Australian National University Environmental Management Plan - Case Study Example

Analysis of Project Management Plan    Executive Summary In the modern world, the project management plan has served a very valuable role of dictating the very different diverse aspects of the particular project plan to the predetermined stakeholders and also to the members and the general managers of the particular project plan that is to be developed. This notable plan has been established to solve the diverse demands; project needs and most important the predetermined duties of every particular stakeholder of the particular business company or simply the organization under consideration. The Australian national university (ANU) Environmental Management Plan can be defined as a modern project plan that was prepared in the year 2011 in order to address various activities that lead to the increased green house gases as a result of man activities in the planet earth. The addressed project has been used to articulate the importance amongst other valuable factors about the said project plan in its accomplishment. It should be noted that this notable study has employed knowledge sought from different theories, ideas from modern resource materials such as books, online resources alongside other resources that will appear in the list of references. It is that sought knowledge that was used to keenly analyze different sections of the project plan and certainly also addressed the various factors that will likely cause the failure or success of the project plan. Also various techniques detailing the constraints, risks and negative impacts of the project have been addressed. Conclusions and recommendations to the project plan have been discussed. Table of Contents Topic page number Executive summary 1 Table of contents 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0Project`s Background 5 2.1 Information about the Work 5             2.1.1 Title 5             2.1.2 Author 5             2.1.3 Publication Information 5 2.2 Project Description 5 3.0 The Structure and contents of the Project Plan 7 3.1. The Project Management Plan and Its Sole Purpose 7 3.1.1 What is Project Plan? 7 3.1.2 Purposes and Importance of the Project Plan 8 3.2 The Stakeholders of the ANU Environmental Management Plan 9 3.3 The Structure of the ANU Environmental Management Plan 11 3.4 The Sections of the ANU Environmental Management Plan 13 3.4.1 The Project Stakeholders 13 3.4.2 The Project Scope 15 3.4.3 The Project`s Time Schedule 16 3.4.4 The Project Cost 17 3.4.5 The Project Accountabilities 18 3.4.6 Project Communications 18 3.4.7 Project Risk Management Plan 19 3.4.8 Project procurement management plan 20 4.0 The Conclusions 21 5.0 The Recommendations 22 6.0 References 23 Table of figures Figure 1 6 Figure 2 14 Figure 3 15 Figure 4 17 Table of tables Table 1 19 Table 2 20 Critical Analysis of Project Management Plan 1.0 Introduction This particular report has been prepared to provide a critical analysis about the Australian National University (ANU) Environmental Management plan. The sole purpose of this entire report is to generally employ the different theories and modern ideas about the project management plan. The critique analysis provides an exclusive critique have is used in the evaluation of an author`s work based on the principles’ of ideas, personal opinion as well as the dimension of a person’s perspective. Finally this report contains the project plan that has been analyzed in the part B section. Lets note that this report will provides the author`s opinion into details in regard to the different sections in the report. The report will exclusively analyze the entire project by breaking it down into subsections for easier understanding since each section has been analyzed with knowledge sought from different sources ranging from books to online sources as well as general knowledge.              Finally this report will express the importance of the certain project plan, the parties that will benefit from its utilization as a result of implementation. The general structure of the report will follow the structure of the project plan being analyzed. It should be noted that the report will individually analyzed each of the sections of the report based on the project management knowledge. The ultimate goal of the report is to give an overview of the project`s main section which entails details about the projects’ time schedule, the human resource management, the cost amongst other factors of consideration. The risks, conclusion as well as recommendations have also been analyzed at the near end of the report. 2 Project`s Background 2.1 Information about the Work             2.1.1 Title: Australian National University Environmental Management Plan             2.1.2 Author:             2.1.3 Publication Information: 2.2 Project Description This particular chosen document entirely focuses on the management of the Australian National University Environmental management project. The plan was prepared in order to review the certain areas that have encouraged the emission on the greenhouse gases and offers strategies that will be employed on the reduction of those gases. This report will exclusively entail a detailed overview on the reduction of emission of the carbon dioxide gas by 20% by the 2015 (ANU green, 2009). Figure 1: Overview on electricity consumption and carbon Dioxide emissions The Green ICT initiative within the plan will offer the Australian National University (ANU) a platform from which they comprehend the ever growing demand of the integrated communication technology (ICT). The ICT has been established to be one of the contributors of the carbon footprints within the environs of the ANU. The report offers detailed research on the modern means to mitigate the negative environmental impacts within the ANU surroundings. The major means on reducing the negative impacts is to reduce the electricity consumption since it is a major contributor of the greenhouse gases emissions. ANU is a major consumer of electricity, it consumed a total 82,242,411 kWh of electricity and it turn an emission of 74,018.2 t CO2e was realized in 2009 (Australian National University, 2010). ICT consumed around 15% of electricity (Gartner, 2009). And thus the research will entirely focus on the means and ways to cutting down this amount of electricity consumption. The said project management plan will certainly employ modern techniques towards reduction of the greenhouse gases to the ANU immediate surroundings so that a cleaner and greener environment is realized in the coming few years to ensure all the society lives in a secure environment. 3.0 The Structure and contents of the Project Plan 3.1 The Project Management Plan and Its Sole Purpose 3.1.1 What is Project Plan? We can actually define a project management plan as rather a document that dictates the purposes, the objectives, certain responsibilities, the project`s agenda and the resource requirements for a project to be implemented (Baker & Baker 2003, p.29). The project plan is a dynamic document that controls many projects elements since it outlines how various tasks will be accomplished in the right time and by whom. The various projects elements controlled by plan are; The provide structure- a projects` plan is always developed to present a structure that will enable a project to be implemented to success. The structure entails the methods about project accomplishment in brief but detailed manner hence serving the role of a reference point (Phillips 2004, p. 32). . The provide documentation- a documented project plan is always vital in a successful project. The documentation provides the reference of historical nature and the many reasons why the course of the decision in regard to project was followed in the said manner (Kerzner, 2001) The provide baselines- a sound project plan entails many baselines. Theses baselines pride all the necessary information about the projects factors such as the cost, time schedule and the quality at any certain point on the course of the project accomplishment. The baselines allow for comparisons between different stages of the project (Phillips 2004, p. 32). A project plan is rather the end result of the any planning phase that has been confined by the different information pieces which have been analyzed by the team players out of their dire activities within the course of the project implementation. These kinds of result out rightly represent or show the real realty of the project accomplishment at ant particular stage (Martin & Tate 2001, p. 155). 3.1.2 Purposes and Importance of the Project Plan The ultimate goal of every project plan is to provide a step to step overview of the whole project plan by detailing all the necessary requirements (Frame 2002, p. 97). A well written report will be conclusive and comprehensive in regard to the project plan and will certainly lead to successful completion of any particular project. Without the assistance of a project plan, then it is difficult to carry out the different responsibilities which have a common goal of realizing a quality accomplished project (Baker & Baker 2003, p.29). . We can therefore term a project plan as rather a directing document that serves the role of accommodating the supplementary plans in case a problem is encountered during the course of working out on the plan itself. This particular document that not only guides but also replicates all the pieces of information that are deemed critical to the project team, project manager customers and as well as the finally sponsors. The project plan offers more than useful information in regard to the matters of the project cost, the time schedule an all the general requirements. We should los note that the project plan offers priceless information about the nature of the components of the different dictated supporting plans (Pritchard 2004, p. 100). 3.2 The Stakeholders of the Australian National University Environmental Management Plan A PMP plan serves as a priceless tool for providing guideline for the stakeholders about what certain expectations they should de expect from the project implementation. This helps in connecting the stakeholders more to the said project. We all know that information is gathered about the business and all the problematic areas regarding the business plan are addressed prior to the onset of implementation of the project. It is indeed very important to convert such gathered data into useful information, after which that information is converted to knowledge (Forrest, n.d) The main target audience of this particular environmental management plan at the university is diverse. The audience ranges from the students themselves to the higher officials in the high offices of the Australian National University especially those dealing with the running of the university affairs. The plan focuses on the current areas that lead to emission of the green house gases and offers a solution