Identifying Specific Projects To Achieve

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

As defined by Field and Keller (2007) Project management is the discipline of planning, organising, securing, managing, leading and controlling resources to achieve a specific outcome or outcomes during a defined time period and given resource constraints. It is a temporary endeavour which has a defined beginning and end which is aimed at achieving a set of specific goals and objectives. Elenbass (2000) has showed that achieving the project goals and objectives within the given time, schedule and cost constraints are the primary challenge of the project management. Hence the project managers must attempt to utilise the resources efficiently and effectively to meet the pre-defined standards of performance and to optimise the productivity of the resources.

The aim of this assignment is to identify possible projects and chose one to meet the objectives for the current financial year of reducing the staff movement which is causing congestion in the local area and to promote a healthy life style for its employees. Hence at the beginning of the paper several projects will be identified that are suggested to be feasible to implement to achieve these particular objectives. Then a specific project was selected and carried out the fundamental project management functions such as elaborated the and assess it for feasibility, cost and time management, select appropriate project methodology, establishing an appropriate management, administrative structure and etc.

Task 01: Identifying Specific Projects to Achieve the Stated Objectives

The two main objectives to be achieved during the financial year are;

To reduce the movement of staff from the premises of the company during the lunch break which is currently creating congestion issues in the local area and;

To help staffs in developing a healthy life style as part of the CSR policy of the company.

To achieve the above objectives the following alternative projects might be considered;

To establish a building with catering and gymnasium facilities for the staffs of the company,

To make an arrangement with the local food shops for office delivery of healthy foods,

To make an arrangement with the local leisure centres for a discounted offer for the employees of the company.

A Chosen Project

From the above mentioned alternative projects the first project I think should be undertaken because of the following reasons;

This is a long term solution to the problem,

If the employees are currently paying for their own food the company will have an opportunity to earn some additional income through its own catering services or some rental income by letting the spaces to various food shops such as; McDonalds, KFC, Subway etc.

More employee satisfaction since the employees will feel that the company cares about them,

The space of the building can be utilised for both the gymnasium and catering services,

The company will be able to encourage their staffs for healthy foods through various promotions since the catering will be under the control of the company and,

The single project will achieve both the objectives.

According to (Maylor, 2010) the most basic approach is to deconstruct the project into its constituent parts hence to make a subdivision of the project with time, resource and cost estimates and it is very advantageous to use a Gant Chart usually with the advent of technology such as; MS Project or MS Excel. A Gantt chart is a graphical presentation of the duration of tasks against the progression of time and it is a useful tool for planning and scheduling projects (Kidasa, 2013). However a simple Gantt chart can also be created using a normal tabular format as follows;

Project Subdivision

Description

Time Estimates

Resources Requirement

Cost Estimates (Approximate)

Constructing the Building

This includes,

Making a plan for the building this might be the overall structure, number of floor etc.

Invite to tender for the building from construction firms,

Comparing the price offered by various suppliers,

Selecting suppliers,

Planning for the fund,

Agreeing the tender.

Complete the construction.

4 months

Architecture

Project management committee

Tender committee

Construction people and material

Land

£500000

Arranging the Interior facilities

This includes,

Interior decoration, furniture and fixtures.

Setting up a canteen, buying kitchen equipment such as; burners, grill, fridges etc.

2 months

Financial resources

Labour

Clerical staff

Fixed assets

Management and coordination

£200000

Establishing the catering service

This includes,

Recruiting kitchen and canteen staff

Purchasing fixed assets, equipment’s and goods for the kitchen and the canteen

1 month

Clerical staff

Human resource Division

Financial resources

Purchasing procedures

Fixed assets

£100000

Evaluation of Project Methodology – PRINCE 2

Once the constituent elements have been identified it is important to choose an appropriate project methodology. A project methodology is a particular way for approaching a project (Attask, 2012). There are many different project methodologies in the project management literature for example;

The traditional project management (Attask, 2012): which follows a sequential steps and the next step begins only when the previous stage is completed and this is suitable for projects where works are expected to be linear and less vulnerable to change.

