The Chief executive ODA, being a project manager of UK media Centre i am giving you proposal for establishing media office in London Dockland area for 2012. As you know the importance of media centre in London for Olympics 2012. Detail of the different elements which is normally used in project management like project evaluation, proposal ,cost , budgeting etc then it becomes more easy to understand the process of project management. Project management is very carefully well planned and organized try to complete the particular objective, for example construct a bridge or install a new major computer system etc . Project management also includes developing a plan for project and define goals and objectives and identify the tasks that how goals of the project will be achieved, also quantifying the need of resources and determine budgets and set time frame for the completion of this particular project. It also have to manage the implementation of project plan and its operational controls to ensure that the information about the project is accurate and complete and also implement the mechanism of recovery action where necessary. In a project we normally have to follow the different phases of the project as mentioned below:-
"The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is the public body which is responsible for the building and developing the brand new venues for the Olympic games and its use after 2012. One of the main responsibilities of the Olympic Delivery Authority is to construct the Olympic Park where most of the event will take place in 2012.
The ODA has its headquarters in Canary Wharf, together with the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympics Games (LOCOG).
It is led by John Armitt (Chairman) and David Higgins (Chief Executive)".
http://www.london-2012.co.uk/ODA/
Project evaluation is a decisions in which we come to know that where we have to invest the company's resources to achieve the set objectives of the company. Therefore just trying to get involvement in the right projects and to avoid the wasting of time of the company.
In brief the project evaluation is the process in which we have to aim to analyse the research and development of the project and should know almost all points mentioned below for the successful project:-
Get the almost all understanding of the project.
Make priorities within the set of projects.
Take timely decision either proceed or not to proceed with the project.
Monitor the project properly and give follow up to the entire project and must evaluate the set standards when the project was selected.
The targeted cost of the project for the completion of the project.
Check either project start in time or not.
In this evaluation process project manager has to review all the information gathered prior to start the project.
Project evaluation starts from the commencement of the project. There are different phases of project evaluation and will be explain in detail below.
Project evaluation has different phases by definition which is as under:-
http://www.utas.edu.au/pet/sections/frameworks.htmlhttp://www.utas.edu.au/pet/images/Image1.gif
http://www.utas.edu.au/pet/sections/frameworks.html
Project Proposal.
Project proposal is a document which is designed in such a way to show the plan of action and outline the reasons that why these action are essential for this particular plan try to convince the director of the company to agree with the proposal and give approval for the implementation of the proposal recommended in the document. This type of document in many cases is called as RFP (Request for Proposal) which is issued by the client.. In project
proposal there are many things which the project manager has to consider on them on top priority such as cost, budget, resources required, management issues, proposed team structures, proposed structure of the organisation etc and we will discuss it in detail for understanding.
A successful Project Manager must have to manage the following four basic elements of the project such as Resources, Time, Money, and Scope. These all elements are interlinked with each other and each element should manage properly to run the project effectively and successfully.
Resources
People, equipment, material
Time
Task durations, dependencies, critical path
Money
Costs, contingencies, profit
Scope
Project size, goals, requirements
Most literature and books on project management highlighted many things to manage the project and especially they are speaking about the importance and need of these three elements like people, time and money. However, the fourth element is also most important for the project manager to manage it for the success of the project.
The definition of project scope is that what the actual need of the project is to accomplish it. It's very important for project manager that if the scope is changed to a building for five widgets so the project manager must get an appropriate change in budgeted resources and if the budget is not adjusted then the project manager should avoid changing in scope.
In the financial term there are two types of cost. i.e. variable cost and fixed cost and when the cost comes above the estimated cost then the project considered as dismissed and if the cost comes below the estimated cost then the project is executed. To calculate the cost of the project there are many ways to calculate it but one of them is Net present Value through
which we can calculate the exact cost of the project. NPV is an indicator of how much value an investment or project adds to the firm.
Budget.
"Budgeting is one of the very important tool in project management which inform us that the project is on the right track or not and by using this tool project manager can calculate various sources of fund like owner's funds, load from bank, etc and can manage it properly while executing the project. Budget and cost in a project are two different things. Budget is actually what we decided to spend for a particular project and cost mean that the actual cost of the particular project".
.http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/projectmanagement/soa/Creating-your-project-budget-ood Where-to-begin-/0,339028292,320265341,00.htm
Resources required.
