The Cleveland Fire and Rescue Service initiated a joint investigative team consisting of Fire Investigation Officers (FIOs) and Fire Prevention Officers (FPOs) in response to a series of domestic house fires happening across North East of England in April 2010. The findings of the preliminary investigation was described as ''both significant and startling" since it linked all the domestic fires to a potential cause.
The council in the late 1990's upgraded these properties as part of its "right to buy scheme" and tenants with over five year's occupancy was given the option to buy their houses. The contractor responsible for the renovation was selected through a nationwide tendering process and procurement regulations for the management of tenders meant that the company could have undertaken similar work throughout the UK.
The investigative team on further investigation of the renovation process revealed several modifications was made that could have bearing on the incidences. The most significant discovery was that one key factor remained the same, that the electrical control for the heating system was replaced during the refurbishment. The system was designed to have an automatic "cut-of -switch which would activate when the system overloaded.
The inspection revealed that the failure of these units was not merely coincidental but was due to a design flaw which would result in a failure of every unit. The potential danger facing many household in the UK resulted in the initiation a major project known as the Cleveland Call Back Project.
The Cleveland Call Back project was commenced on the 4th May, 2010 with a time frame of 3-4 months for completion and a project budget of £150,000. The project had a significant IT solution deemed as an essential component of the project. Since a decision was taken to develop the software systems in house for implementation. The recruitment of two (2) IT consultants was undertaken for the project.
The project team carried out project activities for this period. It was announced at a progress meeting on the 6th August 2010 approximately three weeks before the "go-live" date of the 31st August 2010 that the project would not be completed on time.
The project faced further challenges since the previously allocated budget has already incurred a £142, 2450 of expenditure and the desktop PCs acquired for the project was of poor quality. The Cleveland Call Back project at that time was facing the possibility of project failure which would have several negative outcomes. The Director of the FPA took a unilateral decision at that point to hire a Project Consultant to evaluate and advise of how to mitigate further project risk
1.2 Project SWOT / GAP Analysis
As a result of the aforementioned a decision was made to conduct several analyses of the organization and its Call Back Project to aid in the overall evaluation. Firstly, a SWOT Analysis was used as a practical tool in obtaining key information on the factors affecting the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) of the organization. (Refer to Table 1 - SWOT Analysis)
(Figure 1): - SWOT Analysis of the Cleveland Call Back Project.
STRENGTHS
Operating over thirty years
Employees expertise and competencies
Organization clearly defined:
Fire Prevention
Public Awareness of fire related activities
Support governmental management
Project ownership defined (FPA)
Resource availability :
HR- Fire and Rescue personnel
Public awareness communication channels
Project Reputation
Risk Mitigation- Recruitment Project Consultant
WEAKNESSES
Project definition
Organizational structure- Bureaucratic
Gaps in project knowledge and expertise
Top - down approach
Class or prestige gaps between levels of mgt.
Project Plan non existent
No Project Management Methodology
Centralized financial decision making
Reactive Budget control
No feasibility study
Lack of project leadership
staff lack of motivation and teamwork
Lack of Project communication plan
Absence of project monitoring
Poor project Quality
No clear HR planning administered
Procurement practice poor
Poor time management
Poor PC design specifications
OPPORTUNITIES
Unique product implementation and customer service
Technology and infrastructure development first of its kind
Stakeholder involvement in project
Training of staff in project mgt. techniques and capacity building
New organizational structure, wanting to improve overall organizational effectiveness through organizational development
Changes in tendering legislation
THREATS
Legal action from relevant stakeholders
Political influences/interference
Project over runs:
Time
Finances or Budget
Project Failure and huge expense write offSource: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/swot-analysis.html
According to the PMI (2000, Pg.6) Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Kerzner (2003, Pg.5) states that ''project management is designed to manage or control company resources on a given activity, within time, within cost and within performance. Time, Cost and performance are the constraints on the project''.
Secondly, a GAP Analysis was used to further analyze and identify the space between "where we are" and "where we wanted to be" for the Cleveland Callback project. The GAP analysis focused on time, cost and performance since these three areas are critical to the success of the project.