The Critical Path Method (CPM) (Attask, 2012): in which the tasks are identified and framed within time, the tasks determine the end date of the project and if any tasks are delayed the associated end date is also delayed. This methodology has the advantage of time efficiency since one of the challenges of project is to complete on time this could be a good approach.

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): This is opposite to the critical path method where it is focused on the time constraint the CCPM focus on the resource constraint. This methodology is applicable when time schedules are less strict.

PRINCE 2: it is the standard project management methodology in the UK and Europe. This provides a single window for viewing all the stages giving equal importance to every phase of the project from starting to end. A number of issues are addressed in this methodology are; business case and stakeholders analysis, organisation, risk management, quality management, planning and control. According to (Court, 2006) this methodology attempts to standardise the process of project management with the provision of standard documents such as; a risk log, project quality plans etc. these benchmarks give the opportunities for the development of practices for corporate planning, staff training and performance tracking with a possible limitation of limiting the creativity and innovation of the manager. The stages of this methodology have been depicted below in a diagram:

PRINCE2_2

Figure 01: PRINCE 2 Methodology

[Source: (Host Venture Group, 2012)]

Feasibility Assessment of Proposed Project

In the project management literature project feasibility is assessed in terms of risks involved surrounding the project. High risky projects are less feasible than to less risky projects. According to (Maylor, 2010) an evaluation of risks is important as it shows at an early stage whether or not a project is worth pursuing. According to PMI 2004 risk is defined as the the possibliity of sufffering harm or loss (Maylor, 2010). Project feasiblity can be assessed through an appropriate risk management frmework. Although there are many risk management apporaches such as the IRM frmework for risk managemnt however (Maylor, 2010) suggests theree activity of project risk management namely; identification, quantification and mitigation. The proposed project will be feasible if it will able to meet the objectives and the factors need to be considered which will impede the attainment of the objectives hence the risks. Here is a feasibility assessment of the proposed project has been made below;

Risk Factors

Impact of Risks

Ways to Mitigation

The possiblity that the employees might not eat in the canteen because of less prefered food there.

This will cause ulitmately the movement of employees and create congestion thus the objective will not meet.

To conduct a survey to know about the food habit and serve the popular foods.

The company might not have the requied fund for the project.

The project will not go ahead.

Consider sources of finance for the project.

Administrative Structure

It is important to devise a suitable project structure for smooth functioning of the project. The project structure will indicate how the various types of tasks will be performed, the allocation of responsibilities and authority etc. There are various choices for project structure e.g. functional, matrix etc. similarly the authority might or might not be delegated which all together will shape the project structure. Based on the PRINCE2 a functional structure can be formulated for the proposed project as follow;

Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The role of project manager according to Haughey (2011) is to plan, approval, implementation, control, monitor and execution of the project. The execution involves the accumulating resources and coordinating the people and physical resources in order to perform the tasks effectively and efficiently to the standards of performance. Accordingly followings are the responsibilities of the project manager;

Managing and leading the project team.

Recruiting project staff and consultants.

Managing co-ordination of the partners and working groups engaged in project work.

Detailed project planning and control including:

Developing and maintaining a detailed project plan.

Managing project deliverables in line with the project plan.

Recording and managing project issues and escalating where necessary.

Resolving cross-functional issues at project level.

Managing project scope and change control and escalating issues where necessary.

Monitoring project progress and performance.

Providing status reports to the project sponsor.

Managing project training within the defined budget.

Liaises with, and updates progress to, project board/senior management.

Managing project evaluation and dissemination activities.

Managing consultancy input within the defined budget.

Final approval of the design specification.

Working closely with users to ensure the project meets business needs.

Definition and management of the User Acceptance Testing programme.

Identifying user training needs and devising and managing user training programmes.

Providing regular status reports to the IPSC Programme Board.

Project Plan

The project plan should be designed based on the PRINCE 2 project methodology. All the process should be specifically defined with the required inputs and expected outputs and necessary performance standards and control. Methodology should be inclusive of remedies for the potential deviations from the planned process. Accordingly following project plan is outlined for the project under consider (Frese, 2003).

