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Management of Projects Assignment
Introduction of Characteristics, Scope, Budgeting, Risks, and Control
Project management is important task which lies in the hands of project manager so that tasks can be accomplished within time frame. The present report deals with importance of project management and deals with company named Hotel Communications Ltd which is given construction opportunity in IT services in new hotel located in London. The senior management is entitled to receive much needed information as it lacks in accomplishment of large projects. Moreover, various stages of project life cycle is discussed and characteristics of project is discussed as well. Furthermore, project scope statement is essential document for company listing tasks to be accomplished within time.
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TASK 1
1. Project characteristics
The characteristics of project are as follows-
- Temporary course of action-
Project undertaken by management has finite start and end as well. No project is everlasting, it is temporary in nature. At the start of project, idea is evolved and developed and at the end, project is successfully completed as objectives are attained.
- Meant to deliver-
Every project which is undertaken by the business aims to deliver something. It can be product, service or something else. The main characteristics of project is that need for the deliverables are identified and as a result, project is initiated (What Is A Project? – Definition And Key Characteristics, 2010).
- Scarce resources-
The business has scarce or limited resources and as such, it is required that organisation should analysed the need of such project. By analysing it, project is implemented with limited resources so that it may be cost effective for organisation and optimum utilisation is done quite effectively.
- Planned-
Project when it is initiated is planned first so that project can be properly defined and outcome of it can be assessed as well. For such planning of project, a statement known as project scope statement is usually prepared which provides clarity about how project will be successfully completed and objectives will be met considering various constraints as well.
- Interrelated tasks-
Main characteristics of the project is that it has series of interrelated tasks which are to be completed within stipulated time frame. These tasks include cost of project, quality and effective performance and many other tasks (Smyth, 2016).
2. Explain scope statement of project and significance of it
Project scope statement is essential statement which provides preliminary information regarding the project to be consider such as project objectives, outcome of it, justification, cost objectives, schedule objectives, constraints and assumptions. These elements are useful to analyse so that project may be successful completed. The significance of project scope statement is provides project commitments which are to be fulfilled by organisation so that it can at least predict future and as such, expectations from project can be successfully analysed. Also, in the event of any change, project scope statement needs to be updated quite effectively. It is important document for managing expectations of stakeholders.
3. Produce Gantt chart and carry out the critical path
- Critical path
- Gantt chart
4. Facts to be consider when preparing budget of project
The preparation of project is important task which is to be implemented by organisation. First of all, labour costs are identified which is the top priority for preparing budget. These costs are estimated as per task duration, salary rates on an average etc. Moreover, material costs are analysed and travel costs are analysed as well (Olson and Wu, 2017). Then, equipments and tools expenses are identified. Then, administrative and project management software which should be updated are analysed to be included in budget preparation for the project. Thus, these costs need to be identified so that project can be planned and implemented properly. The several expenses are required to be determine so that it may be executed with much ease and results can be accomplished quite effectively.
5. Various responses to risk
Responses to risk is the process to control that risks which are identified or assessed by business. The various responses to risk are as follows-
- Avoid- The risks which is assessed by business should be removed by changing the existing strategy so that it can be avoided to completely eradicate it.
- Transfer- The risk response in this case is that business should transfer risk to third party so that risk can be removed up to full extent. The Best example of this is taking insurance of premises to transfer any loss to insurance company to recover losses in event of any incident (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).
- Accept it- Risk response is to accept risk which is prevailing in the business. Firm decide to take risk as profit is the reward for risk taking. Reducing risk to zero level may also be helpful for business to overcome risk up to high extent.
6. Defining quality methods
- Project evaluation-
For successful completion of project, evaluation is necessary so that objectives are in contrast with the ongoing process of project. The assessment is done which is based on efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of it. Thus, it necessary to continuously evaluate project so that outcome can be easily generated out of it.
- Monitoring-
Monitoring is essential as it takes into account whether required efficiency is maintained adequately or not. For such activity, Gantt chart is prepared to easily monitor effectiveness of the project so that it may be easily introduced and successfully attained.
