21 Pages
5279 Words
Introduction
Project management is defined as the series of steps which focuses on planning and organising the resources so the project objective can be attained. It includes applying the knowledge, skill and methods for accomplishing the objectives of the business and completing the project. For a business to be successful it is necessary that the project is being managed effectively so that it becomes successful. The current project is based on Company X which is a large car retail group and is based in the UK. The company has shut there three showrooms and is planning to re-structure the departments and make one single supersite showroom. In the present report, the project scope and approach will be discussed and evaluated. In addition to this, the plan for opening a supersite store will be discussed along with resourcing of the project. Further, the different risks involved within the project will be evaluated along with monitoring of the project. Moreover, the management of stakeholders and the communication process will also be discussed. At last, the monitoring and control of the project will be conducted after the attainment of the project objectives.
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Main Body
Project scope
The project scope is part of planning the project and here it involves documenting and determining the goals on which the whole project will be running. The project is very wide and for this, its scope must be concise so that it is clear to every person. When the project objective will be very clear and concise then it will provide a base for employees for working in a better way. The current project is based on Company X wherein they are planning to close three of their branches and open a single supersite store (Kerzner, 2019). The company is planning to close their three branches in Leeds, Halifax and Bradford. For this supersite showroom, the plan is to showcase around 4000 cars along with 42 and 128 managers and sales staff respectively. Hence, this company has provided a team of six people for working on the project and try to attain the objectives for which the project is being set. For this, the two partners within the business have provided a sum of £250000 for setting up the showroom in a better and more effective way.
For the effective implementation of the project, the board of directors are under pressure as they need to make this site profitable. The company is already suffering from loss and a large cost has been incurred for obtaining land in Manchester. Another land was seen in Salford but this was controversial as the land was close to green nature and some people protested against opening a car showroom (Crawford, 2021). Hence, the decision was taken to open the showroom in Manchester. This decision was tough as deciding on appropriate land was hard and in case the decision will be wrong then it will be affecting the whole project of opening the new showroom in Manchester. The project objective is to open a new supersite showroom in Manchester to provide better services to the user.
Along with this, it is also very necessary to keep the project safe from scope creep. Being the project manager it is my responsibility to ensure that all the work is being done in a better way and scope creep is kept away. Scope creep within the project management includes the changes taking place within the external environment which might affect the growth of the project. Hence, it is my responsibility that I should keep into account all the changes taking place in the external environment and make proper strategies for managing any unexpected change within the external environment.
Project approach and strategy
For making the project successful appropriate project strategies and models must be used. The reason underlying this fact is that there are different types of methodologies and models being used for managing the project. In case these strategies and models will not be used in a better and more effective way then the project objectives will not be attained. A project strategy is defined as the inclusion of different tools and plans to complete the project and attain the business objectives. These project strategies align with the mission and it provide direction for attaining the goals so that ultimate objectives are being attained. There are different approaches and models which are available for making the project successful. Thus, in the present case of opening the supersite showroom in Manchester, the use of an iron triangle is being selected by the project manager.
The iron triangle is a model relating to project management which assists in attaining the objectives of the whole project. This model includes three different key constraints that are schedule, budget and scope (Willumsen and et.al., 2019). All these three elements are crucial for the project to be completed successfully. In case any of these constraints change then it will affect the efficiency of the business and project completion will be affected. These three parameters are very important for the effective completion of the project efficiently. Out of the three, the schedule is the one which is focused first as it outlines the whole project and it is based on this only. After that comes the budget within which the project needs to be completed. At last, comes the scope which outlines the task that needs to be performed to attain the objectives of the business (Kerzner, 2022). All these three elements of the triangle need to be maintained well so that the project objectives can be attained easily and effectively. This approach to project management helps attain the business objectives easily as it includes the main elements on which the whole project is based.
In addition to this another approach being used for the accomplishment of the project objectives of opening a supersite store is agile methodology. This is a type of project management approach which focuses on the breakdown of the project in different phases to improve the working and attaining the business objectives easily. The project as a single task is very tough and complicated to be completed. Hence, for this, the whole project is broken down into smaller tasks. This is being done as the small task will be much easier to complete and as a result of this, the overall project will be completed.
