The Project Methodology for the Plan of Construction of a Church - Case Study Example

In order to fully understand the concept of project management, it is imperative to begin by defining what a project is. The term project is used to describe a set of linked activities or it can be precisely defined as a one time activity with a well defined set of desired results (Hellriegel 2001). Some of the major features of a project include a definite start and finish, a time frame for completion, uniqueness as well as involvement of people on a temporary basis. Against this backdrop, project management can be summed up as, “managing the project in a logical, organised way following defined steps,” (prince2.com n.d.). For instance, the construction of a church building is a typical example of a project where resources would be allocated to meet the time frame of the expected completion of that particular project. In most cases, there would be limited resources such as people, time and money and there would be a sequence of activities and phases in the process of attempting to attain the set organisational goals. In project management, the manager has a key role to play. The role of the project manager is to identify key project activities, determine their sequence as well as determining who will be responsible for each activity. Since projects are earmarked to be accomplished in specific time frames, it would be very important for the project manager to have a clearly defined map of operation that ought to be adhered to in order to achieve the goals without compromising on limited resources. The manager would also be responsible for estimating and calculating the time needed to accomplish each activity. More importantly, the project manager should oversee that different teams responsible for various activities are coordinating their efforts in order to achieve the goals of that particular project. Thus, the project methodology for the plan of construction of a church in this case will be based on prince2 as going to be illustrated in the sections which follow. The prince2 methodology posits to the effect that a project ought to have an organised and controlled start, an organised and controlled middle and an organised and controlled end (prince2.com n.d.). Whilst the project manager has a great role to play in the in the project, there are also other different stakeholders involved such as customers or users as well as the project board which is responsible for the provision of necessary decisions to ensure that the project smoothly goes according to plan. Likewise, each project is prone to change and the main advantage of prince2 method is that it clearly outlines the steps that can be taken in the event of unprecedented changes may threaten the existence of the project and it sets out the pace and tone of the project. Basically, the method sets out a common ground for understanding for all the interested stakeholders involved in the project. In most cases, a precedence network which would give a detailed outline of all the steps that would take precedence before the actual construction has begun is commonly used. Basically, a precedence diagram network is a graphical presentation or network of the stages involved in a project as shown on the diagram below for a construction of a building (answers.com n.d). Usually construction of a building is not an overnight event but a process which goes stage by stage as illustrated in the diagram below. Some stages can go concurrently whereby work on the other task will not affect the other as shown at the top of the hierarchy in the diagram below. The schedule is usually started at the beginning of the project and it outlines all the stages involved in the project and allows the planner to allocate the resources accordingly. In this case of constructing a church, the different stages will be logically outlined and an attempt to set the time frame will be drawn as well. Precedence Network Diagram for construction of church As portrayed in the diagram above, each activity is arranged in a logical manner starting from the beginning of the project which is also the foundation stage. On the presumption that there are enough resources to be used throughout the project, it is anticipated that the project is likely to take about 24 weeks as per schedule. Constructing a building is a process and it goes through various stages. The table below attempts to illustrate in detail the plan which shows the anticipated time frame required for the completion of the project given that there would be minimum changes encountered during the process. It should be noted that some stages take slightly longer due to the fact that they should be given adequate time to set so as to construct a standardised building. Table 1: Time schedule for the construction of a church Duration Task 1 Week Set up site, erect temporary site shelter 2 Weeks Clear top soil 1 Week Excavation of foundation trenches 3 Weeks Concrete foundation 1 Week Brickwork for foundation wall 3 Weeks Place ground floor slab 3 Weeks Brick work for walls 2 Weeks Place windows and doors 3 Weeks Erect roof structure 4 Weeks Drainage system, painting, landscaping, put roof, internal fitting Last Week Total 24 Weeks Clean up, hand over From the above table, it can be said that the key stages are divided into three. The first 11 weeks up to the concrete foundation form the organised and controlled start, next five weeks up to the placement of windows and doors form the organised and controlled middle and the last eight weeks up to hand over form the organised and controlled end. To go hand in hand with prince2 method, teamwork is very important in the construction industry. Without teamwork, the end result is likely to be disastrous and it is here where the role of the project manager comes in handy. In the building industry, it can be noted that the development of effective teamwork is often constrained by the traditional role of the team members. According to Robbins et al (2001), teamwork is where individuals participating collectively, work together towards the attainment of certain goals as well as objectives within a given organisation. Real learning which forms the basis of teamwork takes place in teams where team members learn from each other, learn from their achievements and mistakes, and continuously learn to optimise their efforts and contribution towards the achievement of organisational goals. From this assertion, it can be noted that the underlying principle towards the success of teamwork is sharing of ideas and the willingness to learn from other team members among the team. The project manager has a great role to play in ensuring that the members of different teams are pulling their efforts towards the attainment of the same goal. As the case may be, the members of a team in a construction industry ought to operate together regardless of their level of skill since the job which requires manual labour is often reserved for the unskilled workers while that which requires skill is for the skilled but these cannot operate independent of each other. Achieving the project goals within the stipulated time frame is often not an easy feat for different project managers. Whilst there are different types of management, the most recommendable for the outlined project of constructing a church building is scientific management which has several advantages to the management directly involved in the project. Scientific management is also referred to as mechanist approach where the scientific management methods apply principles of mechanical engineering to design a job (Susan EJ & Randal S 2000). This involves the use of time and motion studies to determine the most efficient method to perform and sequence job tasks. There are different tasks involved in the construction industry and these are executed by various team members at different stages which require the adoption of scientific management which is more compatible with