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Science Frenzy Project Plan

Proposed by Megan McDaniel, Allyson Bone, and George Kairis

Snapdoodle Toys

(425)408-0021

7330 NE Bothell Way

Kenmore, WA 98028

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Table of Contents Section 1: Project Overview ......................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Project Overview .......................................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Goals and Objectives .................................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Project Scope ................................................................................................................................. 4

1.5 Critical Success Factors ............................................................................................................... 4

1.6 Project Assumptions ..................................................................................................................... 5

1.7 Project Constraints and Risks .................................................................................................... 5

Section 2: Major Project Milestones ............................................................................................................ 5

2.1 Project Milestones ........................................................................................................................ 5

2.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ............................................................................................ 6

Section 3: Project Structure .......................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Project Structure .......................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Roles and Responsibilities ........................................................................................................... 7

3.3 Responsibility Matrix .................................................................................................................... 7

Section 4: Project Schedule .......................................................................................................................... 8

Section 5: Budget .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Section 6: Risk Management ...................................................................................................................... 10

Section 7: Approvals ................................................................................................................................... 11

Section 8: Revision History ......................................................................................................................... 11

Section 9: Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 11

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Section 1: Project Overview 1.1 Problem Statement

Snapdoodle Toys is a locally owned business that relies on its close knit relationship with the community for its survival. In order to keep customers interested and engaged at the store, Snapdoodle hosts a variety of events. These events range from adult game nights to preschool playdates. In order to boost sales in our science department and add a little variety to our regular events, we have chosen to host a science themed activity day in our Kenmore store.

Snapdoodle Toys has been slowly increasing its business since the first year it opened. Last year, growth slowed down to a 2% increase in revenue over the course of the year. This year is the first year that Snapdoodle has not shown an increase in sales. Snapdoodle’s current priority is to jumpstart its growth to be able to continue to expand.

One of the major concerns for Snapdoodle currently is the closure of another local toy store, Reigning Imaginations. In the long run, this closure should increase business at Snapdoodle, but in the short term it has heavily damaged Snapdoodle’s sales. The closeout clearance at Reigning Imaginations is pulling customers that would normally shop at Snapdoodle into Reigning Imaginations. In order to draw in their customers, Snapdoodle has increased their number of events.

1.2 Project Overview

In an effort to boost sales for Snapdoodle Toys, we will be hosting a science themed event to draw customers into the store on Saturday, May 16th. From 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, there will be 3 play stations for the kids to rotate through, as well as a presentation featuring experiments involving fun chemistry reactions and dry ice. By hosting this event, we will hopefully increase the amount of customers who visit the store and attend the events on a regular basis.

In order to measure how successful our event is, we will compare sales from the day of the event to the sales from the previous year on the same day. We will consider the event a success if sales increase at least 10% from the previous year. We will also evaluate the number of purchases and attendance from new customers to determine if our marketing and outreach strategy is effective in not just maintaining current customers, but also for making connections with new ones.

We aim to keep the costs of the event below $150 including inventory used in our event and employee wages. George and Megan will be volunteering their time to the project and Allyson will be accepting her regular employee wage. We will be assuming 2 employees will be present during the time of the event to manage regular store sales and customer attendance. The greatest constraint to our plan is the cost of materials for the 3 play stations and for the grand finale dry ice show.

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1.3 Goals and Objectives

The science event we are hosting will be directly supporting several of Snapdoodle’s goals and objectives. The following table lists the business goals and objectives that the event supports and how it supports them:

Business Goal/Objective

Description

Increase Awareness in Science Related Toys

Allowing children and families to play with the toys in the store with educated staff available to help demonstrate use and explain the science.

Increase Company’s Word of Mouth

Introducing a grand finale event will encourage parents and children to tell their friends about the show.

Increase Customer Loyalty

Reminding customers of Snapdoodle’s unique small business environment will hopefully encourage parents to support a company that values every

child’s education rather than carrying the cheapest toys.

Increase Overall Sales Attracting new and returning customers for the event and promoting certain products in particular will hopefully boost sales in those toys.

Excite and Educate Children and Parents

Hosting a science related toy party is both educational and fun.

One-Of-A-Kind Customer Service

This event is being run by volunteers, not the store staff. This allows the staff to simply focus on shopping customers and answering merchandise related questions instead of trying to juggle event planning and execution with their

day to day tasks.

1.4 Project Scope

Product Scope Description: The products/toys used during the event will be used from Snapdoodle Toys available stock and be calculated into our total cost. The materials that were used during the event included...

3 different varieties of bubble mixtures (smelly, touchable, and regular). A bubble mystery questionnaire. SnapCircuit Toys provided by a company representative. A variety of building tools to build a marble roller coaster.