Resources required to run the project are people, equipment and material. A good project manager has skill to use all these resources very effectively to complete the project in such a way to minimise the risk to workers, reduce the factors to damage the equipment used to execute the project and reduce the loss or wastage of the material used in the project.
Some basic skills are very important in project manager to perform his job very effectively and among those some are as under:-
Inspires a Shared Vision
The effective project manager has an eagle vision for everything within the project
. According to Bennis "They offer people opportunities to create their own vision, to explore what the vision will mean to their jobs and lives, and to envision their future as part of the vision for the organisation." (Bennis, 1997).
Good Communicator.
Project manager should be a good communicator as a team leader and effective communication and support the team members with his experience and guide lines are more beneficial for the success of the project.
Enthusiasm.
Enthusiastic project managers are fully committed with their goals and their objectives and he shows his enthusiasm through commitment and optimism and wants to see
this type of confidence and commitment in his team members to run the project as per
his expectations.
Ability to Delegate Tasks.
Trust is very necessary part between a project manager and his team and as a project manager he must delegate responsibilities to the team members.
Cool Under Pressure
Good project manager is a person who can work under pressure and remain cool all the time and deliver his project in time, within budget." Out of the uncertainty and chaos of change, leaders rise up and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the project together"." (Bennis 1997).. "
Team-Building Skills
A good project manager should be a good team builder as he must know how to make the team members more efficient and more motivated and all these things happen if the manager have good leadership and motivational skills and use those skills properly.
Problem Solving Skills
No doubt an effective manager has a skill to share the problem solving skills with his team members and should be a problem solver. They must have a "fresh, creative response to here-and-now opportunities and not much concern with how others have performed them". (Kouzes 1987).
In a modern countries the project managers using the latest equipments and technologies for the improvement of the system and thus in such a way the working criteria and working standard improved, hence quality assurance and success of the project ensures but even then projects fails and there are many reasons to the failure of the projects.
There are five main key factors which causes failure of projects.
The project fails when the system not meets the standard criteria.
Second reason is the budget of the project is above or under the allocated budget.
Third the project not delivers or executed in time.
Proposed organised structure.
The organisation is divided into various departments to run the organisation smoothly and these departments are Finance department, marketing department, Human Recourse department, etc. these departments can play an important role to enhance the sales and production of the organisation. Finance department has responsibility to pay pensions, wages, and buy raw materials etc , maintain accounts, level of inventory, and calculate the forecast etc. Marketing department is responsible for
sales of good produced by the organisation. This department also responsible for arranging advertisements, meetings, seminars, training sessions etc. The Human resource department is responsible for the new recruitment like skilled or unskilled workers, maintain the data of every employee, distribution of wages, pensions, provident funds, gratuity etc and this record should be maintain in such way that it can be accessed as and when required by the organisation.
Proposed team structure
"The team for the organisation should be arranged in different level of management like top level management. i.e. Directors, Chief Executives, General Managers, board of directors etc . The middle level management are all departmental heads and branch heads of the organisation and they normally answerable to the top management for the functioning of their departments and branches and they are responsible for the implementation of the policies and planning's of the top managements. This middle management act as a mediator as they communicate all information and data from low level to top level. Then comes lower level management in which supervisors, superintendents, foremen and assistant managers are included and they are responsible for directing and controlling functions and they have much in contact with the employees and workers and they try to solve the problems of the employees working with them".(Himanshu Juneja).
http://www.articledashboard.com
Leadership structure.
Leadership is a process in which getting things done by the people. The managers of the company or organisation have many skills like knowledge skills, communication skills, right time decision skills, management skills etc and the project manager who posses leadership skills he can be a very successful manager in his life some skills are as under:-
Leaders tend towards influencing the people.
Leaders mostly focus on Vision, Inspiration, Motivation etc
Leaders always do the right things.
Leadership is formal role and the leader makes strategic decisions.
Good leaders are good in emotional intelligence.
It was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made.
Bass' Theory of Leadership
"Bass' theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders (Stogdill, 1989; Bass, 1990). The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people. These theories are:
Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory.
A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the Great Events Theory.
People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational or Process Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based".
2. Project Implementation, Monitoring, Risk, Control & Success Criteria
(1,800 words - 45% of total coursework mark)
First of all before starting writing a report to the board for the successful of the bid of the media centre i would like to explain the project management terminology like project implementation, Monitoring, Risk, Control and Success Criteria in detail to understand.
PROJECT PHASES.