to the current situation. The plan articulates that much consumption of the electricity especially the ICT sector has lead to the increased emission of green house gases and focuses on modern techniques of minimizing the emission of the gases. The plan outlines a detailed plan on how to reduce those emissions by 20% by the year 2015. All the dictated information alongside with other resourceful results of the review plan will be helpful for the part of the management in order to improve the current situation of emission of greenhouse gases and ensure the detailed plan about cutting down emissions is realized and ease the life and mandate of all the stakeholders. All the necessary information that is needed by the university management will be gathered during the review of the activities of the project plan. The review will generally entail the consumption of electricity within the university surroundings, the current amounts of emission of the green house gases by the ICT sector within the university grounds. It is for sure that the review project will entirely focus on two major entities which are the electricity consumption and the ICT sector within the Australian National university grounds. The main focus will be on the current techniques that will be used to cut down the emissions and to what levels can the reduced emissions be achieved if the project is implemented without any problematic situations. Notably the project also employs different methods of research such as conducting interviews in order to obtain first hand information. It should be noted that it is primary or firsthand information that outlines the real situation and offers the researchers highest precision in determining the right policies and methods that can be utilized to achieve the objectives of the project plan. It is the end users who offer the reality of the situation on the ground of the university. 3.3 The Structure of the Australian National University Environmental Management Plan A viable project must be a feasible project plan detailing all the aspects of a project. Such project must be of high quality. The Australian National University Environmental Management Plan is such project. The management plan entails at least eight (8) sections which are the human resource management, the stakeholders, the projects time schedule, the cost of the project, the risk management plan, the project procurement plan, the accountabilities or responsibilities, communications section and the project’s scope. These are the most important sections of a feasible sound project plan (Gartner, 2009). They will certainly lead to a successful project when implemented. The human management and the stakeholders form the first section. These particular sections present the individuals in the management levels of the project and what certain duties are conferred upon them. Also to note this particular section entails the persons who will be affected by the projects plan. The project`s scope details the limitations of a projects, the capacity and duration of the project. This section is included to educate the audience on the range of the activities that will be undertaken to achieve the predetermined result or objective. Theoretically project scope includes all the processes that are essentially require to keep the project moving till it is accomplished positively. They are simply a list of all the demands (PMI Standards & Duncan 1996, p. 47). In every project there must be the projects` schedule that dictates the time in which every activity of the project ought to be done. The particular schedule governs every activity to prevent any delay towards the accomplishment of the said project. Therefore time management is very critical in every project in the modern realm. Every project must entail the cost of everything to secure funding. Project cost is therefore one of the very important sections of a sound project plan. This section must be explained to the very end details to avoid financial hard times during the course of any project. This section informs all the parties from the audience, owners to the sponsors on the size of project and the amount of capital ready to accomplish the project. It also dictates if the capital is sufficient or not and also details all the activities that will be accomplished by the sourced funding in time (PMI Standards & Duncan 1996, p.73). In any particular project, various duties are conferred upon different entities within the management levels. Every person is accountable to certain duty or rather task which has a direct influence in the manner in which the project is likely to be accomplished. Therefore it is wise to confer duties according to work specialization in order to realize a high quality work that in turn realizes a state of art accomplished project. Therefore it should be noted that project accountabilities is a critical section in any feasible project plan (PMI Standards & Duncan 1996, p. 93). A warm relationship and communication between the various entities within the projects plan is critical. The level of relationship and communication outlines the pace and kind of quality of work that can be realized. This section is normally included in the projects plan to ease the communication channels within the persons involved with the project. Timely communication ensures proper collection of data, storage and dissemination among the concerned parties. Without proper communication a project can fail since a delay in communication