Project Management: opening a new building - Essay Example

?TASK 1) Network Diagram 2) Timings of Activities and Total Float The timings of the activities are determined on the basis of the precedence of the relationship between the activities. For example, in the current scenario, in order to start activities B, C, D, E and F, the precedent activity is A. Therefore activity A needs to be completed first in order to start other activities. Total Float is the difference between the latest finish time and earliest finish time (LFT-EFT) or it can be a difference between the latest start time and the earliest start time (LST-EST). Total float represents the slack (extra) days that might be needed if some other path (other than critical path) is selected to complete the project. 3) Duration of the Project and Critical Path The duration of the project is determined by the number of days that each activity (which is placed on critical path), takes to complete. Therefore the total number of days required to complete the project is 93 days. These 93 days are the minimum days to complete the project. The critical path is the longest path to complete any project within the shortest possible time. The activities on the critical path do not have any float or their slack is zero. So the minimum time that a project requires can be determined by adding the timings of all activities which are placed on the critical path. In the current scenario the critical path is AFGHIKLMNOPQ. 4) Earliest Date of Completion The project requires 93 full working days to complete, but in a 7-day week there are only 5 working days. So total number of days including non-working days would be (93 / 5) x 7 = 130.6 days. By the help of calendar, 131 days would be ending on 25 May, 2012. 5) Delays of Activity B, P and O If activity B is delayed for 2 days, there will not be any effect on the duration of the project because activity B does not lie on the critical path. If activity P is delayed for 2 days, the duration of the project will be increased from 93 days to 95 days because activity P lies on the critical path, therefore increasing the duration of the project by 2 days. If activity O is delayed for 1 day, the duration of the project will be increased from 93 days to 94 days because activity O lies on the critical path, therefore increasing the duration of the project by 1 day. 6) Limitations of Network Diagram The network diagram has the following Limitations: Specific issues and problems with a particular activity or task are not addressed by the network diagram. More sophisticated graphical tools are available which are easier to understand and draw than that of network diagram. Cost related issues are overlooked in network diagrams. Task 2 As Project Manager responsible for the opening – for trade - the new building, you are contracted at the feasibility stage. You are required to prepare a report (2,000 words). From a project management perspective outline the activities required to successfully manage this new initiative, ensuring that it is on time, and within budget. The analysis should include the skills and competencies required by the Project Manager, along with the project management process. Use examples of the concerns, stages, processes, leadership, and administration and control problems associated with managing the lifecycle of this major project. Opening a new building can be a time of dread as well as excitement. Excitement refers to the new productivity, yield and boost that it will give to the business, heightened efficiency and service, new technology whereas dreads are the risks that can be very substantial. Project Management Project management is the way of conducting major changes and in an organization. A project, at times, can be something not related with the primary activities of the business. In businesses and organizations, project management refers to introducing new changes in the organization. These changes can belong to any area or function, for instance: Products and services IT and communications People, management and staffing Materials, manufacturing and production Purchasing and outsourcing Professional and legal Business development Human resource training and development Health, quality and safety Marketing, selling and sales Customer relations and services Scientific, technical, research and development Premises and building Administration, finance, merger and acquisition Project Management Process 1. Specification of the Project 2. Planning the Project 3. Communicating the Plan to the Team Members 4. Delegation of Project Actions 5. Motivate and Manage 6. Monitor, Measure, Check and Review the Project Process 7. Completing the Project 8. Follow-up In subsequent paragraphs, the project management process has been discussed in more detail: i. Specification of Project Project specification includes scope, parameters, participants, outputs, range, timescales and budgets. A good project manager consults and discusses all the project specifications with relevant authorities, supervisors and team members. Project specification gives an overview about the degree of success and completion time of the project. Project specification helps the project managers from being trapped in issues and troubles that can be out of the reach of getting achieved. Once a manager agrees and forms the project specification, he has to act on it as by the end he will be judged on the basis of project specification. Even for a simple task, project specification counts a lot. A basic template for project specification integrates: 1. Identifying purpose or aim 2. Stating parameters (authority, range, territory, scope, budgets, timescales) 3. Mentioning people involved and delegating tasks (decision-making process, number of meetings to be held etc) 4. Establishing ways of measuring results, monitoring and checking progress. ii. Planning the Project Planning for opening a new building is an extensive task. The numbers of staff members to be allocated, number of departments, total yield from the new building, other expenses and costs etc must be estimated before opening a new building. Lack of proper initial planning can cause more problems afterwards. For complex problems, the lack of experience can cause issues and troubles. These types of problems must be resolved by doing brainstorming with relevant authorities and supervisors. If there are interdependent parts in such project, they require careful planning and consideration. Activities that are needed to be completed before others must be planned accordingly. iii. Communicating the Plan to the Team Members The most important part is to communicate the entire plan with the subordinates, supervisors, managers, team members and other relevant employees. Even successful plans can fail if the coordination among members in not up to the mark. Every goal and plan must be communicated to each employee in order to pursue the goals more effectively. While opening a new building, responsibility of staff plays imperative role. Each staff members should be held accountable for the tasks which are delegated to them. iv. Delegation of Project Actions Check in balance should be maintained and monitoring should be done in order to verify whether each staff is doing his duty with diligence. If the project contains many teams, proper delegation models and methods should be explained clearly to each team. v. Motivate and Manage For projects of complex nature like opening a new building, motivation and management has significance importance. It can be hectic for managers to carry out the entire process alone. They need lower level managers to assist them by delegating them responsibilities and monitoring and verifying if they are done properly. Managers should encourage, inform and motivate employees when required. vi. Monitor, Measure, Check and Review the Project Process While conducting the pre determined plans, if any plan require any amendment or changes then it must be done without any delays because in some cases, delays can cause substantial losses and harms. Plans