Project Management Techniques - Dissertation Example

? Table of Contents Background………………………………………………………………………………4 1 Rationale……………………………………………………………………………...4 2 Formulation…………………………………………………………………………...4 1.3 Purpose………………………………………………………………………………..5 1.4 Cost, Financing and Execution Arrangements………………………………………..5 2. Current progress…………………………………………………………………………...6 3. Performance Evaluation…………………………………………………………………...6 3.1 Characteristics of a successful project………………………………………………...6 3.2 Key Weaknesses………………………………………………………………………7 3.2.1Project planning……………………………………………………………...7 3.2.2 Inexperienced Project Manager………………………………………….….8 3.2.3 No documentation…………………………………………………………..8 3.2.4Staffing issues………………………………………………………………..8 3.2.5 Project Scheduling…………………………………………………………..9 3.2.6 Communication gap…………………………………………………………9 3.2.7 Progress meetings…………………………………………………………...9 3.2.8 Project control………………………………………………………...……10 3.2.9 Accelerated cost……………………………………………………….…10 4. Actions to be undertaken from the start……………………………………………………..10 4.1 Appointment of an experienced project manager……………………………………10 4.2 Project Planning…………………………………………………………………..….11 4.2.1 A project charter…………………………………………………………...11 4.2.2 A calendar of activities…………………………………………..………...12 4.2.3 A time schedule…………………………………………………………….12 4.2.4 A responsibility matrix………………………………………….…………12 4.2.5 A project plan budget……………………………….……………………..13 4.2.6 Major milestones with target dates………………………………………..13 4.2.7 A risk management strategy……………………………………………….13 4.3 Team Assembly……………………………………………………………………...13 4.4 Project Execution…………………………………………………………………….14 4.5 Project management and controlling………………………………………………...14 4. Recommendations……………………………………………………………………….14 Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………17 Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………………19 Appendix C………………………………………………………………………………………21 Appendix D………………………………………………………………………………………23 1.5 Executive Summary The project audit report has been prepared to analyze the performance of the Cleveland Callback Project 2010. As evident from the report, the project is falling short of its planned date. There are several reasons for the failure of the project so far. These reasons are determined in the report. The report comprises of 4 major sections each of which has its own significance. First section puts light onto the background of the project, critical analysis of the management techniques employed by the Project manager, an insight into the techniques that should have been used at the first place and few useful recommendations. The remaining three sections include Gantt charts and budget allocation tables. As evident from the project details, the project is suffering from several defeciencies which requires immediate action. Some of the reasons for underperformance are poor planning, communication gap, improper project scheduling, lack of quality assurance techniques etc. To tackle with this grave situation, certain recommendations are put forward. Moreover to avoid further deterioration of the project, certain ideas are devised which if acted upon shall help in the realization of the project success. Part A 1. Background 1.1 Rationale Cleveland project started off due to a fatal disturbance caused by a series of domestic fires that erupted across the North East of England in April 2010. The accidents called for a thorough investigation by Fire investigation Officers and Fire Prevention Officers. The main agenda of the inquiry was to find the reason as well as to search for any link between these accidents. The results finally showed up some surprising findings. All of the houses that fell prey to the fire were council owned properties. These houses were renovated, before being awarded, by a company named XXX Ltd who eventually won the tender. One of the main reasons as discovered by the FIOs and FPOs was that the electrical control components of the central heating systems were replaced by an automatic switch by XXX which unfortunately didn’t work appropriately thus leading to devastation. 1.2 Formulation Upon discovering this fact, a state of emergency arose among the concerned personnel as the control unit failure could lead other households to the same fate as before. This grave situation gave birth to a project of utmost importance which was named as Cleveland Callback Project. It was decided that under this project all other houses which had undergone renovation by XXX ltd. Shall be immediately informed according to a thought-out procedure. 1.3 Purpose The aim of the project was to create awareness and ultimately protect all those houses which were renovated by XXX Ltd. An attempt was to be made to: 1. Identify all those within UK who had their houses renovated by XXX Ltd. 2. Contact the identified households via letter explaining them the problem and encouraging them for giving the authorities the feedback. 3. Setting up a call center to handle the temporary Call center for assisting the concerned households 4. Arrange for the authorities visits to the concerned dwellings to estimate the fire potential and if required replace the control units. 