In this part of the Project Plant Pals, I’ll be focusing on the execution and closing phases of the project. In the previous parts, I’ve outlined the initiation and planning stages, including creating a project charter, building a Gantt chart, identifying risks, and establishing a project plan. Now, it’s time to put everything into action and execute the project, tracking progress and making adjustments along the way. I’ll also be wrapping things up as we bring the Plant Pals Operations and Training plan to fruition.

Leading the execution phase

During the execution phase, the project team will carry out the activities and tasks outlined in the project plan, monitor progress, and make adjustments as necessary. Effective communication and stakeholder management are critical during this phase to ensure that the project stays on track.

Now, as we move into the execution phase of the Plant Pals project, we’re entering a critical stage where the planning and preparation of the previous stages will be put into action. During this stage, we’ll get ready to launch Plant Pals and ensure that all aspects of the project are running smoothly to achieve a successful outcome. In this section, I’ll cover the steps taken during the execution phase, including tracking progress, making adjustments, and managing resources effectively.

1 – Creating a project status report

During the planning phase, I made a project plan for Plant Pals. Now that the project is underway and we’re sending out test batches, I’ll create a status report for project tasks and milestones to summarize progress, identify problems, and keep stakeholders informed.

Project status reports are an essential tool for effective project management. They allow project managers to regularly communicate project progress to team members and key stakeholders in a clear and concise way. By doing so, status reports help to identify issues early on and prevent them from becoming bigger problems later in the project. Besides, having a centralized location for project status information can improve communication and ensure everyone is on the same page. The structure provided by status reports also helps to keep the project team organized and focused on the project’s goals and objectives. In summary, project status reports serve as a vital communication and project management tool that simplifies communication, creates structure, and maintains transparency throughout the project.

Now, in the context of the Plant Pals project, Office Green is testing the project before its launch and I’m the project manager responsible for the trial’s smooth operation. My goal is to keep track of completed and upcoming tasks and milestones, as well as to find solutions for any issues that arise.

Completed Plant Pals tasks and milestones include:

• The IT Specialist purchased a new software to keep track of incoming orders and installed it on June 15. The installation took three days longer than expected.
• The Fulfillment Director began sending test batches of Plant Pals orders to customers on June 21. The number of orders exceeded targets by 15%.

Upcoming Plant Pals tasks and milestones include:

• Send existing customers an e-newsletter with a tutorial on caring for their plants by July 7. The newsletter must follow Office Green’s brand design guidelines.
• Hit at least 95% of delivery dates on time by July 19. The error rate should be under 5%.

Three major issues were revealed based on the ongoing customer satisfaction survey conducted by my team for the first two weeks of shipments for the test batches:

• The warehouse team reports that 10% of the plants were not properly potted. This leads to customer complaints, profit loss, and budget issues we didn’t anticipate. Our Warehouse Operations Manager is responsible for taking action on this issue.
• Due to an issue with the new software, the customer service team is receiving only 30% of requests and complaints. This leads to customer dissatisfaction. The team’s IT Specialist is responsible for taking action on this issue.
• There are not enough delivery drivers to deliver all the Plant Pals orders on time. The current delivery completion rate is 80%, leading some customers to cancel their subscriptions. The Human Resources Specialist is responsible for taking action on this issue.

The team must address these issues to hit their upcoming project milestones. My project status report will help them do that. For this purpose, it contains a project summary that highlights the installation of new software to manage incoming orders and the launch of the first test batch of Plant Pals, as well as the issues the team has encountered with product quality, customer communication, and the delivery process. The report also includes the overall RAG status of the project, which is a stoplight indicator of project progress. RAG stands for Red, Amber, and Green; Red indicates significant changes are needed to get the project back on track, amber indicates minor changes are needed, and green indicates the project is on target. Finally, the project status report outlines the following elements:

• Progress towards tasks and milestones (completed and upcoming) with their descriptions, dates, owners, and relevant comments.
• Top risks and issues, along with their impact, actions to be taken, and the person responsible for fixing the issues.
• An amber RAG status indicating that the project is off-track and needs minor changes to correct.

