Project Management Assignment Answer

Project Management

Introduction

According to PMBOK, a project is a temporary endeavour that has a beginning and an end and it has a defined objective for delivering a unique service, result, or product. Every project is a multi-faceted process and needs effective planning and monitoring of various operations. Talking about project management, it is the process that is characterised by initiation, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the teamwork. The project manager must have a broad perspective and understanding of project management, especially the core activities and aspect. There are some qualities that are required in the project manager. These are effective communication skill, technical skills, decision-making, leadership, team building, and cool under pressure. In this report, a launch project of QA Higher Education (QAHE) is discussed that aims at publicising the university and attract students through updated teaching rooms and computing labs. In addition to this, the other purpose of this event is to gain a competitive edge in the education sector.This report covers the project initiation document, wherein the objectives of this launch project, budgetary information, timelines of each activity, and more information are provided. In addition to this, the key stakeholder’s analysis is also done. A risk entry and mitigation plan is also provided along with work breakdown structure, and a discussion on project sponsor and methodologies used in completing the project.

Project Initiation Document (PID)

Objectives

The objectives of this launch event project are:-

• To organisation the world-class launch event to highlight the facilities provided by QAHE in its teaching classes and computing labs
• To attract the attention of local and global students to take admissions
• To improve the competitive position of the QAHE in the education industry of the UK.

Budgetary Information

Budgeting is one of the most crucial aspects of the launching event project. It is given that there is a budget limit of 51000 euros. Therefore, the project manager needs to plan the activities in accordance with the budget limit. It is important to determine the initial and ongoing cost of operations. It is important for the project manager to make a realistic budget in order to have a better articulation of expenses. The budget provided below is prepared while keeping the objectives of the process in mind (Fernandez& Fernandez, 2015). Since the main objective is to publicise the education institution, the main focus is given to publicity. Hence, the major share of the launch project budget is dedicated to publicity. The organisation of the event would be needing a place where the majority of guests comprise the students. In addition to this, the cost of operation staff comprises the salary of the staff, administration, facility maintenance, resident care, food, and transportation. One thing to note here is that there some costs that might change in the due course due to inflation. This might comprise property expense, resources, and material. Hence, it is better for the project manager to book them in advance in order to keep the expenses within the budget (Alleman, 2015).

Timescales

As it is given here that the launch event will commence in the month of September, the project will span in 8 months in total. The project management plan is incomplete without a timescale that will provide the visual idea of commencement of the project and completion of the project and the activities that takes place in between. There are many processes that will take place between the eight months of time (Koskela& Howell, 2013). The organisation is expecting a great launch event that will attract the students to take admission. Hence, the project manager is putting efforts into making the launch recognised in the local and international education market. Therefore, it is required to carry out certain marketing related activities and other sorts of planning measures. These have been shown in the Gantt chart shown below.

Approach

As the deadline is fixed that the launch event will take place in the month of September, there is no option for moving it. Therefore, project management is the most efficient tool. For organising a launch event. An effective project manager needs to have strong organisational skills, communication, and over them the ability to get the task done well on time within budget and the scope of the project. The approach used for getting this project done well on time is PRINCE2. This management tool will provide a standard set of guidelines and processes to achieve the goals. Being a process-based and scalable tool, it can be easily tailored as per the scope of this launch event. The principles of the PRINCE2 can be used at all the processes of project management.

The above-shown diagram gives a brief idea of the PRINCE2 process. Talking about the pre-project process, the whole project work is established around three key elements, such as ensuring availability of information required for the execution of the project, forming a team, and developing initiation plan for the project. PRINCE2 provides a well-established and formulated set of guidelines to conduct a project stepwise and get things done well on time (Pons, 2018).

Key Staff

The key staff required for this process comprises Project manager, HR director, operation manager, admin staff, electrician, marketing manager, content developers, security, etc.

Stakeholder Analysis Table

It is important to understand the impact of the project on the stakeholders. This can be done in many ways. The best method is having a stakeholder analysis. It is a method used for stakeholder determination and analysis of their demands and needs. It is used to determine the primary and secondary stakeholders. The aim of the stakeholders' analysis is to establish an analytic and strategic view of the landscape of human and institution (Dingsøyr, et.al, 2015). There are many benefits to stakeholders' analysis. The first and foremost is that it helps in determining the potential risks and challenges that could affect the project and the other is it helps in reducing negative challenges and impact and manage them for the stakeholders (Nicholas &Steyn, 2017).