Each of these products were demonstrated as science experiments and were chosen to result as a boost in overall sales and in that slower moving department. In addition to material requirements staff and volunteers required additional training on site before the event to prepare the stations and attract people to the event. Acceptance Criteria: Before project deliverables can be accepted, signatures of the owner and managing staff of Snapdoodle Toys needed to be collected, the available dates needed to be available in “The Doodle Zone” and the project charter needed to be accepted.

1.5 Critical Success Factors Please refer to Appendix 3: Performance Measurements

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1.6 Project Assumptions

The following assumptions apply to the Snapdoodle science party. As project planning begins and more assumptions are identified, they will be added accordingly.

All staff and volunteers will be trained accordingly in their respective stations and given specific responsibilities by project team members.

Funding is available for purchasing the necessary toys and demonstrative materials. All department heads will provide necessary support for successful project completion. Project has executive-level support and backing. The Elenco Rep will be available for our event.

1.7 Project Constraints and Risks The following constraints apply to the Snapdoodle Event Project.

$1000 dollar budget

4-7 weeks time constraint

DoodleZone can only hold 60 people at a time. Megan will not be available until 3:30pm on Saturday. (Work) The event will last for three hours.

The risks of our event are the weather keeping people from attending, the Elenco representative not showing up, and the demonstration not working.

Please refer to Appendix 2: Short & Long Term Risk

Section 2: Major Project Milestones 2.1 Project Milestones The following are the major project milestones.

Milestones/Deliverables Target Date

Project Charter 04/14/2015

Activities Planned 04/21/2015

Project Approval 04/23/2015

Schedule Set 05/09/2015

Supplies Obtained 05/10/2015

Event 05/16/2015

High-level Review 05/18/2015

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2.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Plan

Contact Elenco Rep

Schedule

Choose Activities

Boss Approval

Purchase Supplies

Finale Training

Advertising

Reports

Team Charter

Problem Statement

Work Breakdown

Structure

MS Project Schedule

Budget

Set Up

Station 1

Station 2

Station 3

Finale

Execution

Interactive Stations

Finale

Clean Up Review

Sales Data

Department Data

Review with Boss

Approve Final Business

Plan

Facebook Email/Newsletters Update WebsiteElementary

SchoolsEvent RSVPs

Section 3: Project Structure 3.1 Project Structure Project Communications Norms:

Every team member is expected to attend and be on time for scheduled meetings unless that individual has notified other members before hand and has a professional or medical excuse for their absence.

It is the responsibility of each member to communicate with everyone else in the group their inability to complete their responsibilities within the scheduled timing.

In the event of a member’s inability to fulfill his/her responsibilities, the other members will delegate equally the incomplete work among each other to ensure deadline requirements and project completion.

All team members are required to participate and be present for the duration of the planned event (including set-up and teardown time as needed). If there is conflicting issues with time or location, other members must be notified immediately.

Potential Barriers and Coping Strategies: Different schedules in terms of workload and classes. Solutions include texting, google docs, email, or online meeting applications such as FaceTime or Skype. Team members will be expected to respond to online content within 24 hours of posting.

If a team member’s work is not up to the team’s standards then the team will be responsible for providing that member with input to help them improve their work’s quality.

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Considering this team consists of 3 members, if there is a disagreement on how to proceed we will negotiate to 2 ideas and take a vote by hand.

Repercussions for Breaking Communication Expectations: If this team charter is not respected by any member for any reason then that team member will be asked to explain their actions and collaborate with the group on how to move forward. They will also be required by charter law to wear a full clown suit to class and perform tricks at the other members leisure/enjoyment.

3.2 Roles and Responsibilities The following individuals comprise the stakeholders for the project.

Role Description Name/Title

Organizer Coordinates team objectives using limited resources

Megan McDaniel, Team Member

Spokesperson Connects the team to Snapdoodle Toys Allyson Bone, Team Member

Handyman Helps/operates the event stations George Kairis, Team Member

Client Authority to accept/reject project deliverables

Rob Pickering, Store Owner

Client Authority to accept/reject project deliverables

Candy Caylor, Resource Manager

Staff Management

Provides staff members for event Polly Shinner, Store Manager

3.3 Responsibility Matrix Please refer to Appendix 1: Responsibility Assignment Matrix

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Section 4: Project Schedule

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Section 5: Budget The following table captures the relevant costs and descriptions of these actions associated with the total planned event period.

