Overview of the Project
The project described hereunder is the brainchild of the Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division. This is a division that is tasked with offering maintenance services to other government agencies. Some of the government agencies that have benefited from the maintenance services of the division include libraries, motor pools, courthouses, the health departments, office park buildings, fire rescue department and parking garages among others. The Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division has a versatile human resource that is comprised of welders, storekeepers, electricians, locksmiths, sign shop, maintenance workers, plumbers, painters, mechanics, and carpenters among others. The Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division has undertaken various projects in pursuit of its aim to decentralize its services. The current project entails the construction of three new shops. The deliverables for the project that spans one year are three shows covering an area of one thousand five hundred square foot. The deliverables will also include a break room, two offices, a meeting room and a shop area.
The Value of a Project Charter
A project charter is an important aspect of project management. The sponsors of the project being undertaken prepare a project charter to empower the manager with the information that is necessary for the delivery of the project (Whitaker, Heldman, Mangano & Feddersen, 2016). The project charter also authorizes the project manager to commence the project and mobilize the resources that are needed to complete the various terminal activities of the project. The project charter contains various types of information that serve to inform the project manager of what is required (Whitaker et al., 2016).
Firstly, the project charter outlines the business need that the project is designed to meet. The business need is the core problem that the problem seeks to address. The sponsors of the project also include the context of the business problem to enable the project manager to link the solution to the business problem with the goals and strategies of the organization (Whitaker et al., 2016). The project charter also includes the stakeholders in the project. These are the people who have vested interests in both the completion of the project and its outcomes. This information is important to the project manager because it helps him prepare on how to communicate with the stakeholders (Whitaker et al., 2016).
Additionally, the inclusion of the stakeholders and their requirements helps the project manager perform a needs assessment of every stakeholder. This is necessary for the project manager to tailor the project to meet the needs and requirements of all the stakeholders (Whitaker et al., 2016). The project charter also contains the objectives of the project. This is the quantifiable criteria to be used in judging the success of the criteria. This information is important for project planning. It helps the project manager schedule the various milestones depending on the time and the resources available. It also helps the manager with a rubric against which the project will be judged (Whitaker et al., 2016).
The project charter also contains information on the scope of the project. This information informs the manager of what the project is supposed to cover and what is not included in the project (Whitaker et al., 2016). It helps the project manager in the allocation of resources to the various terminal activities in the project. It also informs the project manager of the boundaries of the project both on the high and low end. Finally, the project charter contains information on the constraints and assumptions (Whitaker et al., 2016). These elements inform the project manager the constraints the sponsors face in sponsoring the project and the assumptions they have made on different aspects of the project (Whitaker et al., 2016).
Stakeholder Analysis
The current project has various stakeholders who have vested interests in both the completion and outcomes of the project. One of the stakeholders is the Broward County Board of Commissioners. These are the sponsors of the project. The Broward County Board of Commissioners is the major stakeholder in the project. Their influence and attitude is a significant contributor to the completion of the project. Among other things, the Broward County Board of Commissioners controls the financial resources of the project because they are the sponsor. The completion of the project is dependent on their ability to avail the financial resources among other factors. The Broward County Board of Commissioners also controls other non-monetary resources that are important for the completion of the project.
For instance, they control the land on which the development of the shops will be done. The Broward County Board of Commissioners also influences when the project will commence. This is with respect to the fact that they are responsible for developing the project charter that gives the project manager the authority to commence and continue with the project. The Broward County Board of Commissioners harbors a positive attitude towards the project. Firstly, they are the sponsors of the project. They have a financial investment in the project and would like to see a return on their investment. Additionally, the completion of the project is part of the mandate of the Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division. As such, the Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division has an incentive to see the completion of the project.
The other stakeholders in the project are the employees of the Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division. The human resource at the Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division is comprised of welders, storekeepers, electricians, locksmiths, sign shop, maintenance workers, plumbers, painters, mechanics, and carpenters among others. The workers have a responsibility to complete the tasks to which they are assigned. Their assignment to this project requires them to complete the assigned tasks to the established specifications.
The employees have an influence on the completion of the project. They also have an influence on the quality of the deliverables. This is because the quality of the deliverables is a product of the workmanship of the employees. The employees also have an influence on the promptness of the delivery of the project. The terminal activities that are scheduled for the completion of the project have a time element. The timely completion of the project is dependent on the ability of the employees to complete each of the terminal activities on time. This contributes to the timely delivery of the project.
The attitude of the employees is affected by various factors. Their attitude affects many factors that influence the completion of the project. On one hand, the employees are motivated to complete the project so that they can get their pay. This is especially the case if their pay is pegged on the completion of the assigned tasks. Another factor that affects their attitude, and by extension, the completion of the project is the motivation of the employees. The motivation of the employees affects their ability to take initiative, their productivity, and their ability to deliver the project in a timely manner.
The other stakeholders in the project are the public. The Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division does not interact with the public in the delivery of its mandate. However, the services that the Broward County Board of Commissioners Facilities Maintenance Division delivers benefit the public. For instance, its aim to decentralize its services is aimed at ensuring the maintenance services are delivered in a prompt manner. Additionally, the delivery of its various projects for the many government agencies also enhances the delivery of services by the government agencies to the public. This makes the public an indirect stakeholder in the completion of the project.
The public has an influence on the delivery of the projects by exerting indirect expectations on the deliveries of the project. Through proxies such as inspectors, the public ensures that the project is delivered in accordance with existing standards. The public also has an influence on the project in that the project is geared towards meeting a public good. The public has a right to oppose the implementation of the project. However, they have the positive attitude because they stand to benefit from the implementation of the project.
Project Plan
The implementation of the project is to be done in three locations. This makes the logistics of the project challenging, especially in the light of the fact that the implementation of the project is done in the context of limited resources. The facility management for the project will be divided into four districts. A superintendent and a supervisor will be assigned to each of the districts. The fragmentation of the work into four districts is done in order to simplify the logistics in the implementation of the plan. The implementation of the project is simplified in the following ways:
Reduction in the travel time
With operations in four districts, there will be four epicenters from where the terminal activities will be administered. This will help reduce the time taken travel to the project sites. It also reduces the response time in the case expert help is required. Additionally, the reduction of the travel time also results in a reduction in the overhead costs (Suter, 2011). For instance, more travel time means more utilization of fuel and the increased cost of maintaining the vehicles. The reduction in the travel time means that the project will incur less cost of fueling the vehicles. Additionally, reduced travel time also results in a reduced wear and tear on the project equipment, which further reduces the cost of maintenance (Suter, 2011).
Increased Effectiveness
The effectiveness of the implementation of the project is important because more outputs are produced from the same unit of input. The fragmentation of the project into four districts means that the superintendents and the supervisors are responsible for a smaller area. This means that the supervisors and the superintendents are able to oversee the quality over a small area. The fragmentation of the operational area means that more senior staff is engaged in the implementation of the program (Lazear & Gibbs, 2015).
References
Lazear, E. P., & Gibbs, M. (2015). Personnel economics in practice. Hoboken. John Wiley & Sons.
Suter, J. (2011). Transportation & travel. Irvine: Saddleback Educational Publishers.
Whitaker, S., Heldman, K., Mangano, V. and Feddersen, B. (2016). PMP Project Management Professional Review Guide: Updated for the 2015 Exam. Hoboken. John Wiley & Sons.