Order

Task Name

Start Date

Duration

End Date

Resources

1

Building Construction

9/1/2012

60

10/31/2012

 

2

Planning the building

9/1/2012

7

9/8/2012

Architecture

3

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

9/9/2012

7

9/16/2012

Budgetary committee

4

Calling for tenders from the suppliers

9/17/2012

12

9/29/2012

Purchasing Dept

5

Selecting suppliers

9/30/2012

10

10/10/2012

Purchasing Dept

6

Purchasing procedure

10/11/2012

7

10/18/2012

Purchasing Dept

7

Constructing the building

10/19/2012

17

11/5/2012

Contractors

8

Preparing Interior facilities

11/6/2012

30

12/6/2012

 

9

Planning the interior arrangement (following the plan of the building)

11/6/2012

2

11/8/2012

Project planning team

10

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

11/9/2012

2

11/11/2012

Project planning team

11

Calling for tenders from the suppliers

11/12/2012

7

11/19/2012

Purchasing Dept

12

Selecting suppliers

11/20/2012

7

11/27/2012

Purchasing Dept

13

Purchasing procedure

11/28/2012

7

12/5/2012

Purchasing Dept

14

Arrangement

12/6/2012

5

12/11/2012

Labors, Project planning team

15

Establishing the catering service

12/12/2012

30

1/11/2013

 

16

Planning the Human Resource requirements

12/12/2012

7

12/19/2012

HR Division and Project Planning Team

17

Recruitment procedures

12/20/2012

7

12/27/2012

HR Division

18

Recruitment and Selection

12/28/2012

2

12/30/2012

HR Division

19

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

12/31/2012

7

1/7/2013

Project planning team

20

Purchasing procedure

1/8/2013

7

1/15/2013

Purchasing Dept

21

Closure of the project

1/16/2013

7

1/23/2013

 

22

Post project evaluation

1/16/2013

3

1/19/2013

Steering committee, Project manager and the team

23

Reporting

1/20/2013

2

1/22/2013

Project manager

24

Hand over the documents and project to the management

1/23/2013

1

1/24/2013

Project manager

25

Opening for employees

1/25/2013

1

1/26/2013

Project planning team, management and employees

Task 02

Alternative Project Team Structures

Project is inevitably a team based work since projects require an ad hoc group to carry out various tasks to achieve the objectives. There is a range of possible team structure for example; hierarchical, virtual, functional team, matrix team etc. here is an assessment of few of them;

Team Structure

Assessment

Pure Project

The full authority is on the hand of the project manger

There is one boss to whom every member reports

Short line of communication

Quick decisions are made

High motivation, team spirit and commitment

Once the project is completed the team dissolves.

Functional

Several projects are served by one team member

Certain functional divisions frames the project

Weak motivation and team sprit

The role of the project manager is ambiguous

One functional area for many projects may not be suitable.

Matrix Project

The team member of the project comes from different functional areas so that all aspects of the project are equally fulfilled and considered

The project manager has clear roles and responsibilities

Improved communication among the functional divisions

Dual reporting may cause conflict

Strong negotiating skills are required to avoid the risk of project failure.

Interpersonal Skills for Project Manager

Interpersonal communication has some characteristics which is different from other types of communication. Interpersonal communication occurs between individual to individual, which is face to face and both the form and content of the communication reflect the personal characteristics of the individuals as well as their social roles and relationships and here different forms of communication refers individual to individual, individual to mass audience and group to mass audience (Hartley, 1999). According to Yeong (2011) following interpersonal skills are crucially important for the project managers in order to successfully manage the progress and people of the project.

Leadership and influencing skills

Team building

Motivation

Communication

Decision making

Negotiating

Political and cultural awareness

Quality Management Process

Borow, (2010) identified the following quality management process for the project under concern is as follows;

Quality planning:

The goal of the project: The goal of the project is to establish a canteen for the employees of the company including office staff and factory workers in order to reduce the overcrowding in the local area and to promote healthy foods

Expected outcome:

The building: The design of the building will allow spacious areas for the employees to gather, routine cleanliness, proper waste disposal systems.

