Project Management Metrics - Assignment Example

MANAGING PROJECTS Q the core principles of a project Strong project management – this serves to ensure that the project has all the essential resources which are required for success. There should be well defined roles for each of the individuals involved in the project. Clear requirements – the functional and non-functional components, assumptions and requirements must be clearly indicated and be unambiguously documented to eliminate any doubt and ensure the project is implemented effectively. Ruthless change management – all the aspects of change that will occur as a result of the project must be analysed in order to understand and ensure there is a smooth transformation. Pervasive process focus – all the processes involved in the project must be documented in order to ensure that they can be easily checked when something goes wrong. Effective control and communication – effective communication becomes essential in ensuring that all the stakeholders in the project are informed about the progress and are aware of the process being undertaken. Technical leadership – the people in the leadership must have a clear understanding of the roles and activities involved within the process. Q 2 The scope of the project can be defined as the parts of project implementation that involve identifying and determining the various specifications of project goals. This is undertaken in terms of deliverables, costs, tasks and even deadlines for the project, since projects are time bound. The process involves determining how the process parameters will be met during the implementation process. Q 3 If penny would have developed a project Gantt chart and the critical path, the implementation process would have been easier. This is mainly because the activities would have been documented and she could have been able to make evaluations and have a document for monitoring the project progress. The critical path would have ensured that she would have another plan when the project seems to fail. Such would have provided a way for implementing the project successfully through eliminating the causes of failure. Q 4 Budgeting – the development of a budget provides a guideline to the manager on how the available financial resources will be utilised. The budget will also be used in evaluating the cost element in the project to ensure the costs are maintained within the desired limits. Time management – poor time management causes the project to spent more money yet the project might be moving slow. This result in people being paid for work which they have not done, consequently increasing the costs of the project. Q 5 The process of risk management would include the following activities Identification of the major project elements which can aid in risk management Identify the potential risks within the project Evaluate the risk presented by the identified risks in order to prioritise them Mitigate the causes of risk in order to ensure the risks do not occur. Q 6 Planning – the planning for the project has not been undertaken. Planning is essential in seeking to ensure that the implementation process has a guideline upon which evaluation could be undertaken. The project plan enables the manager to control the various resources available to the project. Quality assurance of resources – the equipment being used has not been subjected to specification which would measure their capacity to fit into the project. This makes the materials and equipment which has been purchased to become incapable of performing the job for which it was purchased to perform. Case study report Introduction The project described within this case faced numerous challenges that resulted from assumptions being made and some essential aspects of the management process being overlooked. While the organisation appears to have the capability to undertake the project, the implementation process has been poorly planned and numerous parameters of the project have been ignored. Many mistakes were made on different project concepts and these caused the problems experienced in the process of implementing the project. Failure to apply the basic principles of a project could have catastrophic results and increase the project risks emanating from within the organisation. Mistakes in the project occurred at different levels of the management process and they affected the process of implementing the project. Project definition This involves the definition of the project being implemented so that there can be clear procedures and processes that will be implemented. Definition of the project will ensure the various roles and responsibilities of the involved individuals are identified and each person performed the assigned responsibilities effectively. The various stakeholders will have their roles and responsibilities clearly defined in order to ensure the implementation process is undertaken according to the plan (Kerzner, 2013). Following the definition of the project various parameters can be identified and planned to ensure success in the implementation. Within the company, the project has not been defined clearly and there is an increased confusion in the implementation process. While there are many people involved within the project which Penny Black is undertaking, there is no clear definition of the roles of the different individual. Without a clear definition of roles various activities will remain undone since there is no single individual responsible for the activity. Proper definition of the project will enable the deliverables to be determined during the planning phase in order to ensure the project implementation process can be evaluated. The company should ensure that the roles of the various individuals involved within the project are clearly defined for the implementation process to be smooth. Project scope This would have involved documentation, which presents the various achievable objectives from the project. This ensures that the goals of the project have been clearly defined before commencing with the implementation process. There is poor planning within the project as the company did not have any documentation that had been developed regarding the work that will be conducted. The outcomes expected from the project should have been defined before the implementation process for the project begins. The scope includes the scope statement, the project terms of reference and work which will be performed. When Penny arrived, she did not have a work plan and had to develop one for herself, despite not being familiar with the organisation. This documentation establishes the boundaries upon which the project will be implemented. These boundaries would cover all the project parameters which include cost, quality and time. Through the establishment of scope for the project management of these essential project parameters would have been enhanced making the implementation process to become more efficient(Project Management Institute, 2008). The responsibilities and activities to be undertaken in the process of implementing the project will be identified. Through the development of a proper scope of the project will enable the management to be able to evaluate the project once implementation has commenced. The organisation ought to define the scope and project boundaries of the project being undertaken by Penny. Through the development of