1.4 Cost, Financing and Execution Arrangements The total budget allocated for this project was ?150,000. It was approved by the Finance Director and other senior officials in the FPA. This total was deemed sufficient for covering the costs of the hired consultants and call handlers fees, setting up of call center, development of software and other accommodation costs. However salaries of the fire and rescue people were not included in the total budget. For the execution of the project, a project director was hired who was a part of Fire Prevention Team. Two new IT consultants were hired for tackling with the software development and other IT requirements. The progress meetings were also arranged on weekly basis to keep a track record of the progress. As evident from the detail, Cleveland Callback Project was an exclusively significant project as lives of many people were at stake. Just like others projects, it had to be dealt with proper planning and professional execution with utmost care. 2. Current progress As mentioned in the project details, it had not proceeded as planned. The two consultants nonchalantly announced that the tasks they were assigned with could not be completed within the time frame. There were many reasons that contributed to the delay of the project. The major weaknesses in the project shall be delineated in the subsequent paragraphs. 3. Performance Evaluation Cleveland Callback Project was an exclusively significant project as lives of many were dependant on it. But the concerned people did not handle the project well resulting in its failure. Before pointing out the loopholes in the techniques as employed by the group, it is important to first demarcate some of the characteristics of a successful project. 3.1 Characteristics of a successful project A victorious project needs to have following qualities: 1. Clear Objectives: the mission, goals, objectives and finally tasks should be comprehensively defined from the outset. This helps in periodic getting feedback 2. A superior project plan: a vigilantly devised plan not only assists in understanding the project by all the members specifying their role in it and their importance, it also serves as a surveillance tool so as to keep it on the right track. 3. Communication: project is not a one man show. It requires collaborative effort of all the concerned personnel. To keep the motivation level upto its required mark and to avoid any misunderstanding, appropriate communication channel should be identified at the planning stage. Continuous and proper communication is an essence of the project success. 4. Change in Scope: it is deemed impossible that project shall go down its way without requiring a change in its scope. There comes a time when bold decisions have to be made to alter scope but it should be kept in mind that changes in scope should be considered as the least best option. 5. Stakeholders support: stakeholders have important investments into the concerned projects and thus they make sure that it is going as planned. Any deviation from the planning may irk them causing failure of the project. thus if any change is required, stakeholders must be well informed timely and project personnel need to get their support to successfully implement the changes. 3.2 Key Weaknesses As mentioned above Cleveland Callback Project seems falling short of the assigned time frame. There were several reasons for it which are explained as follows: 3.2.1 Project planning As evident from the case, project planning was not given due time and attention as required. 3.2.2 Inexperienced Project Manager Firstly a project of such a high importance requires the services of a qualified project manager who has an understanding of project and experience of managing such projects of urgency. The project director as assigned in the Cleveland Callback Project was the member of Fire Prevention Team who seems devoid of the skills of a professional project manager. Moreover, as evident from the details, the project director is having dual positions served as an obstacle in getting himself completely involved in the project. 3.2.3 No documentation Secondly no documentation regarding planning was done and thus no track record of the progress of the project. the time estimation and assessment of the total budget was merely a hunch as no proper working was done. 3.2.4Staffing issues There were some serious staffing issues too. IT support manager considered developing software as a “piece of cake” whereas he did not have any experience in software development. This fact should have been given serious consideration and an experienced person was required to deal with the matter. One of the two consultants hired, Taz might be shrewd IT professional, yet he was not experienced in handling software work of Fire services and call center. Thus acquiring the services of inexperienced personnel could also be regarded as one of the basic reason for the slippage encountered by the Cleveland project. 3.2.5 Project Scheduling: The entire Cleveland Callback Project 2010 is expected to take three months in preparation before it will go live on 31 August 2010. However, the complaints from the Consultants that such a date was not feasible reveals that some scheduling mistakes had been committed which maybe attributed to; neglecting the natural speed of operations of the Consultants and other personnel that would be involved in the project; overlooking the amount of work that could be completed in “real” time versus speculated virtual time of completion; and undertaking unilateral scheduling—which means the scheduling was done without appropriate consultations with the Consultants and other personnel that would be involved in the project. 