(Tutor/Professor)
(City, State)
PART 1: PROJECT INITIATION
Project Brief
In the history of Olympics, this project has been termed by many experts as being the most complex in Europe. A number of factors conspired to ensure this is the case. First, the project was to be delivered within a short deadline that was provided for. Because London had won a bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, there was a need to have the facility ready in the shortest time possible. The second reason why the project was complex is because of the unique environment in which it was to be located. The environment, as a matter of fact, presented numerous challenges and obstacles for the workers that were contracted to work on it. That this was done on a minimal budget is also interesting (Stakeholder Analysis (Stakeholder Matrix), n.d). In order to achieve this success, a number of aspects had to fall in place. First, the workers had to work collaboratively as a team from the start. Innovation had to be on the level best if better results were to be anticipated. Successfully completing this project in time, within the short deadline and unconducive environment was widely appreciated as a difficult task to achieve. During this project, the team dedicated about 1.5 million man hours to deal with tunneling. It involved 420 workers in the eight centers of the project. This presented about 85 percent of the entire UK tunneling in that year. Its completion was regarded by many as a benchmark in both engineering and Olympics, facilitating it to be awarded.
Project plan
In undertaking this project, several activities were to be completed, with their significance to the project being paramount. The first activity was developing concept and feasibility. Under this, the lead engineers that were contracted to ensure that there would be a successful hosting of the Olympics had to develop a concept. This entailed determining the venue and how the venue would look like. The concept entailed designating London as the suitable venue. After this was achieved successfully, there was a need to ensure that the feasibility of the plan was adequate. The engineers had to make a determination as to whether it was possible to implement the concept and put it in practice. Whereas this proved to be a major challenge, this activity was handled effectively.
This was followed by clearly defining what the project entailed. It is under this that issues such as the labor required, the budget, the deadline and the process of undertaking the project were discussed. Every employee or worker would then be assigned their roles that were distinct. This would help minimize overlap of roles, thereby facilitating better management.
The third activity entailed implementing the project. This involved putting in practice the theorized approach and ensuring smooth construction process. The aim was to complete the project within the time stipulated, despite the challenges that were to be met. It is in this stage that issues such as tunneling were implemented. Tunneling proved to be the most challenging aspect. Constructing substations also followed suit. In addition to these, pylon removal and cabling and equipping were also handled.
The completion of the implementation of the project would later introduce the activity of asset handover and subsequent closeout. After the completion, the whole project had to be handed over to the owner. After this was done, the owner engaged in operation testing to ensure that all systems were functioning well. When everything was proved to be functioning effectively, the contract was terminated mutually and by the operation of the law (Stakeholder Analysis (Stakeholder Matrix), n.d). The project was success.
Stakeholder’s management
The project would involve various stakeholders who would play different roles in ensuring that the objectives of the project and timelines were to be met as planned. Some of these stakeholders included: project customer; project leader; senior management; product user group; project testers; consultants to the project; line managers; subcontractors; resource managers; groups that will be affected by the project; project team members among many others.
Stakeholders’ matrix
Power
Interest
Discussing 5 stakeholders from different boxes
Project Customers
This is the most important stakeholder in project management because they employ the project managers. Because of this, they hold superior power as compared to any other stakeholders. Keeping them satisfied is not an option; a project manager should ensure that the project customer remains satisfied all the time. Communication to them should be on a face to face basis so as to explain finer details of the project to them.
Resource managers
This category plays a significant role, as they take control of the resources for the project development process. Because of the sensitivity of the issue, it is important to monitor them closely to ensure they do not misappropriate the resources. Their interest and power are high. Communication ought to be through phone
Line managers
They neither have superior power, nor superior interest. They help guide the workers on the ground. It is prudent to constantly talk to them to ensure they enforce the rules on the ground adequately.
Consultants
They play a significant role. There is no doubt that they advise and guide on the approach the project should take. Because of this, they should be involved at all stages.
Subcontractors
Their position in the matrix is similar to that of line managers. Whereas they don’t have superior power and interest, they play a major role in the day to day running of the project. Communication can be through phone calls.
Risk management
In carrying out such a project, there are several risks that are likely to be encountered. These may include: Executives may fail to offer the project full support, the executives may be disengaged with the project, the scope could end up being defined poorly, having inaccurate estimates, having dependencies that are inaccurate, having inaccurate cost forecasts, possible change of management before the project is over, the stakeholders may conflict as pertains to certain challenges that ought to be introduced, under-communication, inaccurate expectations from the users, a shortage of resources, the available manpower may be inexperienced, low team motivation, inadequate commitment from the stakeholders involved, infeasible design, designs that are not fit for purpose, the project might disrupts operations, ambiguous decisions, among many more other risks.
Discussing 5 risks in detail
Executives failing to offer the project full support
The various stakeholders in the project development ought to play their roles as defined in order to ensure that completion of the project is done within the deadline stipulated. Over the years, however, this has proved to be a major challenge in the development of many projects. From the beginning, the executives are enthusiastic and readily available to offer their full support to the completion of the project (Davidson Frame, 2014). If they divide their attention, the implementation of the project will stall, because of many reasons. Lack of full support from the executives may mean poor compensation to the employees. The risk of this is that the contracted workers may opt to walk out of the project, causing numerous challenges and difficulties. In addition, lack of full support from the executive may translate to poor funding of the project. This is wrong. The probability of this happening, however, is minimal.