Every project without considering its Size, and Scope has to join a system. As system in project management refers to the existence of interrelationship of activities in the project and without system, project will not survive.
The life cycle of the project management has four phases as under:-
Initiation
Planning
Execution & Controlling
Closure.
Each and every project life cycle phase is elaborated below with the tasks necessary to complete it.
Project Management Lifecycle Diagram
http://www.management-hub.com/project-management-lifecycle-phases.html
Project Implementation-
The project implementation is a process in which we have to follow the steps of project implementation phases as mentioned above .First step is initiation phase in which project manager defines the definition of the project's purpose, the initial and secondary goals of the project , its time frame that when this project will be finished. The project manager also need the skilled or experience members of the staff, materials, machinery, finance etc, then the project manager got meeting with the senior members of the staff and supervisors of the different departments and look all the parameters to start the project like health and safety measures, employees working area either safe or not, the atmosphere of the site as per requirement, etc. After observing he took some decisions to carry out the project or not and he writes a report for the initialisation of the project and one the project start it will be
executed within the set time frame and the team members and project manager are responsible to execute the project in time. After getting approved to start the project there are few things which have to decide for the particular projects mentioned as under:-
Why this project?
Who is partner or partners of the project?
Do this project is profitable?
Does this project is feasible?
The project manager is answerable of all the above mentioned questions very carefully as the impression of the choice of the project manager will influence on the project.
The second phase is the planning phase which is most important phase in project management. The project planning defines the major tasks of the project plan like estimate the time frame that when it will be completed, estimates the cost of the project and its resources required and staff etc. The different steps of the planning process are as under:-
Plan the goals and objectives of the work.
Provide the estimation of the cost, resources, and controlling of the project.
Got the approved documentation for the project.
Continues with the development of documentation of the alternatives of the project, its assumption and constraints.
Select a bottom line of the plan to which the project will be managed.
The planning phase contains different process by which we can assess the size of the project, its technical scope and the resources required for it and also we can assess the risks involve while executing the project.
In this phase some requirements may have the following things:-
Preconditions
Operational requirements
Design of the project
Functional requirement.
In preconditions a project manager has to evaluate the working environment either it is as per rule and regulation and have to check all the legislation need for it. In Operational requirements everything has to assess that the project operation is as per set objectives and the result of the project is also included in operational requirement. The design of the project is actually the basic requirement of the project and is very important to all the other parties involved who are working in partnership during this phase and either project is going or moving towards the right direction or not . Actually this design requirement is very important by which the result of the project can be achieved. The design of the project may include flow charts, photo impressions, sketches, diagrams, etc and it is upto
project manager to choose the design which gives him good results. And it is noticeable that the design should be generate in such a way that it will fulfil the requirement of the entire project. The last but not least the last requirement is the functional requirement which is related to the quality of the project. Quality of the project matters a lot for the success of the project.
Before starting of the execution phase of work it is essential to take the time to break the project in different tasks and in order to plan the performance of these tasks and should determine that what kind of resources are required to be mobilized. There the tools and some methods which are generally used for this purpose:-
The technical project chart or task chart and this chart allow the project manager to break the project work into elementary tasks.
The PERT method which allow the project manager to be organised to optimize their whole project.
The GANTTs chart which allow the project manager to make a graphical presentation of the development of the each part of the project and determine its progress.
The project execution phase which is the most important phase of the project and ideally starts when plan of the project has been approved and base lined. It is characterized by the actual work on planned and its control involves the comparison of the actual performance with the planned performance and the project manager taking appropriate measures to correct the actions to get the desired results. The project team the responsible the below mentioned activities during this phase:-
The project team members are responsible to deliver or execute the tasks as planned by the project manager.
The project manager is responsible for the performance of each and every work done during his supervision including finding variances between planned and actual work, the cost and schedule etc.
The project manager is responsible to submit his report to all key stakeholders regarding the status of the project.
All the stakeholders of the project are responsible for the review of the metrices and variances.
All the stakeholders of the project are responsible to take essential action of the variances so as to complete the project within the time frame and budget.
The project execution and control is directly related to the progress of the project and the expectations of the stakeholders. Even if the minor issues remain unnoticed, that can cause a very big impact on cost, schedule and risk and it can cause deviation from the planned project, and hence the project manager should take special care of these points and their importance for the project execution and control phase.
The last phase is closure phase which is very important for the project because everything is set and complete rather the project closure phase is a phase of completion of all project goals and objectives and its acceptance by the customer.
