Executive summary
The success of any project depends on the effective planning. Planning in project management is crucial especially when it comes to project definition. Project definition involves specifying and documenting different aspect of the project such as the objectives, scope, aims and assessing the viability of the project. For any project to be successful, it is very crucial for the project manager to formulate an effective project definition (Atkinson, 2009). Defining a project effectively will give a basis of planning, monitoring and controlling other project tasks and activities. It was evident in the given project where the stakeholder and the manager of the company which was awarded the contract used the telephone to verbally define the project completion date, which did not work. Proper project definition will eliminate the issue where the tasks carried out in the project are not handled effectively. It also eliminates the issue where the involved parties blame each other for the failures which occur in the project.
Part 1 – Question 1
It is indisputable that most project problem is attributed to inadequate project definition. Project definition gives the project team definition and mandates that are definitive. Project definition gives the basis or provides key inputs to the preceding task of planning and sourcing which is carried out in when planning, initiating and mobilizing. Project definition is also vital as it enables the project team to formulate project goals, objectives and goals. The project goals, objective and purpose will be documented and communicated to the project team members and stakeholders. This will provide a foundation of knowing and understanding the key value and the significance of the work when the project commences. It also assists the team members to increase their delivering ability as it provides a blueprint of the whole project. In respect to the case study, it is very clear the project definition was not done in details.
It is critical that all the relevant people vividly understand and agree on the project t definition. The content of the project definition should be well documented and formally accepted by the stakeholders of the project. A formal communication should also send to all involved parties (Baccarini, 2009). The document is a basis of future communication made future stakeholders and participants. This wasn’t the case in the given case study. The dissatisfaction on the side of the project owner in the given case can largely be attributed to inadequate project definition.
Part 1 – Question 2
This was evident from where the Don Howe’ and the Managing Director, Mr S. A. Mistry used a verbal telephone communication to set the project’s completion date. Having in mind that time is one of the constraints which mostly affect a project. It was unprofessional to handle such a sensitive issue over the phone. The outcome of this ignorance was the Managing Director, Mr S. A. Mistry blames the contractor for not delivering the project at the right time.
For a successful completion of a project, the concerned team should agree on the following key things before the project starts. This forms the foundation which defines and measure the project
- Mandate-the project team and the stakeholders should find out reliable and clear mandate for that particular project. The things dealt with include whether the sponsor possesses the power to start or initiate the project, whether the sponsor is able to provide the required resources and other bodies (both externally and internally) who are to agree on the project.
- Objectives and purpose- the stakeholders should clearly define the purpose of the project by clearly defining the project’s measurable objectives. The objectives should be achievable, measurable and reasonable.
- The project team and the stakeholders need to define and specify the scope of the project. This includes determining whether the project should address the entire business problem or departmental.
- The stakeholders should try to determine the benefit that the business will gain from the project. The benefits should include financial or non-financial, measurable or quantifiable or external or internal benefits.
- The timescale do which the project will deliver the projected benefits is also a factor.
- How the project is controlled and managed should also be well defined including all the authority, responsibility and accountability.
- Sanity check, prior and permission to proceed should be looked at before the project commences.
Part 2 – Question 1
With the help of MS project document a more account project estimation time can be formulated as shown in Appendix one. The estimated completion date in this case will be on Friday 7th February 2014. The completion date is realized when assumptions are made that the last three tasks will be carried one after the other. I made this assumption because the task involved cannot be handled concurrently. For instance, producing a report of the project cannot be done before the management reviews the project as the formulation of the board paper and final consultation.
The diagram also shows the predecessors of each project task. This is the task that must be completed before another task is performed. Identified predecessors help the project manager come up with the most accurate estimation time. The project diagram also shows the resources allocated to each task. Since we are provided with estimated rates per hour, we can calculate the rough estimate cost of the project by multiplying with the number of hours each project team worked (Meredith & Mantel, 2011).
The following assumptions are made in regards to the project schedule
- The management is able and willing to provide all the financial resource needed in the project including any extra cost in case changes occur in the schedule.
- All the team members will be present and will carry out their jobs accordingly. This is to avoid other risk that might arise due to negligence or absenteeism.
- The resource like hardware and software are available within the town to avoid the shipping delays.
Part 2 – Question 2
The changes in the time taken to complete a task can impact on the general scheduling of the project and especially the completion time. Increasing the number of days for handling a particular test can either increase the duration of the project or have no implication on the project. This entirely depends on the critical path on the project. The critical path is a sequence of project tasks with the longest completion time. This task must be handled carefully since their alteration will result in the change in project completion time.
If the task whose time has been increased fall under the critical path the project completion time will be affected. For the above case study, the initial critical path for the project is shown in appendix 3. When the time for the interview is increased, completion time will be longer by four days since the task fall under the critical path (De Meyer, 2002). On the other hand, increasing the time for hardware investigation will have no impact on the project completion time since it does not fall under the critical path as shown in appendix 4 and 5 respectively
Part 2 – Question 3
According to Meredith & Mantel (2011), Reduction in the human resource can have a detrimental effect on the project. It is always preferable to confirm the available human resource for a project before it commence. This will avoid straining the resource and end up compromising the quality of the project or affecting the completion time of the project.
It is only one system analyst for the given case study, the project manager has to look for alternative of compensating the deficit. These include:
- Letting the system analyst to work overtime at an extra pay. Though the single system analyst cannot finish the task at the expected time, at least the time needed for that particular task is relatively shorter.
- The project manager can allocate more time to the tasks handled by the system analyst and this time is recovered by crashing other tasks with adequate human resources. Crashing in project management is where the duration for handling a particular task is shortened so that the project completion time is also shortened (Burke, 2003). This is achieved by allocation more resources, both finance and human force, in that particular project task. For the given case study, the two strategies can be implemented to ensure that the completion time of the project is at least maintained.
Conclusion
For any project to be successful, it is very crucial for the project manager to formulate an effective project definition. Defining a project effectively will give a basis of planning, monitoring and controlling other project tasks and activities. It was evident in the given project where the stakeholder and the manager of the company which was awarded the contract used the telephone to verbally define the project completion date, which did not work. Proper project definition will eliminate the issue where the tasks carried out in the project are not handled effectively. It also eliminates the issue where the involved parties blame each other for the failures which occur in the project (Baker, Murphy & Fisher, 2009).
References
Atkinson, R. 2009. Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria.International journal of project management, 17(6), 337-342.
Burke, R. 2003. Project management: planning and control techniques (Vol. 3). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Baker, B. N., Murphy, D. C., & Fisher, D. 2009. Factors affecting project success. Project Management Handbook, Second Edition, 902-919.
Baccarini, D. 2009. The concept of project complexity—a review. International Journal of Project Management, 14(4), 201-204.
Chapman, C., & Ward, S. 2006. Project risk management: processes, techniques and insights. John Wiley.
Cleland, D. I., & King, W. R. 2006. Systems analysis and project management (Vol. 3). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kerzner, H. R. 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Wiley.
Grady, R. B. 2002. Practical software metrics for project management and process improvement (Vol. 3). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Meredith, J. R., & Mantel Jr, S. J. 2011. Project management: a managerial approach. Wiley. com.
Project Management Institute. 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide. Project Management Institute.
Pich, M. T., Loch, C. H., & De Meyer, A. (2002). On uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity in project management. Management Science, 48(8), 1008-1023.
Turner, J. R. 2009. The handbook of project-based management (Vol. 92). London: McGraw-Hill.
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
