Softer Ware Project Management Example

Softer Ware Project Management Example Softer Ware Project Management â€" Assignment Example > CROWDSOURCINGIntroduction This is the process of transferring and executing a task(s) traditionally performed by an expert/employee and outsourcing it to a random large group of people normally in an open call (Jeff Howe). The large group of people contributes a large number of ideas that are diverse and real. The information processed from this activity is then used in making decisions. Crowdsourcing does not have a solid definition since it is a wide field with different applications. Many businesses, parties, researchers, scholars and institutions have different definitions and uses of this business term. Crowdsourcing is also known as; fan sourcing, mass collaboration, crowd funding, collective customer commitment, open sourcing, open innovation, outsourcing, and wikinomics. It is a kind of a model whereby, people (crowd) helps a business firm in problem solving, generating ideas, consultancy, feedback and other services. The people, in most situations will not receive any con siderations for their job. The group is usually undefined for example, people from all over the globe commenting on a topic highlighted in a blog. This makes the number of responses to be large and the data collected to be diverse. The wisdom of the public is mainly the main goal. In the modern world, crowdsourcing is considered to be a cheap way of diagnosing problems in a more informed way to grow and develop business firms. Some years ago, crowdsourcing was not common and organizations did not realize the importance of such a process. Today, project managers have to be fully equipped with knowledge about the practice in order to perform competitively. CROWDSOURCING STRATEGIESThere are four main types of crowdsourcing strategies: Crowd funding- also known as crowd financing or crowd sourced capital. This is a strategy whereby the people (crowd) commit their funds to solve a particular problem. The funds may be contributed to support campaigns, to provide relief, to provide schoo l bursaries, to provide scholarships, to establish a body, to support an artist, to appreciate a person, for disaster management, to support a team in sports, to insure against a risk, to support a project and many other purposes. This method is cheap and efficient. It is usually done via the banks, ATMs (automatic teller machines), internet, media, phones, public gatherings and institutions. These are places where you can find a lot of people and gain their attention. The most common type of crowd funding is charity activities like sweepstakes, national walks and campaigns. Sometimes, it is an appreciation by the public for creative work or impressive work done by the crowd sourcing individual/party. The crowdsourcing party may offer prizes, awards and/or kudos to promote the crowd to make more contributions. The firm organizing the crowd sourcing may look for supporters and hosts to attract more crowds. They may also apply models such as a pledging system, thank you cards/messag es to promote more contribution. The SMEs (small and medium enterprises) could highly benefit from crowdsourcing. The project managers need to alert the public the kind of services they offer and the importance of the services. Most people are very willing to support SMEs provided they are aggressive in providing services/solution for a public need/problem.