In order to deal with this risk, it is essential to ensure that the executives are well selected to include only the people who can be relied upon. It is also proper to ensure that the executives should be people who have experience in project development. In implementing this strategy, the developers should ensure they vet the executives adequately.
Poor definition of the scope
This risk involves a situation where the project is either under-estimated or over-estimated. Under-estimation will mean that the funds set aside for the project are inadequate to meet the demands. When this is the case, the project may end up stalling before it is completed. Over-estimating it, on the other hand, may see more workers contracted than is necessary (Davidson Frame, 2014).
Inaccurate forecast of costs
This is a serious risk to the implementation of any project. Poor forecasting may mean that the project is not completed in time because the funds allocated are not enough to handle the development of this project. To deal with this, more funds will have to be channeled to the project to cater for the shortfall. The specific action to implement this strategy is through hiring experts to make the forecast of the costs
Possible change of management
Change of management of a project may come with change of priorities and instructions. This is highly unacceptable in project management. It could lead to poor implementation of the project. For instance, it could lead to a number of the workers contracted away because their expectations are interfered with. To deal with this, project management should not be changed anyhow. It is prudent to make wise decisions from the beginning.
Inexperience from the available manpower
Similar to the above risks, this will lead to poor implementation of the project. It will also contribute to a waste of time and resources, because the available manpower cannot meet the expectations. It is prudent to ensure that before contracting the workers, the management is satisfied with their productivity. This is the only way that the quality and implementation of the project can be guaranteed.
PART 2
Essential Skills of a Project Manager
All project managers should have certain skills if the project in question is to be successfully implemented.
Communication
This skill is basic and essential. Reports show that project managers spend more than 90 percent of their time giving directions. Good communication will also mean that project managers develop a positive rapport with the workers (Ponnappa, 2006).
Team management
A project manager should be ready to lead his team of workers to meet the set targets. This is the only way that the project can be implemented positively.
Leadership
Basically, a project manager is a leader. One should ensure they have proper leadership skills in order to motivate and encourage workers to give their best.
Risk management skills
Having this set of skills is likely to help the project manager understand how to address various situations effectively (Ponnappa, 2006). This is important.
Personal organization
A project manager should be well organized. It would be wrong for project managers to be disorganized. Organization helps them plan and prepare adequately.
The project management skills I have
There is no doubt that I meet most of the essential skills in project management. This is as discussed below.
First, I am a good team leader. My background dictates that I appreciate all kinds of people, regardless of their financial position or status in the society. This helps me develop positive touch with other members of the community. This ability to freely mingle with all people is essential in project management. It will help me understand how to deal with the challenges that the workers in the project will face. Importantly, it will help me motivate these workers.
There is no doubt that I am a good communicator. Communication is an essential part of management. Giving directions and supervising the workers depends on proper communication. It is only through this that one is able to give relevant directions without misleading the other parties in the project (Hyväri, 2006). Through this skill, I will have a positive influence on how fast the task is done.
I am experienced in team management skills that are very necessary for any project manager to have. Throughout my life, I have led several groups and organizations with amazing effect. The result of this is that I have internalized how to manage various groups of people, in addition to meeting their expectations. This is very necessary in project management.
Project Management Skills that I want to develop
In the near future, my intention is to boost the skills I have in team leadership. Although I am well placed with the skills I have at the moment, it would be amazing to invest in the skill and become a better person. In all the project management skills, team leadership plays the biggest role. It is through such leadership that a project can be handled carefully. This skill also teaches one on how to relate with all stakeholders in the project. The fact that it equips the manager adequately to solve various challenges that may arise is also positive. As such, I intend to develop this skill.
SMART Objectives for the skills, and how I will develop them
The first objective for the above skills is to develop a solid base on communicating and giving instructions to the workers in the project development. This objective will be guided by the attempts to acquire better communication skills and team leadership. Leadership skills, in most cases, are as a result of experience. The experience I am having in the field will definitely help me attain these skills. In addition, they can be learnt.
The second SMART objective is to learn on acquire risk management skills in project management. Without these, it will be very difficult for the project manager to effectively deliver their tasks. These will be acquired through experience and practice.
The timeframe of acquiring these objectives cannot be defined. For instance, most of these skills are enhanced by the experience one gets in the field. Such experience will depend on the interactions I will have with different people in the society. The more exposure one gets to project development, the higher their chances to get experience become.
References
Davidson Frame, J. (2014). Reconstructing Project Management. Project Management Journal, 45(1), pp.e2-e2.
Hyväri, I. (2006). Project management effectiveness in project-oriented business organizations.International Journal of Project Management, 24(3), pp.216-225.
Ponnappa, G. (2014). Project Stakeholder Management. Project Management Journal, 45(2), pp.e3-e3.
Web Page
Stakeholder Analysis (Stakeholder Matrix). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/effective-engagement/toolkit/tool-stakeholder-analysis-stakeholder-matrix