the dictates of the prince2 method which stipulates that all stages of the project ought to comply with the target goals set. However, there are pros and cons of scientific management to both the employer and the worker and this section would briefly look at these as to ascertain the reason why scientific management is preferable in such cases. One major benefit of scientific management to the employer is that work is made easier and the tasks are easy to perform since they would be specialized tasks not requiring much effort and knowledge. The tasks are split into sub categories such that it would be easier for the workers to pick and perform a task which does not require great skill. On behalf of the employer, the major advantage is that of increased productivity since efficiency would have been aided by the introduction of modern technology as well introduction of job tasks. This would save the organisation in terms of cost since it would not employ too many people to perform the tasks that can be performed by comparatively few people. This aspect of cost is one major determinant that is often given precedence to establish if the project is achievable within the intended time frame. In most cases, chances are high that projects which are not properly planned get stuck in the middle if the budgets are insufficient. Through the use of scientific management, there are likely chances that costs are minimised through the use of technology which means that there would be limited workforce required to execute the project while efficiency is increased which in turn means more productivity. On the other hand, there is little training and the system would distinguish back work from brain work which would make it relatively easier for the management to follow and monitor the tasks being performed by various groups within the organisation. In the construction industry, some tasks require the use of manual labour and it is easy for the project manager through manage progress through the foremen responsible for different tasks. It is easy to put the workers into different categories they deserve to operate under. When the workers in the construction industry are grouped in categories according to their skills, it would be easier for the manager to give instructions and control them in such a way that all their activities would be directed towards the achievement of the goals of the project. However, one major drawback of this management system is that the tasks are often repeatedly performed over and over again which may result in monotony on behalf of the workers for doing routine jobs which do not allow them to exercise their right to use their brain at their work places which is dangerous as it may lead to disgruntlement as well as dissatisfaction. The project manager should be careful especially when it comes to the allocation of duties to unskilled workers to avoid boredom as these may sabotage the project on allegations of favoritism. Another disadvantage which must always be borne by the project management team is the aspect of cost where it requires huge capital injection in the form of investment that can sustain operations of such magnitude where the management system would be mechanised to improve efficiency in both productivity and training. The costs may be higher to offset the demands of the new system. All the same, this type of management is more commensurate with the outlined project plan above. Over and above, a critical analysis of the outline project shows that if all the work goes according to schedule, the completion of this project would take approximately 24 weeks depending on various factors such as the availability of the resources such as money, labour as well as building materials. Assuming that everything is readily available, construction would begin at a slow pace since the early stages of construction cannot be fast tracked. For instance, it would require the concrete anything between seven and fourteen days to set before the construction of the wall is begun. Consideration also have to be taken where some companies do not operate during the weekends hence the need to give a large time frame earmarked for the completion though it may take a shorter period. There are various reasons of choosing project methodology based on prince2 which clearly outlines the common ground of understanding the direction of the project in a well calculated manner. There are phases which should always be observed where in some cases construction is slowed to allow those stages to set as a way of avoiding crooked walls that would not comply with the actual plan. As going to be outlined briefly below, there are different stages involved in the construction of a building. Even after the completion of the walls and roof, plastering would also come in so other stages like painting would have to wait until the plastering has set so as to minimise the chances of cracks or peeling off of the paint on the wall which would give a bad image of the finished building. Basically, the critical activities involve the foundation stage where the footing will be put then followed by the construction of foundation wall. The slab is another equally very important phase since the building will be erected on this structure. An equally important activity involves monitoring the whole construction process to see if there are no cracks especially during the early stages. Any mistake during this phase may affect the whole structure hence the need to take all the necessary precautions along the way. This is the reason why this organised and controlled start phase takes a comparatively longer period than other phases. A building should sit on a solid foundation which does not easily crumble as a result of different natural phenomenon. The start phase is very important and precision should be taken at all costs in order to minimise the chances of building something that is substandard. The construction process should go stage by stage which would be inspected by a registered inspector from the local authority’s housing department. Even if the resources are in abundance to such an extent that the brickwork can be finished in one day, still it is not advisable since they would need to be given ample time to set before proceeding to the next stage. The second organised and controlled stage mainly involves the construction of the wall as well as putting windows and doors. This stage is relatively shorter compared to other stages in the construction of a building since there are little technicalities compared to the other stages. However, care has to be taken at all stages regardless of the fact that such a stage will be simple and straight forward. The third and final organised and controlled stage is the roof stage which is another very important stage of the building process since it would determine if the plan has been properly followed. A roof which does not perfectly match the plan would mean that the whole thing has been badly done. Other components of building such as landscaping, painting, internal fitting as well as fixing the drainage system form part of this stage which puts finality to the project. It can therefore be noted that managing a project is a delicate process which needs to be followed stage by stage using the prince2 methodology. References Hellriegel et al (2001), Management, CT, Oxford Robbins S.P. (2001), Organisational Behaviour, Cape Town Pearson Education Susan EJ & Randal S (2000), Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective, NY, South Western College Publishing. Prince2 methodology overview(n.d.), accessed on 21 January 2010, from: http://www.prince2.com/prince2-structure.asp Precedence Diagram Method (n.d.) accessed on 21 January 2010, from: http://www.answers.com/topic/precedence-diagram-method Constructing a network diagram from a work breakdown schedule, 20 April 2004, accessed on 21 January 2010, from: http://www.uic.edu/sph/prepare/courses/ph450/mods/453case2.htm Read More