Project Management - Literature review Example

Project Management s Introduction In the recent past, various projects have been initiated and completed. A project, as cited by Berkun (2009, p.19), is a series of activities or tasks which have to be done so as to bring out a change or attain some other established objective. A project may be a personal one, for instance, learning a foreign project or may be implementing a new business venture, such as a construction project. In this regard, as the project manager (PM) of a medium sized hotel close to London’s Heathrow Airport, the paper will discuss a project management proposal and potentially implementing the project itself. The hotel industry has continued to make progress in acquiring supplementary revenues from functions, parties, meetings and conferences. To that effect, the brief entails the preparation of a proposal to project manage the set up and renovations of the existing hotel lobby and old meeting rooms to be transformed into a more modern hotel lobby and new conference centre. In spite of the project one is managing, effective project management involves finishing the completing the project within the budget and on time, as well as the requirements of the business being fully met. Discussion There are three major characteristics that are associated with any type of project. First, it must have a goal since there is no point of carrying out a project if it does not attain anything. Second, it should be initiated because projects do not occur spontaneously. Lastly, it requires someone to run it; a project manager and steer it through to the attainment of a specific outcome. In this regard, the project manager as well as the proposed team will oversee the development and renovations of the existing hotel lobby and old meeting rooms into a modern hotel lobby and new conference centre. Basic roles and responsibilities of the project manager and the proposed team According to Lock (2007, p.39), understanding the major roles of the project manager can assist someone lead their projects successfully. Phillips (2010, p.57) affirms that a project manager has the overall responsibility for the successful initiation, designing, planning, execution, monitoring, and controlling, as well as closure of a project. The basic roles and responsibilities of the PM and the proposed team comprise of the following: plan and define the scope; activity planning and sequencing; resource planning; developing schedules; estimating time and cost; developing a budget; risk analysis; team leadership; controlling quality; produce a progress report every month; weekly communication meetings with team principals; weekly updates to the sponsor; market the project internally; maintain a project blog; ensuring all the required statutory and regulatory conditions are met; proactively manage foreseen project risk, mitigating as necessary; managing and leading the project team; hiring project staff and consultants; documentation; managing co-ordination of the partners and working groups engaged in the project work; developing and maintaining a detailed project plan; recording and managing project issues; managing project evaluation and dissemination activities; managing consultancy input within the defined budget; final approval of the design specification. Three functions crucial to the overall success of both the PM and the project itself Proactively manage foreseen project risk, mitigating as necessary: Risks usually arise from uncertainty (Dallas, 2006, p.17). Therefore, a successful PM is one who focuses on this as the major concern. Majority of the issues that affect a project arise in from risk. In this perspective, a good PM may reduce the risk significantly by adhering to the policy of open communication and making sure that every significant participant is offered an opportunity to put across their concerns and opinions. The project can conduct a risk analysis to objectively compare alternatives. Therefore, the PM is responsible for making decisions both small and huge in a manner that the risk is controlled and uncertainty reduced. Documentation: Documentation is defined by Berger (2009) as a set of documents that are provided on paper, digital, or analogue media. Good documentation optimizes productivity, quality of output, and reduces risk. The PM may use project management software ranging from Microsoft Project to Microsoft Excel to document, organize, implement plans, and develop resource estimates, as well as create schedules and charts. Due to the rapid growth of technology, there are various PC and mobile-based project management software packages that are in existence in the market today. These software packages permit the project managers to produce charts and reports in a very short time rather than several hours if it had been done by hand. Berger (2009) claims that properly documented procedures are vital to ensuring you get the most out of a project. Resource planning: The PM is tasked with ensuring that the resources are utilized appropriately. According to Harrison and Lock (2008, p.124), a resource plan summarises the level of resources required to complete a project. The PM ensures that the resource plan specifies the exact amount of labour, materials, and equipments. A resource plan identifies the types of labor that are required for the project, key responsibilities and roles of each kind of labour, the number of individuals needed to fill each role, the items of equipments to be utilized together with their purposes, types and quantities of equipment required, and total amount of materials needed (Ireland, 2009, p.78-79). A resource plan also assists the project manager to