3.2.6 Communication gap The team members were usually given verbal instructions. This might have affected the motivation level of the members. Moreover working on an important project by merely relying on the memory is not a rational option. It is evident from the project details that no effort was put in the task of documentation. Verbal communication was the only source of instructions. 3.2.7 Progress meetings Most importantly progress meetings which are essential for any project were not taken seriously by all the members of the project team and mostly there was as a shortfall in the attendance. Thus progress could not be ascertained on regular basis. This dismissive attitude by the members can be attributed to the lack of proper communication. 3.2.8 Project control Apart from the fact that the Director of Information Management expressed his willingness to maintain a control on the Cleveland Callback Project 2010, there were no elaborate procedures put in place to control the processes or activities. 3.2.9 Accelerated cost Initially the two consultants were required to work for only 40 hours a week. This assignment of hours was not done according to proper planning and thus after a passage of precious time the two consultants declared that the time was too short for them and they need to invest more of their time per week to complete the work. This ultimately would shoot the planned budget. Another issue that has been overlooked when calculating the total budget for this Project is that elongation of the schedule for completion will definitely increase the overhead cost of executing the project. 4. Actions to be undertaken from the start The Cleveland Callback Project was indeed of utmost importance and required tremendous efforts for its planning and execution. The characteristics of a good project have already been mentioned. In reference to those, I would lay down the successful project management techniques that should have been adopted for the said project. 4.1 Appointment of an experienced project manager Keeping in view the importance of the project, an experienced and qualified project manager should have been hired. A project manager sees to it that project is handled carefully employing the required skills. Moreover it is assured that all the project management techniques are adopted to ensure its success. 4.2 Project Planning Every project has a life cycle composed of several stages having a clear beginning and an end. Planning at the outset is extremely important as without planning it won’t be possible to work professionally and realize the objectives. Moreover the objectives as mentioned in the plan are clearly understood leaving no room for misinterpretation. Project plan also helps in controlling the progress as it serves as a tool for monitoring and assists in identifying if project is deviating from its track. On the time spotting helps to prevent additional cost that might occur if the project was not planned properly. Changes in the scope, which at times becomes impossible, can also be easily adjusted if the project is appropriately planned at the beginning. Every project needs funding and to pool up the required funds needs the higher management’s support. Without proper planning, it won’t be possible to identify the intensity of the project, the time required, its scope, budget and thus the support of the management. A project plan should be such that it is relevant, comprehensive, challenging yet achievable and complete. Cleveland project should have been planned accordingly along with a project report to emphasize on its authenticity. The main sections of a project plan should include: 4.2.1 A project charter: it is a document that gives a go-ahead signal showing the management’s support and ultimately gives authority to the project leader to allocate resources and start the project. 4.2.2 A calendar of activities: it is one of the most important part of “project manager’s toolkit”. It seems logical that by clearly dividing the whole project into a number of activities provides a thorough view of the scope, allows to determine the progress of the project, help the leader to allocate labor to the identified activities and then determine the time and cost required for each task and last but not least help the team members in understanding their importance and how their participation adds value to the entire project. Though the major activities concerning the project were identified before hand, but they should have been further divided into smaller and lower level tasks in order to give a precise estimation of the work to be done. 4.2.3 A time schedule: once activities have been identified time schedule is developed so as to create a logical relationship between them. This schedule ensures that the required labor is available when needed and aids in completing the project within the allotted time. In the said project, since no proper planning was done at the outset, basic tasks were not identified and thus time required for these tasks could not be estimated. Though time for the entire project was estimated but it was done without proper working and thus resulted in time slippage. 4.2.4 A responsibility matrix: Since a project is carried out by the collaborative effort of a team of individuals and organization, it becomes essential to manage the whole team by identifying the duty of each participant by developing a responsibility matrix. No such effort was exhibited by the Project director. Though people were hired for different tasks and they were informed of their responsibilties, developing a matrix would have assisted in boosting the morale level of the members which seemed quite low at present. 