- Control-
Controlling is also crucial task which provides clarity to business whether project is according to the planned one or not. As such, if any deviations exists then corrective actions are taken to resolve the same with much ease.
TASK 2
Producing report to Senior Management of Company
To,
Senior Management
Hotel Communications Ltd
Subject: Requisites for successful achievement of project objectives
This report has been prepared to provide handful of required information to Hotel Communications Ltd so that top management can successfully attain the project of construction of new hotel City Towers in London city. The project should be achieved by company by considering time, cost and quality. The project management perspectives are of three types such as achievement of goals by considering time, cost and quality. These perspectives act as a constraint to successful achievement of targets (Punnett, 2014). As such, project should be completed within stipulated time and with optimum quality without harming productivity and costs should be analysed so that expenses may not exceed benefit of such project. Hotel Communications Ltd should consider these all perspectives for successful accomplishment of objectives regarding construction and installation of CCTV cameras and other IT related installation of products so that it may grow in the future and earn profits. As the experience of company is not in the big hotels, it might face several problems and as such, various activities need to be accomplished so that successful attainment of new project can be made.
Skills and Competencies required in Project Manager
Skills required by Project Manager are personal, technical, management skills. The personal skills are those based on motivating and encouraging workforce so that they may be efficient in achieving tasks. Various problems will be quoted by members and as such, project manager should resolve them so that barriers can be removed totally. He should posses positive attitude as negative one will eradicate confidence among team members as well (Titarenko, 2017). Technical skills are those which is based on resolving out technical problems as Hotel Communications Ltd is engaged in technical job then, manager must possess knowledge with respect to computer and software in the field of IT. Management skills are also required so that proper execution can be done.
Competencies required are effective decision-making so that timely goals can be attained. To take decisions, through analysis is required by Project Manager. Moreover, he should be competent enough to produce budgets by considering various constraints so that project may be cost effective one and benefit may be extracted out of it. He should have adequate organisational skills as well. Time management should exist so that work flow of tasks may be accomplished within time frame (Project management perspectives, 2018). Moreover, must have strong communication skills so that project may be guided to various stakeholders which are integrated part of firm. As such, proper presentations may be provided to them as per their requirements. Manager should be competent enough to analyse market conditions and thus, implementing well-structured strategies. In this process, performance should be measured so that control may be initiated on it. He should motivate team so that they may be determinant to achieve goals of company. Also, disputes and issues should be solved by manager so that productivity may not be reduced. Also, project manager should be competent to analyse market and make critical analysis to maintain objectives of project in viable way.
Project Management Processes
The basic project management processes consists of five stages which are discussed below-
1. Planning: It involves planning concrete objectives so that it may be accomplished within time frame and with much ease.
2. Executing: It is basically involved in carrying out the plan of the project so that it can be implemented nicely
3. Controlling: This stage in project management processes deals with measuring actual project with the planned one so that deviations if any can be assessed and corrective actions can be taken to resolve the same.
4. Initiating: It is based on overall direction of the project to team and as such, initiating objectives and goals of the proposed project.
5. Closing: Project is accepted at this stage and as such, objectives are met and it itself puts to end of the project. If objectives are not met, then project is terminated (Jiang and Tang, 2015).
Project Life cycle stages
The project consists of five stages which are as follows-
1. Initiation- The first stage in project life cycle is initiation. When some business opportunity or problem is identified, then idea is evolved which is known as initiation stage. Feasibility analysis is carried out and as such, solution to the problem is recommended. On successful approval of the recommended solution, project is initiated and project manager is appointed in the process.
2. Planning- After idea is evolved, second stage deals with planning in which project solution is taken and as such, further concrete steps are planned to meet the objective of the proposed project with much ease. This is the stage where team identifies work to be done in order to attain goals. As a result, scope statement of project is carried out in which al the details regarding project is described in concise way.
3. Execution- This is also known as implementation phase as project is executed in this stage quite effectively by manager. Progress is monitored so that everything goes according to the scope statement and nothing overlaps the same statement. As such, proper execution is made at this stage. At this phase, design containing requirements of products is assessed and created accordingly (Zhang and Elmaghraby, 2014).
