Options to cut/ minimize project cost
How owner takes responsibility
When the owner takes responsibility, they perform the tasks themselves as opposed to assigning them to other people. Such approaches have the effect of faster completion of tasks for the person doing the tasks best understands them. Assigning tasks to agents lead to certain overheads such as training as it becomes unavoidable. These costs may increase project time and project cost. Since the project has to be completed within the original budget, this option can help reduce the project cost.
Assigning the tasks 4, 8, 9 and 10 (Source sponsors, Purchase and pack goody bags, Invite important guests and Distribute publicity materials) would potentially cause delays as they would require reporting back, follow ups and all that overhead. If Jane and Mary actually take personal responsibility in accomplishing these tasks they are likely to take less time and cost. Therefore, this option would be practical and recommendable for this project.
Outsourcing project activities or even the entire project
When outsourcing one assumption is always that the outsourced agent has a better capacity or is in a better position to perform the task within the expected time and budget. Same concept applied in this case would simply mean that the outsourced agent will have to deliver the expected tasks within the agreed time and budget. For most professionals, that would be a difficult thing to do.
It is possible to outsource individual activities, but to reap huge on savings, it is recommended to outsource the entire project if possible (Ferraro, 2012). Outsourcing own activities may create overlapping activities and redundant tasks which will automatically increase plan, particularly if you outsource from different agents. However, if from the personal judgment the overheads have an association with outsourcing individual activities are inconsequential to the total project cost, then you can go ahead and outsource for individual project activities.
In this case outsourcing industry practitioners in the stages of studying user’s requirements and; installation and testing of light and sound system may have avoided the unforeseen delay in testing the light and sound system. An industry practitioner will be expected to know from the start how long the testing will take and how complicated it is based on their experience. This option would likely save the team from the imminent delay resulting from the unforeseen complication in testing the sound and light system and therefore it is recommended in this project.
Brainstorming cost saving options
Brainstorming ideas is always a good idea. But as you brainstorm, you are eating into the valuable project time, and if things turn out worse, you may end up not adopting a single solution from the brainstorming sessions. It is especially true if you decide to brainstorm after realizing that the project is not following its original course, and you want to employ some radical changes. However, brainstorming can also provide practical solutions to project deadlocks. Team members can come up with ideas for reducing project costs either directly or through other means such as reducing activity durations.
Brainstorming ideas on how to extend the sound and lighting testing without increasing project cost or time would be applicable here. The only problem is that the point in time at which the issue was discovered was a little too late. Brainstorming here would not be practical as it would potentially delay the subsequent tasks of rehearsal, checking security and probably all the way to the last task by the number of days the brainstorming would take.
In conclusion, project changes are always undesirable, but often unavoidable. Fortunately, there are always ways to counter the effects of the project changes, i.e. increased costs and duration. Issues experienced in the scenario would provide outsourcing as a viable option. It would be possible and likely effective since most activities are related. A single company such as an events management company would be able to perform exclusively all the tasks, or otherwise, and deliver the project in the expected time and budget.
Control management
The management team has several options before them. They can decide to source for additional funds to cater for the extra expense. However, searching for other resources in the middle of a project is not usually easy (Ferraro, 2012). It may also lead to complications since while your source, time moves, and the project delays. In their wisdom, if there high possibility of getting the extra funds to address the particular issue of making the fireworks grander and last longer, then they should implement this option. The most viable option in this context would be outsourcing that project activity. If outsourcing this project activity is done the following accomplishments may be realised:
Grander and longer lasting fireworks display at the show – the outsourced agent will be contracted to deliver as per specification without fail.
No additional cost for longer lasting and grander fireworks. The outsourced agent will likely agree to undertake the task at the original budget.
No disruption to the remaining activities since there will be no budgetary disruption.
No extended project duration.
Evaluation of the project’s CPI in light of the unexpected issues raised
The project is expected to complete well within the revised budget. The introduction of more funds will address the sudden changes in the budget, which will ensure that all tasks achieve completion. In my opinion, the project has run mostly within the expected cost which is commendable. The additional $4000 for the fireworks display if successfully sourced reached upon in the decision will slightly lower the earned value and consequently lower the project’s cost performance index.
The CPI for the project would be given by earned value actual cost
= 72,22067,920
= 1.06
The calculations rank well above average.
QUESTION 4
In my opinion, the project was a success – it was completed within the scheduled time using an excess budget addressed.
As with any project, changes may occur unexpectedly and, in fact, they do occur often. The agility, skill and efficiency with which the project handlers address the changes, determine the success rate of any project. However, there are things we can do beforehand to cushion the effect of project changes or even better, to completely prevent them.
One way would be to add redundancy to our project plan. By adding excess, we ensure that there is always the backup plan for cornerstone activities in case the main course fails. It, in turn, provides that all such activities run as scheduled (Berkun, 2008). However, creating such backups may mean additional project costs. It all depends on what is the priority – cost or time.
The other way to prevent a future occurrence would be by predicting possible changes and having solutions on standby. Unlike adding redundancy, this is less costly as additional backup activities or resources have physically included in the project but only has consideration as a thought.
If unfortunately, the changes occur, then the thought considerations will have to be actualised. It is only then that we may have to go utilize resources higher than the budget to complete the project.
It should have the acknowledgement that preventing changes to projects is not practical as some conditions may be external factors that are totally uncontrollable. Such circumstances in this project may include curfews resulting from terrorist attack scares, extreme weather or even accidents.
QUESTION 5
Project objectives
The goals of the project included:
Launching the performance complete with the longest lasting and grander fireworks display.
Using only the resources scheduled to achieve completely the job
The project objectives were met. The project was completed at the scheduled time, though an excess over the budget was inevitable.
Changes in the project
There were variations in the project. For example, the lighting and sound system testing was expected to take longer that earlier thought. Also, after receiving feedback, the Public Affairs Department decided that the fireworks display should be grander and last longer, and this would require an additional $4000. Neither of these changes was expected to occur, and none is scheduled.
One cause for the changes was inadequate planning before the commencement of the project. If enough background research had been done the Public Affairs Department, they would have collected their feedback at the requirements collection stage of the project plan, and it might not have come up as a change. Therefore, requirements collection should be accorded enough attention as it forms a basis for subsequent stages of the plan.
Cost overruns
There was a slight cost overrun. The decision by the Public Affairs Department to have long lasting and grandest fireworks introduced an unprecedented demand of $4000. The amount was over the initial budget and in the context of this project, there was no practical way to offset it.
Lessons learnt
Unexpected changes are always a major concern for project managers. We should always think of sudden changes and include them in plans right from the beginning to avoid rescheduling projects halfway down their rollout.
In the case of sudden changes, we should consider what is of lower priority and compromise it if we must. If we have to adjust cost upwards to meet the deadline, we should adjust it if time cannot have a compromise. If we are working on a fixed budget, we might consider changing project timeline.
References
Berkun, S. (2008). Making things happen mastering project management. Sebastopol, Calif: O'Reilly Media.
Ferraro, J. (2012). Project management for non-project managers. New York, NY: AMACOM.