4.2.5 A project plan budget: estimating the funds required for the project as a whole requires allocating funds to each level in the project stages. This can be done by preparing a budget plan in which the activitites as identified in WBS are assigned the required funds. This plan too is paramount for the precise estimation of the funds as it can aid the success or failure of the project. In the Cleveland project no such activity was performed attributing to the lighthearted attitude of the authority. 4.2.6 Major milestones with target dates: time estimation with accuracy calls for identifying the major milestones and the target dates so that the concerned personnel are well aware of their commitment for the completion of the project within the time frame as provided. 4.2.7 A risk management strategy: while planning out the whole project, the project manager must accept the fact that risk is inherent in all projects. Identifying the possibilities which may pose a risk to the failure or complications, at the outset, calls for a proper risk management strategy. The more the planning done, the more the chances of mitigating risks relevant to the internal environment. Risks outside the human scope can also be tackled with, though the after effects of those cannot be avoided completely. 4.3 Team Assembly Once planning regarding the activities, labor required and scope has been done the project manager requires to hire and gather professionals who have the requisite skills. Keeping in view the time available, interviews should be conducted so as to hire the best possible candidate. In case of Cleveland project, the consultants as hired did not have the required experience. With regard to the other team members, it is not clear from the details as to who and how they were hired. 4.4 Project Execution The project manger must be aware of the delegation responsibility. There is a dire need that every member must be aware of the tasks to be performed and his role in the project as a whole so that results are delivered with efficiency and effectiveness. Communication is an essence in the successful execution of the project. both downward as well as upward communication should be encouraged for success. 4.5 Project management and controlling The control measures should have been set at the beginning so as to prevent from any significant deviation. Superior quality is achieved by periodic monitoring and project tracking. 5. Recommendations From the facts and explanations presented above, the Cleveland Callback Project 2010 would be successful if the planners pay undivided attention to some important issues. Since Jeremy and Tazz have declared that they won’t be able to complete their work up to the defined date. This delay in date would ultimately accelerate the cost and might irk the relevant stakeholders. Moreover it would also impede the rest of the work. So to avoid further loss following recommendations are made: All the team members should be brought under one roof so that communication at each level can be made easier. As already discussed, communication is extremely vital for the success. Thus the concerned authority should ensure that proper communication channels are identified and utilized appropriately. Currently project people seem to take the project lightheartedly. Their pace of work needs fastening up and this surely can be done by signaling them the state of urgency. Realizing the importance of the project will help to boost the morale level and thus commitment. There is a dire need to remain intact with not only the team members but also the concerned personnel who might not be involved directly in the project such as the stakeholders. Any changes in the scope of the project can be adjusted with ease if stakeholders are kept along with every detail of the project. Written communication needs emphasis as totally relying on verbal communication may lead to many problems as has been observed in this project. Documenting every detail of the project and sharing it with the concerned personnel shall help. A circular prior to the meeting should be send to all the members emphasizing on their attendance in the upcoming meeting. A proper check and balance on each individual shall assist in keeping the project on the right track. Within the circular the agenda of meeting should be included so that everyone knows before hand what lies ahead and they can come prepared. Feedback from every individual should be made mandatory so that the progress can be assessed. The work that remains to be done should be identified and jot down in documents along with its work break down structure so that remaining tasks can be acknowledged. Time allotment to each task and the cost required needs to be done immediately so that the Project director becomes aware of any changes in project scope and can handle it before hand. For quality assurance, there must be laid-down modalities that would ensure high quality in the transfer of information from one person to another. This may involve using software or other IT hardware that would speed up or allow only quality information to be passed from one person to the other. Quality management is also needed in the area of instrumentation; that is, is the hardware or software to be used for the Cleveland Callback Project 2010 up-to-date? And who are the qualified personnel that would use this equipment to achieve qualitative outputs