene K. McClain

Title: Virtual Office Plan for Project Management

Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Degree: Masters of Science in Project Management

The purpose of this paper is to report on the project Virtual Office is term for Telecommuting,

E-commuting, e-work, working at home, or working from home. Virtual Office is a work

arrangement in which employees enjoy the flexibility in working location. In other words, the

daily commute to a work place is replaced by telecommunication internet links. Auto Club

started Virtual Office pilot program to test employees work from Telecommuting eliminates

the driving distance restriction. Telework is a broader term for any form of work-related travel

that substitutes telecommunicating. A motto for telecommuting is that "work is something you

do, not something you travel to". A successful telecommuting program requires a management

style based on work related results. If a company believes in micro-management then this

program will not work based on management needing scrutiny of individual employees. Such

tools as virtual private networks, video conferencing, and voice facilitate long distance

telework over IP. It can be efficient and useful for companies as it allows staff and workers to

communicate over a large distance, saving significant amounts of travel time and cost.

Broadband Internet connections are now the common trend. In addition, workers have enough

bandwidth at home to use these tools to link their home to their corporate office.

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Support Resources

The business environment at the Auto Club Corporation is changing. The Auto Club

Corporation needs provide a tool for all employees to be able to act more quickly, more

effectively in a collaborative environment. The Virtual Office methodology is a workplace

design that will help Auto Club become more competitive. The purpose of this Virtual Office

Plan is to establish and sustain a common process for Virtual Office application, determination,

and approval for all employees of the Information Technology Systems (MES) organization as

authorized by the Auto Club PROCEDURE 901, Virtual Office Program”. Resources:

Company-Wide Virtual Office Program and Virtual Office Local Core Team.

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CHAPTER I

INITIATIING

Introduction

Telecommuting is an alternative work arrangement for employees to conduct all or

some of their work away from the primary workplace. The work location might be a residence,

a telecenter, an office closer to the employee's residence, or another acceptable

location. .Managers and supervisors are key players in the telecommuting process. They set the

parameters of the arrangement and define the proper work core hours for their organizations.

Studies show that clear guidance and direction increase the chances of success for

telecommuting programs.

Background of the Project

The business environment at the Auto Club Corporation is changing. The Auto Club

Corporation will provide a tool for all employees to be able to act more quickly, more

effectively in a collaborative environment. The Virtual Office methodology is a workplace

design that will help Auto Club become more competitive. The purpose of this Virtual Office

Plan is to establish and sustain a common process for Virtual Office application, determination,

and approval for all employees of the Information Technology Systems (MES) organization as

authorized by the Auto Club PROCEDURE 901, “Virtual Office Program”.

Guidelines & Selection Criteria

General Guidelines for All: The Virtual Office is a cooperative arrangement

between the manager and the participant, not entitlement. Individuals who are able to provide a

good business case will generally be allowed to participate. Virtual Office participation is

situational and may change depending on business or employee needs. Written arrangements

between the manager and the participant must be renewed at least annually in accordance with

Company PROCEDURE 901. A manager’s decision to deny employee participation or an

employee’s choice to participate or not in virtual office program will not be inferred as

punitive action. Company policies and procedures, as amended, may supersede this Plan. This

Plan will be updated as process improvements or future enhancements are put in place.

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Develop Project Charter

A project charter or project definition is a statement of the scope, objectives, and

participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities,

outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the

project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project. The Virtual

Office Program has been approved for use in all Auto Club organizations, including

subsidiaries company-wide.

Develop Preliminary Scope Statement

The Expected Benefits for telecommuting will be immediate response to all activities of

the Virtual Office, including telecommuting (or work-at-home), mobile computing, and

satellite offices, must make business sense for the Auto Club Company. The Company-wide

Virtual Office Program will collect the following metrics at a company level: Commute Trip

Reduction (CTR) credit and Overall Program Participation. In deploying a Virtual Office in the

Information Technology Systems organization, the following benefits/outcomes are expected:

Increase or maintain employee satisfaction and morale, Increase or maintain productivity,

Increase or maintain customer satisfaction, Retain valued employees, and Reduce facilities

costs. The expected Virtual Office benefits will be tracked by core team metrics via statistics

and surveys of participants, their managers, coworkers and customers, where appropriate.

