Project Management Fire and Rescue Operation - Assignment Example

Project Management Plan [Your Names] [Name of the Institution] Project management –Fire and Rescue Operation Task (1) “A project manager cannot take ownership of a project without believing in it. If the project manager cannot buy into the project, then there is little or no chance that he or she can influence other project participants to buy in” Justification for project planning The ultimate purpose of planning is to build a model that enables the prediction of the activities and resources that are critical to the timely completion of a project. A project can only be delivered on time, and within the stipulated budget if strategies are implemented to ensure that activities and resources are managed properly. According to Paul E. Harris (2010) Project planning is aimed at Identifying the total scope of the project and plan to deliver it, Evaluating different project delivery methods Identifying the deliverables required to deliver a project under a logical breakdown of the project, Identifying and optimizing the use of resources and evaluating if the targeted dates may be met, Identify risks involved, plan on how to optimize them and set priorities, Provide a baseline plan against which progress in measured Assist in stakeholders' communication, identifying what is to be done, when and by whom, Assisting management to think ahead and make informed decisions The project manager is mandated with the overall duty of overseeing successful completion of a project. According to Harold Kerzner (2009), the project manager ensures individual integrity and professionalism. He/she is expected to act in a professional manner at all times which includes adhering to all legal requirements, maintaining moral and ethical standards (Pg 342). The project manager is also expected to contribute to the project management knowledge base by sharing project management knowledge on such topics as best practices, lessons learned and continuous improvement efforts (Harold Kerzner 2009, Pg. 342). They are also expected to enhance their own individual competencies in the same manner as they contribute to the profession. Project managers acts as integrators; ensuring that all the project activities, strategies and approaches are an integrated effort, as communicators; communicating with all stakeholders and building the right support and relationships and as leaders; motivating and inspiring team to deliver the project work through the provision of vision and direction (PM4DEV 2008, Pg 76). Before a project kicks off, the project manager must verify and authorize it. This must be supported by other documents such as feasibility studies, SWOT analysis, and situation reports as well as other authorization documents like minutes of the previous discussion meeting among others (Enzo Frigenti, Dennis C 2002 Pg. 140). This provides the project manager with relevant knowledge and a clear understanding of the tasks ahead and how the project will be executed (P Harris 2009, 2-1). According to John Adair's simple Action-Centered Leadership theory, good managers and leaders should have full command of the team, individual, the task involved and should be able to use each of the elements according to the situation. Being able to do all of these things, and keep the right balance, gets results, builds morale, improves quality, develops teams and productivity. Task (2) Project Initialization Aim The aim of this project is to systematically apply theories to a complex problem solving tasks relative to fire and rescue operation using a complex project plan utilizing a certain software package. The project outcome is also aimed at critically evaluating the application of academic theories to the practice of project management Objectives The objectives of this project are: Reliability and maintainability Reliability can be defined as a mean time between failure and mean time to replacement of a component, part, subsystem or system. It can also be referred to as the useful life of a product (Joan Knutson, Ira Bitz, 1991, pg.12). The reliability of this project is------ Maintainability is the mean time to repair or replace component, or part, subsystem or system (Joan Knutson, Ira Bitz, 1991, pg.12). The proposed project should have a maintainability period of less than five minutes. This thus requires redundancy in the system such that in case of failure of one component, subsystem or system operation and services are not interrupted. Benefits Project management helps to increase the levels of customer satisfaction, and it also provides an improved project cycle which helps the developers to stick to the plan. Although project management does not always prevent unexpected deviations from the plan, it provides a set of processes to counter the unexpected problems if they occur. With a good project management organizations are able to complete projects on time, on the estimated budget and to a high level of quality. Additional benefits that the project, Fire and Rescue Operation will have for conducting an effective project management are: It provides a ‘road map’ that is easily followed until the completion of the project which increases efficiency in delivering services. The project will be executed faster by using common templates and processes. Due to active project monitoring, there will be little or no surprises as problems that are likely to occur are discovered early. Better decision making is guaranteed due to improved project communication. Better up-front project definition, planning and estimation of both cost and time. Improve increase and enhance customer satisfaction due to a first round high quality of the product which in turn reduces rework. Project management increase risk assessment in that it provides a red flag before the project completion. Project management also promotes better understanding between team members, which improves the growth and the quality of the product. Costs Cost management it is an extremely valuable clause in project management and project management is not complete without it. Cost management involves determining and knowing the human and financial resources required to complete the project within the approved budget. A good budget will help in making good decisions with respect to the resource allocation constraints and project schedule. Effective project management will help in getting the project to be done on time