in the project? The quality assurance hints shown above demonstrate the importance of paying serious attention to the quality of the outputs, which invariably requires that input quality must be great, too. The Manager of the Cleveland Callback Project 2010 should endeavor to come up with a strategy to speed up the completion of the project while emphasizing that the quality of the outputs must not be compromised. Similarly, any of the personnel on the project who appears to have lacked the appropriate knowledge required doing his or her job should be trained on-site so as to avoid time-wasting and the prospect of a failed project. As stated earlier, project management is a dynamic process; and since human beings are involved it is almost impossible to completely eradicate errors due to omissions or poor judgment. The IT Manager in charge of this Project must encourage constant self-auditing and system check-up. Appendix A Part B Project planning The project is expected to begin on May and lasts till August 18 as shown in the Gantt Chart below. This signifies that the entire project should have been completed with 76 days of its commencement. The tasks that would be carried out during these periods include: (i) Project requirement analysis (ii) Detailed design (iii) Interface studies (iv) Data configuration (v) Prototyping (vi) Call Centre Reviews (vii) Implementation (viii) System Teasting (ix) Call Centre Training (x) Go-Live. As evident from the Gantt chart the critical path is 1-3-5-7-8-9-10 This is the longest duration path and any delay in this activity will ultimately cause a delay in the whole project. Thus these activities should be completed within time to avoid any type of slippage and cost and time over-run. Appendix B PART C Progress Management The Gantt Chart below reveals the progress of the Cleveland Callback Project 2010, showing the periods taken by the Consultants Taz and Jeremy to carry out their respective functions; it also reveals the activities of Basil and Sandy. The chart shows a possible new Go-Live date of October 14, 2010 as the previously planned date of August 31, 2010 was not feasible. Appendix C Part D Budget creation Task#s Activities Resource Names Duration % Time Required Total Hours Resource Rate Total Costs 1 Requirement analysis Jeremy 8 100% 64 ?58 ?3,712 Taz 8 100% 64 ?55 ?3,520 2 Detailed Designed Taz 5 100% 40 ?55 ?2,200 3 Interface Studies Jeremy 15 50% 120 ?58 ?3,480 Taz 15 50% 120 ?55 ?3,300 4 Data Configuration Jeremy 30 100% 240 ?58 ?13,920 Sandy 30 100% 240 ?12 ?2,880 5 Prototyping Taz 20 100% 160 ?55 ?8,800 Bazil 20 100% 160 ?20 ?3,200 6 Call Centre Reviews Jeremy 10 100% 80 ?58 ?4,640 Taz 10 100% 80 ?55 ?4,400 Basil 10 100% 80 ?20 ?1,600 Sandy 10 100% 80 ?12 ?960 7 Implementation Taz 15 100% 120 ?55 ?6,600 8 System Testing Jeremy 5 100% 40 ?58 ?2,320 Taz 5 100% 40 ?55 ?2,200 Basil 5 100% 40 ?20 ?800 Sandy 5 100% 40 ?12 ?480 9 Call Centre training Jeremy 5 100% 40 ?58 ?2,320 Basil 5 100% 40 ?20 ?800 Sandy 5 100% 40 ?12 ?480 Total Variable Labour Costs ?72,612 Fixed Costs Accommodation cost cost per week 15.2 weeks ?650 ?9,880 *Project Director's staff costs cost per month 3.8 months ?2,250 ?8,550 Pc hardware ?54,000 Miscellaneous fixed costs ?15,000 Total Fixed Costs ?87,430 Total Budgeted Costs ?160,042 The estimated cost of ?150,000 was exceeded by ?10,042 or 6.7%, this adverse variance would have been avoided if CCP 2010 had available PM expertise to implement and run the project. Efficiencies in cost, time and resource utilization ‘resource loading’ could have been achieved, avoiding slippage and the risk of expensive write-off. Appendix D Part E Budget Management Staff Hours per week Total days converted to weeks Cost per hour Amount Cost as at 2 August ?142,450 Jeremy 60 12.8 ?58 ?44,544 Taz 60 12.8 ?55 ?42,240 Basil 40 12.8 ?20 ?10,240 Sandy 40 12.8 ?12 ?6,144 Total cost ?245,618 Weekly accommodation 12.8 ?650 ?8,320 Project Director's staff costs 12.8 ?2,250 ?7,200 Total Direct Cost ?261,138 PC hardware (High Specification PCs) ?28,000 Total Cost ?289,138 Calculation of days to demobilisation of project staff on Friday 29 October 2010:- Project days in August 22 days Project days in September 22 days Project days in October 21 days Holiday 31 August -1 days Total Project work days 64 days * Assumption: the amount was already reduced to half by 'at' instead of 'of'. The total cost would exceed the original estimate of ?150,000 by ?130,818 or 87.2%, and the ‘budget creation’ by ?120,776 or 75.5%. This does not include the cost of Project Consultant to audit the project. References: “Eight essential steps of project management”, retrived from http://open-tube.com/8-project-management-steps-manager-needs-to-follow on April 13, 2011 “Introduction to Project Managemetn principles”, retrieved from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/hip/lld/olt/resources/toolkit/project_management/project_management_intro.shtml on April 13, 2011. “Project Management Techniques”, retrieved from www.businessballs.com on April 13,2011 “Project Management”, retrieved from www. wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management on April 13, 2011 Michael Stanleigh (2010), “The Role of Strategic Thinking in Business Planning” Nostrand Reinhold.Barnard, C. I. (1938) “The functions of the executive”, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press Shtub, A., Bard, J., Globerson, S., (2005) Project Management Processes, Methodologies, and Economics (2nd Ed) Read More