Inside USANA: Project Management

The project management department — in their own words — is a “different group” in a lot of ways. This is because, most of the time, they’re not actually the ones doing the tasks, but creating and managing the planning and execution behind them. Basically, anything new that goes down at USANA has project management all over it. From new product launches and updating IT systems to secret iPad giveaways, this group gives new meaning to “keeping the wheels in motion.”

All of this madness is managed by 11 employees who focus on three different areas of project management: new product development, IT-focused projects, and label creation. Their work flows in from project sponsors who could be from any department within the company. It’s the project sponsor who initiates the idea and expresses what they’d like to see in the end result. From there, these “super organizers” take charge by managing the project from start to launch, which involves assigning and implementing timelines, scope documents, business requirements, and the specific responsibilities of each department involved.

USANA\’s project management team

The Projects

Corporate Rebranding — Unless you’ve been trapped in a hole somewhere for the past few months, you know about USANA’s epic rebranding of our corporate identity. But what you probably didn’t realize was that the members of the project management team were the master executors behind the entire launch. Every product needed new marketing materials, packaging, bottle and lid creation, and labels — more than 240 of them. The whole thing required massive amounts of planning, detailed rollout plans for every USANA market, and organizing the workloads of nearly every department within the company.

MyHealthPak™ Launch — While select markets have enjoyed the awesomeness that is the MyHealthPak since its 2007 launch, others have had to go without because of specific market rules and regulations. This just wouldn’t do! So, the project management team spent a large portion of their year working toward a worldwide rollout of the product, which happened on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. This was an enormous project that involved detailed planning with our manufacturing, communications, legal, finance, tax and accounting, marketing, and IT departments.

iPad Giveaway — One of the biggest highlights of the year was the exciting iPad giveaway at Convention. If only everyone realized how much detailed planning was put into this project, they’d understand just how awesome our project management team is. With a dedicated team, they planned the giveaway for months, foreseeing every aspect of the event: purchasing the iPads, directing Associates from the EnergySolutions Arena to the Salt Palace, creating efficient and safe waiting lines, keeping security around the iPads 24/7, creating disclosure statements that every Associate had to read and sign, and even assigning the top secret codename “The Newton Project” to the event. Even most of the USANA Home Office was unaware of The Newton Project. See how cool project management is? You didn’t think almost 8,000 iPads could just fall into the laps of Associates magically, did you? It took a lot of work!

It’s All Worth It

When I asked the team what they wanted Associates to know about their department, it was this: everything they do is all worth it when they see the reaction of Associates. Any time a new project or product rolls out, all of their time and tireless work are validated by the Associates’ positive responses. Because at USANA, everything we do helps you love life and live it. Hey, it’s a promise!

Inside USANA is a monthly series in which we check in with various departments to help you get to know them a little better.