will cause loss of time and resources which certainly affects the value of the projects budget. Therefore it is true to state that effective communication channels offer critical links amongst the various projects’ entities who in turn share their ideas and other sorts of information that are useful the project. It is very wise to analyze all the risks that a project is likely to encounter. The risk management plan is always included in the project plan to educate the entities on the likely problems and the measures to counter the problems with. This risk management plan details the various different processes that are concerned with the identification of problems, then ways of analyzing the problems and finally the ways in which to respond to the said problems. This section ensures that the positive events are maximized over the negative events (PMI Standards & Duncan 1996, p. 111).             Finally the project`s procurement management plan outlines how the various services and goods that the projects acquires will be purchased. This is one of the most critical areas of a sound project plan. This section ensures that the right channel is followed to prevent sabotaging of the projects funds by individuals. This also ensures that corrupt elements are eliminated from the projects plan so that the project utilizes all the funds till it is completed. 3.4 The Sections of the Australian National University Environmental Management Plan 3.4.1 The Project Stakeholders We can define the project stake holders as the persons or rather the individuals who are involved in the project and the people who are likely to be affected the projects implementation whether positively or negatively. Figure 2: A list of the stakeholders The team managing the project is normally tasked with identifying the stakeholders and the intensity of the dire effects of the implementation of the project. Identifying the right stakeholders has been established to ensure a successful completion of a project (PMI Standards & Duncan 1996, p. 15). Figure 3: The Governance structure Figure: The governance structure of the project 3.4.2 The Project Scope Project scope is a combination of the following subsections. The scope usually entails aspects of project plan such as the project goals, assumptions and constraints, the structure of the work, project benefits and strategic links. Strategic links are the objectives of the said project plan which in simpler terms can be stated as the ultimate goals to be achieved. Targets are the project deliveries. They are want the project team want to achieve in a stipulated period of time. Limitations about the project are also outlined in this section of the out of scope. The project benefits are the positive outcomes of the project itself and are usually presented by the project team. The stakeholders are offered the chance to know the outcome of the project in this section of the plan. The work structure breakdown normally offers the details of the many units who work to achieve the common goal of realizing a quality project upon implementation (Lewis, 2006) . The constraints can be defined as the factors that limit or affect the pace at which the project is implemented. Assumptions on the other hand are the factors that were sued in the planning of the object and those factors were deemed to be true or real facts. The project manager is normally tasked with detailing the projects constraints and the assumptions. 3.4.3 The Project`s Time Schedule Time schedule is an important aspect of any project. Proper scheduling of time ensures minimal delays in the various units working on the project. This particular schedule usually dictates what duration of time is required for every activity of the project and it is through the experience that the project manager is able to calculate the period of time required for every project (Wren, 2003). . Figure 4: The Gantt chart detailing the Time Management plan 3.4.4 The Project Cost This section of the project plan normally details the costs aspects of the whole project plan. The project management team normally drafts the required amount of money and analyzed in the right structure so that sufficient amount of money is budgeted for the project to be feasible. The total cost of the project will entirely be covered by the Energy and the sustainability office although the funds will be channeled through the ANU green program. 3.4.5 The Project Accountabilities In any particular project, different entities are conferred with different responsibilities. The project plan outlines these entities and their respective responsibilities ranging from the project sponsor to the immediate project manager. It is very good for every entity associated with eth project to know the duties conferred upon him or her to ensure smooth running of the project without any delays or hitches at any particular time. 3.4.6 Project Communications We all know that the art of communication is very important in areas where different persons are working together. It is through effective communication that problematic areas of the project can be addressed intensively. Different and detailed communication schedules and methods should be utilized to ensure successful meetings and consultations are achieved. This particular project outlines the communication calendar for the project team. This effective communication channel ensures every team member does want is expected of him or her in the right time. Table 1: A table detailing