4. Control- At fourth stage, project is checked with planned project so that deviations if any can be analysed and accordingly, corrective actions can be taken. This will result in successful accomplishment of goals of the project. During this stage, schedules need to be adjusted by manager so that project can be kept on positive track quite effectively.
5. Closure- This is the last stage which conveys that project has been completed successfully and resultant outcome is achieved. Client also give approval of the same. Thus, project is closed down and as a result, it comes to end as every project has a definite start and end as well. Hereby, it can be said that project team remains focus along the fulfilment of organisational goals in effective way.
Leadership
Leadership role is quite important in organisation so that he may encourage team members in the best possible way (Díez and Meré, 2016). The project cannot be achieved by Hotel Communications Ltd if project manager does not motivate and encourage employees for attainment of objectives in the desired way. Project manager should have good communication skills so that it may direct to employees regarding carrying out duties in effective way. Project leadership is basically dedicated to communicate to workers to assign them tasks and duties and expectations of good performance from them. Project leader should direct team members in effectual manner which is only possible through adequate communication between them. As a result, effective communication will be helpful for team of Hotel Communications Ltd to achieve success in new project of hotel.
Integrity is required to be followed by project leader and as such, commitment should be made. Integrated efforts are needed so that new project can be successfully achieved by group members in quite effectual manner. Leadership quality also speaks about enthusiastic project leader who can bring everyone to carry out similar positive attitude so that collectively goals can be accomplished wit much ease. As such, workers expresses positive attitude if enthusiastic leader provides guidance to them. These leaders are committed to achievement of goals through uniting workers quite effectually (Mok, Shen and Yang, 2015).
The project leader is entitled to competent enough so that he may direct workers in positive way and as such, goals can be achieved collectively with shared efforts. As Hotel Communications Ltd has no experience in construction of five star hotels, it is required that manager should be competent enough so that he may unite workers to achieve goals. Another quality of project manager is that he should calm enough so that he may solve problems in effective way. Proper decisions are made if he possesses calm attitude. Problems can be resolved by him regarding to construction of IT services in the new hotel (Gemino, Reich and Sauer, 2015).
Project administration
Project administration deals with assisting project manager, sponsors and team members to provide them adequate framework within which everyone has to accomplish tasks and attain goals. This framework consists of standards, processes and many more related activities. They have through knowledge on how to achieve goals of the project with much ease. As such, Hotel Communications Ltd should employ such practitioners which have adequate knowledge to complete project quite effectively. The project administrators are usually employed where larger projects are implemented and as such, for this company also, it is large project as it has more experience in lower end of the market.
The project administrator is employed in large projects where more documentarian process and more of formal communication prevails. As such, project administrator has the role to coordinate resources such as equipments, tools and workers. Moreover, they are entitled to ensure that project is running as per requirements of firm and nothing is contradicted to it. They also provide guidance to team so that they may carry out tasks in effective way. For maintaining project plans in effective way so that it may be completed quite effectively by the team with much ease. Project administrator is also responsible for monitoring progress over the company so that control can be initiated in the best possible manner (Quezada-Sarmiento, Enciso and Garbajosa, 2016).
Moreover, project budget is also monitored by him so that nothing exceeds more than cost and benefit may be accrued on it. Initiating control so that budgeted output may be matched with actual one and deviations if any can be solved with much ease. Furthermore, project administrator is also entitled for controlling and monitoring budget so that resources can be fully utilised in the most productive way. As such, Hotel Communications Ltd should employ project administrator so that adequate benefits may be accomplished in effective way. This will help to easily attain goals in effectual way and firm can gain experience from the new project. As a result, administrator problem may be solved quite effectively by employing project practitioner.