Action Action Type

Description First year costs (- indicates anticipated

savings)

Purchase Demonstration Materials and Toys

Cost Bubble Station, SnapCircuit Equipment, Building Materials, Dry Ice Show

$150.00

Team members compensation

Cost Planning, scheduling, organizing, and running the event ($15 hourly rate)

$437.50

Pay Employee Wages Cost 2 employees on staff from 2:00pm - 6:00pm at their standard rate

$80.00

Total Cost

$667.5

By running this event we anticipate an increase of $1500 the day of the event, and an increase of future sales due to the demonstration of the toys and the increased store brand awareness. The gross margin of our anticipated sales on the day of the event is 55.5%.

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Section 6: Risk Management Below is a list of our risks and the actions taken to minimize them.

Risk ID

WBS Rank Description Strategy

1 1.2 Yellow The DoodleZone may not be large enough to accommodate over 60

guests.

Create additional event space within the store to accommodate approximately 60 customers. In addition, look

for outdoor options depending on the weather conditions.

2 1.0 Yellow Weather conditions the day of the event.

Although weather forecast doesn’t predict any bad weather conditions, we can’t actually control unexpected weather

changes that may occur which can affect our customer count and revenue.

3 1.3 Green The Elenco rep (snap circuit station) may not show up for the event.

We will assign to a store employee the snap circuit station in case the sales rep is unable to attend the event. In addition, one of our team members will be familiar with the games and

take over if there are too many customers showing up.

4 1.0 Red Not everyone who plans to attend our event will RSVP.

When planning the event, we will aim for maximum flexibility in order to accommodate for any level of attendance.

5 1.1 Yellow Team member lack of product knowledge.

Team members should have full knowledge of the products and their functions. We will hold short training sessions to get

familiar with the toys we are planning to promote.

6 1.1 Green Consistent image during the event

promotion.

Optimize our communication with the promoters so we can all be on the same page.

7 1.3 Red Dry Ice presentation safety concerns.

Our dry ice presentation will take place half hour before the event. During this half hour we will not demonstrate other

toys/products. All team members will control the space around the dry ice presentation as we want to prevent young

children touching or playing with the dry ice material (may cause skin burns due to extreme low temperature)

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Section 7: Approvals The signatures of the people below indicate an understanding in the purpose and content of this Project charter by those signing it. By signing this document you indicate that you approve of the proposed project outlined in this project charter and that the next steps may be taken to create a

formal project in accordance with the details outlined herein.

Section 8: Revision History

Version Date Name Description

1.0 05/07/2015 Project Plan Outline

Began formatting and creating headings to shape the document

1.1 5/28/2015 Google Doc Draft All group members submitted their segments

1.1 6/1/2015 Final Project Plan

Final Document. Final formatting and wording fixes.

Section 9: Appendices Appendix 1: Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Activity N,I,C,I Issues Delivery Date

Owner

Project Sign Off Complete Boss on Vacation. 04/19/2015 Allyson

Event/Project WBS

Complete No Issues. 04/21/2015 George

Contacting Schools

Complete Verified local school’s newsletter and event notification process. Completion will be a few days before the week of the event.

05/07/2015 Megan

Plan Stations Complete No issues 04/30/2015 Team

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Contact Elenco Rep

Complete Unable to attend, but provided materials for event.

05/02/2015 Allyson

Microsoft Project Schedule

Complete

It is difficult to work on a single project file on a single computer.

05/05/2015 Team

Budget and Time-Phased Budget

Complete Megan not available 05/05/2015 Team

Advertising Complete Facebook event page completed and tracked by Allyson. Website manager at Snapdoodle Toys posted an invite on official website.

5/12/2015 Allyson & Snapdoodle Manager

Final Written Project

Complete No issues 05/21/2015 Team

Appendix 2: Short & Long Term Risk

Short Term Risks 1. Hopefully, all of the people who promote our event promote it with a consistent image. 2. Not everyone who plans to attend our event will RSVP, making it challenging to plan for the

future.

Long Term Risks 1. The DoodleZone/store may not be large enough to accommodate over 60 guests. In order

to prepare for this risk, we are creating a method that will allow guests to RSVP for the event so that we can get a feel for how many guests will actually be appearing at the store. We are also looking into the possibility of setting up some of our play stations outside.

2. The weather may not be very good. If the weather is poor, we will have fewer guests attend our event. This is not a risk that we can control.

Appendix 3: Performance Measurements

The following table lists the key resources, processes, or services and their anticipated business outcomes in measuring the performance of the project. These performance measures will be quantified and further defined in the detailed project plan.

Key Process/Service Performance Measure

Overall Store Sales Store Sales Data (Quickbooks’ Point of Sale)

Department Sales Department Sales Data (Quickbooks’ Point of Sale)

New Attendees Customer Database (Quickbooks’ Point of Sale)

Customer Satisfaction Comment Box