The closure of the project includes the following tasks:
Release the main resources in use for both staff and non staff and their reallocation and redistribution to the other projects if required.
The closure of financial issues if any regarding labour, contract etc
Collection of all project records after completion.
Archive all the records involve in project.
All the documentation of the issues which are faced during this project and their method for resolving the issues. These documentation helps a lot in other projects.
Record all the lessons which learned during the project and conduct a meeting with the team members of the project on the same lessons as these lessons will helps to identify the do and don'ts of the next projects
Celebrate the completion of the project.
The outputs from Project Closure Phase provides as a stepping stone to execute the next projects with much more efficiency and control.
http://www.visitask.com/closure-phase.asp
Risk management.
A lot of risk involve in the project management and without risk assessment project cannot be successful as risk is involve everywhere. while budgeting its very important for project manager to calculate risks which are involve in executing the project and calculate its cost while budgeting the project and successful managers are those who give priority to manage the risk involved during project. As every project have certain amounts of risks involved which be attributed to human existence."RISK assessment is a process which is also used in comparing different potential remedial alternatives to ensure that the cure is not as bad as worse than the initial problem".( by peter k LaGoy, Page 1).
Risk assessment: principles and applications for hazardous waste and related Sites by
peter k LaGoy page.1
Schematic Representation of Iterative Risk Management Process - A textual description of this image is contained in the paragraphs above.
Monitoring:
There are three types of resources which should be monitored by the project manager to maintain en effective and efficient work flow through the entire project.
Check all the resources which are available at the time of project work flow and ensure those are on right place.
Check the performance of inputs like land, labour, capital, and equipments are in proper use if not then the project manager should take necessary action to correct it.
Schedule monitoring, the project manager must check all the activities of the project that are according to the timing of the scheduled planned.
Controlling.
This is the most important element of the project so that The main benefit of the project control is that the project performance measured on regular basis. The project manager should review the timeline and deliverables of the projects and manage the issued before multiplying and this check will help the project delay minimum. Then project manager should evaluate the project that actually where the project is at the moment? Then to evaluate the different process of the project planning and should assess that where project should be etc and then to take some corrective measures to improve the performance of the project.
Conclusion.
As per my analysis i came to know that in a project each and every individual who is working or involve in a particular project are making much efforts individually to make is successful and rather you can say the project can't be successful until unless each individual involve in this project work hard as per the set planning of the project. The project manager plays an
important role & has the responsibility to check all the requirement to run the project smoothly and for this purpose the project manager has to go through different steps to for this purpose like evaluation, planning, budgeting, costing, implementation, etc and on each step the project manager has to follow the rules very strictly to get the required results. There are
different departments like finance department who is looking after all accounts matters related to this particular project ,human resource department is responsible for recruitments,etc ,the marketing department is responsible for sales and advertisement etc, its mean every unit is contributing at his place positively for the success of the project. They are responsible to complete the project within the stipulated time and budget and this is the success of the project otherwise failure. During this i realised that how cost analysis and budgeting is important and crucial for the success of the project if the project is within the budget and everything is perfectly running then there are many chances for the success of the project and if the project is running under costing or under budgeting or over costing or over budgeting then the project will fail. The project manager must have some leadership qualities to run the project like knowledge, communication, decision making etc as he is the
only key person who is running the project and is responsible to deliver it in time successfully.
If the project planning is good and everything is done according to work break down structure and is done as already planned then there is nothing to stop the project to be successful. Only one thing left behind that is the timely availability of the resources allocated for project like staff, material etc. The basic criteria of the project manager are to focus on the goals, and try to stick on it. There must be a very good coordination between the project manager and the workers and interrelated activities. While working there are many problems occurs and the prime duty of the project manager is to identify the problems in early stage before it becomes crises. So he must try to save the time and money as well. Major problems are, staff associated problems, like area is not safe for working, environment is not suitable for working, etc, operational problems, management problems etc but the only person who can overcome to all these problem is a project manager who must have leadership skills, knowledge, vision, communication skills, in time decision maker etc. the project manager can handle all these problems and can improve the quality of working by providing good customers services. Project manager should plan the use of resources properly as and when
required in time. These resources are time, equipments, staff, finance, material, facilities, etc and proper use of these resources will enable the project manager to be successful. The project manager should be well aware of Gantts Chart, Dependencies, Resource activities, etc and should keep an eagle eye on all these things to run the project properly, effectively, and successfully.