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CHAPTER II

PLANNING

The project management plan is a document that describes the virtual office plan used by a

project team. The objective of a project management plan is to define the approach of the

virtual office plan. This program is voluntary and will be deployed as an organizational

business strategy and a tool for flexibility; it is not an entitlement. Individuals wanting to

participate should follow the process below outlined in the Telecommuter section of the Virtual

Office website. The business environment at the Auto Club Corporation is changing. The Auto

Club Corporation needs provide a tool for all employees to be able to act more quickly, more

effectively in a collaborative environment. The Virtual Office methodology is a workplace

design that will help Auto Club become more competitive. The purpose of this Virtual Office

Plan is to establish and sustain a common process for Virtual Office application, determination,

and approval for all employees of the Information Technology Systems. The following are

instructions for Managers. Managers should use the attributes below to evaluate the applicant’s

ability to participate. Additionally, managers are encouraged to review the Management section

of the Virtual Office website for a complete program description and additional selection

guidance. Individuals wanting to participate should follow the process outlined in the

Telecommuter Checklist. Managers will instruct the Telecommuting Introduction forms.

Managers will instruct the employees the “Telecommuter Self-Assessment”. Individuals will

follow the 7-Step process for becoming a Telecommuter.

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Scope Planning

The project scope management plan is a planning tool describing how the team will

define the project scope, develop the detailed project scope statement, define and develop the

work breakdown structure, verify the project scope, and control the project scope. The project

charter is to create a virtual office work environment for Auto Club. The outline of this project

for Virtual Office or Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, working at home, or working

from home. Virtual Office is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy the flexibility in

working location. The daily commute to a work place is replaced by telecommunication

internet links. Auto Club started Virtual Office pilot program to test employees work from

home web commuters utilize mobile telecommunications technology. Telecommuting

eliminates the driving distance to work resulting in quick response time for business related

problems. This outlines project plan the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders,

and defines the authority of the project manager.

The development of the project scope management plan and the detailing of the project

scope begin with the analysis of information contained in the project charter (PMBOK, 2004),

the preliminary project scope statement (PMBOK, 2004), the latest approved version of the

project management plan (PMBOK, 2004), historical information contained in the

organizational process assets (PMBOK, 2004), and any relevant enterprise environmental

factors.

Scope Definition

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The business environment at the Auto Club Corporation is changing. The Auto Club

Corporation needs provide a tool for all employees to be able to act more quickly, more

effectively in a collaborative environment. The Virtual Office methodology is a workplace

design that will help Auto Club become more competitive. The purpose of this Virtual Office

Plan is to establish and sustain a common process for Virtual Office application, determination,

and approval for all employees of the Information Technology Systems. The following are

instructions for Managers. Managers should use the attributes below to evaluate the applicant’s

ability to participate. Additionally, managers are encouraged to review the Management section

of the Virtual Office website for a complete program description and additional selection

guidance. Individuals wanting to participate should follow the process outlined in the

Telecommuter Checklist. Managers will instruct the Telecommuting Introduction forms.

Managers will instruct the employees the “Telecommuter Self-Assessment”. Individuals will

follow the 7-Step process for becoming a Telecommuter.

Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

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Work Breakdown structure (WBS) is a technique for defining and organizing the total

scope of a project, using a hierarchical tree structure. The first two levels of the WBS define a

set of planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively represent project scope. A well-

designed WBS describes planned outcomes instead of planned actions. Outcomes are the

desired ends of the project. Virtual Office methodology is a workplace design that will help

Auto Club become more competitive. The purpose of this Virtual Office Plan is to establish

and sustain a common process for Virtual Office application, determination, and approval for

all employees of the Information Technology Systems.

Schedule Development

The scheduled development process needs to list all resources necessary for supporting

the Virtual Office project. The best support path for participants and managers alike is to

follow existing processes wherever possible first. If those resources do not resolve the specific

telecommuting issue, it would be best to contact the local core team listed below. It is

important that participants in the program be fitted with the tools necessary to perform their

tasks and assignments offsite. This may include computing hardware, software, communication

tools such as phones and/or pagers, data connectivity and other tools and services. Organization

Policy on Equipment & Services for Telecommuters is listed in the procedures below. The

Information Technology Systems organization may supply program participants with computer

equipment, software, telecommunications services, or other provisions.

