Hotel Sun Beach Project Management - Essay Example

Assessment Record form and Marking Grid FdA Hospitality Management Assessment No: Module Level: Module of 5 Module: Project Management Assessment Method: Weighting: Date of submission: Individual Report 100% As per AR1 Length: 2500 words. Learning outcomes assessed: 1. Produce a schedule for the design and implementation of a hospitality-based project 2. Assess strategies for acquisition and management of resources 3. Demonstrate the use of project management tools such as network charts and walkthroughs 4. Produce a quality plan for monitoring a project before, during and after its implementation. Skills Mapped: Managing Information Written Communication Planning and Managing Learning Feedback Assessment Criteria Weight Actual Strength Areas of Improvement The report should include the evaluation and selection of appropriate contemporary management systems suitable for the hospitality industry. 20 Show the progress of a project through the use of structured walkthroughs. 20 Produce of a quality system for the monitoring of the design project throughout its life cycle. 20 Evaluation and reflection on the concept board for the ‘Design and Facilities’ unit in relation to a project management report, taking into consideration the human, financial and special resources available. 20 To produce a well structured report illustrating your ability to critically evaluate information and show quality of argument. 10 Self Presentation – please see hand in guidelines for reports, essays and presentations below. 10 Deductions: Late Submission Deductions : No Front Sheet Total mark out of 100% 100% Redesigning Hotel Sun Beach Contents 1.Introduction 5 1.1.Introduction to project 5 1.2.Project Aim 5 1.3.Project objectives 5 1.4.Project Motivation 6 2.Project Scope 6 2.1.Project methodology 7 2.2.Project Scope Statement 8 3.Project Decomposition 8 3.1.Work Breakdown Structure 9 3.2.Product Breakdown Structure 10 4.Baseline documents: 10 4.1.Cost improvement 11 4.2.Schedule improvement 11 4.3.Process improvement 11 5.Timeline – Gantt chart 13 6.Human Resource Plan 14 7.Quality Management Plan 15 8.Communication Plan 17 9.Risk Management Plan 17 10.Procurement Plan (Monitoring and Evaluation Systems) 18 11.Conclusion and Recommendations 18 12.Reference 20 1. Introduction 1.1. Introduction to project Hotel Sun Beach located along the coastal line of the Indian Ocean at a sandy beach. Built in the late 80s, it has been a major tourist attraction in the area mainly because of its ancient look that reflects the cultural background of the people within the region. Time has passes and a lot has changed in terms of technology which has taken over nearly all corners of the hospitality industry. This can be embraced to improve the look and feel of the hotel. Regardless of all modernization that has been going on in the industry, Hotel Sun Beach has not yet reached the required standard to reflect its true status. 1.2. Project Aim The main aim of this project is to redesign Hotel Sun Beach to give it a modern look yet at the same time preserving its cultural historical look to enable it maintain its status as the main tourist attraction in the region. This will only be achieved by focusing on different areas of the hotel that finally makes it up as a whole. 1.3. Project objectives The following have been identified as the objectives of the project in order to successfully meet the above mentioned aim: a. To redesign the interior decoration of the hotel so that it can have a new astounding look. b. To redesign the exterior look and feel of the hotel building that will incorporate its historical, cultural and modern look. c. To improve employees look by redesigning their uniforms and other attires. d. To restructure and improve the communication system used in the hotel. 1.4. Project Motivation Since time in memorial, Hotel Sun Beach has been the main tourist attraction in the region. This has enabled it offer exceptional services which are being financed from its own income from tourists. To maintain its status and offer even better services, it has become vital to improve its image both from the inside and the outside, something that can only be achieved from a carefully planned process focused to make it maintain a position second to none. This project is directed towards achieving exactly that. 2. Project Scope The success of any project is always determined by how well tasks have been planned and executed to achieve the overall objective set for the project as a whole. The extent to which these activities and tasks can be executed within a project is what is termed as the project scope. In order for one to ensure that they remain within the project scope throughout the project life, it is important for them to adopt a predetermined sequence of events each of which is directed towards achieving a predetermined deliverable or project milestone. This series of predetermined events within a project is called a project methodology. 2.1. Project methodology According to the United States Department of Agriculture, (USDA FSA, 2009), a project lifetime processes can be grouped into five (5) groups which can be executed multiple times throughout the life of the project. The five groups which have been extracted from the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Methodology are: i. Initiation – In this stage, the viability of proceeding with the project is determined. ii. Planning – Objectives are defined and a plan of meeting these objectives is set. iii. Executing – carry out the plan. iv. Monitoring & Controlling – the project progress is checked against the plan. v. Closing – completing and documentation of the project. To ensure that the project does not deviate away from its objectives, PRINCE2 project management methodology has been adopted throughout the project cycle. A clear illustration of this methodology is shown on the diagram below. (PRINCE2, 2010). This methodology ensures that the project team work within the project boundaries by ensuring that each process is attached to its objective(s) and is defined by its input and outputs. 