must be reviewed and new changes should be adjusted. If any adjustments are made, then they must be immediately conveyed to the team members and staffs. vii. Completing the Project A final review has to be done when the project is completed. Analysis must be done to check if each and every plan has been implemented and to see if any important thing is left undone. The entire team should be appreciated and praised for the hard work which they have done. Recommendations regarding follow ups should be discussed and other related priorities and issues should be stated. Completion of project is vital as it encompasses the hard work of all the employees. viii. Follow-up Follow ups have to be done every now and then to monitor the performance of the new building. To check if each staff member is doing his duty, to check the revenues and expenses if it is the estimated amount or not all these aspects need to be monitored frequently. Follow up is essential to pursue a profitable business. All loopholes and weaknesses are eliminated in this part of the process. Project Cost and Timescale Timescales are vital for the completion of successful and effective projects. If a fixed deadline is given, it is advisable to meet it earlier. Projects which fail to be completed within the mentioned financial requirements or are burdened with over budget create substantial problems. Similarly, late projects and projects which do not meet deadlines also become hectic for the managers. Many project managers have to deliver projects in short deadlines and are given budget that is not much realistic. Aiming high than realistic circumstances is a good attitude but working without responsibility and proper planning is daft. Many managers get apprehensive and take foolish decisions while working on cost effective and crash projects. Exercising realism and setting timescales and financial requirements as per the requirements of the project can save massive amount of problems that might cause later on. Goals must be realistic enough so that it will be easy for each employee to get familiarize and implement them. In the case of opening new building, this part counts a lot. Allocating the cost as per the requirements so that is doesn’t exceed budget and completing the project in time so that it doesn’t get delay is very important in order to minimize potential problems. Budget must be allocated to each department as per their requirements. Every manager for each department should be held accountable for the effective completion of every task. A stipulated time frame should be allocated to ensure that all the activities are completed as per mentioned. Utilizing effective schedule for budget and time result in a successful completion of a project. Fishbone Diagram In the area of manufacturing and production, fishbone diagram has proven to be very much effective for the fault detection and improvement in business processes. This model is useful for the project management tasks and for planning as well. Fishbone diagram is generally used for early planning that is during brainstorming and gathering facts and figures in order to make appropriate plans. It also enables the project managers to identify hidden factors. However, it doesn’t incorporate time critical factors. Categories used in fishbone are generally as per the requirements of the projects. Usually, those categories are integrated which are most appropriate and suitable for the project. A simple fishbone diagram maps entire operations that will be conducted by the company. The “cause” side shows the inputs or resources or operations or business activities whereas the “effect” side shows the aims or result or outcome of those activities. While opening new building, all the causes and their effects should be analyzed. How much material needs to be injected, how much staff members are required for each department, how the process has to be conducted, what equipments will be used, all the aspects need to be planned accordingly. The results of each combination of these four components should be analyzed so that the best possible combination can be attained and implemented. Associated Risks 1) Risk of Error When unfamiliar and new processes are incorporated, the possibility for the staff to make mistakes and errors can increase. These errors can jeopardize the mission of opening new building and can also hamper the finances and reputation. Errors can mistakes can be minimized by developing a proper Quality Assurance Department. Fines and penalties should be imposed to the employees incurring more than usual mistakes and errors. 2) Risk of Delay The risk of delay can refer to not giving higher volumes because the staffs are not prepared for the new environment and new technology. This can result in lowered revenues and higher expenses being incurred on staffing. Before implementing new technology, special training should be given to the staff members so that they get familiarized with the new technological implementations. In this way, the level of this error can also be minimized. 3) Risk of Inefficiency Ineffective implementation of new models can be a result of not getting desired results through operational efficiencies. Untested operating tools can results in higher operating costs. In opening new building, the equipments that will be utilized must be tested before implementing them so that this risk can be minimized. Project Lifecycle Leadership Problems Opening a new building requires a lot of consideration of supervisors. The proverb that says “too many cooks spoil the broth” suits this type of business process. Only one manager should be allotted to each department and the Project Manager should monitor the performance of every manager and every department. If leadership is not considerate enough, then the entire business process can be at stake. Administration Problems In past, many enterprises have gone defaulted just because of improper management. Management works as blood for every organization. Administration problem that can arise in opening new building can involve problems like lack of coordination, risk management, issue management, communication problem etc. Administration has to be obliged to the responsibilities which have been allotted to them. Administration needs to be very quick and fast in responding to customers or employees suggestions or complains. Control Problems Keeping the unwanted things going on may result in an adverse position of any project. Appropriate strategies should be formulated for each type of potential problem. This step can become very easy by allocating a manager who monitors and control the areas where any deviation arises by bringing them back to normal. After conducting the above mentioned strategies, if required than a contingency plan should also be formulated so that there must be some back up idea to continue the operations in the new building. For each type of potential problem, an alternate strategy should be defined so as to minimize the risk. Suggestions, feedbacks and complaints must be welcomed so that there can be higher chances of making the system better. As a project manager, to see the project getting completed successfully is a huge achievement irrespective of the complexity or the size of the project. The achievements can yield exceptional results if they are followed up frequently and whenever required. That is also a symbol of a successful project. A successful project manager is the one who takes every component and every individual in a same pace with that of others. Even for employees, it a great source of motivation to see their hard work in a tangible form. By working so hard employees also get motivated to manage and remove any weakness from the entire project if required. Every project can be completed in a desired way if each component and each worker is diligent in bringing it into a desired state. And then, it provides great level of satisfaction and motivation to every related individual. References Field, Mike and Keller, Laurie, 1998. Project Management. Croatia: Cengage Learning. Read More