(Figure 2):- GAP Analysis of the Cleveland Call Back Project
Current standing
Desired Outcome
Action to Be taken
1. Failure to meet go-live date of 31st August,2010 and new date 11th October,2010
2.Project budget incurred thus far £142,450
3.Bespoke IT Solution recommended for project far more complicated than initially thought and incomplete
4.Ineffective project progress meetings and communication
5. PC hardware purchased not of a sufficient standard to run software
1.Achieve new go-live date
2.Complete project within reasonable cost
3.Development and implementation of IT support software
4.All project team members participation and effective communication
5. Specific Designed PC hardware procured to support IT database
1.Project time Management to meet new go-live date 11th October,2010
2.Project Budget management and monitoring
3.Redefining project scope and activities to achieve software completion and implementation
4.0Fulltime project leadership and guidance
4.1Implementation of a HR and communication plan to support project
5. Review of procurement practices and PC design specification
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/clearing-up-gap-analysis
Benchmarking for Project Success:
The Cleveland Call Back project was then measured against PMBOK best practice standards to evaluate overall project performance and make recommended improvements.The project would be assessed using PMBOK Nine Knowledge Areas PMI (2000) to identify key weakness of the project management approach and recommend project tools/techniques to improve overall project performance.
PMBOK nine knowledge areas are as follows:
Project Integration
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Project Human Resource Management
Project Communications Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Project Organization:
Effective project management according to kerzner (2003) requires an understanding of:
Quantitative tool and techniques
Organizational Structures
Organizational Behavior
One of the weaknesses highlighted in our SWOT analysis was the bureaucratic nature of the organization and its autocratic leadership style. There was also gaps in project knowledge and expertise in the organization. Non-project-based organizations often may lack management systems designed to support project needs efficiently and effectively. The absence of project-oriented systems usually makes project management more difficult PMBOK (2004).
Therefore management should review the organizational structure so they can achieve flexibility and effective project management practice. The development and implementation of a Project Management Office (PMO) may be best suited for this type of organization since it may be difficult to alter it present structure due to the nature of the organization. A PMO can exist in any of the organizational structures and could be set up as an organizational unit to coordinate the management of projects under its domain. A PMO can operate on a continuum which provides project management support functions PMBOK (2004).
According to PMBOK (2004) organizational cultures often have a direct influence on the project. Organisational behaviour is important because the functional employees at the interface position would find themselves reporting to more than one boss- line manager and project manger for each project they are assigned to (kerzner 2003).
The support and partnership with functional management can usually overcome the functional resistance. Employees tend to seek constancy and often fear the new initiatives will push them outside their comfort zones. It is also imperative that we understand resistance to change Kerzner(2003). Therefore management should plan and implement an organisational change process which is critical to the project success.
Whether or not an organisation is project-oriented, the impact of management emphasis on the organisation is well known. In the project environment there also exists a definite impact due to leadership emphasis. The leadership emphasis is best seen by employee contributions, participation, performance and the project manger's performance Kerzner (2003). The project manager should take a more active role in leading the project therefore full time project involvement would be a key aspect of this initiative.
Project Integration:
Develop Project Charter:
Developing the project charter is primarily concerned with documenting the business needs, project justification, current understanding of the customer's requirements, and the new product, service, or result that is intended to satisfy those requirements PMBOK(2004). However in some organizations, a project is not formally chartered and initiated until completion of a needs assessment, feasibility study, preliminary plan, or some other equivalent form of analysis PMBOK (2004).
The Cleveland Call Back project during its initiating phase, the management team should have considered conducting a feasibility and cost benefit analysis before making a final decision for a bespoke IT solution. The team would have also benefited from a brainstorming session during which they would have identified and defined the problem. The formulation of possible potential solutions would have been discussed and considered. This view has been supported in the work of Kerzner (2003).
Develop Preliminary Project Scope Statement:
The project scope statement is the definition of the project what needs to be accomplished. The preliminary project scope statement process addresses and documents the characteristics and boundaries of the project, as well as the methods of acceptance and scope control PMBOK (2004). The critical tools and techniques required to develop project definition are expert judgement and project management methodology. The management team did highlight objectives for the project however these objectives were not further defined into developing the project scope statement. This resulted in very broad objectives being developed for this project which was shared with the IT consultants responsible for the design of the new software.
Develop Project Management Plan
The Project Management Plan process includes the actions necessary to define, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans into a project management plan. The project management plan content will vary depending upon the application area and complexity of the project PMBOK (2004). The Cleveland Call back project had no documented project plan; this was confirmed by the Project Consultant during interviews with the project team. The project management plan defines how the project is executed monitored and controlled, and closed PMBOK (2004). The development and implementation of a project plan should be commenced at this point if the project is to be successfully completed.