plan for the dates for utilizing the resources, identify the quantity of resource needed per project activity, and come up with a comprehensive resource use schedule. Since we are living in the age of information technology, during the construction of Hotel Tower in Dubai, resource planning software was used. This enabled the PM to schedule projects online. Project management and team building A project manager bridges the gap between the team and client. Therefore, he or she needs to have a fair knowledge of the industry they are in so as to ensure that they have ability to comprehend and discuss the problems with either party (Russell, 2011, p.29). Every team requires a leader, and the project manager is regarded as a team leader (Wysocki, 2010, p.121). When the BBC covers the Olympics or the World Cup, for example, it gathers a large team of technicians, researchers, producers, writers, and cameramen, many of whom have not met before the project. These specialists usually work together under a team leader. The PMs are responsible for the performance of their teams and make sure that their team members are meeting their goals together with the projects’ deadlines. The PM also defines the team direction.  PMs are supposed to know what their team is working on at all times. According to the theory of management by walking about, a good manager is supposed to get out and see what the team is doing (Hamilton, 2005, p.161). They need to be mindful of their team members and have an open line of communication with them. The PM can schedule weekly team meetings in order to keep track of team members progress on tasks in addition to ensuring that any questions which the members of the may have are responded to in a quick and efficient manner. The project manager is supposed to successful coordinate activities across various organisational platforms. Lead and motivate the team members. Assign work and follow up with team members to make sure that work is concluded on time and to a degree which is consistent with project’s successful completion. The project manager needs to foster collaboration among the team members. For example, when Fred Goodwin, the CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland invested £350 million to open a new headquarters building outside Edinburgh in 2005, among his objectives was to encourage productive collaboration among the employees. The four major skills of a project manager requires so as to be effective in building the right team of people to complete the project include planning, organising, leading, and controlling. First, planning ensures that everything is done according to schedule. This assists to the project to be completed within the scheduled time. Second, organizing involves making sure that everything occurs when it requires to and not too late or too soon. Third, the project manager needs to lead the people working on the project along with other project stakeholders. A leader focuses on the people inspiring and motivating them (Brookshaw, 2011). A leader is bound to lead by example, manage, create change, and fix problems (Griffin, 2010, p.23). Finally, with regard to controlling, the project manager measures, reports on progress, identifies problems, and other related issues and addresses them. Controlling checks errors and take corrective action in order to ensure that deviation from standards is reduced. It also ensures that the stated goals are attained in a desirable way. There is a common misconception that a project manager needs to know everything about the project in quaetion. In reality, however, this is not the case. For instance, hiring a project manager that is strictly technical so as to implement a technical project is not viewed as the best approach. Instead, hire a PM that has good communicaton skills. This is because communication skills is developed and perfected overtime. The PM can also build good team spirit by organising entertainment events for the team (Kloppenborg, 2011, p.112), make time to communicate with team members, rewarding good team behaviour in non-fiancially and financially (Meredith & Mantel, 2011, p.67), being the best of friends with every team member, recognising the value of the team members irrespective of the positions, and sharing in the value and attainabilty of the team’s goals, as well developing positive behaviour. Positivity brings long term benefits. The broaden and build theory affirms that positive emotions may widen our behaviour over time. All these efforts are aimed at achieving a collaborative team style. Project costing, contracting, and tendering Project costing is very crucial since the more accurate the project cost is the better the management of the project’s budget (Carroll, 2012, p.65). It is assumed that the resources will be productive for only 80 percent of their time. According to the design estimates, the hotel will be renovated at an estimated cost of £31,450,050. During my previous summer holiday in the U.S I noted that the total cost of the key hotel renovation project for Sunstone was $270 million. However, the budgeted total cost was approximated at $3,962,822. The cost of remodeling a 10x12 is about $7,880. Therefore, the hotel lobby measuring 1000x1200 will be remodeled at a cost of $7, 880,000. The cost per square feet will be $341. Anne Louise Inn was renovated at a cost of $13 million with the cost square feet being $429. Due to its proximity to London’s Heathrow Airport, the hotel will not be closed in its entirety and it will remain open after the renovations are complete. A contract is formed when an offer that is made by one party is accepted by the other party. Contracts will be offered on a