Role of the Project Management Team - Essay Example

BA/BSc Year 2 2009 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT MBUMD2PRM_2) Assignment Explore the Role of the Project Management team to critically analyse the differing ways in which projects can be Organised Introduction to Project Management Project management is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific (and usually) one-time objective, for example, construct a building or implement a major new computer system. Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining and confirming the project goals and objectives, identifying tasks and how goals will be achieved, quantifying the resources needed, and determining budgets and timelines for completion. It also includes managing the implementation of the project plan, along with operating regular 'controls' to ensure that there is accurate and objective information on 'performance' relative to the plan, and the mechanisms to implement recovery actions where necessary. Projects usually follow major phases or stages (with various titles for these), including feasibility, project planning, implementation, evaluation and support/maintenance. (Free Management Library, 1997-2009) Each project phase normally includes a set of defined work products designed to establish the desired level of management control. Each project phase is marked by completion of one or more deliverable. (William Duncan, 1996) The conclusion of a project phase is generally marked by a review of both key deliverables and project performance in order to (a) determine if the project should continue into its next phase and (b) detect and correct errors cost effectively. (William R. Duncan, 1996) Role and Function of Project Management The main function of project management team is to identify the stakeholders of the project. The key stake holders on every project include: Project manager - the individual responsible for managing the project. (William Duncan, 1996) "The project manager should be appointed at any stage of the project, s/he should be appointed prior to the appointment of the project team. The project manager documents a detailed Job Description for each project role and appoints a human resource to each role based on his/her relevant skills and experience. (Jason Westland, 2003)" Customer- the individual or organisation that will use the project product. Performing organisation - the enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in doing the work of the project. Sponsor - the individual or group within the performing organization that provides the financial resources in cash or in kind, for the project. (William R. Duncan, 1996) The different phases of a project may be explained as follows: Feasibility Study The initial phase of project management involves feasibility study. This is to find out whether the project is viable or not. Feasibility study plays a very important role for the success of a project. Feasibility study generally involves identifying the future risks involved in the projects and steps to reduce the risks. "A feasibility study should be done based on political, commercial, and organisational elements." (Patrick Andrews, 2002). The feasibility study should be shared with the project management team and various input from the team members need to be analysed and incorporated to the feasibility report. It is important that it should be documented. If the study reveals that the project is not viable, it can be stopped at an early stage thus reducing wastage of resources, time, and cost. If the study is viable, the study should clearly outline the statements proving why the project is viable. The deliverable of a feasibility study is feasibility report. Project Planning Planning a project is extremely important before actually implementing the project. The project plan is necessary in defining the various milestones of the project and coming up with tentative dates to complete each milestone. This helps to keep a check on the project at the various milestones regarding time, cost, quality of the project completed so far etc. It is easier to work out any discrepancies if found at an earlier stage than after the completion of the project. The deliverable is the Project Management Plan. Project Implementation The implementation phase is the longest phase in the project lifecycle, because this is the phase, in which, the deliverables are physically constructed. Project implementation should be carried out in tandem with project planning. If the feasibility study and project planning is carried out perfectly, then there should not be must deviations in executing the project. However, in most of the cases, the implementation of the project might encounter unexpected hurdles and difficulties which might force the project management team to make changes to the project plan. The changes made should be in such a way that there is no compromise on the quality of the deliverable and to keep the variation in time, cost, and schedule to the minimum. Project Evaluation Project evaluation involves monitoring and controlling the activities that are carried out during the construction of the deliverable. This involves managing the schedule, cost, and quality of the deliverable based on the project plan. Project evaluation should be carried out before each milestone, so that the defects can be identified at a much earlier stage, thus minimising wastage of effort, time, and expenditure. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to make changes to the project plan to accommodate changes in the customer specifications, or changes that need to be enforced due to political, organisational, commercial and environmental elements. Key Elements Required for the Success of a Project The following are the key factors, I think, are essential for the success of a project: Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors The aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors should be of prime importance while managing the scope of the project. The goals and objectives of the sponsors should be clearly documented and communicated to the entire project team. If the project is expected to span for a few years, it is advisable to set short term goals and objectives so that it will be easier to control the project, if there are any deviations, at an earlier stage. (William R. Duncan, 1996) Let me analyse the case of the Spinnaker Tower project in Portsmouth. The tower is a UK Millennium Commission sponsored project in conjunction with Portsmouth City Council [PCC], which aims to transform the waterfront at Portsmouth and Gosport. Forming the focal point of the Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance Project, the tower is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the area every year and will provide a shining beacon of light to vessels destined for the harbour. (Skyscraper News, 2006) The prime objective is to complete the project before Millennium, that is, 2000 and also attract lots of visitors. One