Cost Estimating

Use the following document, Hardware Standards List, when determining virtual office

requirements for the employee. Employees may use personally owned equipment to

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Telecommute in accordance with Computing guidelines. Managers are authorized to provide

all participants with organizationally owned computing equipment (e.g. laptop, desktop or

other assets). The recommended software to support the Virtual Office is that software

necessary to accomplish the participants’ assignments. Participants using Auto Club computing

assets will be provided with the appropriate software. Employees may obtain standard software

for home use in accordance with company licensing agreements. Employees may purchase

software for home use in accordance with company licensing and procurement agreements.

Refer to the Home Use Software Program. Project Managers must authorized and provide

participants with individual software licenses for special software need on a case-by-case basis.

Cost Budgeting

The Telecommunications Services could be standard Dial-up Remote access when

Telecommuting in accordance with Computing, Network and Security policies. On a case-by-

case basis with the managers approval employees are authorized to provide the following

telecommunications services requests to participants who telecommute at least 20 hours per

week with approval: 1) Company-paid cell phone or calling card for voice and team

collaboration. 2) The Auto Club will pay DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection. 3)

Reimbursement for commercially available Cable/DSL/Internet Service Provider services in

accordance with company policy. 4) The Auto Club will paid mobile/wireless/cellular phone

data. 5) Director-level approval required. 6) Approval for company DSL service must also be

in accordance with service guidelines.

Quality Planning

Managers have the following responsibilities: Review the Management section of

the Company-wide Virtual Office Program website. Must follow the guidance set forth in this

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Implementation Plan understand the guidelines, goals and objectives integral to this

organization’s implementation of the Virtual Office Program. Should review and must comply

with the manager responsibilities and provisions in Virtual Office Policy. Management must

approve their direct report’s Telecommuting Application Package. Confirm customer support

for the Virtual Office Program. Keep the original signed forms in a file folder for future

reference. Approve exceptions to the Plan with their manager and notify the organization’s

local core team. Provide information needed for Virtual Office Program metric reporting and

tracking with assistance from the participant. Take Virtual Office Training for managers if

available. Review participant’s backup plans to cover on-site contingencies while participant is

out of the office. Follow the organization’s core staffing days/hours (when all employees must

be present), if required.

Human Resource Planning

All employees must have the approval from their manager to participate; this plan does

not automatically grant approval to Telecommute. Program participants must follow and

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complete the Telecommuter preparation steps defined in the Telecommuter section of the Auto

Club Company-wide Virtual Office Program website. This process includes obtaining

management approval, completing and submitting required forms, training, setup, and

registration. The employee must comply with the participant responsibilities and provisions in

Virtual Office Policy. The participant must comply with applicable Computing, Network, and

Security policies. Employees must register as a Telecommuter on the Virtual Office website.

Participants must review organizational Plan to understand the guidelines, goals, and objectives

that are integral to their organization’s implementation of the Virtual Office Program. The

participant’s manager is an integral part of the success of the telecommuter individually and the

implementation of this program.

Communications Planning

The following training class has been identified for employees to complete per the

Telecommuter checklist located on the Virtual Online Training course. This course is required

for employees wishing to telecommute. It is recommended for managers as well who are or

have staff working remotely. Telecommuter Training in offered through the Auto Club

University Education and it is available to take this course anytime, either on or off hours.

Risk Management Planning

Information and telecommunications technologies make telecommuting an option for

many organizations and workers. Organizations promote telecommuting to allow their

employees to work from home, while on travel, at a client site, or in a telecommuting center.

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While offering potential benefits, telecommuting introduces new risks to the organization. This

bulletin highlights security issues related to telecommuting and proposes solutions that may

help organizations manage the telecommuting environment more effectively. Telecommuting

is the use of telecommunications to create an "office" away from the established (physical)

office. The telecommuting office can be in an employee's home, a hotel room or conference

center, an employee's travel site, or a telecommuting center. The telecommuter's office may or

may not have the full computer functionality of the established office. For example, an

employee on travel may read email. On the other side of the spectrum, an employee's home

may be equipped with Integrated Services Digital Network access to provide the employee full

computer capability at high speeds.

Risk Identification

One risk is that intruders will be able to access corporate systems any corrupt the

environment so Auto Club has encryption software and highly technical security features.

Hackers, electronic eavesdroppers at conference sites, or shoulder surfers watching employees

enter IDs and passwords, present very real threats. In addition to intruders whose goal may be

mischief, hacking is attractive to people trying to steal or misuse corporate information.