and budget. To determine the budget for the Fire and Rescue Operation Project, I used three steps. These are: Estimate costs Determine budget Control costs a. Estimate Costs This is the first step in cost management, and it involves estimating costs of each activity in the project. This step occurs in the planning phase of a project, and it includes both physical and human resources. Estimated costs are the best guesses at the actual cost of each activity. The techniques I used for a good estimate are: Analogous estimates Parametric modeling Bottom-up estimating. b. Determining the budget This step involves creating a realistic project budget using the best guess estimates that I obtained in step one. In this step, the funding requirements and cost baseline for the project are determined. The techniques that I used in determining the budget are: Cost aggregation Reserve Analysis Historical data Funding limit reconciliation c. Controlling the Costs This step involves critically checking where the actual costs vary from the estimated costs. In order to control costs effectively, I regularly measured and monitored the performance of the budget and revised where necessary. Techniques used are: Forecasting Variance analysis To complete performance index (TCIP) Earned value management Performance Reviews After performing all the three steps of cost management, I came up with a project budget for the Fire and Rescue Operation that describes budget and cost that is required for the completion of the project. The budget describes estimates for material, labor and other items that will be needed for the duration of the project till its completion. Budget during the lifecycle of the project Task Labor Material Others Total 1. Initiate Project 1.1 Develop Project Charter $9,500 - - $9,500 2. Plan the Project 2.1 Develop Work Plan - - - - 2.2 Develop Project Control Plan $ 16,000 - - $16,000 2.3 Finalize Project Plan $ 5,000 - - $5,000 3. Execute and Control Project 3.1 Design Framework $5,000 - - $5,000 3.2 Build Framework $70,000 - $3,000 $73,000 3.3 Test the Framework $30,000 - $30,000 3.4 Implement the Framework - - - 4. Close the Project Total Project Budget $138,500 Support budget after completion of the project Task Amount Support labor $10,000 Total $10,000 Support labor includes an estimate of the cost that will be incurred due to maintenance and any changes that may be done to the project after completion. Business Case A business case is a description of the reasons why I am carrying out this project and it also tries to convince the management to approve the project. It provides evidence which will prove that this project is an investment to both the community and the organization or the funding partner. The document will balance costs, benefits and risks involved with taking the action of developing the project or conversely not taking any action at all. Benefits The proposed Fire and Rescue Operation project that am carrying out are supposed to help in conducting fire brigade rescue operations by making sure they receive the emergencies on time, therefore; they are able to respond as fast as they get them. With this project both the community and the organization will benefit, these benefits include: The project will provide better fire or disaster management. The organization will be able to effectively manage emergencies that they receive. The effects that occur due to fire or other disasters will drastically reduce due to quick response. The organization will be able to plan for rescue operations. The rescue operations will be faster and more effective than before. Options The other course of action or alternative that I considered when coming up with this project is not taking any action at all which means leaving things the way they are as per now. Cost The budget for the whole project from initiation to completion up to maintenance is a total of $158,500 as demonstrated earlier. Comparing this amount and the benefits that the organization and the community at large will gain from the project then I conclude that the development of this project will be worth it. In addition, the amount can’t be compared with millions of properties and lives lost in case of fires and other emergencies. Activities In this project, there are nine main activities or tasks and each has several sub-activities as shown below: 1. Develop project charter: This is the first activity that will be undertaken in the development of this project and it signifies the beginning of the project. The sub-activities under this are: Define scope Define requirements Define High level roles Define high level budget Define high level control strategies Finalize charter 2. Develop a work plan: In this activity a work plan that will guide the developing team throughout the development process. The sub-activities under this activity are: Develop work breakdown structure Develop project staffing plan Develop a project schedule Develop product budget 3. Develop project control plan: This activity involves coming up with a plan that will control the development process, for example, how the team members will communicate during development. It includes: Develop a communication plan Develop quality management plan 4. Finalize the project plan and gain approvals: This stage involves wrapping up the plan and gaining approvals to go ahead with implementation from the concerned parties. 5. Design the framework: The description of the proposed project is converted into logical and then physical framework. It includes: Define stages and activities Design content format Design web delivery tool 6. Build the framework: In this stage the actual development or implementation takes place. It includes: Write the content Review content for quality Build web tool prototype 7. Test the framework: This involves testing the product for any errors. The sub-activities are: Test web tool usability Test content usability Adjust tool and content based on feedback 8. Deliver the framework: It involves delivering the complete product to the customers. The sub-activities include: Move the product to production environment Announce tool availability 9. Close the project: This activity signifies the completion of the project. It includes: Conduct post project review Milestones Milestones can be defined as activities, tasks or events in a project that requires special attention since their completion signifies important achievement in a project. The