Risk Register

One of the major aspects of top-notch project management is risk management and analysis. It is vital to comprehend the risk management process which is characterised by identifying, evaluating, and monitoring the risks associated with a project. The risks, in this case, are associated with the technical, operational, environmental, organisational, and human resource. By making use of a risk register or risk management plan, the project manager can control the side-effects or consequences (Poppendieck&Cusumano, 2012). PMBOK has given its own project risks management strategy that comprises seven processes as shown below

In the plan risk management stage, all the risks are categorised and itemised for the assessment and their probability of occurrence is calculated. For this particular stage, the risk management plan, stakeholder analysis, project operations, timelines, and environmental factors that might affect the launch event. In addition to this, identifying risks is all about creating a checklist of all the risks and challenges that might affect the project. The first and foremost of them are lack of training, employees’ poor efficiency, and much more. Looking into the project risk management plan provided, it can be seen that risk probability has been divided into different categories as per their probability of occurrence. For instance, low occurrence risk is given a rating of 0.25, medium, and large risk occurrence are given 0.5 and 0.75 accordingly. In addition to this, the risk impact has been rated as 2.5, 5, and 7.5 based on the risk impact intensity. Talking about the project performance quantitative management, this stage needs a deep understanding of empirical and mathematical knowledge in order to work out the baselines, schedules, cost, and milestone list.

Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure permits the manager to plan the project related operations efficiently and that too without any complexity. This would help in arranging the activities according to their importance and time availability. Once all the tasks in the WBS are accomplished, the project is called complete. The launch programme requires a lot of planning and management skills from the project manager's end. The WBS helps the project manager in making the project management plan and other associated plans consistent and carry out effective execution of the project plan (Hilton &Sohal, 2012). It helps in creating a measurable and Independent task. In addition to this, PM can track the progress of each task and also keep a check on the cost and resource consumed by the individual task. Some researcher says that WBS can be very useful in visualising the scope of the project. Moreover, the project manager can very easily assign responsibility as per the tasks and expertise of the employees. This way they can carry out the task more effectively and in a better way.The WBS for the following launch project has been shown below:-

Report for Project Sponsor

Introduction

This report highlights the significance of quality leadership in an organisation and for any project. In addition to this, a small discussion on the role of project management for the success of the project is done. The last part talks about the positive and the negative sides of the PRINCE 2 methodology that is used in carrying out the project.

The need for Leadership and Role of PM

Leading a project is not everyone’s cup of tea. One needs to walk an extra mile in order to make a project a success story. The project manager has to take the team members and guide them at each and every aspect in order to get the project completed effectively and efficiently. For that purpose, the PM needs to have a clear vision and objectives. The application of the leadership, especially the transformational leadership style can help in motivating the team members and get a large and complex task done in a proper way (Brioso, 2015). However, the leadership style might get changed with the scope of the project. Hence, it is the job and responsibility of the manager to make use of the leadership style after understanding the scope of the project. As per the top manager, the leadership style has to be sharing, flexible, and innovative so as to bring success to the project (Hilton &Sohal, 2012). In addition to this, leadership focuses on motivation and team building. This way the leadership can make the diverse team member work as a team.

Talking about the project manager’s role in the success of the project, MPMM (2018) highlights the key functions of a PM. These are initiation, planning, design, execution, and closure. To carry out these functions, the project managers must have some set of skills, such as conflict management, problem-solving, and management skills.

The project manager has employed PRINCE 2 method in order to have better control over the project tasks. The reason for using this tool is predictability of PRINCE2. The project can be broken down in many stages. This means that the project manager can be easily monitored. In addition to this, it makes use of the best practices in order to give the best outcomes. Another advantage of using PRINCE2 is that it standardise each and every task of the project. This reduces the chance of misdirection or miscommunication. Furthermore, it is time effective and budget-friendly method. In case, any discrepancies occur, it can be dealt with timely and in an efficient way. However, this tool is not widely used due to some use of some empirical fundamentals.

Conclusion

In this report to the sponsor, the project management tried to showcase the need for leadership in carrying out a successful project. In addition to this, project manager’s role are also reflected in the report. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of PRINCE2.

Conclusion

In the following report, the project management plan had been discussed in detail. In addition to this, risks management plan, wherein the possible risks and their probability of occurrence had been mentioned and the actions taken to handle those risks are illustrated. The project initiation document was formulated, wherein the objectives of this launch project, budgetary information, timelines of each activity, and more information were provided. In addition to this, the key stakeholder’s analysis was also done. A risk entry and mitigation plan was also provided along with work breakdown structure, and a discussion on project sponsor and methodologies used in completing the project was done.

References

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