Electronic access to records may be difficult to trace and thus more appealing than trying to

bribe employees or gain physical access. Another risk of telecommuting is that corporate

information can be read, and potentially modified, while it is in transit. Telecommuting also

presents organizations with more commonplace risks. These include the risk of losing

corporate information and resources when they are outside the protective shell of the

organization. Auto Club Information Technology system needs to have the proper firewall for

wireless connections. There has been a problem in the past with hackers being able to get into

several other Corporations through the wireless connection. The Federal Bureau of

Investigations has issued warnings regarding wireless connections. There may be yet another

way bad people could get into a company’s computer system, one that the company may have

noticed.

Risk Response Monitor and Control Planning

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Telecommuting employees who directly access internal systems should be authenticated

using encryption software and should be routed to specific computer systems. The combination

of authentication using encryption software and routing increases security significantly and

reduces costs associated with authentication by limiting it to employees with the greatest

access.

Plan Purchases and Acquisitions and Plan Contracting

In addition to risks to internal corporate systems and data in transit, telecommuting from

home raises other concerns related to whether employees are using their own computers or

using computers supplied to them by the organization. The company will purchase a desktop or

laptop computer for the employee that telecommutes at least 20 hours per week. The Company

will pay for cell phone or calling card for voice and team collaboration. The company will pay

for DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection. The companies will reimbursement for

commercially available Cable/DSL/Internet Service Provider services in accordance with

company policy. The company will pay for a mobile/wireless/cellular phone data. The approval

for this virtual office team will need to be Director-level approval for company DSL service in

accordance with service guidelines.

CHAPTER III

EXECUTING

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Direct and Manage Project Execution

The objectives of this step will determine where we stand against the project plan. This

step will analyze and evaluate reasons for variance and validate the project plan. Progress

reporting is the process of objectively evaluating and reporting the status of a project. What

process has been started, completed, and accepted will be determined at these meetings. What

problems exist that have or may influence the ability to perform the project plan? What can be

done to resolve them?

Perform Quality Assurance

The project manager will be responsible for some levels of performance review reporting.

The project manager must maintain some records of the individual’s performance. This can be

done by keeping regular notes. It is important to be objective about absences, late deliverables

tardiness at meetings, people problems, poor performance, as well as accomplishments.

Acquire Project Team and Development Project Team

The Core Team of members will be listed after they have been approved. Team and

Focal information is also available in the Team Information section of the Virtual Office

website. Everyone on the team must have a clear understanding of his or her roles and

responsibilities. Get the right people involved so they are an important member of a winning

team and the project will give them many opportunities for succeeding.

Name Role

EMP

# Phone

Bob Brown Primary Focal 5356 385-

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9877

Jackie Crane Primary Focal 5908 385-

7822

Mike Jackson Primary Focal 5305 385-

6883

Steve Carlson Primary Focal 5933 385-

9085

Ellen Marx Core Team

Member

5921 385-

1243

Avery McCann Core Team

Member

5945 385-

4749

Adam

Connelly

Core Team

Member

5310 385-

8022

John Ames Core Team

Member

5342 385-

6569

Paula Johnson Core Team

Member

5367 385-

9943

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Information Distribution

This step is the collection of all the information necessary to determine status. This will

include the project plan, memos written or received, project status, estimates to complete,

Changes to the scope either approved or pending, acceptances received, acceptances rejected,

and acceptances pending. This step will explain progress reporting and how often the progress

needs to be reported. Progress status reporting is designed to help all team members become

accomplished in self-management as well as to communicate ongoing project status to

management. The overall purpose of weekly project reporting is to accomplish the following:

1) Identify problems for management resolution 2) Discuss scheduling 3) Identify changes to

the project 4) Communicate accomplishments to the project 5) Document project activity for

future review purposes. Performance information is designed in a way that shows how these

information items contribute to the achievement of the output of this project for the Auto Club

virtual office project.

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CHAPTER IV

MONITORING AND CONTROLLING

Monitor and Control Project Work

The project Control process must be maintained on a weekly basis in conjunction with

progress reporting. The contents of project monitor and control are the contract, the project

management plan, the project deliverables log, project status forms, and task progress

reporting. The projects updates that will be changed weekly are: the posted project plan, the

posted deliverables log, the posted project status form, the posted status summary forms,

management status report, team status report, time sheets, and expenses.