milestones set on this project were; a. The plan was finalized and presented b. The project plan was approved, and developers were given a go ahead. c. The project framework was designed, built and tested successfully d. The project reached the end of its lifecycle. Staffing The project management contains staffing plan, which ensures that the project has enough staff, with the right skills and experience in order to guarantee a high quality product and successful completion of the project. The staffs required, and the roles they are going to play is demonstrated in the below table. It includes various project teams who perform different roles, their responsibility, skills required and the number of staffs who will are in each team, therefore, who will participate in that role. Project team Responsibility Skills Required Number of staffs Project manager Lead team, Link different teams makes decisions Project management 1 Quality assurance team Review plan and deliverables assure quality Project management 1 Content developers Come up with framework content, requirement gathering Research and writing skills 2 Web designer Design software Web design 3 Web developer Build the actual software Web development 6 Review team Promote the use and evaluate deliverables Project management 2 Maintenance team Maintain after installation Web development 2 Risk Management Plan Risk management plan is a document prepared by the project manager; it describes the foreseen risks, estimates impacts and explains how to respond to those risks. The table below shows the Risk management plan for the Fire and Rescue Operation project. The table includes the risks identified, the risks severity and frequency, priority and a summary of control measures taken to curb the risks. Risk Identified Frequency Severity Priority Control Measures Natural disasters Low High High Review emergency operation plan. Facility safety Medium High High Frequent safety inspection of all facilities. Health inspection of all members assigned. Highway incidents during operations Low High High Come up with traffic control measures. Develop and adhere to all rules and regulations that are on record. Infections or injuries obtained on job High Medium Medium Ensure members are always using protective clothing during operations. Training members on prevention and control measures. Developing and updating the exposure control plan. Vehicle operation emergencies Medium High High Monitor both non-emergency and emergency operations. Monitor driving records of all individuals Adhere to accidents review policy. Documents Management Plan Purpose The purpose of this document is to highlight the documents for the Fire and Rescue Operation project will be managed throughout the lifecycle of the project. It is designed to guide the project team as it describes how to manage the hard copy and electronic documents. The information contained in a document management plan describes key components of a project library. Objectives of project management Document management protects the documents from getting lost or losing track of them. It achieves the following objectives: It provides safety to all documents in a project library by providing safe storage. Provide a complete and correct project documents to the organization after the completion of the project. Provide measures for maintaining document confidentiality by keeping them away from unauthorized people. Over the life cycle of the project, a record of approved deliverables is kept. It defines the standards for document preparation and review. Terms, Acronyms and Abbreviation OSI Office of Systems Integration WorkSite Interwoven System ( commonly known as iManage) Document Maintenance This document will be reviewed and updated annually as it progresses through each phase in its life cycle. A revision log is contained in the document that is used to enter the updated version, the date it was updated, the person who updated it and the description of changes made. Roles and Responsibilities Role Responsibility Project Director Ensuring that deliverable is archived Project Manger Ensure compliance with the document management plan of the project Project librarian Ensure project documents are stored correctly Project team Creating and storing documents Completing the profile information for each document Contractor project team Provide all information to the project manager Acquisitions manager Ensures that solicitation documents are stored in the library Contract manager Ensures that contract documentation is maintained Worksite administrator Responsible for maintaining worksite application and database Types of project documents There are several types of project documents, they are categorized into the ones created, received and used by the project. These are: Analyses and Recommendation Administrative documentation Contract Management Documentation Correspondence and Communications E-mail Plans and Processes Presentations Reference Materials Status Documentation Working Papers Gantt chart It is a” project management tool that is used to plan and analyze projects that are under development. The Gantt chart it helps to monitor and manage the project in order to ensure it is on schedule”(Joan K,1991). The Gantt chart shown below the time schedule of the Fire and Rescue Operation project. Page one of the Gantt chart Page two of the Gant chart Page three of the Gantt chart Page four of the Gantt chart References Enzo Frigenti, Dennis C (2002). The Practice of Project Management: A Guide to the Business- Focused Approach. Kogan Page Publishers Harold Kerzner (2009) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. John Wiley & Sons Joan K. Ira B (1991). Project Management: How to Plan and Manage Successful Projects AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn P. Harris (2009) Project Planning and Scheduling Using Primavera Contractor Version 6.1. Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd Paul E. Harris (2010) Project Planning and Control Using Primavera P6: For All Industries Including Versions 4 To 7, Page 6. Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd PM4DEV (2008). Fundamentals of Project Management. Lulu.com http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ep50AO-B06oC&printsec=frontcover&dq=how+to+plan+for+a+project&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gYcvUf3tBoez0QWO4oDQCA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBA Read More