the communication plan 3.4.7 Project Risk Management Plan In this particular section four different but related activities ought to be undertaken. The risk identification is the first then followed by risk quantification, risk response development follows and finally risk response controls. It through proper utilization of the four activities that risk is managed to prevent onset of disastrous effects of any given risk. Table 2: An overview of the major risks 3.4.8 Project procurement management plan In every project, services and purchase of goods is somewhat a challenging exercise. The project manager and project team ought to come up with detailed channels of how services and goods will be procured to ensure the project is implemented successfully. It is always wise to adhere to the schedule of the procurement to avert hitches during the course of project implementation (Elsevier Science, 1983) 4.0 The Conclusions We all have established that a project plan is vital to any particular project management plan. It is serves the valuable role of being a guideline towards the accomplishment of the very different tasks that in together realize a successful accomplished project. In the case of the Australian National University environmental management plan, it serves as a great eye opener for the current about the issue of the green house gases emissions and offers an outlined solution towards the dire problem. We have also noted the important aspects that ought to be considered when developing a project plan whereby the cost of the project, time schedule and human resource, management are very important. Different risks, constraints and objectives must also be stated to come up with a viable project plan. The project main strength is the great help that is offered towards maintaining smooth, efficient and effective running of the projects activities which are dictated by the projects team. The project plan also connects the very different stakeholders in a manner that ensures high levels of cooperation and effective communication between them. It is through this proper understanding that the stakeholders understand the benefits and risks associated with the project into details.             The main drawback of the project management plan is that it doesn’t ensure successful project, this is due to the fact that there are still many possibilities that some inevitable and unexpected events that might be encountered as well as some assumptions that might go wrong. However the project entails a drawback. The project plan does not offer alternatives should the said project plan fail. Also to be noted is that project only emphasizes on the ICT sector as major pollutant. There are other sectors that emit greenhouses gases more that the ICT sector. Therefore alternatives plans should be detailed in the project`s plan. 5.0 The Recommendations It is very true that the project does not include in the project plan a detailed management of the human resource. The aspect of how to build the project team is not explained into details. This means that effective communication certainly may not be achieved. A detailed list of the costs in regard to the project is not also fully explained. These two sections should be fully explained to final details to enable proper understanding of the project the sponsor and the stakeholders. The audience needs to understand every detail of the project. A high level of balance in the implementation of the project can only be achieved when there is proper communication and coordination between the project manager, the team of the project and all the stakeholders. Proper and efficient communication channels should be provided. A decentralized communication plan should be availed in the project plan so that every stakeholder’s involved in the project is update on the progress of the project regularly. References Baker, S, Baker, K & Campbell, M 2003, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Project Management, Alpha Books Frame, J 2002, The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Phillips, J 2004, PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, McGraw-Hill Professional Martin, P & Tate K 2001, Getting Started in Project Management, John Wiley and Sons PMI Standards & Duncan, W 1996, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project Management Institute Pritchard, C 2004,The Project Management Communications Toolkit, Artech House Australian National University. (2010). NGERS Report 2009-10. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANUgreen. ANUgreen.(2009). ANU Environmental Management Plan 2015.Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU. Gartner. (2009). Green IT: The New Industry Shockwave. NY: Gartner. Implementing Six Sigma. Forrest W Breyfogle 3, Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods The Black Belt Memory Jogger, A pocket guide for Six Sigma success Lewis, J 2006, Fundamentals of Project Management, AMACOM Div American MgmtAssn Wren, A 2003, The Project Management A-Z: A Compendium of Project Management and How to Use Them, Gower Publishing Ltd. KERZNER, H. (2001). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. New York, John Wiley. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=2380. INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.(1983). International journal of project management.[England?], Elsevier Science. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02637863. (Elsevier Science,1983) Read More