Project Management Knowledge and Practice - Case Study Example

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLAN Name of the student Date of submission 1. Introduction Project management can be said to be multi-disciplinary subject. Modern project management theory was developed by 1950s for the organic combination with engineering fields and later on project management was recognized as a management discipline with engineering model. With the era changes, project management discipline and application is also developed and changed -- from engineering to IT industry and now which is widely used in business field. In order to be as a qualified project manager, solid project management knowledge reserve is quite essential, that is the main reason for doing this topic. 2.0 Personal problem Following the increasing the number of deaths due to inadequate number of health facilities available in rural set ups, the government in conjunction with World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated projects of having at least one hospital in every county (Kerzner 2013). The government acknowledged the dissatisfaction that residents were facing and decided to award me this tender to spearhead the establishment of a hospital in one of the counties (Kerzner 2013). Therefore, as a construction firm, we are putting a definite plan in place to have an organized roadmap to which this project will run to its completion successfully. Project management is a management science, which needs solid management theory learning as well as actual experience support. I was working as health project management assistant in my previous working experience. The shortage of affluent and systematic theory support always makes me it hard, more so for project integration aspects and time management. Consequently, developing project management competencies is a hard work for me. Project Management Competency Assessment Matrix is a good approach to reasonably evaluate the involvement in projects and map current project management competency. Personally, I will mark myself the competency scores as Competent. Basically I improve integration, communication management ability, but some aspects do not perform well, I will describe them in Gap analysis. To sum up, I will still keep learning project management theories and apply into real works. 3.0 Gap Analysis In any construction site, there tend to be uncertainties that minimize the achievement of an expected output. For instance in my project of construction of a community hospital, risks such as injuries of workers tend to be high. The plan that I am designing does not may not address that matter adequately the plan in place has incorporated strategies to handle minor casualties that may arise in the course of construction, whereas the major losses may prove to be cumbersome because there are may be no experienced medical staff stationed at the construction site to attend to them. Basically gap analysis could show the gaps between the optimized levels or objectives and the integration of current or ongoing levels. By taking advantage of gap analysis, it can be used to check what the degree of current assessment of performance or competency in our health system. 4.0 The Scope of the Project Scope management is the starting point of project management activity, it helps to increase the acceptance and recognition of product, service or result by validating each deliverable of the project. The outline of this project entails covering all the relevant phases from the Planning phase until the finishing stage of the construction process. This will include General & specific objectives of the project to offer guidelines to team members Projected cost to be incurred in the entire project Management and supervision of the project team members. Formal & informal communication mechanisms to be observed amongst team members and stakeholders at large Risk analysis & management strategies Project’s resources procurement protocol that is the methods of acquiring the necessary resources needed in the construction Duration of time intended to be covered in the construction of the hospital 5.0 Current Project Management Competency Situation In my opinion, the 'competency' is the combination of adequate theory and concept accumulation plus experience and practice support. According to the Project Management Competency Assessment Matrix, it is easy to evaluate self-performance not only in this subject but also in my personal development. Basically, I made a great progress on scope, communication and integration areas, so I marked these items as competent level. Some of the project benefits include. As had been proposed to the government by the health organization bodies, some communities in rural set-ups were facing a little bit of a challenge when it comes to assessing medical services. This was because there were few medical institutions and thus could not offer adequate medical assistance during emergencies (Burke 2013). Therefore, based on their recommendations to the government, the government saw the need to liaise with World Health Organization (WHO) to address this challenge, hence the proposal to have construction of additional hospitals in every country. In addition, the project has given me a platform to improve on my prowess as a construction manager and identify other areas that I will need to address so as to be the best in the construction field (Larson & Gray 2014). The project as provided employment opportunities as well. The casual laborers to be engaged in the entire process of constructing the hospital will earn a living in the process. There will also be the deployment of additional health works including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, counselors and other office administrative staffs. 6.0 Objective Evaluation and Current Performance As has mentioned before, some goals has been identified in terms of this subject. To sum up, the objective of personal project management development is to combine project management theories and previous working experience in order to improve project management comprehensive competency. So, it can be easily understood that the left hand is PM theory and the right hand is actual PM experience, the objective is to use the hands together and make success. Then the scope, costs and time required comes out. In reference to the work plan that I am developing, the various groups to be involved in the construction process will have a team leader to oversee his/her team members duties as follows:- The team leaders will have their plans integrated based on a work breakdown the structure as documented in my entire project plan. The various team leaders will ensure their members performance are measurable and can be evaluated according to my project plan. Any changes must be documented and incorporated into the general project plan. They will ensure they have a communication plan in place to assist in the management of information within their docket. This will ensure transparency in monitoring and controlling each and every team members' work (Larson & Gray 2014). They will develop Project Time Plan (PTP) & Project Operating Plan (POP) to steer their team members towards meeting their respective targets within the stipulated timeframe. This will eventually assist me to complete my construction of the hospital within the expected timeframe (Larson & Gray 2014). They will have a projected Operating Cost Plan (OCP) to act as platform to ensure they find out the actual work documented. Team leaders should also have risk management strategies in place to address risks that may arise such as injuries at the designated construction sites, absenteeism of his/her team members, shortage of building materials and weather changes among others 7.0 The