I-Crop Project Management

Background to the Project Overview

Project name: I-Crop Project Management

Team details:

Team Name: SmartTech IT Group

There is a rapid change in business activities, for instance, most companies have upgraded their systems from standalone to internet based, therefore; enhancing communication between management and their customers (Paterno, 2012). Internet-based applications are vital, for instance, a company can automate its activities, therefore; enhancing easy management of operations (Ra et al., 2011). Besides, it can also enable a company management to communicate effectively to its customers through recent technologies such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), therefore, maintaining its customers and increasing sales (Ernst, Hoyer, Krafft & Krieger, 2011). However, there are some factors that should be considered prior to incorporating IT solutions, for instance, choosing best vendors is one of the factors that need to be considered as there are several vendors such as IBM (Watson, 2014). A company can evaluate different vendors depending on its previous experience more so focusing on how its solutions were implemented and whether a given company can develop a quality application. Regarding Globex company, which is found in Riverina Region of NSW, has contracted most of its application development projects to Virtucon. Currently, Virtucon has been contracted to develop an internet-based application referred to as I-Crop. My team, which has four members, has been assigned to develop proposed application. Hence, this paper has described entire processes that we followed while developing proposed application.

Project description is vital as it forms a basis for developing specification. It consists of detailed description on how proposed system should work, including transactions that can be supported. Therefore, any company must come up with preliminary description in respect to proposed application. The first step of writing project description is defining problems encountered and consequently, explaining explicitly how proposed application can solve situation at hand. Regarding Globex Corporation, there are some reasons for developing proposed system, for instance, there is a need of connecting growers with buyers through proposed application, easing management of operations and selling warehoused grains. Apart from selling warehoused grains, Globex also buys grains.   

Other than describing problems that need to be solved, Globex has also defined transactions regarding proposed application and ways on which it can solve problems as it is a new application rather than replacing existing application. I-crop application consists of several features such as offer and bid transactions. Concerning offers, I-crop will allow sellers to set their cash price, and afterwards, potential customers can accept offers that have been placed. Similarly, buyers can list their preferred cash prize, and afterwards, growers or sellers can view and sell their grains. Listing of cash price is called as bids. Therefore, offers and bids cannot be separated, thus working hand in hand.

Apart from offers, I-crop will also enable sellers and growers to list their preferred buyers, therefore; selling grains to trusted buyers. Besides, I-crop will not support both bids and offers that were placed for previous seasons, thus supporting seasonal sales. Furthermore, it will enhance availability of information such as contact details about grain silo sites though only limited for those ones that are registered. Moreover, I-crop will be implemented as both a mobile application and website, therefore; supporting a range of users. Although clients are not supposed to pay any subscription fee to download the application, but normal network charges will apply. In addition, a client will be informed incase high internet connectivity may be required for updating information on a certain page because businesses are dynamic, thus offers and bids are likely to change from time to time. Regarding miscellaneous features, user’s interphase will enable a client to download summaries of a given page using ‘printing option’ button. Besides, any client can be a seller or a buyer concurrently, which will be made possible using one login system.

Project Description

Communication Plan

Reflection

Leadership Qualities to Successfully Lead a Project

I’ve lead some teams and realized that a project manager should be equipped with some leadership skills to make the entire development process a success (Keil, Lee & Deng, 2013). For instance, communication skill is very important as it can enable a project manager to describe explicitly project objectives. Therefore, a project manager is required to master different communication forms, for example, full-staff and phone calls respectively. Also, a project manager should also be equipped with motivation skills, which can enable him/her to inspire other team members (Sunindijo, 2015). There exist several methods that can be used to motivate team members such as providing rewards and mentoring. Besides, leaders should also have delegating skills, for instance, most leaders fear to assign duties to their employers and keeps on working on them. Delegating tasks can enable a project manager to identify strengths and weaknesses of other members. Furthermore, positivity is an important leadership skill that can enable a project manager to have hopes that everything will go on well despite some challenges encountered. Moreover, accountability skills can enhance trustworthiness, therefore; encouraging team members to ask for clarification when the need arises (Sunindijo, 2015).

Other than leadership skills, I’ve also identified different techniques, methods and skills, which can be used in leading ICT projects, therefore, knowledge of methods cannot be an option to a project manager rather a necessity. For instance, agile methodology can assist project manage to plan activities properly (Balaji & Murugaiyan, 2012). It enhances involvement of stakeholders in the entire process involved for development of a system. Therefore, incorporation of ideas of stakeholders results in development of a high-quality system. It’s used widely because of sprint principle, which facilitates accommodation of necessary changes at any stages of system development life cycle. Also, waterfall methodology can be used to lead a project (Balaji & Murugaiyan, 2012). It’s convenient for leading larger and complex projects rather than small projects. Activities are carried out sequentially. All tasks required for developing an application are listed ranging from requirements collection to maintenance. The main disadvantage of waterfall methodology is that changes cannot be made at any stage till completion. Apart from waterfall and agile methodologies, there are other methodologies though rarely used, for example, scrum, which is made up of different values such as respect and lean methodology, which minimizes waste (Balaji & Murugaiyan, 2012).   

Conclusion

In conclusion, SDLC consists of four main stages; specification, development, validation and evolution, therefore; understanding all processes involved is much important as it provides guidance while developing any application. Regarding development of i-Crop application, I ensured that all processes were followed strictly. For instance, we collected requirements from relevant stakeholders such as business analyst and system administrator of Globex Corporation. Apart from requirements collection, we developed i-Crop application in accordance with specification using programming languages such as C# and android programming for website and mobile application respectively, and afterwards, several stakeholders participated in testing i-Crop, for example, operational team and security administrator of Globex Corp.

Team charter

The entire process was completed successfully as we specified some code of ethics, rules and values that each member was to adhere strictly. For instance, the following are some of the values that we specified; commitment, dependability and reliability, while code of ethics included the following; understanding requirements of proposed application, use of appropriate methodology, ensure that application is tested properly and informing Globex management concerning any dangers associated with developed application. On the other hand, all team members were required to respect others including stakeholders and being transparent were some of the specified rules. However, few problems encountered include; time consuming and communication breakages.  

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