This document outlines the project status report for tasks and milestones of the Plant Pals project test launch: Project Status Report.

2 – Conducting a ROAM analysis

My project status report reveals ongoing issues with product and service quality. To help my team stay organized, I’ll categorize them as resolved, owned, accepted, or mitigated (ROAM). Knowing how we’ll handle these issues keeps us on track to complete the project.

A ROAM analysis is a technique used by project managers to manage risks that have already occurred in the project. It’s an effective way to prioritize and deal with issues that could affect the project’s progress. By categorizing risks into one of the four categories—Resolved, Owned, Accepted, and Mitigated—the project manager can create a clear action plan to keep the project moving forward:

• Resolved: This category is for issues that have been resolved and are no longer a problem.
• Owned: This category is for issues that have been assigned to a team member responsible for monitoring them until completion.
• Accepted: This category is for issues that cannot be resolved, and the team chooses to work around them.
• Mitigated: This category is for issues on which the team has taken action to reduce the impact or likelihood of a risk that has not yet materialized.

Now, in the context of the Plant Pals project, Office Green began sending out the first test batch of plants to customers after installing the new software to keep track of orders and shipments. As previously mentioned, my team has been conducting an ongoing customer satisfaction survey for this test launch. After two weeks of test shipments, the survey identified several issues, including 10% of improperly potted plants, only 30% of customer service requests being received due to software issues, and an 80% delivery completion rate due to a driver shortage causing some cancellations.

Therefore, in order to address these issues identified by the customer satisfaction survey, I put together a ROAM analysis that outlines each problem, as well as the actions my team and I took in response. In this analysis, each problem has been given a specific ROAM designation (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, or Mitigated) that reflects the approach we took to handle it.

This document shows the ROAM analysis of the Plant Pals project test launch: ROAM Analysis.

3 – Writing an escalation email

Removing barriers to progress is one of my most important tasks as a project manager—but I can’t always do it alone. When my team encounters a major issue, I’ll write an escalation email to get support and advice from senior stakeholders.

Escalation is a process that project managers use to seek help from the project leadership or management in removing an obstacle, reinforcing priorities, or validating the next steps. This process is essential for project managers to resolve problems and remove barriers for their teams, allowing them to make progress toward their goals. To write a strong escalation email, it is important to maintain a friendly and blameless tone, establish the project manager’s connection to the project, clearly state the problem, explain its consequences, propose a course of action, and make a request for assistance. By following these guidelines, project managers can effectively communicate the urgency of the situation and obtain the necessary support to keep the project moving forward.

In the context of this project, Office Green is testing the Plant Pals project before the official launch, and I’m the project manager responsible for the project’s success. The team has already installed software to manage incoming orders and begun sending out test shipments to customers. However, my team has encountered some problems along the way. One major issue is that we don’t have enough drivers to deliver all of the orders on time. So far, the drivers have delivered only 80% of the plants successfully. Customer satisfaction has suffered, and some customers have already canceled their subscriptions. My team needs to raise the on-time delivery rate to at least 90% to avoid sending out the next batch late. A delay could create even more issues—setting back the project timeline, risking product quality, and hurting revenue.

There are several ideas to improve future delivery rates, but I need to discuss them with senior stakeholders. In order to explain the problem and my recommendations, I’ve written an escalation email to the Director of Operations, the HR Specialist, the Senior Vice President of Human Resources, and the Director of Product. Since it’s important to address project issues graciously, I’ve maintained a friendly tone while writing that email. Also, after I’ve stated my connection to the project, I’ve briefly explained the issue and its consequences in enough detail while offering one potential course of action to solve the problem. Finally, I’ve requested a meeting to discuss the proposed solution and other potential recommendations.

This document encompasses the escalation email raising identified issues and potential solutions to senior stakeholders during the Plant Pals test launch: Escalation Email.