Integrated Change Control

The objective of establishing a change procedure is to monitor changes that have a major

impact on delivery dates and costs. There are two general types of major changes and they are

design changes and non-compliance changes. Change criteria must be determined for each

project to understand the impact of change. Design changes are opportunities to improve the

system. With this type of project there needs to be a lost time log and a system-tracking log to

manage changes. A change request form must be completed, documented, and approved by the

project development team including the majority of the team members.

Scope and Schedule Control

All of the scheduled changes will be implemented by gathering the necessary

authorization to proceed. Appropriate project management personnel must formally approve

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this process. Without formal approval, the project manager proceeds “at risk”. Without formal

approval, critical decisions are considered “defaulted”. Formal approval prevents repetitive

submissions for changes. Formal approval results in formal rejection.

Cost Control

The managers will use the Cost Control Matrix Spreadsheet to compute cost per

employee.

Part of the Cost Matrix is to compare the cost per employee “group as is” and “group to be”.

The summary will be complete and filled after each status meeting. The decision to provide

tools/services described above or otherwise, will generally be made by the participant’s

manager and should be based upon business case, organizational budget, and participant has

assigned tasks and requirements as a Telecommuter.

Perform Quality Control

Quality control and quality engineering are involved in developing systems to ensure

products or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements.

These systems are often developed in conjunction with other business and engineering

disciplines using a cross-functional approach.

Manage Project Team

A project manager must manage the project team by developing leadership, human

relations, decision-making, and problem solving skills from inception through successful

conclusion. Project team members have a considerable impact on the success of the project so

the project manager must build cohesive, high performance teams and resolve conflicts.

Effectively delegate project tasks and monitoring your team progress will determine the level

of success of a project.

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Performance Reporting

These performance management principles are endorsed by Auto Club and are intended as

an on performance reporting and its uses for both external and internal purposes. External

reporting focuses on performance for a year through company accomplishments annual reports.

Internal reporting is more frequent for management purposes, including monitoring

performance of outputs within year. The Auto Club measures are aligned with employees'

performance agreements, the performance measures provide feedback to staff on their

contribution to the management of outputs and administered items. Its purpose is to assist

stakeholders and management to draw well-informed conclusions about performance in

published and internal documentation, and to contribute to sound decision-making. 

Manage Stakeholders

Production Information Technology Systems will sponsor and direct the implementation

of the Information Technology Systems Virtual Office Program. The most important part of

stakeholder management is to secure management support for project teams. Communication

with team members and stakeholders is important for a successful project result, so formulate

and manage cross-functional teams.

Risk Monitoring and Control

The Individual project team members identify the risks at follow up status meetings. Risk

reported immediately has a good result of tem project team doing something about it. The Auto

Club’s approach to risk management is instilled within its risk management plan. The risk

management plan depicts the basic functions of managing risks: identify, analyze, plan, track,

control, and communicate.

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CHAPTER V

CLOSING

Close Project

If the employee is transitioning to virtual office, then it is the manager’s responsibility

to implement a virtual office transition and exit plan for their employees. Employees who are

currently telecommuting and specific equipment requirements should prioritize the manager

transition plan. Use the Exit Plan Checklist as part of your transition to virtual office. Closing a

project is not as easy as it seems. There is the need to ensure that the project closure criterion

has been fully satisfied and that there are no outstanding items remaining. Then there is a need

to identify a release plan for the project deliverables and documentation for the virtual office.

Finally, the need you to initiate a communication plan to inform all project stakeholders that

the project has now been closed.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The conclusion and recommendations include the documents for project closure processes

needed to close out a project. The 'Project Closure Report' will help you handover the

deliverables and documentation. The 'Post Implementation Review' will help you to determine

the level of project success and identify lessons learned for future projects.

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References:

PMI (2004). Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (3rd ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.

Render, B., Stair, R., & Hanna, M. (2006). Quantitative Analysis for Management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Rothman, J. (1997), Quality Driven Project Management, Retrieved November 7, 2007: http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/ASM97.html

Auto Club PROCEDURE 901 “Virtual Office Program”, dated January 13, 2006.

Auto Club Virtual Office Program web page http://virtualoffice.Auto Club.com

Website: (http://virtualoffice.Auto Club.com/Reporting/ViewTeamDetails.asp)

Website: http:/aaa.socal.com.Auto Club.com/mes/

Website: http://telecommunications.Auto Club.com/

Telecommuters Home Page: http://virtualoffice.Auto Club.com/index.asp

Website: http://vo2.Auto Club.com/Reporting/ViewTeamDetails.asp

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