of the key objectives behind the Eurostar project was to stimulate regeneration in inner London, the Thames Gateway and Kent Thameside. (London and Continental Railways, http://www.lcrhq.co.uk/) Managing costs, required for financial control of the project, accomplished through accumulating, organising and analysing data and reporting cost time and performance information through formalised structures Managing cost involves financial planning, which requires listing the labour, equipment, and material costs. Financial planning is extremely important as the project's success will depend on whether or not it is delivered within the 'time, cost and quality' estimates for the project. Cost Management is the process by which costs incurred on the projects are formally identified, approved and paid. (Jason Westland, 2003) How do we control the cost by accumulating, organising and analysing data and reporting cost time and performance information "The best practice is to see that expense forms are completed for each set of related project expenses such as labour, equipment and materials cost. Expense forms are approved by the Project Manager and recorded within an Expense Register for audit purposes." (Jason Westland, 2003) The Spinnaker Tower was originally supposed to be funded entirely by lottery grants and private sources but cost overruns saw the local council intervene and makeup the 11.1 million shortfall in the budget to avoid it being left uncompleted on their skyline. (Skyscraper News, 2006) St. Pancras railway station in London recently underwent a rebuilding project to allow Eurostar trains to use the station. It took nine years, thousands of people and millions of man-hours to build. It delivered over 109km of new high-speed railway, the world's longest span concrete high-speed rail bridge, 47km of cutting edge tunnels, and in St Pancras International, has created a truly world class station. (London and Continental Railways, http://www.lcrhq.co.uk/) Managing time planning, scheduling and controlling the project to achieve the time objectives through recognised control methodologies Project time management includes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. This involves identifying specific activities that must be performed to produce the various project deliverables, identifying and documenting interactivity dependencies, estimating the number of work period which will be needed to complete individual activities, analysing activity sequences, activity durations, and resource requirements to create the project schedule, and controlling changes to the project schedule. (William R. Duncan, 1996) The planning of Spinnaker Tower began in 1995, and construction began in 2001. The Tower which was originally planned to open in 1999, the project eventually came online in 2005, six years late and by this time had been renamed from the Portsmouth Millennium Tower to avoid embarrassment. (Skyscraper News, 2006) The rebuilding of St Pancras railway station was delivered on time and within budget, a major achievement for a project of such scale and ambition. (London and Continental Railways, http://www.lcrhq.co.uk/) Managing quality, the fulfilment of the quality standards set up for performance of the project Project quality management includes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It includes "all activities of the overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives, and responsibilities and implements them by means such as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement, within the quality system. The major quality management processes are: Quality Planning - Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them. Quality Assurance - Evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards. Quality Control - Monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with relevant quality standards and identify ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance. (William R. Duncan, 1996) Since completion, the Spinnaker Tower project has been hit by numerous problems including cracked glass floors in the observation area despite a supposed product life-time of 80 years and the breakdown of the external lift that ironically trapped the representative of the elevator supplier, Maspero, in it for 90 minutes. (Skyscraper News, 2006) First St. Pancreas International Customer survey reveals 93% visitor satisfaction. (Press Release, LCR Communications team) Conclusion Based on the above discussion on the key factors that are responsible for the success or failure of the project, I can say that the Spinnaker Tower project is a complete failure. The argument can be supported by the poor management in controlling and monitoring the aim, goal and scope of the project. The objective was to complete the project before Millennium, that is, 2000, which never happened. This led to the change in the name of the Tower. Further, the financial planning was also not up to the mark as the local council had to intervene and makeup the 11.1 million shortfall in the budget to avoid it being left uncompleted on their skyline. Managing time planning seems to be an utter failure, which might be the reason for the other processes to fail. Time schedule has not been maintained by the Spinnacle Tower project because the project was delayed by 6 years, which is quite a long period. And the last major process, the quality management, also has failed miserably because of cracked glass floors and the breakdown of the external lift. Because of the breakdown of the external lift the number of tourists expected has fallen considerably during the years. Regarding the rebuilding project of St Pancras railway station, I would say it is a success in term of maintaining the scope, finances, time and quality. Thus I conclude that for a project to be a success you need to follow the following four elements diligently. Depending on the projects, you can incorporate other elements also into your project, but the following four elements are a must for the success of a project. 'Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors.' 'Managing costs, required for financial control of the project, accomplished through accumulating, organising and analysing data and reporting cost time and performance information through formalised methods and structures.' 'Managing time planning, scheduling and controlling the project to achieve the time objectives through recognised control methodologies.' Works Cited and Referred 1. William. R. Duncan, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 1996, Project Management Institute. 2. Jason Westland, 2003, Project Management Guide Book, 2003, Method 123 Ltd. 3. Free Management Library, Authenticity Consulting, 1997-2009. 4. Patrick Andrews, A Feasibility Study:Can you Manage it, 2002 5. Joseph W. Weiss, Robert K. Wysocki, 5-phase Project Management. 6. "Spinnaker Tower," www.skyscrapernews.com 7. "LCR Communication Team," www.Icrhq.co.uk 8. "About LCR," www.Icrhq.co.uk Bottom of Form Read More