The Charter for the Closter 5k was published last week. Consider this a post that shows my work, or at least the development portion of the Project Integration Management Process. I now realize that posting sections of the 5KPM - Project Management for Road Racing will be a better display of my work, as well as easier to digest in these posts, than by asking readers to click a link to the entirety of the project in a Google document.
4.1 Develop Project Charter
4.1.1 Develop Project Charter: Inputs
4.1.1.1 Project Statement of Work
The Closter 5k can best be described not as a business case or a strategic plan, but via a product scope description. There’s no real business need for the event to be a part of the the town’s annual Labor Day celebrations other than history and remembrance. There is no cost benefit to be calculated or analyzed. Nor is the event part of a strategic plan. The weekend includes volleyball tournaments and kiddie rides. By noting the scope of the event, and documenting its “ characteristics of the product, service, or result that the project will be undertaken to create, (PMBOK® Guide, p. 68), the project boundaries come into focus. The statement of work that the Closter 5k Organizing Committee receives is to: Plan and safely conduct the 36th edition of the Dom Mircovich Memorial Closter 5k and the Jim O’Halloran Memorial Kid’s Fun Run.
4.1.1.2 Business Case
The business case for the Closter 5k falls somewhere between an organizational need and a customer request. In this case, the customer is the Closter Recreation Commission. The Commission sponsors the town’s Labor Day weekend activities for the three days of the holiday. The 5k is an integral part of the activities. Continuing its presence, now in its 36th year, has become a tradition. The Closter 5k gets is “worth” to justify the “required investment” (p. 69) because it is the oldest 5k in the area, and the event is named in memory of a resident who died in the attacks of 9/11. It is difficult to ascribe a cost-benefit analysis to the project. Certainly the Closter 5k Organizing Committee does not seeks to lose money on the effort. But the case for the participants and the community cannot be solely quantified by financial profit or loss.
Note: While the Project Manager will help “conform that the project is...aligned with the business case,” (PMBOK® Guide p.69), the Stakeholder Register which helps communicate that alignment, will not be made public as a part of the 5KPM Project.
4.1.1.3 Agreements
There are several agreements surrounding the Closter 5k. None are as formal as a contract negotiated prior to the event. There is a verbal agreement, and written confirmation that the timing company will be present at the event to time the participants. They will provide an invoice for their services after the event is complete. Similarly the vendor with the other largest expense to the project, the t-shirt printer, will provide an invoice after the event. Other agreements, worked out with town police, EMS, and volunteers, will be organized and confirmed via meetings, writing (email, text), and verbal requests.
4.1.1.4 Enterprise Environmental Factors
As currently constituted, the Closter 5k Organizing Committee consists of two people who work well together and share balanced responsibilities and tasks. The culture is familiar and supportive. The Committee members are located in the same town and has established communications channels and tools to help plan and conduct the event (as described in PMBOK® Guide section 2.1.5). The committee has its go-to people for a few additional tasks, and a reliable group of helpers on event-day. The organizational structure is lean, nimble, and trusted by its sponsor. As in most volunteer organizations the Committee could benefit from a few extra hands to make the work lighter. The timing of the event doesn’t always lends itself to the greatest participant by volunteers or participants, landing as it does on the Sunday of the long Labor Day weekend. While runner/walker participation may be lighter than other spring or autumn 5ks, there not as many volunteers may be needed to plan the event.
Otherwise, with this event, there is very little governance in terms of industry standards or codes of conduct, beyond promoting a safe event, in which we defer to the local police, and in terms of their guidance for closing much of the course to traffic, and keeping the participants safe.
4.1.1.5 Organizational Process Assets
There is a wealth of historical information from which the organizing committee can draw. Much of it is filed in Google Drive in the form of project records, templates, lists, and other documents. The committee has historical memory supporting experience from prior events, including its standard organizational practices. After seeing another runner fall and get hurt (in a different event in 2015), the committee’s sense of risk has grown and been given much more attention in planning and response.
4.1.2 Develop Project Charter: Tools & Techniques
4.1.2.1 Expert Judgement
Experience conducting prior events led to the development of the project charter. The charter takes into account stakeholders, including the sponsor, other volunteers, the participants, and the vendors, by mainly relies on historical memory from prior events.
4.1.2.2 Facilitation Techniques
Because this project is a showcase of my work, and not the responsibility of the Sponsor in this unique case, I created the charter on my own, with input only from my co-event director.
4.1.3 Develop Project Charter: Outputs
4.1.3.1 Project Charter
The Closter 5k Charter can be accessed via this link: http://5kpm.blogspot.com/2017/01/project-charter-project-management-for.html. Although developed by the Organizing Committee, the charter takes into account the "business needs, assumptions, constraints, the understanding of the customer’s needs and high-level requirements, and...the result that it is intended to satisfy.” (PMBOK® Guide p. 71) The charter indicates the event’s purpose, lists objectives that are measurable, milestone dates, conveys a sense of risk, and outlines a budget.
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