Control
Project manager may face problem regarding controlling on the project so that proper execution may be attained and company may achieve goals in effective way (Riol and Thuillier, 2015). Control is initiated so that results may be matched with planned figures and if any variations exist, then corrective actions are taken effectively to resolve the same. However, it may incur problems of proper control is not initiated. The control problems may be evolved when project is not started within stipulated time and this will evolve many issues as project will not be finished on time. Rescheduling of project need to be made so that project may be easily accomplished. To resolve this issue, critical path method should be used so that timely completion of project can be done. If communication between management and stakeholders is not good, then controlling issues may be raised. As such, breakdown of communication will eventually lead to failure of the project.
It is the duty of project manager to hire staff which possess required skills so that they may provide adequate productivity which is needed to attain tasks with much ease. Weekly meetings should be analysed so that staff performance can be assessed and control can be implemented to achieve desired results quite effectually (Zou, Kumaraswamy, Chung and Wong, 2014). For eradicating control problems, checklist must be prepared by project manager so that monitoring can be done and as such, issues can be totally resolved with much ease. By implementing such strategies, Hotel Communications Ltd will be able to accomplish success in the new project and will gain much needed experience in the hospitality sector quite effectively.
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CONCLUSION
Hereby it can be concluded that project accomplished by company should be done in effective manner so that resources are utilised with much ease. Monitoring and controlling is essential so that project can be measured with budgeted one to analyse deviations if any. This is removed by taking corrective actions so that variations can be removed up to maximum possible extent. Assignment help provided by New Assignment Help.
References
Books and Journals
Cicmil, S. and O'Laocha, E., 2014. Responsible management of projects in the context of international development: a critical overview of governance, leadership and power.
Díez, J. V. and Meré, J. O., 2016. Improving the Management of Projects through Hoshin Kanri. Dirección y Organización. (60). pp.40-46.
Gemino, A., Reich, B. H. and Sauer, C., 2015. Plans versus people: Comparing knowledge management approaches in IT-enabled business projects. International Journal of Project Management. 33(2). pp.299-310.
Jiang, Z. J. and Tang, Y. X., 2015, February. Research on integrated management of schedule and cost in construction projects based on critical chain. In Industrial Engineering and Manufacturing Technology: Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Manufacturing Technology (ICIEMT 2014), July 10-11, 2014, Shanghai, China (Vol. 4, p. 135). CRC Press.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H. R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Mok, K. Y., Shen, G. Q. and Yang, J., 2015. Stakeholder management studies in mega construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management. 33(2). pp.446-457.
Olson, D. L. and Wu, D. D., 2017. Data Mining Models and Enterprise Risk Management. In Enterprise Risk Management Models (pp. 119-132). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Punnett, B. J., 2014. Experiencing international business and management: Exercises, projects, and cases. Routledge.
Quezada-Sarmiento, P. A., Enciso, L. and Garbajosa, J., 2016, April. Use of body knowledge and cloud computing tools to develop software projects based in innovation. In Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2016 IEEE(pp. 267-272). IEEE.
Riol, H. and Thuillier, D., 2015. Project management for academic research projects: balancing structure and flexibility.International Journal of Project Organisation and Management. 7(3). pp.251-269.
Smyth, H. J., 2016. The business development management function: processes at the front of the front end of the management of projects. International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB).
Titarenko, B., 2017, October. Risk assessment for construction projects of transport infrastructure objects. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 90, No. 1, p. 012057). IOP Publishing.
Zhang, J. and Elmaghraby, S. E., 2014. The relevance of the “alphorn of uncertainty” to the financial management of projects under uncertainty. European Journal of Operational Research. 238(1). pp.65-76.
Zou, W., Kumaraswamy, M., Chung, J. and Wong, J., 2014. Identifying the critical success factors for relationship management in PPP projects. International Journal of Project Management. 32(2). pp.265-274.
Online
What Is A Project? – Definition And Key Characteristics, 2010 [Online] Available Through: <https://www.mymanagementguide.com/basics/what-is-a-project/>
Project management perspectives, 2018 [Online] Available Through: <http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqpm/principles-03.htm>
Duncan, 1993 The process of project management [Online] Available Through: <https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/basic-process-project-management-2114>
Characteristics, Scope, Budgeting, Risks, and Control