the scope and determination of the project boundaries, the various implementation teams would have been assigned clear-cut responsibilities. With clear guidelines regarding the boundaries and the activities which will be undertaken within the project, the involved work will be undertaken with much efficiency because all the people understand their roles. The decision making process and authority within the project will be determined and the confusion which was witnessed in the case will be eliminated. The lack of the project to have a project scope resulted in poor communication and delays in the delivery of different project features which are necessary for successful implementation of a project. Leadership The role of project management goes beyond the work related activities that are undertaken to ensure the project deliverables are achieved. Although the fundamental functions for the manager are aimed at ensuring that the scope, time and cost of the project are achieved, various issues related to the process of undertaking the implementation also become responsibilities of the manager (Müller & Turner, 2010). The management must have the desired leadership qualities, which are aimed at ensuring the other support factors of the project are met. The leadership seeks to meet the requirements of various stakeholders involved within the project, mainly the employees of the organisation. Proper leadership within the project is critical in ensuring there is sufficient motivation for the employees to undertake their activities. The leadership is cultivated within the organisation through the organisational culture. The company does not have proper elements for encouraging leadership as the management appears to be highly bureaucratic. This management style of within the company fails to develop leaders since the business is owned by family. The use of family members as the major stakeholders within the organisation limits the leadership roles existing within the company. This has increasingly resulted in the leadership within the organisation becoming discordant with the various organisational requirements. The leaders should be able to nurture creativity within the process of implementing the project and be able to take calculated risks to ensure the project success (Gido & Clements, 2012). The organisation should develop teams to perform the various fucntions which are essential within the implementation process. Where there are project implementation teams leadership becomes critical in ensuring that the teams are functional and a capable of performing the responsibilities assigned. Through effective leadership within the organisation, the leaders can be able to anticipate change in order to encourage effectiveness of the project implementation. The changes which occur within the project must be anticipated by the leadership in order to ensure the project is accepted by the various stakeholders (Resch, 2011). This ensures that project manager receives the necessary support during the implementation process of the project. Resistance to change becomes overcome through effective project leadership. The leadership ensures that all the stakeholders become actively involved and their participation is rewarded hence support and mitigation of any resistance which might be experienced. Management The management of the organisation must provide the desired resources which will be essential in ensuring successful project implementation. The role of management remains planning and coordinating the resources to reach the desired outcomes established at the beginning of the project. The management role within the project remains controlling the available resources to ensure they meet the desire project goals. Effective utilisation of resources can only be achieved through the effectiveness of the project management and this requires support for the executive management of the organisation (Pich, Loch, & DeMeyer, 2002). The organisation can be descried as the owner of the project and sponsor; hence it should provide all the necessary resources to support the manager in implementation process of the project. The executive management of the company has not provided Penny with the necessary support and she is expected to manoeuvre through the project using her skills and expertise, which she has learnt from other places. The organisation should ensure that Penny has the support required to undertake various activities involved within this project. Management ensures that there is an effective communication between the various stakeholders as they serve the function of facilitating such platforms for communicating between the various project stakeholders. There is a communication breakdown within the management of the company and this creates difficulty in the process of managing the resources. The management needs to present the project with the required resources and ensure effective management of the same in seeking to ensure the project is implemented successfully. The management of the company must ensure that there is effective coordination of the available resources towards achievement of the project goals and objectives. The management styles utilised within the organisation could affect the process of project implementations through the way resources are handled. The management performs the basic function of coordinating activities being conducted by different stakeholders. The management of people working in the projects remains critical because they are directly involved in determining the outcomes of the project. Poor management of projects has been faulted as a fundamental cause of project failures in many instances (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). While the lack of resources remains a common cause of project failures, poor management of the resources also causes similar effects on many projects. Within the project which Penny is undertaking, the management process should be undertaken in close coordination with the management of the organisation. This will be essential in enhancing the outcomes of the project since the managers understand the cultural elements which are desired within the context of the project sponsors who is the company in this case. The skills of the management become essential in training and educating the rest of the project stakeholders as well as informing the involved people regarding the requirements of the project. The technical skills of the management become essential in ensuring the project is implemented with the highest level of integrity. The possession of essential skill by the management ensures that the quality of the project meets the desired specification. Teams There is need for all projects to have strong teams to support the manager in undertaking different activities that might be identified from time to time. Through the application and development of strong teams to each e the skills which are present within the management of the project. The involvement of teams within a project is a critical success factor because of the aid provided by the teams to the management of the project (Kloppenborg, 2014). It becomes possible to pull more resources together in terms of the different skills which the team members have. The utilisation of teams is the easiest way through which certain lacking skill scan be availed to the project. Penny black lacked the support