Project Scope Management
Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, to complete the project successfully PMBOK (2004). According to PMBOK (2004) creating a project scope management plan documents how the project scope will be defined, verified , controlled and how the work breakdown structure (WBS) will be created and defined.
When defining the project scope the preparation of a detailed scope statement is critical to project success and builds upon the major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints that are documented during project initiation PMBOK (2004). The recommended tool and techniques according to PMBOK (2004) that should be used to properly define the detailed scope statement is stakeholder's analysis.
In essence stakeholder's analysis identifies the influence and interest of the various stakeholders and documents their need, wants and expectations. The analysis than selects, prioritizes and quantifies the needs, wants and expectation to create requirements PMBOK (2004). Since this project was an IT software development project different approaches to execute and perform the work of the project could have been evaluated PMBOK (2004).
Research on best practices for software development (IBM, 2006) shows that it is important to chose the appropriate development lifecycle process to the project at hand because all other activities are derived from the process. For most modern software development projects, some kind of spiral-based methodology is used over a waterfall process. The requirements gathering is fundamental to a successful project therefore the development team needs to understand what needs to be built.
The project IT solution at this point was far more complicated than initially anticipated, this resulted in time delays and cost overrun since the IT consultants had to work more works to meet the project go live date. The reviewing of the project scope and requirements at this point of the project would be a key activity to the success completion of this project.
Create WBS
The WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team, to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. The WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project. The WBS represents the work specified in the current approved project scope statement PMBOK (20004). According to Kerzner (2004) the WBS is the first major step in the planning process after project requirements definition. The creation of a WBS would have provided the basis for costing and risk analysis of the project.
Project Time Management:
According to Kerzner (2004) managing projects within time, cost and performance is easier said than done. Disciplined time management is one of the keys to effective project management. To determine the amount of time you need for any project, must consider the sequence and duration Portny (2010).
After the WBS has been created, the tasks or steps can be time-phased on a Gantt chart. This is a useful tool for managing the project since it graphically indicates the timeline for each significant piece of work or event and current status of each ASQ (2006). Developing an activity network diagram (AND) is a simple chart showing the dependencies of each task on others in the project. This chart is used in understanding and communicating task relationships within the project ASQ (2006).
Developing Your Project's Schedule
Developing your project's schedule requires the combination of activities, resources, and activity- performance sequences that give you the greatest chance of meeting your client's expectations with the least amount of risk Portny (2010). The Cleveland Call back project at this point was experiencing a serious time crunch therefore tactical measures to alleviate this time constraint should be considered. Portny(2010) discusses several strategies to shorten your project duration. The critical path in your network diagram defines your project's length hence the Critical Path Method for determining your project's schedule. According to Portny(2010) if you want to finish your project in less time, consider ways to shorten its critical path.
PMBOK (2004) also suggest the implementation of project management scheduling software to assist with schedule development. These products automate the calculation of the mathematical forward pass and backward pass critical path analysis and resource levelling, and, thus, allow for rapid consideration of many schedule alternatives.
Project Cost Management
Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget PMBOK (2004). Effective cost management includes developing a budget to control spending and monitoring expenses throughout a project's lifecycle. The cost for the Cleveland Call Back project was not on track since a major part of the budget has been expended and the project was no where near to completion. This can be identified as one of the key weakness of the project since cost is one of the constraints to project management.
The forecasting of the project budget at this time would include making estimates or predictions of conditions in the project's future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast. This forecast is generated, updated and reissued based on work performance information provided as the project is executed and progressed PMBOK (2004).
Project Quality Management
Project Quality Management must address the management of the project and the product of the project. While Project Quality Management applies to all projects, regardless of the nature of their product, product quality measures and techniques are specific to the particular type of product produced by the project PMOK (2004). Therefore quality management for IT products would entail different approaches. The project quality plan should incorporate specific IT software quality metrics and standards. These metrics should be benchmarked against IT software design best practices.
Quality assurance ensures that the project results in deliverables that meet stakeholder needs and expectations. Performing quality control (QC) involves monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results PMBOK (2004).