For the effective attainment of the project objective, the agile development lifecycle is being followed. This includes the series of steps that are needed to be followed for attaining the objective of the project. The first stage includes ideation wherein the idea of developing the project comes. This is the crucial stage in which the purpose of the project and the goals are set. Further, this step involves deciding on the task which is to be completed to attain the objectives of the business. Further, the second stage includes development in which the idea is being developed and all the work is delegated in such a manner that the objectives of the project are attained well. Thereafter, the next stage is testing in which the actual work is being undertaken. This is the stage in which the decided task is performed so that the objective of the business can be attained. At last, comes the stage of deployment in which the task has been performed and the ultimate project objectives are being attained well.
Project Plan
The project plan is very important for the project to be completed successfully. In case the planning will be effective then only the actions taken will be effective (Lock, 2020). Thus for this, it is very necessary to effectively plan for all the activities and prepare a schedule. This schedule will help the employees to analyse that after which activities next to which activity will come.
PMP
| Task Mode |
Task Name |
Duration |
Start |
Finish |
Predecessors |
Resource Names |
Cost |
| Interior |
65 days |
Mon 7/31/23 |
Fri 10/27/23 |
| A |
Install fixtures and fittings |
3 wks |
Mon 7/31/23 |
Fri 8/18/23 |
Building Contractor |
9000 |
| B |
Connect utilities |
2 wks |
Mon 8/21/23 |
Fri 9/1/23 |
A |
Building Contractor |
6000 |
| C |
Plan space use |
2 wks |
Mon 9/4/23 |
Fri 9/15/23 |
B,C |
Project team- 2 Managers including new manager and Consultant |
9000 |
| D |
Design interior décor |
4 wks |
Mon 9/18/23 |
Fri 10/13/23 |
C |
Consultant |
14000 |
| E |
Plan and install lighting |
2 wks |
Mon 9/18/23 |
Fri 9/29/23 |
D |
Building contractor |
6000 |
| F |
Decide upon showroom layout, sales staff location, car display and services areas |
2 wks |
Mon 10/16/23 |
Fri 10/27/23 |
E |
Project team – all the team |
9000 |
| G |
Plan layout of management offices |
1 wk |
Mon 10/16/23 |
Fri 10/20/23 |
E,F |
Project Manager only |
3000 |
| Exterior |
35 days |
Mon 7/31/23 |
Fri 9/15/23 |
| H |
Render exterior brickwork |
2 wks |
Mon 9/18/23 |
Fri 9/29/23 |
D |
Building contractor |
6000 |
| I |
Plan location and installation of CCTV |
2 wks |
Mon 10/16/23 |
Fri 10/27/23 |
E |
Project Team - Account Manager and Building contractor |
6000 |
| J |
Install signage and floodlights |
1 wk |
Mon 10/23/23 |
Fri 10/27/23 |
H |
Building contractor |
3000 |
| K |
Plan car stock display |
1 wk |
Mon 10/30/23 |
Fri 11/3/23 |
G |
Project team – Account Manager,2 Sales Managers |
3600 |
| L |
Mark floor layout |
1 wk |
Mon 10/30/23 |
Fri 11/3/23 |
I,J,K |
Building contractor |
3000 |
| Contents |
15 days |
Mon 7/31/23 |
Fri 8/18/23 |
| M |
Order cars from group stock and schedule delivery |
1 wk |
Mon 11/6/23 |
Fri 11/10/23 |
L |
Project Team - Account Manager and 1 Sales Manager |
2400 |
| N |
Order IT equipment and installation |
1 wk |
Mon 11/6/23 |
Fri 11/10/23 |
M |
Project Manager and building contractor |
6000 |
| O |
Order furniture and setup |
2 wks |
Mon 11/13/23 |
Fri 11/24/23 |
M,N |
Project Team – New Manager |
8000 |
| Other |
20 days |
Mon 7/31/23 |
Fri 8/25/23 |
| P |
Plan and conduct marketing campaign |
2 wks |
Mon 11/27/23 |
Fri 12/8/23 |
N,O |
Project Team – 2 x Sales Managers and Account Manager |
7200 |
| Q |
Set grand opening date |
1 wk |
Mon 12/11/23 |
Fri 12/15/23 |
P |
Project Team – Project Manager and Account Manager,1 Sales manager |
4500 |
| R |
Introduce staff to new showroom and utilizing services and equipment |
1 wk |
Mon 12/18/23 |
Fri 12/22/23 |
P,Q |
Project Team – Project Manager |
3000 |
Project resourcing
Resources are very important for the effective management of the project. This is about the fact that resources are used for the accomplishment of the objectives of the project and without it the work cannot be accomplished. Human resource is the most crucial resource for the working of the project and the attainment of the objectives (Rowe, 2020). Hence, Company X must manage the human resource in such a manner that they work efficiently and effectively. To keep the human resource and other employees of Company X happy the company focuses on providing different facilities to them. These facilities include providing workplace flexibility, time-to-time training and development, different employee engagement strategies and others. All these strategies will keep the employees motivated to work in a better and more effective way.