General objective of the project: The general aim of this project is to finish the construction of the hospital within the stipulated timeframe at the expected total cost of construction. The Scope of the project: The areas to be addressed by the project as discussed earlier will be done by the various groups that I have formed to help make the work easier (Verzuh 2011). The groups through their team leaders will ensure they align their duties and responsibilities in line with the general objective of the project. The availability of required resources: The necessary resources required to put up the hospital facility is already factored in the plan and sources of the resources identified as follows:- Building materials The construction materials such as 8000 bags of cement, 3500 rolls of 100m steel, 1000kgs of nails & 20 Lorries of timber will be supplied by an identified supplier known as Ibrahim Sigh & Sons Ltd. Labor Various chosen team leaders will identify suitable members to work under them as suggested in the project plan. The teams leaders will organize its members based on the organization chart and have a responsibility chart in place guide the team members in the implementation phase. Water As suggested in my project plan, a borehole will be drilled at the hospital construction site to supply water to the construction workers. Transportation There will be four Lorries and three pickups to assist in ferrying other construction materials from other sources to the construction site A. Estimated Budget: I have estimated my budget to be at a tune of $15m.The structure below shows the breakdown of the costs County Hospital Construction Budget Expenses: High Construction Costs Building materials $3m Construction site works $1.5m Landscaping, Furnishing & Equipment $0.5m Foundation, Flooring & Drywall $1m Electrical wiring, Plumbing & security system $0.5 Framing & Roofing $1.5m $8m Light Construction Costs Casual labor fees $2m Architects & Civil Engineers $2m $4m Other Costs Machinery & Equipment Hiring $3m $3m Total Expenses $15m 8.0 Project Plan Affirmation Based on my documented project plan, the management of the project's life cycle is expected to be a success since the team to be involved a dedicated one with a lot of experience with their name. The Risk Management Plan in place will be utilized to identify and control uncertainties that may hinder the hospital construction project (Verzuh 2011). The Procurement process to manage the acquisition of necessary resources is explicitly stated in the documented project plan (Gido & Clements 2014). There will also be Project Management Plan to effect changes in the project outputs at every phase so as to align them towards the anticipated production, this eventually the constructed hospital meets the required standards set by the government (Chia 2013). Some Challenges that the project may encounter: Every given project experiences shortcomings in its implementation phase. This is always because the plan is based on an estimate that may turn out to be different from the actual results that are witnessed at the final stage of the project implementation (Schwalbe 2013). For instance, in my management of the community hospital construction, I have foreseen a number of issues that may end up being a stumbling block to the achievement of quality results (Larson & Gray 2014). These questions may include:- Inadequate Risk Management Plan (RMP) In any construction site, there tend to be uncertainties that minimize the achievement of an expected output. For instance in my project of construction of a community hospital, risks such as injuries of workers tend to be high. The plan that I am designing does not may not address that matter adequately; the plan in place has incorporated strategies to handle minor casualties that may arise in the course of construction, whereas the major losses may prove to be cumbersome because there are may be no experienced medical staff stationed at the construction site to attend to them. Limited Resources The establishment of this community hospital is based entirely on the estimated amount of resources in my possession. Sometimes the unexpected may arise during the implementation phase. The supplied materials such as 8000 bags of cements, the rolls of steel metal, sand, the pieces of timber, the concrete ballast and 1000 Kgs of nails among others may prove to be insufficient. In this case, the budget will need to be revised which to some extent may alter some important part of the project plan (Walker 2015). Improper Communication Strategies When the selected various team leaders fails to adhere to the protocol of having a proper Communication Plan in place, there may be gaps in the operations of his/her team members resulting in confusion hence causing delays in meeting members' targets (Walker 2015). In addition, when the team members have no proper communication mechanisms in place, they may end up reporting information that do not reflect the current position of the construction project and therefore misleading the stakeholders of the project. Changes in Weather Conditions During the implementation phase, the climate conditions may turn out to be unfavorable and eventually affecting the construction process. The weather changes such as sudden torrential downpour among others may not be conducive for workers to carry on with their duties (Walker 2015). Political Risks Since this project of constructing hospitals is a government initiated program, there could be opposing factors especially politicians as a result of different ideologies that may affect the entire project. These opposing parties may rush to courts to block the implementation phase of this project till their grievances are addressed (Verzuh 2011). 9.0 Project Management and Future Career The selected team leaders will have a Work Break-Down structure and an Organization Chart to enable them delegate duties & responsibilities to members of their group as defined in my project plan shared with them (Turner 2014). I have a Risk Management Plan in place to address various risks that the project may encounter during the implementation phase. The team leaders are aware of the mechanisms to consider in managing risky situations (Turner 2014). 10.0 Conclusion Based on the experience I gained while managing the construction of a County Social Hall, the lessons learned will play a significant role in making this current project of the community hospital a success too (Verzuh 2011).The team leaders that will be working under me are quite knowledgeable in their areas of interest and thus expected to deliver as required. It can be concluded that I learned affluent project management knowledge and practice in this subject. The professional development plan is just a starting point for my project management future development. It is my great pleasure that I can cooperate with excellent group members in this semester. The personal GAP analysis evaluate project management aspects in terms of my personal performance and future development goals and objectives Reference Burke 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. Chia, R. 2013. Paradigms and perspectives in organizational project management research: implications for knowledge-creation. Gido, J., & Clements, J. 2014. Successful project management. Cengage Learning. Kerzner 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons. Larson, E. W., & Gray, C 2014. Project Management: The Managerial Process with MS Project. Schwalbe, K. 2013. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. Turner, J. 2014 Gower handbook of project management. Gower Publishing, Ltd.. Verzuh, E. 2011. The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons. Walker, A. 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons. Read More