The Relationship between the Activities - Research Paper Example

Task 1) Network Diagram Activity time Early Start Early Finish Late Start Late Finish Total Float Project 50 A 4 0 4 0 4 0 B 3 4 7 4 7 0 C 7 7 147 14 0 D 2 7 9 12 14 5 E 5 7 12 9 14 2 F 3 14 17 14 17 0 G 9 17 26 17 26 0 H 3 17 20 23 26 6 I 2 17 19 24 26 7 J 3 17 20 23 26 6 K 3 26 29 26 29 0 L 5 29 34 29 34 0 M 3 34 37 34 37 0 N 3 37 40 37 40 0 O 5 40 45 40 45 0 P 2 40 42 43 45 3 Q 2 45 47 45 47 0 R 3 47 50 47 50 0 Timings of Activities and Total Float Precedence of the relationship between the activities is the main basis to determine the timings of the activities. In a typical project, some activities are initiated after the completion of the previous activities. As a result, the relationship between the activities is developed on the precedence. Under current scenario, Activity A is the precedent for Activity B. So Activity A should be completed prior to the start of Activity B. In this way, the chain of activities goes on until the completion of project. Total Float is the total amount of slack or additional time required to complete the project in case if paths other than critical paths are followed. It can be calculated by subtracting the Earliest Finish Time from Latest Finish time or Earliest Start Time from Latest Start Time. 2) Duration of the Project and Critical Path Duration of the project can be found based on the time taken by those activities, which lie on the critical path. Under the existing scenario, the project has the duration of 50 days. These 50 days are taken by those activities, which lie on the critical path. Critical path can defined as the path on which those activities exist which does not have any slack. This path completes the project in the shortest time. In terms of number of activities, this path is the longest. In the current scenario, the critical path is ABCFGKLMNOQR. 3) Earliest Date of Completion The project requires full 50 days to complete the project. Since the project starts on 4th February, 2013 therefore the total number of days including non-working days would be (50 x 7) / 5 = 70 days. In this way, the project cannot be completed before 14 April 2013. Following is the brief representation of days available to work in each of the three months. 4) Activity E, P and Q If the activity E is delayed to 1 day, it will not affect the duration of the project as this activity is outside the critical path. Since activity P also lies outside critical path, therefore it will not have any impact upon the total time of the project. If activity Q is completed 1 day earlier than expected, it will reduce the total time of the project such that the total number of days would be shortened to 49 days. 5) Limitations of Network Diagram Network diagram is one of the oldest tools of presenting the graphical state of the projects. However with the passage of time, some deficiencies are also identified which are as follows. Network diagram does not incorporate the effects of costs pertaining to each activity. These days, latest sophisticated tools are available to represent the flow of activities of the project, which are far easier to understand. Different sorts of problems pertaining to each activity are not incorporated by the network diagram. Task – 2 Project of Opening up a New Building Establishment and development of a new building can bring the both fears and excitements to any business. The excitements associated with such building projects involve the convenience to manage the operations of the business, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the business process, enhancing the overall revenues of the business and many more. On the other hand, fear factors involve the risk of incurring costs more than expected, inability to complete the project within the stipulated time, incompetence to exploit the desired results from the projects and above all, the risk of bankruptcy. This report highlights some of the factors that play a key role in the development of the project for IBEK Ltd, which is intending to increase the size of its warehouse from 25,000 square meters to 35,000 square meters. The new building is aimed to facilitate the global business operations of IBEK Ltd so that the global demands of the auto parts industry can be met with convenience and on time. Project Management Project management refers to the bringing a change in the existing structure of the business such that the change should facilitate the business into improved and productive manner. Change can have different dimensions and it totally depends upon the particular needs and requirements of the business. Right from changes in the methodologies and processes of the business to the structural changes in the form of development and establishment of a design facility, project management demonstrate a vital role in the successful design, establishment, and implementation of the change in the organizational dynamics. Introduction of new product lines Improvement in IT and other technologies Managing new, better and appropriate staffing Changing into business processes in terms of materials, manufacturing and production Decisions pertaining to purchasing and outsourcing Acquisition of professional and legal services Introduction of better and improved facilities for health, quality and safety of the personnel and customers Implementation of new and improved marketing and selling strategies including customer relations and services Development and expansion of new and existing premises, buildings, and work sites Decisions related to administration, finance, merger and acquisition and other profitable business opportunities Project Management Process 1. Project Specification 2. Project Planning 3. Communication of Project Plan to the Team Members 4. Project Actions Delegations 5. Project Motivation and Management 6. Project Monitoring, Measurement, Checking and Review 7. Project Completion 8. Follow-up The above-mentioned steps for undertaking a typical project are more elaborated in the subsequent paragraphs. 