Other than human resources, there are different types of resources required to run a business successfully. These include resources like financial, technical, physical, transportation, storage and many other different types of resources (Fuertes and et.al., 2020). Thus, it is very essential for Company X that they must have all these resources in abundance and optimally utilise them. In case these limited resources will not be used properly then it will be affecting the efficiency to a great extent. Hence, this will assist Company X in managing all the work in a better and proper manner.
Project cost
The current project involves a total cost of £108700 which is high for the company. But the project will be requiring a good budget and this will be used optimally to follow the work. Hence, for this, the cost is divided in some parts like for the consultant of the project it will be 3500 per week. For the contractor, it will be 3000 per week and for manager of sales it will be 1200 and for account manager, it is 1500. All these cost need to be borne by the company effectively so that the project will be running successfully and it will accomplish all its goals and objectives.
Risk analysis impact and contingency plan development
Within the external environment, there are many different types of risk which business faces. This is particularly because of the reason that business exists in an environment where frequent changes take place. Hence, for this, it is essential for Company X to timely analyse these changes so that the risk can be minimised. For this risk register is prepared by the company so that the work can be managed in the proper way and objectives can be attained easily.
| Risk |
Likelihood |
Impact |
Owner |
Mitigating strategy |
| Financial risk |
Moderate |
High |
This is the risk which relates to the finance available within the company and it includes the possibility of losing money. |
The mitigating strategy is that all the finance must be recorded clearly and some funds must be kept aside for use in contingency situations. |
| Legal risk |
Low |
Moderate |
This is another risk which occurs when there is any change within the rules and regulations and laws based on which the business is running. Any change can take place within this and it can affect the business to a great extent. |
Legal risk can be reduced by time to time surveying the market and adapting to these changes effectively. |
| Natural risk |
Low |
Low |
This is the risk which occurs when there are changes in the natural environment and it can affect the working of the company to a great extent. |
This risk can be mitigated by evaluating the changes taking place in a natural environment and having a contingency plan for development.
|
| Operational risk |
Moderate |
Low |
Operational risk is the one wherein the changes in the operational process affect the working negatively |
This risk needs to be mitigated in order to keep the working safe and this operational process needs to be very fast and quick so that any change can be adapted soon. |
| Technical risk |
High |
High |
This is the risk in which changes in technology affect the working of the company as they have to adapt to these changes (Wu, Hu and Zheng, 2019). |
For the mitigation of this risk, timely market research is necessary so that the latest technical changes can be seen and can be implemented in a better and more effective way. |
| Economic risk |
High |
High |
This includes changes in economic aspects like GDP, interest rates and other aspects and these affect the working of the company negatively |
For the management of economic risk, before taking any decision all the economic factors must be evaluated so that any change can be observed and it can be implemented well. |
| Political risk |
Low |
Low |
It includes changes taking place in the political field and these changes also affect the working of the company to a great extent. |
For this any change in political factor benefitting the company must be implemented and negative aspects need to be removed from working of the company. |
| Changes in consumer preference |
High |
High |
This is the most common risk which is faced by the company as consumers are a crucial part of the business and any change in their requirements will be affecting the efficiency of the business to a great extent. |
For this survey need to be conducted in order to gather knowledge relating to the latest trend among consumers. It is crucial for the reason that it will help Company X to identify the latest changes and adapt them easily. |
| Budget risk |
Low |
Moderate |
This is the risk which is faced by the business at times wherein the budget is less and the actual expense of the company is higher. |
For mitigation of budget risk, it is necessary that after every task the actual performance is compared with the budget in order to ensure that working is taking place as intended or not. |
| Schedule risk |
Low |
Low |
This is the type of risk in which the work is not taking place as per the schedule being set (Bogers and et.al., 2019). Thus, it results in delays in work and the objectives of the project will not be attained effectively. |
The mitigating strategy for schedule risk is that it must have a timely comparison of actual performance with that of the scheduled performance. This will assist the company in finding variance and with this, the different problems will be solved. |
Project monitoring
Project monitoring is very important for the business to undertake while completing any project. This is particularly because of the reason that monitoring will provide the actual position where the project is accomplished. In case the project is not going by plan then corrective actions can be taken to make the project successful. Along with this project monitoring also assist in identifying the time within which the project will be completed. For the effective monitoring of the project company x has undertaken the use of KPI that is Key Performance Indicator (Fewings and Henjewele, 2019). This is a technique which is used to monitor the project by comparing it with the keep performance indicators being set. There are different indicators be set relating to the performance and for ensuring good performance the actual performance in is compared with these standards. Hence, this assists Company X in evaluating the actual position of the company and try to take corrective measures for improvement.
