The Role of the Project Manager & the Project Management Team - Essay Example

?Project Management Assignment The Role of the Project Manager & the Project Management Team The definition of project management A project is defined as an undertaking which is temporary, with designated start and finish times, and which is aimed at achieving a clear set of outcomes within a specified time limit. Project management is ‘a dynamic process that utilises the appropriate resources of the organisation in a controlled and structured manner to achieve some clearly defined objectives identified as strategic needs’ (Young, 2010, p. 15). The challenge facing all project managers is that all projects are conducted with a corresponding set of constraints (Young, 2010). According to Kerzner (2009), project managers are in charge of ‘coordinating and integrating activities across multiple, functional lines’ (p. 12). This means that they consolidate efforts to (1) develop the project plan, (2) execute the plan, and (3) make the necessary changes to the plan to ensure that the objectives are met. Project managers also operate as interface between the smaller, project organization, and the larger functional organization. They therefore are tasked with managing relationships (1) among individual members of the team , (2) between the functional organization and the project team, (3) between the senior management and the project team, and (4) between the customer’s organization (i.e., external or internal) and the project team (Kerzner, 2009, p. 13). Kerzner observes that the project manager’s role is a difficult one because he/she usually is assigned a great deal of responsibility, but actually very little power or authority. The greatest challenge to the skill and expertise of the project manager is the degree to which he/she is able to successfully achieve the specific objectives of the project within the constraints (of scope, time, cost, and performance) imposed upon him/her. The Edinburgh Tram System project In 2002, the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), established the Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) as a private limited, wholly-owned CEC subsidiary. The new system is envisioned to be a fast, clean and green, and high capacity transport service similar to those in other countries in Europe (Edinburgh Trams, 2012). The initiative began with a series of public consultations to determine the feasibility of the proposed system and in compliance with the parliamentary process. Stakeholders were invited to participate during these consultations where the feedback and suggestions to the proposed project details were garnered. By January 2004, the completed plans were submitted to Parliament, which approved them in March 2006. Contracts were entered into by May 2008, begun soon thereafter, and the tram network was estimated to commence operations by 2014 (Edinburgh Trams, 2012). From the project’s onset, the CEC and contractors have encountered problems related to the project. An example is the line to St. Andrew Square has proven problematic, with a project cost of ?776 million, ?200 million over the original budget. The contractor, Bilfinger Berger, of Germany, has been plagued by delays, disputes, technical problems, and unforeseen revision. According to Knox (2011), there also were other concerns such as a misunderstanding of the initial agreement, a confused and divided council, government hostility and negative public perception. These problems resulted in a reduction in the project’s scope from several lines to just one – that leading to St. Andrew’s Square – a budget overrun and extension of the completion date to 2016, and the resignation of the project’s chief executive after only two years (Knox, 2011; BBC, 2011). The three elements of project management Several of the nine primary elements of the PMBOK are seen to be applicable in this case, but the following three appear to have posed the greatest challenge for the project manager: (1) Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project The project scope is an explicit description of what are included in, and what are excluded from, the project. The detail of the work that must be done is laid out to define the responsibility of the parties involved in the project, and to help in the determination of cost, time, resources, and the specific output required (Schwalbe, 2010, p. 183). In the Edinburgh Tram System Project, the original scope of the project comprised of three lines: Line 1 in North Edinburgh, Line 2 in West Edinburgh, and Line 3 in South East Edinburg. This plan has been revised due to the delays and contractual disputes, causing the project to run over budget early in its implementation. The project is currently at phase 1a, which is focused on the city centre, where the trams will be running from Haymarket, along Princes Street to St. Andrew Square (TramFacts 1, 2011). Because the costs were far exceeding expectations, only phase 1a of the project is expected to be completed, with the rest of the project either postponed indefinitely (Audit Scotland, 2011). (2) Managing costs for financial control of the project Cost management in projects involves the monitoring and control of costs being incurred during the project’s implementation. Project cost management involves issues concerning cost estimation and budgeting, cash flow management, and cost control (Venkataraman & Pinto, 2011). Financial prudence is accomplished by setting targets in the form of a budget, and making periodic comparisons to ensure that the plan is followed. Where material discrepancies occur, cost control requires determining the reason for the variance, and either eliminating the cause of the discrepancy, or looking for more sources of funding. A number of cost overruns and delays in the Tram project, mainly due to the primary contractor, have resulted in the decision to modify the scope from the original plan, significantly paring it down depending upon the availability of funding. In this case, the fact that the plans were drawn before the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession may have been a factor in the discrepancy between the expected and actual figures. The budget plans proved to be too optimistic to the actual conditions during implementation. (3) Managing time planning, scheduling and controlling The planning and management of schedules involves the management of time, much as budgeting is the management of cost. Time is a resource used up by projects in much the same way ad funding, and therefore should not be wasted. Time planning is ‘the process of determining in advance the work to be done on a project, and scheduling is assigning specific times or dates to the work” (Haugan, 2002, p. 3). In the Tram project, the effective planning, scheduling and controlling of the project was compromised by many developments, among which are the highly publicized contractual dispute between TIE and the consortium of Bilfinger Berger Siemens (BBS), the project’s contractor. Originally, the project was scheduled to be operational by summer 2011, but delays have moved the target date to 2013-14, and now to 2016 (Audit Scotland, 2011) Summary and conclusion The Edinburgh trams project remains to be a viable project, although it must be viewed as a long-term undertaking which should be planned stage by stage. The scope and cost envisioned for the whole project turned out to be unrealistic when the time for implementation was extended due to contractual disputes. The management of time, scheduling and controlling should be rethought and revised, in light of the present conditions which are very different from 2002 when the project was first conceived. Public projects of this nature are prone to political risks due to pressures to reduce expenditure being subverted by bureaucratic intricacies and disputes between local political leaders (Ehrlich, 2005). Bibliography Audit Scotland 2011 ‘Edinburgh Trans Interim Report.’ Retrieved 12 November 2012 form http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/20085/trams BBC 2011 ‘Richard Jeffrey quits as Edinburgh tram chief executive.’ BBC News. Retrieved 14 November 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13454021 Ehrlich, E M 2005 Public Works, Public Wealth: New Directions for America’s Infrastructure. Washington D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies Press Haugan, GT 2002 Project Planning and Scheduling. Management Concepts, Inc., Vienna, VA. Kerzner, H. 2009 Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ Khan, A 2006, 'Project Scope Management', Cost Engineering, 48, 6, pp. 12-16, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 November 2012. Knox, J 2011 ‘Edinburgh Trams: Lessons to be Learnt and Progress to be Made.’ Caledonian Mercury. September 8. Retrieved 13 November 2012 from http://caledonianmercury.com/2011/09/08/edinburgh-trams-lessons-to-be-learnt-and-progress-to-be-made/0024271 Schwalbe, K 2010 Information Technology Project Management, 6th edition. Course Technology Cengage Learning, Boston, MA ‘Tram Facts 1’ 2011 Trams for Edinburgh. Retrieved 13 November 2012 from http://www.edinburghtrams.com/include/uploads/story_so_far/Tram_Factsheets_2.pdf Venkataraman, RR & Pinto, JK 2011 Cost and Value Management in Projects. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ Walker, DT 1995, 'An investigation into construction time performance', Construction Management & Economics, 13, 3, pp. 263-274, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 November 2012. Young, T 2010 Successful Project Management, 3rd edition. Kogan Page, Philadelphia PA Read More