Project Human Resource Management
Human Resource Planning determines project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships, and creates the staffing management plan. The staffing management plan can include how and when project team members will be acquired, the criteria for releasing them from the project, identification of training needs, plans for recognition and rewards PMBOK (2004).
Human resources management includes organizing and managing the project team and ensuring project support. The team process also helps organizational change and begins working in different ways. If decisions are made in a multidisciplinary way, the team will consider a broader perspective and will be likely to better address problems ASQ (2006). The human resource plan should include teambuilding training for the project team members.
Acquiring the project team is the process of obtaining the human resources needed to complete the project PMBOK (2004). The recruitment of key technical staff should take into consideration the appropriate skills mix to ensure the success of the project. This project required project management expertise therefore a qualified and experienced contractor should have been considered to assist and teach technical staff via knowledge transfer.
A project organization chart is a graphic display of project team members and their reporting relationships. It can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based on the needs of the project PMBOK (2004). The linear responsibility chart identifies participants, and to what degree an activity will be performed or a decision will be made. It attempts to clarify the authority relationships that can exist when functional units share common work Kerzner (2003)
Project Communications Management
Effective project communications ensure that we get the right information to the right persons at the right time and in a cost-effective manner. Proper communication is vital to the success of a project Kerzner (2003). According to Kerzner (2003) when there is a breakdown in communication then disaster follows. The project communications management processes provide the critical links among people and information that are necessary for successful communications. Project managers can spend an inordinate amount of time communicating with the project team, stakeholders, customer, and sponsor. Everyone involved in the project should understand how communications affect the project as a whole PMBOK (2004).
Since all projects share the need to communicate project information, the informational needs and methods of distribution vary widely. It is critical to identify the informational needs of the stakeholders and determine a suitable means of meeting those needs is an important factor for project success PMBOK (2004). The implementation of a project communication plan would establish the frameworks for communication which is vital to the project success.
Project Risk Management
Risk management should be closely coupled with key project processes, including but not limited to overall project management, cost, scope, quality and schedule Kerzners(2003). PMBOK (2004) refers to risk management planning as the process of deciding how to approach and conduct the risk management activities for a project. The planning processes is important to ensure that the level, type and visibility of risk management commensurate with both the risk and importance of the project. Kerzner(2003) also goes on to state'' risk identification must continue through all project phases.''
The tools used in risk management range from sophisticated mathematical models for larger projects where much uncertainty exists to simpler methods of merely identifying where risks may be encountered and what remedies are available to manage the project should the risk be encountered ASQ (2006).
The proactive control of potential future events, risk management may include developing contingency plans when uncertainty is identified. Reassessment and analysis of potential risks should be performed at critical intervals ASQ (2006). The Cleveland Call back project team should conduct a risk assessment and also discuss risk management on the progress meeting agenda.
Project Procurement:
Good procurement practices can increase corporate profitability by taking advantage of quantity discounts, minimizing cash flow problems and seeking out quality suppliers Kerzner (2003). All procurement strategies are frameworks by which an organization attains it objective. When utilizing project procurement strategy a critical factor is the environment in which procurement must take place. The micro environment is the internal environment of the firm especially polices and procedures on the way procurement will take place Kerzner (2003). The development and implementation of procurement policies for this Cleveland Call Back project should be commenced.
2.0 Project Planning:
The length of your project's critical path(s) in your network diagram defines your project's length (hence, the Critical Path Method for determining your project's schedule). If you want to finish your project in less time, consider ways to shorten its critical path Portny (2010).
Tasks that cannot be delayed without affecting the project finish date are the critical tasks. In a typical project, many tasks have some slack and can therefore be delayed a little without delaying other tasks or affecting the project finish date. Critical tasks make up the schedule's critical path Microsoft.com (2003).
The critical path for the Cleveland Call Back Project was Requirement Analysis, Interface studies, Pro-typing, Implementation, Systems Testing and Call center training. According to Portny(2010) monitoring critical-path activities closely during performance because any delay in critical-path activities will delay your project's completion. Also closely monitor any activities on paths that are close to being critical because any minor delay on those paths can also delay your project's completion
Progress Management
The Cleveland Call Back project
4.0 Resource Based Costing
5.0 Budget Management
In conclusion the Cleveland Call Back project was facing several challenges. The key to any successful project is the management of time, cost and resources which are also constraints to your project. The application of project management methodology and benchmarking provides a means of measuring project success.