Stakeholder management
Stakeholder is a person or group of people who are interested in working of any project or any business. There are many different types of people involved in projects and business and they have their own needs and interest (Denicol, Davies and Krystallis, 2020.). Not every person needs to be having the same type of interest in working on a project. Even though two people working in the same position will be having different aspirations and requirements. Without stakeholders, the company or any project cannot run effectively. Hence, it is necessary for Company X that they keep all stakeholders happy and satisfied so that project objectives can be attained well. There are different types of stakeholders which are internal and external to the company. For business to run successfully it is necessary that they keep all stakeholders happy and satisfied. This is necessary because when stakeholders will be happy and satisfied then they will work in a better way. Hence, this will motivate stakeholders to work in a better way and this will make them feel motivated and as a result of this, they will work in the direction of attaining business objectives.
| Stakeholder |
Internal/ external |
Interest within project |
Power |
| Owner |
Internal |
The owner is the person who owns the company and has got the new idea for the project which needs to be developed by the employees working within the company. |
High |
| Project manager |
Internal |
This is an internal stakeholder which works continuously on managing the project and ensuring that all strategies made by them are followed in the same manner. |
High |
| Account manager |
Internal |
Account manager or the finance manager is the one which is responsible for managing all the funds and finances being available within the company. They play a crucial role because without finance the work cannot be done effectively and also it is scarce so it need to be utilised in proper and effective way. |
Moderate |
| Site Manager |
Internal |
This is the person who is responsible for managing the site wherein the project is being taking place. Here the manager is responsible to manage all working on site that is the land manager in Manchester who will be working in better manner to attain the business objectives. |
Moderate |
| Resource allocator |
Internal |
The resources are very limited and scarce and it is very necessary that they are utilised in better and optimal way. Thus, for this resource allocator are employed so that they can manage the limited resources and ensure that they are used wisely in order to attain the business objectives well. |
Low |
| HR manager |
External |
This is another stakeholder who is responsible for managing all the employees working within the company. The HR manager continuously work in bringing more people within the company and try to provide them with good environment so that the work can be managed by them easily. Also, this stakeholder is responsible for keeping all the employees happy and satisfied by providing them with different opportunities to grow and develop. |
Moderate |
| Training and development personnel |
Internal |
This is the manager or employee who is responsible for ensuring that proper training and development is provided to employees working in Company X. This is very necessary because this personnel team and manager works continuously in identifying the latest changes taking place in external environment. Hence, after analysis of these changes, arrangement is being done in order to implement these changes in practice. |
Low |
| Employees |
Internal |
These are the major stakeholder of the project who actually works in direction of attaining group goals. In case employees will not be there then the working will not take place properly and objectives will not be attained (Muafi, 2021). The interest of employees as a stakeholder is very high within the company as they are interested in getting bonus if company performs well. |
Low |
| Project sponsor |
External |
These are the people who try to provide finance for the project and its successful completion. These are the people who try to arrange money for the successful completion of the project as without money not a single task can be performed well. Thus, sponsor continuously works in direction of arranging finance in large quantity. |
Moderate |
| Competitor |
External |
A competitor is another stakeholder who is crucial for the business and successful completion of the project (Pan and Zhang, 2021). These are the people who work in the same industry and the same product and services as the Company X is working. These stakeholders are important as they analyse the performance of the company and try to imitate them. Along with this the company can also evaluate the strategies of competitors and then work accordingly so that more profits can be old easily and effectively. |
Low |
| Government |
External |
