| Okay, Ella. As you know, the deadline for this project is the end of the month, so we'd better plan it well. |
| Yes, I've already been thinking along those lines, |
| and I've decided we should divide this project into three phases: |
| the Pre-phase, then Phase 1, and then Phase 2, |
| with strict deadlines involved for each one. |
| Given that we have to finish this quickly, that sounds good. Tell me more. |
| The Pre-phase is the simplest. |
| We just need to allocate a space or a place to do our planning, |
| and this space will need to be quite big. |
| Sure, and we have to decide on the equipment needed as well. |
| Remember the last project, when we didn't have enough projectors to present our ideas? |
| We lost lots of time there. |
| Yes, that was a bad start. |
| That's why, after the Pre-phase is finished, I've allocated a mere three days for Phase One. |
| That will involve drawing the plans. |
| We'll need Jenna to help us. |
| And Marco. |
| Yes, but not Susan. |
| Susan is just far too busy to participate, as much as I'd like her in the team. |
| Let's just take Fred instead. He'll do. |
| Sure. Fred's not as experienced as Greg, but I agree, he'll do fine for this job. |
| Then it's straight into Phase 2, collecting, collating, analysing, and preparing the final report. |
| Can we do that in five days? |
| I think that's optimistic, which is why I scheduled six. |
| That's almost a week! Do we have that much time? |
| We do, and with the right people, six days should see the job done. |
| Who are the people for this phase? Arthur and Rob, right? |
| No, Arthur's got other things to do, and Rob's on leave, |
| so Mike alone will be the main man on this part. |
| He's done it before, so it should be fine. |
| But he may need some help with the smaller tasks. |
| Someone who is good with detail and procedures. |
| Hmmm. Peter's not free at the moment, so I can arrange Leo to chip in some time and advice. |
| Leo's very useful, particularly under pressure. |
| And that's everything sorted! |
| Well done Ella. This report should certainly be ready in time. |
| Okay, Ella, you've done a good job with the basic time frame of this project, but what about specifics? |
| What sort of specifics? |
| Well, things like information gathering. |
| Are we going to use questionnaires like we did last time? |
| I was thinking of using the Internet to ask people to give their views, |
| but you often get such silly responses when you do that. |
| I'm of the view that the best way to find out things is to ask people directly, |
| so that's what we'll do. |
| Okay, but that will take longer. |
| We'll probably even have to do some of the work at home. |
| No, I don't think so, as long as we stay back at work for some after-hours meetings. |
| Well, that's better than coming in early. |
| No one functions well in the morning. |
| Also, the final report will need at least two appendices. |
| Not only that, we'll have to attach a small booklet to the end, |
| containing printouts of the relevant parts from all the foreign websites we accessed. |
| That will take even more time. |
| Are you sure we can meet this deadline? |
| Yep, I've worked it all out, and I'm confident we can do it. |
| Phase 1 should be finished by the 5th, |
| leaving Phase 2 to begin about the 8th or 9th. |
| Now, there's a public holiday on the 10th, |
| Meaning that everything should be able to be submitted on the 15th, |
| and after that, we can relax, |
| and celebrate on the 25th when the Design Division gives us approval to go ahead. |
| Hah, you're assuming that the Design Division will approve this, and that's not guaranteed at all. |
| Oh come on Marcus, be positive. |
| You know this should be approved, |
| in fact, I'm even planning the celebration when this is all over. |
| Oh yeah, what's on the agenda, then? |
| Well, we definitely don't want a party in the office, do we? |
| We'll want to get away from this place, |
| and we're all too busy with our own lives and families to find a mutual time free for a dinner party, |
| so I thought we'd just buy some nice expensive gifts for everyone who participated. |
| We can just give these to the people here in the office. |
| That sounds fine to me, but make sure they're not too expensive. |
| The Budget Department will never approve the cost. |
| Don't worry; I know how much I can get away with. |
| Alright. I'll leave that with you. |