Catering service: The catering services will be established within the company premises, clean and healthy foods, affordable prices for all staff, availability of choices.

Measuring the success: The success can be measured by a post project evaluation, questionnaire survey among the employees, physical performance of the building, water and waste disposal systems

Quality Assurance

The quality will be assured through the following steps;

Building: The building will be constructed using the best materials, get the services of the well-known constructors, utilise the service of the recognised and assured architectures and designers

Catering service: employ most skilled and well-experienced cooking staff, set the conditions for service relating to quality, clean and healthy foods, ensure tidy environment

Quality control

Quality control will be performed through comparing the actual quality of the assured quality with the standard quality specifications as follows;

Comparing the actual material used with the standard material in the specification this might be done through a report from the relevant laboratory.

Whether the contractor selected has past successful history and are listed in a prominent association and good quality commitment.

Conducting timely quality audit of the kitchen, waste management system etc.

Managing Project Change Proposals

Project operates in various uncertain conditions so it is expected to instigate various changes however this is the responsibility of the project manager to manage the changes and to achieve the objectives. The project manager will follow the following typical change management procedures;

The manager will receive change requests

The project manager will update the change log with the new request

The project manager will evaluate the impact of the changes

If the project manager has the discretion he/she will approve it

Make an arrangement for meeting to review the changes

If the change requires significant amount of funding the project manager will possibly seek for authorisation.

Once the project change is approved the manager will communicate it with the team following appropriate medium of communication.

Update project plan and documentation.

Possible Issues and Risks

According to (Maylor, 2010) possible risks issues can be considered in terms of the following categories;

Time: Time is a key issue in project based work and it has been seen that most of the project fails to meet their time commitment. So the risks can be considered in terms of hindrance of the project activities which will slow down the project activities.

Cost: Projects are carried out within budget specification and the factors might be considered which will give rise to extra cost.

Quality: Quality conformance is also a big issue and the factors that will possibly affect the quality will be considered e.g. poor quality material for the construction of a building.

Other categories may be; health and safety factors and legal issues such as conformance with project specific laws.

Systems for Monitoring and Appraising the Project

Projects are deemed to be a success when specific goals are achieved. Monitoring and appraising a team working on a given project is a key contributor to achieving these objectives. Teams are evaluated using criteria that measure the effectiveness of the group as a whole. The project manager in particular has the responsibility of appraising team performance, giving recognition where it is due and rewarding exemplary behaviour.

Observe the team's dynamics: As the team develops and proceeds through the stages of forming, storming, worming and performing -- the four stages a group goes through in order to complete a task -- take note of the dynamics of co-location.

Document performance achievements and leadership skills

Track demonstrations of the group's negotiation and communication skills.

Read the issue and change logs of the project. Requests for project-related modifications and the formal recording of problems.

System to detect and manage issues

In Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, five modes for conflict resolution is explained and the situations when they are best utilized are identified. These modes are Confronting, Compromising, Smoothing, Forcing, and Avoiding. Here discuss about them:

Confronting is also described as problem solving, integrating, collaborating or win-win style.

Compromising is also described as a "give and take" style. Conflicting parties bargain to reach a mutually acceptable solution

Smoothing is also referred to as accommodating or obliging style. In this approach, the areas of agreement are emphasized and the areas of disagreement are downplayed.

Forcing is also known as competing, controlling, or dominating style.

Conclusion

The crucial aspect of project management is to manage project within time and cost constraint. Various types of skills, experience and competencies are necessary for the managers, staffs involved in the project for a achieving project objectives. Project aims can be achieved successfully if the project team is equipped with competent members. Further interpersonal skills are highly important for the project managers. Since, especially in the matrix team structure the project manager plays a significant role by effectively negotiating with the functional managers and the employees assigned from various functional areas to discharge the project tasks. There are main three types of team structures that can be used to organise the project team. The project must be subjected to properly established quality control processes and the outcomes should be benchmarked in order to ensure the expected deliverables. Stakeholder analysis can be used to monitor and evaluate the project based on the nature and purpose.