Introduction
Working on a project always indicates working with limited resources. In the given scenario, the project team is working under time constraint. Only half of the scheduled work is completed and extension of deadline is not possible as the presentation of the results of the opportunity analysis needs to be given to the senior executive in the next week.
A schedule identifies and communicates the timeframe within which different parts of a project needs to be completed and also identifies the resource allocation for the job. This helps in mapping the work and tracking the progress of the projects so that any lags can be identified in a timely manner and corrective actions can be taken. It also helps in identifying the risks and the costs of missing the deadline (Cleland & Ireland, 2004).
Effective utilisation of resources plays an important role in timely completion and success of a project (Douglas, 2009). When conducting opportunity analysis, time is the most crucial element as the result of the analysis will be relevant for a very short span of time within which the company has to capitalise on the opportunities identified in the audit. So, it is important to review the schedule, reassess the critical activities adjust time, resources and manpower so that the time shortage in this scenario can be effectively managed. For the given scenario, increased number of man-hours is needed to complete the project before the presentation.
An alternative to address the issue of time constraint is to negotiate and get resources for more than 20 hrs for the days leading up to the presentation to ensure completion of the project. Effective communication will be important to ensure that the negotiation can lead to successful outcome and also to ensure that the outcome of the negotiation is effectively communicated to the project team to ensure they are motivated and they participate productively in the project to meet the deadline. Effective leadership style would be important for rescheduling the work, allocating and driving resources.
Recommendations
Scheduling risks are inherent in any project. Scheduling risks can lead to exceeding the budget, delays in project completion, cancellation of project, and failing to meet project stakeholders’ needs (Cleland & Ireland, 2004). This makes it important to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to mitigate these risks. Project rescheduling and human resource churning needs to be done in the given scenario. Increasing the man-hours and reallocating resources can be effective to ensure completion of the project within the deadline. Churning the human resources is important for rightsizing efforts to align the skill sets with the changed deadline of the project (Cleland & Ireland, 2004).
Impact of the changes on project parameters
Project rescheduling and human resource churning efforts often increase the project costs. As more number of people are added to the project team or the existing team members are paid overtime for their extended number of work hours, the cost of the project increases. It becomes a challenge for the managers to reduce the cost impact as much as possible so that the project budget is exceeded only within the allowable tolerance limits. The complexity of the project might increase and the quality may suffer due to the rush to complete the project within the short time (Douglas, 2009). For any project, it is important that the project plan is implemented with strict controls of monitor adherence to the project plan. It is crucial to adhere to the ‘critical path’. But in the given scenario, it will require defining the ‘critical path’ again, thus making changes to the original project plan.
Conclusion
In summary, the paper will analysed the schedule changes to be made including the changes in resource allocation and their impact on the project parameters will be analysed.
References
Cleland, D. I., & Ireland, L. R. (2004). Project Management Strategic Design and Implementation (4th Ed.). McGraw-Hill New York, NY.
Douglas, H. (2009). The Failure of Risk Management: Why It's Broken and How to Fix It, USA, John Wiley & Sons