2.2. Project Scope Statement The project scope statement specifies the boundaries and limitations of the project by indicating what the project will cover (what it will do) to achieve the stated objectives. The scope statement is very important in that it clarifies the project objectives by setting proper boundaries of exactly what the project is to achieve. During the project initiation the following are included as the deliverables expected after the completion of this project. i. Redesign interior of the hotel ii. Redesign exterior of the hotel iii. Redesign staff and employees uniform and attires iv. New/restructured communication system for the hotel Anything not inclusively stated in the above deliverables is considered as not included as part of the deliverables and therefore does not fall within the project scope. 3. Project Decomposition For the project to be completed as per the specified objectives and deliverables, decomposing the project into small manageable tasks is important so that different teams can be assigned different works within the project. There are two ways of doing this and these are by the use of the following: a. Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) b. Product Breakdown Structures (PBS) 3.1. Work Breakdown Structure This approach of decomposing a project is based on the fact that a project is made up of several small works that collectively fit together to form a big work which is the project. It therefore aims at breaking the project down into small manageable works which can be undertaken by individual teams within the project. This can be illustrated as in the equation below. Project = Work = Work Task1 + Work Task2 + - - - - - + Work Taskn For our project of Hotel Sun Beach, the following illustration can be presented as the Work Breakdown Structure. = + + 3.2. Product Breakdown Structure Just like the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) focus on decomposing the project into manageable project products (deliverables) which are to be completed independently before combining the final products to form the final project deliverable. The deliverables can include the following: a. Initiation documents b. Project plan i. Budget plan ii. Resources management plan iii. Project implementation plan c. Project documentation Each of these can then be decomposed until an atomic level has been attained. In relation to the WBS, the PBS is always more comprehensive since its main focus is on the deliverable to be attained hence WBS can be incorporated within it to successfully achieve the project’s objectives. 4. Baseline documents: After the project has been initiated, project boundaries in terms of cost, scheduling and implementation are documented for reference during and after the completion of the project. These documents act as the baseline to which the project is based upon. The main areas to be included in the baseline documents are: 4.1. Cost improvement This mainly focus on the project budget in terms of labour, materials needed, expenses for project management (overseeing the project) and other overheads that have been included in the project. For our case in the Hotel Sun Beach, this document will include the budget for materials like paints and staff uniform, labour charges among other overheads. The final document for cost improvement is the project budget. 4.2. Schedule improvement For proper documentation of the project schedule, the project manager must first understand estimates of individual tasks in terms of time and resources, project tasks dependencies and project constraints anticipated during the project cycle. Project scheduling is conveyed in a network diagram or a Gantt chart which is discussed in section 7 of this report. For proper scheduling of this project of redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach, all the tasks involved have to be identified together with all the resources that are to be used in the project. 4.3. Process improvement This part focus on the documentation of all the activities that are to be undertaken during the project and basically define how the processes involved in that stage will be carried out to ensure that the right quality has been attained. It also defines the measures to be undertaken to ensure that when the deliverable of that stage are analyzed, they will meet the set standard as at the initiation stage of the project. For Hotel Sun Beach, this document can be based the quality of the look of the hotel when all the exterior and interior work has been completed. 5. Timeline – Gantt chart A Gantt chart is used to illustrate project schedule by indicating all activities in the project from the start time to the finishing task. It also indicated various task dependencies within the project. The project manager is required to be able to indicate different milestones in the project and when they are expected to be achieved. This forms part of project control measures that ensures that the project does not take more time than what was initially planned. The design of the Gantt chart is normally based on the tasks developed under the Work Breakdown Structure. According to the Gantt chart below, the redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach has been scheduled to take eight weeks with approximately eight tasks each of which takes different durations. Activities Duration in Weeks  Task Name Duration  0 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  Start  0                 Task 1  1                 Task 2  2               Task 3  1                 Task 4  3             Task 5  1                 Task 6  2               Task 7  1                 Task 8  8    Task dependencies are shown by the black arrow which indicates the direction of work and which work has to be completed before another one starts. Project milestone is indicated by the black diamond shape and for our case of the redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach we have one project milestone which comes at the completion of the project. This can also mean that we can only judge the success of our project at the end of the whole process. 