4 – Creating a presentation for my team

When we’re done shipping test batches, I’ll present the results of a customer satisfaction survey to my team. To make my presentation engaging and memorable, I’ll tell a story using key data points, summarizing takeaways, and outlining the next steps.

Project managers often need to present their project progress, findings, and decisions to various stakeholders. Presentations are a powerful way to communicate complex information, build support, and move the project forward. In order to make a successful presentation, a project manager needs to think of it as telling a story. Storytelling is a way of presenting facts in a compelling narrative that resonates with the audience. By using storytelling techniques, project managers can make data more meaningful and relevant to their stakeholders. A good presentation should not just summarize raw data but should also analyze it for key takeaways and present them in a way that tells a clear and memorable story. This makes the presentation more engaging and helps stakeholders to better understand the project’s progress and impact.

As mentioned above, Office Green recently shipped test batches of plants to customers in advance of the formal Plant Pals launch. To gauge customer satisfaction with the product and the service, my team surveyed 50 customers over four weeks. After two weeks, the survey revealed three major issues concerning product quality, delivery timelines, and customer support. This feedback helped us make improvements to later test shipments.

Now that we have the full survey results, I’m preparing a presentation to communicate key insights and action items to my core team, including the Human Resources Specialist, Training Manager, Financial Analyst, Fulfillment Director, Quality Assurance Tester, Inventory Manager, Customer Service Manager, and IT Specialist. The presentation will help us decide on the next steps for our support model and delivery protocols for the official launch.

The survey uncovered four interesting data points that provide insights into support and delivery, including:

Data point 1: For the yes or no question, “Did your shipment arrive on time?“, the percentage of customers who answered “yes” breaks down as follows:

Data point 2: For the multiple choice question, “What is your preferred time of day to receive a shipment from Plant Pals?“, the responses break down as follows:

Data point 3: For the scaled question, “On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, how satisfied are you with customer support?“, the average scores were:

Data point 4: For the free response question, “In general, how do you suggest we improve our customer support?”, the answers break down as follows:

When creating the survey results presentation, I carefully considered what type of information each data point provides and which visualization model—whether it be a bar graph, pie chart, or line graph—would convey the findings most clearly. Additionally, I analyzed these data points to determine key takeaways and action items, taking into consideration the project milestones we set and the issues we encountered. After reviewing the first two weeks of survey results, my team and I took several actions to address the identified issues, including fixing a software issue that resulted in the customer relations team receiving only 30% of requests and complaints, hiring more delivery drivers, and reassessing delivery routes to bring the on-time delivery rate from 80% to 95%, and sending customers an e-newsletter with a tutorial on caring for their plants. Finally, I concluded the presentation by summarizing the main points, outlining the issues that the team had successfully resolved, and offering recommendations for further improvement.

This document encompasses a six-slide presentation conveying the results of the Plant Pals customer survey through data visualization: Survey Results Presentation.

5 – Planning a meeting to discuss open issues

After my presentation, I’ll meet with the team to discuss areas to improve as we prepare for launch. To ensure a focused and productive conversation, I’ll create a meeting agenda that lays out open issues and lists topics for discussion.

Meetings can be a valuable tool for project management, as they allow team members to communicate with each other and stakeholders, distribute information, and keep everyone on track toward project goals. However, not all meetings are created equal. To be effective, meetings should be structured, intentional, collaborative, and inclusive. These elements help ensure that everyone stays focused on the right topics, that goals and expectations are clear, and that all voices are heard.

One way to ensure that meetings are structured and effective is to provide a clear meeting agenda. A meeting agenda outlines the topics that will be discussed during the meeting, who will be leading each discussion, and how much time will be allotted for each item. Providing an agenda in advance of the meeting can help attendees prepare and come ready to contribute. Another way to make meetings effective is to send out invitations that include all relevant details and resources, such as documents or presentations that will be discussed during the meeting. This helps ensure that all attendees have access to the same information and can come to the meeting prepared to participate.