competitive basis. Three proposals will be obtained with the lowest bidder being considered. Each bidder needs to have a long list of references and will be diligently checked. The contractors need to have experience in dealing with building inspectors as well as other building officials. Accident contingencies will be included in the contracts. Recently, a drywaller accidentally cut a wire in the wall and the contractor did not pay for the cost to bring it the electrician. The clause will avoid such incidents. Meredith and Mantel (2011, p. 78) define a tender as a submission that is made by a prospective supplier in response to a tender invitation. The main tendering process will be the selection of the contractor who will construct the hotel. Selective tendering will be used to save on time and prevent supplies that may be entirely unsuitable for the contract. A pre-selected list of possible suppliers will be prepared having a known track record to be suitable for the contract. Weele (2010, p.78) asserts that selective tendering is suitable for specialist contracts. Even in the aviation industry, selective tendering is used since it is a specialist sector. Recommended for project evaluation and considerations for the project proposal A project needs to be evaluated to determine its feasibility. Evaluation often plays a very crucial role at all stages of the project cycle. Effective communication needs to occur on a regular basis between the sponsors, PM, and staff. The lender’s supervisor is supposed to be in control. Given the potential importance of the hotel industry to economic development, the hotel needs to install state-of-the-art technology both in the new conference and hotel lobby. In my last visit to the airport, I noted that the lobby had internet connection improving connection between the company and the clients. Furthermore, most hotels I have visited have installed identification technologies as a security precaution before checking in. In relation to safety and regulation, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 needs to be adhered to. The hotel will also contract to a firm with an ISO 90003 for quality assurance in final inspection and testing and ISO 90002 in manufacture and installation. Since at the airport safety is the most crucial element, the government will conduct a final follow up inspection for the finished hotel project. The program theory outlines how the program’s actions should attain the outcomes it intends (Shadish, Cook, & Leviton, 2006, p.55). There is need to have clear planning and management guidelines that will ensure the project is completed within the scheduled time and budget. Upgrading of the hotel lobby as well the news conference will provide the business sector with top end venue meetings. Besides, there is also need to determine if there are any significant social issues or opportunities associated with the project. About costs, the resources that are devoted to every need to commensurate with the size and significance of the expenditure involved. Furthermore, the major clients along with stakeholders are supposed to be consulted on a regular to make sure that evaluations are relevant to needs of the client in order to avoid unnecessary costs and delays. The capital costs need to be evaluated and there should be confidence in the ability of the contractor to deliver. Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman (2013, p.38) argue that in the reconstruction projects it is vital to make sure that the contractors have adequate contingency levels for capital costs are maintained. Besides that, the contractors need to have experience of similar types of projects. The hotel’s renovation project is estimated to be about £31,450,050. However, the budgeted cost is about £59,950,040. In the hotel industry, design takes total priority as compared to guest experience. Table 1: Budget of the project Activity Cost (£) Roofing work 4,400,100 Plumbing 3,805,790 Electric installations and lighting 1,050,600 Design 2,349,600 Building products (Cement, composites Metal, glass, and plastics). 10,378,080 Hotel furniture 1,800,500 Wages 15,789,670 Materials 19,500, 300 Insulation 875,400 TOTAL £59,950,040. Table 2: The resource requirements for the project Resource Amount Costs (£ million) 18.5 Basic design (Hundreds of hours) 675 Construction (millions of hours) 8 Materials (£ million) 19.5 Contract management Contract management is a crucial element of project management. Kloppenborg (2011, p.132) is of the view that contract management is the management of contracts that are made with vendors, customers, and partners. Contract management entails negotiating the contract’s terms and conditions and ensure adherence to the terms and conditions, in addition to agreeing to any change that may come up during its implementation. The project will make use of business-standard contract management model exercising purview over the following business disciplines commitment, baseline, and communication management. The contract management will be implemented in a three step process. The first step is getting the basic contract management operations determined including appointment of people responsible for each contract and centralized contract repository. The second step is to make the contracts be part of the hotel business. This covers issues such as the utilization of contracts in operations like project management. The final step is a strategic step. It integrates contract management as the basis for long-term planning, and strategy formulation and implementation. To that effect, the firm will manage its contracts according to the databases or spreadsheets with no shared access. Even