of teams in the implementation of the project. While the human resource was available within the organisation, the levels of involvement of the different individuals have not been defined clearly. Each of the involved persons is getting involved at a personal level and there are not teams which can be assigned certain tasks within the project. It becomes critical to establish and enhance team dynamics within the project implementation process. The teams play a fundamental role in overcoming various challenges that the project might encounter. The organisation should have ensured penny has enough human resource to establish teams and through the teams, the project manager can be able to deliver the following aspects within the project. Motivation – it is essential to ensure that all the individuals involved are sufficiently motivated to undertake their responsibilities within the project. At the team level, the manager could be able to implement various aspects that are aimed at motivating the participants. The contribution of the workers would be increased if they are well motivated and the project success possibility is enhanced Communication – the best communication channels that the manager could possibly utilise would be through the team leaders since the involved people might be large. The process of communicating the progress of the project would become simplified through the establishment of teams to perform different functions (Richardson, 2010). Efficiency – the efficiency of the project is increased since there is proper communication and motivation if operations are undertaken at the team level. The increased participating and motivation of individuals will eliminate problems associated with delays since the maximum output for the different individuals will be achieved (Taylor, 2007). Through cooperation and support from different team members, the process of implementation becomes simplified and easy. Innovation – the presence of many people working in groups ensures that there is active participation by each individual. Ideas are shared in a better way while people are working in small groups, hence the levels of innovation are increased by the presence of different ideas presented by the team members (Kloppenborg, 2014). Creativity is encouraged from the team levels and innovation within the project becomes sufficiently increased. Control Wastage of resources is one of the fundamental reasons projects run short of resources. Although this is a function of the management, control is critical in the different parameters of the project. The control of resources ensures there is sufficient supply of resources through the life of the project. Control is a management function that involves undertaking pre-planned activities aimed at ensuring the project meets certain specification (Kerzner, 2013). The aspect of control seeks to ensure the required quality of the final project outcome is reached. Control is mainly aimed at ensuring the project metrics are maintained throughout the project lifecycle. Effective control is normally applied in a project in collaboration with other disciplines in the project like management, scope, leadership and many others. Within the project that Penny Black is undertaking, the control for the project metrics has not been sufficiently developed. There is poor communication between project management and the suppliers and this is causing delays to the project implementation process. Time, which remains a critical and limited factor, has not been considered as the project does not have any form of schedule upon which the time can be evaluated. It is essential within any project being initiated to ensure that the management develops a work plan and schedule of the activities that will be undertaken within the project. The project control encompasses a series of activities which include propel process, and the application of control tools in ensuring the quality of the outcomes is maintained. The success of many projects depends on planning that seeks to ensure that the available resources are utilised effectively to meet the objectives and goals of the project. The execution of projects is normally based on robust planning which occurs based on the events which unfold as the implementation process continues (Crawford & Bryce, 2003). This planning is normally executed through controlling of the resources with the focus of the future objectives which the project should attain. Traditional forms of management that are normally bureaucratic show a lack of control elements when utilised in the management of projects. The company which Penny works is utilising traditional management approaches which have lax controls in different parameters. It is essential to implement and adopt effective controls as a failed project can easily plunge the company into deep losses. Conclusion The process of project management requires a combination of numerous skills aimed at ensuring the implementation process meets the expected standards once the project is completed. The planning phase is the most critical determinant of the success that projects achieve. The project that Penny is working upon has been poorly planned and a lot of mistakes have been made based on the numerous assumptions which have been made. The company has failed to consider many essential factors which could cause constraints in the implementation process. These factors have resulted in significant difficulties in the implementation process and can easily cause project failure if corrective action is not taken by the involved authorities (Mian, 2011). The project lacks a plan and Penny seems to be getting tired within the amount of work which she has to do because of the poor planning and lack of support from the management of the company which is implementing the project. References Crawford, P., & Bryce, P. (2003). Project monitoring and evaluation: a method for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of aid project implementation. International Journal of Project Management, 21(5), 363–373. Gido, J., & Clements, J. P. (2012). Successful project management. New York: Cengage Learning. Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Kloppenborg, T. J. (2014). Contemporary Project Management (3rd ed.). Stamford: Cengage Learning. Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J. (2011). Project management: a managerial approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Mian, M. A. (2011). Project Economics and Decision Analysis: Deterministic models (2nd ed.). Oklohama: PennWell Books. Müller, R., & Turner, R. (2010). Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), 437–448. Pich, M. T., Loch, C. H., & DeMeyer, A. (2002). On uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity in project management. Management Science, 48(8), 1008–1023. Project Management Institute. (2008). Project Time Management. In A guide to the project management body of knowledge (4th ed., p. 145). Newton Square: Project Management Institute. Resch, M. (2011). Strategic project management transformation: Delivering maximum ROI & sustainable business value. New York: J. Ross Publishing. Richardson, G. L. (2010). Project management theory and practice. Boston: Auerbach Publications. Taylor, J. (2007). Project Scheduling and Cost Control: Planning, Monitoring and Controlling the Baseline. London: J. Ross Publishing.  Read More