As discussed earlier, Office Green shipped test batches of plants to customers prior to the formal Plant Pals service launch, and to measure customer satisfaction, the team conducted a four-week survey of 50 customers. During the first two weeks of the survey, three significant issues emerged regarding product quality, delivery timelines, and customer support. The feedback obtained during this time was crucial in making improvements to subsequent test shipments. After completing the survey, I presented the most significant data points to my core team and outlined possible next steps. The insights I provided were as follows:

• Despite a solid increase from 80% to 90%, on-time deliveries were still below the targeted 95%.
• Customers preferred deliveries before normal business hours and early in the day.
• Customer support satisfaction improved significantly after fixing the software issue, but further improvement is needed.
• Guides and tutorials were found helpful, and the addition of a live chat option would enhance customer support, according to customers who volunteered their feedback.

I’ve decided to schedule a meeting with my team to discuss these insights, gather feedback, and explore the proposed next steps. Before the meeting, I created a comprehensive meeting agenda that identified attendees who would contribute to the discussion or be directly impacted by the meeting’s topics. In this regard, I invited all members of my core team. Then, I included a summary of the meeting’s purpose and expectations, along with three key topics, each with a specified approach (short update, brainstorming session, or informal discussion), and assigned team members to address each topic. Following this, I wrote an invitation email to my core team, acknowledging their hard work, explaining the purpose of the meeting, and proposing a meeting time to work through the topics. Finally, I attached the meeting agenda to the email for additional information.

These documents include both the invitation email and the meeting agenda for the discussion of the Plant Pals customer survey results: Invitation Email + Meeting Agenda.

Leading the closing phase

Closing a project properly is a crucial part of project management as it involves formally ending the project. This phase is significant for several reasons. It provides an opportunity for the project manager and team to reflect on their performance and identify areas for improvement in future projects. Additionally, it ensures the completion of all project tasks and prevents any confusion that may arise in the future.

In summary, during the closing phase, the project team finalizes the deliverables, conducts a project review, and documents lessons learned. Successful project closure requires obtaining final acceptance and approval from stakeholders. Any outstanding or incomplete tasks, activities, or processes are then transferred to the appropriate team responsible for maintaining or operating the project’s outcomes or deliverables. This transfer of work ensures the long-term sustainability, management, and maintenance of the project’s results.

As the project manager for the Plant Pals operations project, I played a role in developing and implementing an Operations and Training plan. Over a six-month period, my team and I achieved a number of milestones. With the project now completed, it is time to create a project closeout report. This report will serve as a resource for future project managers, detailing the team’s actions, methods, deliverables, remaining work, and the lessons learned from this project. It will also highlight areas for improvement, including enhancing team performance and refining project management practices.

Creating a report to close the project

Creating a project closeout report is an essential component of wrapping up a project. The project manager is responsible for generating this report, which serves as a blueprint to document all aspects of the project. It covers what was done, how it was done, and what was delivered. The report evaluates the quality of the work performed and assesses the project’s performance in terms of budget and schedule. Furthermore, it captures valuable lessons learned from the project, which can be used to improve future projects. For instance, it may highlight challenges faced by the team and provide recommendations on how to address similar issues in the future. Moreover, the report communicates the project’s results to stakeholders and other interested parties, providing a comprehensive summary of the project’s activities, outcomes, and achievements.

When writing the closeout report, I began with an executive summary that concisely describes the project’s purpose, major milestones, and ultimate outcome. This summary is crucial as high-level stakeholders, such as the Project Sponsor, will review and sign off on the report. Then, I recorded key accomplishments, completed objectives, lessons learned, and encountered roadblocks during the project. I also documented unresolved issues or items requiring further work as open items, along with the next steps and future considerations for the project. Lastly, I outlined the project timeline and provided links to key project documents that can aid new project managers in future planning. These documents include the project plan, ROAM analysis, status report, escalation email, presentation of customer feedback, and meeting agenda.

This document contains the closeout report for the Operation and Training of the Plant Pals project: Project Closeout Report.

Featured image by Freepik. Used for display purposes.
Last updated: March 15th, 2023.