though a clear and enforceable contract is crucial so as to successfully tackle any problems which may occur during the contract’s execution, there are various challenges to contract management: Kousholt (2012, p.167) asserts that the timeline or budget may be exceeded. This arises because the scope of the project is not clearly defined; the occurrence of a change that results in uncertainty. This is because a formal change control process is not incorporated in the contract. Next is lack of resources with the right skills; challenge to contract management is contract violations whereby one individual does not fulfill the promise made in the contract; poor understanding of the contract can also lead to disputes; finally, violations in laws can result in void contracts. This leads to legal trouble either for one or both parties. Leadership and organisational structure The project will be headed by a general manager. The project will adopt top-down organisation since information will be moving from the general manager to the workers. Figure 1: Project organization structure (Akkan, 2011, p.639). The team will comprise of a hierarchical organization system to enable proper coordination and efficiency of project operations. Since the PM is the team leader, all the personnel will be answerable to the project manager including the employees and head of departments in human resource, marketing, finance, and legal. The project manager then reports to the general manager. How project managers deal with conflict with their team members Conflict is a normal occurrence in teams together with organizations. Leadership and management play a very crucial role in resolving and managing conflict between team members. Project managers are team leaders. Convey (1999, p.13) argues that the major responsibility of team leaders is to resolve conflicts. When I was carrying group assignment and I was tasked to lead the group, I often resolved conflicts among my team members. A project manager deals with conflicts on internal resistance in various ways. First, they identify the cause of the conflict and find a common ground between the two parties and come up with a solution. The second way is discouraging competition in the team but encouraging collaboration to ensure that the team works together. Next, listening to the grievances of the team members ensuring that the team member feels his or her grievances are taken seriously. Fourth, communicate openly with the team members in case of internal resistance or conflict. Fifth, inquire from the team members their ideas in relation to the manner in which the conflict can be resolved. Next, preparing for resolution by discussing the effect the conflict is having on the performance and dynamics of the team. Seventh, Gahr, and Mosca (27) note that PM do not let the conflict get personal by sticking to issues and facts, but not personalities. Eighth, Cappozzoli (2007, p.28) affirms that conflict can also resolved by breaking the team into smaller groups by separating people who are in alliance. The smaller groups then analyze each other’s position and arrive at a solution. Finally, the team can attend training on communication skills and conflict resolution as a group. How project managers plan for contingencies Contingency plan are usually developed to explore and prepare adequately for any eventuality. For example, Cantor Fitzgeral which is a financial services firm in the US is a good example of a successful implementation of a business contingency plan. Within two hours the company had lost 658 of its 960 New York employees in the September 11 terrorist attacks. However, in spite if this loss, the company resumed business within a week. Currently, there are contingency plans to deal with terrorist attacks. Harrison and Lock (2010, p.98) point out that coming up with a project contingency plan requires a high level of creativity and lateral thinking. The PM plan for contingencies to reduce the probability of a risk happening and also ensures that should risk occur, its effect to the project is reduced. The PM may plan for contingencies in various ways including hiring trained specialists, purchase additional equipment, ensuring that all resources are provided, holding regular meetings with the customer, increase estimates for related risks, and reducing the functionality to meet deadlines. Besides, the PM will also compare previous projects to their original budgets to establish the amount of money to be added to the budget for contingencies. There are particular contingencies that because of the length of time they take to implement are supposed to be activated before the risk happens. As a consequence, the contingency plan needs to have some kind of trigger that determines when to start it off. When the risk is considered to be big enough and highly probable to occur, therefore, the project manager will be required to implement the contingency. Section two Project implementation As shown in figure 2 below, the programme cycle for the project will comprise of setting the strategy, developing the project, mobilizing the resources, implementing and monitoring, and lastly, evaluation. Figure 2: Programme cycle (Ireland, 2009, p.45). As the project manager I will come up with an implementation plan. The suppliers will apply for tendering process and the best shall be chosen from the three shortlisted candidates. Since the renovation will involve special consideration, selective tendering process will be maintained. The contractors are supposed to be at least familiar with the hotel industry as well as the type of project. In case of any risk, actions will be taken to prevent the events from happening. For actions