1. Project Specification The first and foremost step in conducting any project is about the specification of the project. Before conducting the project, the project manager specifies different aspects of the project, which contains scope of the project, parameters, and dimensions of the project, team members, and participants to be involved in the project, probable output, and results of the project, amount time, and finance required to complete the project etc. One of the other important duties on the part of the project manager is the consultation and discussion of the different aspects of the projects with appropriate authorities, team members, and consultants. The major benefit provided by the project specification activity is that it outlines the likelihood of success of the project and the most likely duration required to complete the project. Project specification also enables the project managers in setting out the necessary steps to be taken in case of the expected troubles that may arise during the project completion stage. Following is the fundamental template that is used by project managers in varied styles according to their own project specification: 1. Identification of Project aims and purposes 2. Indication of the Project parameters and dimensions (duration, cost, team members, scope etc) 3. Identification of project appraisal tools in order to measure, monitor and check the progress of the project 2. Project Planning Expansion of an existing building or development of new building can be regarded as one of the extensive projects for the businesses. Selection of appropriate staff to conduct such projects, integration of the activities of various departments, desired and expected return to be achieved from the project; cost and timescale issues are the primary areas of planning a project. Lack of adequate or incorrect planning can lead a project to the failure or the businesses may not be able to reap the desired returns from such project. Planning a project is also dependent upon the skills, expertise, and technical knowledge of the project manager such that in case of hard times during the completion stage, an experienced project manager can prevent different troubles and issues as compared to younger and inexperienced project manager. In case of project that contains interdependent activities, project manager must be aware of how those activities should be properly integrated as one of the faulty activities can cause failure to the entire project. Conversely, in case of those projects where activities are carried out one after another, then project managers should plan those activities in such a manner that all the preceding activities must be fully satisfied by the project manager before initiating the next one. 3. Communication of Project Plan to the Team Members Communication of the project plan including the roles, responsibilities, accountabilities, and duties to the appropriate staff members is a key aspect of project planning. Incomplete or erroneous information can mislead the staff members in tackling with their tasks, which may in turn cause severe damages to the project in pursuit. Not only communication, bus also the coordination among the team members also plays a vital role in making project successful. Specifically in case of developing a new building, many staff members are involved right from architecture, design, construction, furnishing stages, therefore it is extremely necessary to communicate the appropriate roles to every staff member. Similarly, coordination must be ensured between all the staff members so that the project can be avoided with other frictions. 4. Project Actions Delegations Next step in the project management process is the delegation of duties to the appropriate staff members. It is equally essential to implement a system of proper check and balance of the staff members in order to verify whether they are performing their duties with all the care and diligence. The development and opening of a new building has different stages, therefore delegation of duties should be assigned with some method so that irrational moves in this regard can be avoided. 5. Project Motivation and Management Motivation is also a key factor in driving the project managers towards successful accomplishment of any project. In such a project where a new building is to be developed, the project management process becomes quite lengthy and time taking, as a result the project managers start losing their charm and motivation in carrying out such projects until their completion. Projects where too many staff members are involved, the motivation factor among such staff members can be kept alive if they are provided limited autonomy in their functions. This leads the sense of ownership in the staff member towards the overall project. 