Government is another stakeholder which needs to be kept satisfied and happy by the company. This is particularly because of the reason that the government is the body which outlines the rules and regulations for the effective working of the business. In addition to this government is also interested in the performance of the company because they can charge tax. In case performance will be higher than more taxes will be charged by the government. |
Low |
Communication
Communication is being defined as the process through which person sends their message to the other person in the same manner as intended. For any project to be successful it is very necessary to communicate effectively. In case communication will not be good then the project objectives and not be attend in the same way as intended. Hence in case of Company X a clear process of communication is being used in order to communicate effectively (Tien, 2019). For this the process of SCMR that is sender, coding, message and receiver is being used. Within this process firstly sender provides messages in simple and clear language. There after the message is being coded and is being transferred to the receiver. At last the receiver read the message and tries to decode it and understand it. In case the receiver understands the message in the same way then the communication process has become successful. Thus, for this it is very necessary that a communication is being undertaken in better way so that objectives of the company can be attained easily.
Project monitoring and control
The last stage comes of project monitoring and control which is very essential. For the effective completion of the project it is very necessary that the project is being monitor and control in a better and more effective way. For the effective monitoring and control of the project company acts undertaken to use of standard controlling technique (Project Monitoring: Process, Types, Tools & Techniques, 2023). Under this technique Company X set some standards and compares the actual performance with those standards. This allows the company to identify the variances between the actual and the standard performance l then they can take proper actions over it. This is a good technique used by Company X in order to control the project effectively and efficiently.
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Conclusion
At last it is concluded that project management is very essential for the successful completion of the project. In the current report the project was open a supersite showroom for company x. It was import that defining the project scope is very essential as it provide guidance to accomplish the project objectives. Further it also outline that analysing the risk and the mitigating strategies is important in order to make the project free from all risk. At last it was evaluated that keeping stakeholders satisfied and happy is very important for improving the project objectives.
References
Books and Journals
- Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H., Heaton, S. and Teece, D.J., 2019. Strategic management of open innovation: A dynamic capabilities perspective.California Management Review.62(1). pp.77-94.
- Crawford, J.K., 2021.Project management maturity model. CRC Press.
- Denicol, J., Davies, A. and Krystallis, I., 2020. What are the causes and cures of poor megaproject performance? A systematic literature review and research agenda.Project management journal.51(3). pp.328-345.
- Fewings, P. and Henjewele, C., 2019.Construction project management: an integrated approach. Routledge.
- Fuertes, G., Alfaro, M., Vargas, M., Gutierrez, S., Ternero, R. and Sabattin, J., 2020. Conceptual framework for the strategic management: a literature review—descriptive.Journal of Engineering,2020, pp.1-21.
- Kerzner, H., 2019.Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. John Wiley & Sons.
- Kerzner, H., 2022.Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.
- Lock, D., 2020.Project management. Routledge.
- Muafi, M., 2021. Examining the role of human capital and strategic management in Islamic perspective: A strategic approach for encouraging business sustainability.International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293).3(2). pp.41-50.
- Pan, Y. and Zhang, L., 2021. A BIM-data mining integrated digital twin framework for advanced project management.Automation in Construction.124. p.103564.
- Rowe, S.F., 2020.Project management for small projects. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
- Tien, N.H., 2019. International economics, business and management strategy.
- Willumsen, P., Oehmen, J., Stingl, V. and Geraldi, J., 2019. Value creation through project risk management.International Journal of Project Management.37(5). pp.731-749.
- Wu, G., Hu, Z. and Zheng, J., 2019. Role stress, job burnout, and job performance in construction project managers: the moderating role of career calling.International journal of environmental research and public health.16(13). p.2394.
Online
- Project Monitoring: Process, Types, Tools & Techniques. 2023. [Online]. Available through: < https://www.knowledgehut.com/blog/project-management/project-monitoring>