that will not be prevented, actions will be taken to reduce the impact of the event. Risk management workshops will be conducted throughout the projects lifecycle. As a consequence, the risk triggers will also be monitored. Figure 3: Risk management framework. Any project requires human capital. Therefore, the firm shall recruit and select qualified people through competitive application. Following this further, since various people will be working on the project, job responsibility will be communicated to all the team members. The client and the contracting firm will communicate regularly to ensure that the project is being done according to schedule and budget via project review meetings. Besides regular meetings with the team members, the project manager needs to ensure that the executive manager as well as the client is adequately informed throughout the project progress. To ensure completion of the project on time and within budget, a resource plan will be developed. In this perspective, a resource plan helps the project managers to budget and forecast project expenditure. The resource plan will specify the exact amount of labour, materials, and equipments that will be required by the project. To prepare the infrastructure including the building materials, communication devices and software, computer hardware, and other related materials specific to the project. All the project information will be documented in order to provide all the parties involved with clear information about the goals of the project, task agenda, time frame for project completion, along with the project’s budget. The project’s goals will be set, specifications defined, come up with a plan of action, and compare results with the required results. In case the required results are not attained, an evaluation would be done to determine where the problem was. In this regard, risk management techniques are very crucial. The theory of risk management posits that risks need to be proactively managed (Chapman & Ward, 2013, p.22). A risk management plan will be developed during the planning process. First, the identification of the risk will be done. Second, a qualitative analysis would be done. As cited by Chapman and Ward (2013, p.28), this ensures that risks are classified as significant and insignificant. The project team will use the risk matrix and urgency assessment. After the analysis, risk responses will be formulated for those risks that need them. Lastly, risk monitoring is supposed to be carried out as for those risks that need ongoing monitoring. A risk register would be developed to enable the project team be aware of all the risks. Smith and Jobling (2012, p.34) affirm that a risk register tracts the management of risks. Risk management ensures that the project can be put to maximum use. For example, the Olympic venues in London were developed with a clear focus to the future to avoid underutilization after the games. Figure 4: Risk management steps (Chapman & Ward, 2013, p.34). There is need to record everything that may jeopardize the project, such as, contract management and project claim management. All the data together with information obtained from records and project meetings will do into the controlling tools that were prepared during the planning phase. Finally, the project will be tested and commissioned. Conclusion A project needs to be initiated, have a specific goal, and a project to run it. The project manager is tasked with planning, executing, and closing any project. A PM also creates concise and achievable project objectives, develop the requirements of the project, and manage the limitations of the project management triangle including, time, scope, and cost. A project manager needs to have a combination of various skills, such as the ability to detect unstated assumptions, ask penetrative questions, resolve conflicts, and more general management skills. The project manager is the team leader. He or she can develop a collaborative team style by behaving as one of them. Team spirit and enthusiasm can enable the realization of the project’s goals due to effective communication between the PM and team members. Contract management is crucial for the project. The major goals for contract management project are make sure that there is an easy access to contract information as well as to form flexible support for the contract workflow. Project managers are regarded as team leaders. As a result, they are tasked with resolving conflicts in their teams. A project manager needs to ensure management of risk. Development of a contingency explores and prepares adequately for any eventuality. Risk management prevents the effect of the risk occurrence to the project. Therefore, risk management is a major role of a project manager. The project needs to be completed within the scheduled time, budget, and scope. Risk management secures the project. After, the completion of the project an evaluation, testing, and commissioning are done. References Akkan, C. 2011. Project Management, New York: Cengage Learning. Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. 2004. Management: The New Competitive Landscape. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Berger, D. 2009. Procedures and documentation. Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://www.maintenanceonline.org/maintenanceonline/content_images/p11%20Trans%20View-20080410-222135.pdf Berkun, S. 2009. The Art of Project Management. New York: Sage Publications. Brookshaw, P. 2011. Leadership and Management Differences and Similarities: Retrieved January 12, 2015, from: www.petebrookshaw.com/.../leadership-and-management. 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