6. Project Monitoring, Measurement, Checking and Review The overall performance of the project should be regularly checked and reviewed by the project managers. In case of any discrepancy found, the project managers should carry out the necessary steps and check whether the discrepancy is useful or harmful for the overall project. During the actual performance stage, it happens that the ground realities do not allow the project managers to undertake the project as per its initial planning. In such cases, the project managers should take necessary steps in bringing the necessary steps towards the completion of project without too much hassle. 7. Project Completion Completion stage of the project at times turns out to be quite hectic to the project managers because too many small issues keep arising due to which the finalization of the projects gets late. However, at the time of completion, the project managers should ensure that all the activities are completed as per the plans and all the necessary adjustments have been made accordingly. The completion stage of the project leads towards the appreciation of the hard work, endeavors, and efforts of the staff member. Proper appreciation and appraisal should be made to all the staff members in order to provide them the sense of recognition. 8. Follow-up Follow up is the last stage in the project management process as it sheds light on the overall progress, and ultimate outcomes of the project. Advantages, disadvantages, discrepancies and other similar factors are considered in this step related to the completed project. Overall achievements are taken into consideration and compared with the desired achievements expected at the planning stage. The performance of the project is also closely observed in order to assess the efforts, faith, and goodwill of the project managers behind its completion. Project Timescale and Budget Allocation Timescale is one of the most important aspects of the overall project management process. In key project like developing and opening up a new building, every next activity is dependent upon the successful completion of the previous activity. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that each activity must be completed within the allocated time. The better approach in this regard can be early completion of activities so that the left over time can be consumed in assessing and reviewing the work done in that activity. It also happens that some activities take longer time than expected, therefore, this area must be taken into knowledge by the project managers and appropriate additional time is allocated to those activities. As far as the budget allocation is concerned, it is important to develop a flexible budget especially in complex projects like development and opening up a new building. The total budget of the project should be split into small budgets according to number of activities involved in the project and then each small budget is allocated to each activity. At the same time, specific proportion of budget should be kept in reserve in order to meet any unseen contingency. Project Risk Factors With every project, there are certain risk factors always associated. These risk factors pose a degree of uncertainty whether the desired outcomes can be achieved or not. Following are some of the general risk factors that are mostly attached with any type of project. a) Risk of Error Risk of error can be associated with any project because the element of human error cannot be altogether ignored. In the events of undertaking complex projects, errors can come in estimating the appropriate timescale, budgets, scheduling, staffing, problem solving etc. Therefore, at the planning stage, this risk should be highly regarded and maximum efforts should be deployed in reducing the risk of error as this can even change the whole dynamics of the project. b) Risk of Delay Risk of delay means that the project may not be completed within the stipulated time allocated for the project. In order to minimize this risk of delay, modern scientific technologies are available in the form of network diagram, crashing, Gantt chart, and other sophisticated models. These models help the project managers in developing effective and timely schedules of each activity included in the project. c) Risk of Inefficiency Inefficiencies in a project can arise due to lack of technical knowledge and experience of the staff members. In developing a new building, different sorts of technologies are to be used, therefore, each technology requires its specialists to work on in order to reduce the operational inefficiencies in the project. Conclusion Project management is a highly specialized area of management because it acts as a base for any new change or advancement to be made in any business. Development and opening a new building is quite a complex in its nature as there are many activities involved like paperwork of architecture and design, digging and soil testing, construction, improvements, furnishing etc. All these activities are extremely core and dependent upon the outcomes of the preceding activities thus requiring special attention and concentration of the project managers. Project managers should be aware of the risks pertaining to each activity as well as the project as a whole. In this way, a project can be avoided with the likelihood of contingencies. References Field, Mike and Keller, Laurie, 1998. Project Management. Croatia: Cengage Learning. Read More