6. Human Resource Plan The most important resource in a project is the human resource. Since this revolves at the centre of every task in the project, it is important to carefully draft down a good human resource plan that will be used in the project. Human resource planning starts by identifying all human resources that will be used in the project in terms of titles and work to be allocated to each of them. In the redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach, the below plan has been developed to ensure that project output is achieved successfully. a. Project Manager The project manager acts as the leader of the project and he or she is in charge of all the processes that are undertake in the project. (Verzuh, 2010) The roles for the project manager include: i. Planning for the overall project performance ii. Monitoring cost overrun iii. Refereeing dispute iv. Enhance collaboration between team members. In the Hotel Sun Beach project, the project manager is expected to manage all the above roles so as to make the project successful. b. Project team Project team comprises of all human resource involve in the project by contributing their knowledge and skills towards achieving the projects objective. The following are the roles of the project team. i. Monitoring and execution of individual tasks ii. Communicate and collaborate during the project cycle to enhance the overall project output. iii. Contribute in decision making with the project manager so as to maximise the project output. In our project, the project team is expected to collaborate with other stakeholders by providing their input so that the overall goal of the project is achieved. 7. Quality Management Plan Quality of the project output must always be put on check with all initial documents developed. To ensure that this is achieved, the project manager must put all controls in place to ensure that each deliverable attained during the project meets all the quality criteria set for it. The quality assurance plan also creates confidence to the project owner who is assured that the resources put into the project do not go to waste. There are various elements included in the quality management plan. These elements ensure that all the areas of the project are covered. The following are the elements (VisiTask.com, 2010) that have been considered in the project of redesigning Hotel Sun Beach: Management Responsibility. Since a project brings together different stakeholders, it is important for each one of them to be held accountable in the responsibility allocated to them. This element of the project management plan is geared towards achieving this objective. Documented Quality Management System. All documents produced during the project life cycle must adhere to an agreed quality standard be it a report or an internal memo that will aid in decision making in the project. Design Control. According to VisiTask.com (VisiTask.com, 2010), this element of the quality management plan ensures that all the design controls are put in place to ensure that all the resources put are not wasted. Document Control. Unlike the document quality management system, the document control element of quality management plan defines the process on how to control project documents at each project stage in the project life cycle. Purchasing. This element keeps check the procurements management to ensure quality is put at the forefront. Inspection Testing. In each stage of the project, testing must be done to ensure that quality of the deliverables is checked. This element ensures that proper testing plan is incorporated at every stage in order to achieve the project objectives. Quality Records. This element of the quality management plan ensures that the records kept from the beginning of the project to its completion meets the required quality standards. 8. Communication Plan For effective collaboration between different stakeholders involved in the project to be achieved, a proper communication plan must be put in place. The communication plan dictates how communication between different stakeholders will take place and also indicated how grievances will be communicated. The plan also indicates how information will flow within the project. 9. Risk Management Plan During the project life cycle, there is always the risk of deadline slipping way ahead the date set, the requirements can change during any stage in the development process of the project or even one of the key members in the project team might become unavailable at a critical time of the project. Because of these, it is important to have a risk management plan ready in place just in case any of these things happen. The risk management plan is to contain the following: a. Risk assessment and prioritization document b. Risk reporting plan. c. Risk monitoring and evaluation plan. There are different risks that can be associated with the redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach. Absenteeism of any of the key team member might cause time slippage and this can be checked by ensuring all events are documented so that whenever any team member is absent, he or she will only have to go through the documents of the previous day and get updated about the situation on ground. 10. Procurement Plan (Monitoring and Evaluation Systems) All projects require various materials to be purchased to that it can be used in the development process. Due to this, it is always important to set down a plan that will be used in the procurement of these materials. This plan can involve different aspects of the procurement process including quality and pricing. This plan will be very important when procuring items to be used in the redesigning of the hotel. 11. Conclusion and Recommendations In conclusion, the redesigning of Hotel Sun Beach can only be attained if the whole project is monitored and controlled while keeping the projects objective on focus. Because of the nature of the industry involved in this project, the following are the recommendations identified: i. Before the commencement of the project, all resources identified should be put in place so that the main focus during the project shifts to achieving the end objectives. ii. Hiring of team members for the project should be based on areas of their competencies and experience not friendship. iii. All risks identified should be closely monitored to ensure the project runs on smoothly. If all this is done, then the project is likely to be a success. 12. Reference Books Verzuh, E. (2010) The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, 3rd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc., p.39-45. Websites PRINCE2.com (2010). PRINCE2 Process Model. Available: http://www.prince2.com/prince2-process-model.asp. Last Accessed Date: 1st December 2010. USDA FSA (2009). Project Management. Available:http://www.apfo.usda.gov/FSA/sdlcapp?area=home&subject=pmp&topic=landing. Last Accessed Date: 1st December 2010. Verzuh, E. (2010) The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, 3rd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc., p.39-45. VisiTask.com (2010) Project management training and resources, [online] Available at: http://www.visitask.com/project-quality.asp [Accessed: 3dr December 2010]. Read More