I was involved in a group task together
with five other colleagues in which we were expected to come up with a project
plan for ActiveBeing. This was a project for introducing a French company into
the UK market. The project planning task included creating a budget, defining
activities to be undertaken, scheduling, and creating a risk management plan.
This report discusses this experience in comparison to established project
planning and management theories learnt so far and conclude with an overview of
skills that I will need to develop into the future.
Project planning requires that the
project teams have a clear picture of the entire project management process
from the beginning to the end (Horinem, 2013).
A reliable project plan should be sufficient to guide the entire project
management process including elements such as the budget, the list and schedule
of activities, the risk management plan, and the communication plan (Kerzner,
2013).
In our project plan, we failed to create a schedule for activities and also
failed to create an effective communication plan. Communication plans are
important project implementation tools. They provide a framework for
identification of anomalies and resolving them in the shortest time possible (Larson, 2011).
They should also outline a management control plan outlining the powers of each
of the project team members, the authority allocated for problem solving, and
procedure to be followed if unforeseen events arise (Kerzner,
2013).
These elements were not provided for in our project plan hence it was largely
incomplete. However, the project plan did have good provisions for the budget,
the work breakdown structure, and the risk management plan as explained in the
sections below.
The budget for our project plan was
broken down reflecting the amounts needed for each of the elements of the
project including sections of the premise design as well as activities to be
involved in the project. The total budget amounted to £194,757.32 which was
broken down into other elements. For instance, the advertising fee was
estimated at £25,000 while launch event costs were estimated at £100,000.
Budgeting processes can be top-down or bottom-up depending on what is
considered first.
The bottom-up budgeting process is one
in which the aggregate budget is derived from the sum total of the activities
(Harin, 2007). In real scenarios, the project managers are presented with
overall estimates for the budget limits within which to operate. However, the
actual budgeting process can be done by focusing on the activities and
allocating budgetary estimates to each of the activities as a way of getting
the exact budget estimate (Horinem, 2013).
It is a preferred approach to budgeting as it compels the project manager to
think through each of the activities, its necessity, and its contribution to
the overall project before allocating budgetary estimates which would also
determine the level to which the activity would be emphasised in the project
(Harin, 2007).
In our group experience, we used a
combination of top down and bottom up budgeting processes. We had a rough
estimate on how much we’d need to spend in the project but mostly focused on
each of the activities to make budgetary allocations that would ensure each of
the activities generated the results desired.
For effectiveness in planning, the
project manager should create a work breakdown structure detailing the
activities to be undertaken and sub-activities under them (Jugdev and Mathur,
2006). These WBSs help in envisioning the project in its entirety and promotes
comprehensiveness in planning (Harin, 2007). In our project exercise, the main
activities were identified as project management, design, purchase,
construction, and testing. Each of these main activities was divided into its
constituent components to facilitate the envisioning of the project in its
entirety.
WBSs should be accompanied by activity
schedule where the project is envisioned as a process where each activity is
implemented at its scheduled time (Kerzner, 2013).
In scheduling, the project manager lists all the activities to be undertaken,
determines the duration needed for each activity, and determines the
predecessor activities to be completed before such an activity is commenced.
Scheduling in project management is mostly done using specialised software that
produces a detailed Gantt chart (Ford and Bhargav, 2006). This kind of chart
provides a pictorial representation of the flow of activities to be undertaken
in a project. The software used can also be applied to indicate the resources
that will be required for each of the activities. This means that it is
possible to create a resources plan indicating when resources will be needed.
It is a feature that complements the budgeting process where the project
manager is not only aware of the budgetary allocation but also of when the
money will be needed to acquire the resources (Harin, 2007). This is a feature
that can be used to keep the cost of inventory low and ensure that materials
are purchased just in time for use in project implementation.
In our project planning experience, we
did not come up with an activity schedule or Gantt chart. This means that our
perspective in the project planning exercise was limited with no information on
the expected flow of events from the time the project is commenced to the time
the project is completed.
Risks are inevitable and they refer to
the likelihood that an undesired occurrence with arise in the course of project
implementation (Horinem, 2013). The project manager
must be able to anticipate these risks and come up with a way of managing them
to ensure that project implementation is not derailed. Risk is managed in four
most common ways including: risk transfer, risk mitigation, risk avoidance, and
risk acceptance (Larson, 2011). The approaches
proposed for risk management fell under these approaches of risk management.
The mitigation strategy refers to taking
measures to minimise damage after the risk has arisen. This was the dominant
approach taken by the group. For instance, the risk of fire during construction
would be countered by conducting timely evacuations to limit any fatal injuries
that could arise. Similarly, the risk of food poisoning of crew would be
mitigated by swiftly taking the patients to the hospital with speed. While this
approach to risk management can be effective, other risk management approaches
ought to have been considered.
In my opinion, risk avoidance would be a
better strategy to employ in the scenarios above. In risk avoidance, the
project team ensures that factors that can lead to the risk arising are
identified and eliminated or significantly diminished (Kerzner,
2013).
If this strategy had been applied to our project planning exercise, the risk of
food poisoning would have been avoided by diligence in quality inspection in
the cafeteria. The cafeteria services could also be outsourced to reliable
service providers with extensive experience in the field and whose record in
food safety has been established. Similarly, a risk avoidance strategy could
have been applied against the risk of fire during construction by conducting
regular inspection to ensure that flammable products and conditions that can
result in fire breaking out are eliminated.
The least common approach is risk
acceptance where project teams accept a risk as unavoidable and preparing to
face the consequences or make the best out of the situation (Larson, 2011).
In our experience, one such risk was the risk of costs escalation. This would
be countered by asking for the sponsor to inject more funds or seek alternative
sources of funding for the project.
When assessed in retrospect, the list of
risks that could arise was quite extensive covering many of the risks. However,
there was little creativity in proposing risk management measures. For
instance, risk transfer was not used for any of these risks. Risk transfer is
done where a supplier bears the full cost of a risk arising (Larson, 2011).
For instance, the cafeteria services could be outsourced and the service
provider would take full responsibility in the event that food served causes
food poisoning.
The project planning exercise undertaken
in the ActiveBeing project largely conformed to the theory of project planning
and the framework for the main components. It provided a clear work breakdown
structure and a good risk management plan. These were important elements of
getting a comprehensive view of the project and the events that are likely to
arise in the course of project implementation. However, a number of important
elements were not put into consideration. These include lack of a work schedule
or Gantt chart, and lack of a communication plan. The project plan also failed
to recap the project scope for clarity on what the project is all about.
From the concluding remarks above, the
project planning exercise can be said to have only partially reflected on the
project management theories that relate to project planning. There’s therefore
need to review the project plan and provide for the missing elements in order
for it to be complete. From a personal learning perspective, I have learnt much
about project planning; especially from the weaknesses observed in the group
exercise. This will be important practical experience to be invoked in future
studies of a similar nature.
Ford, D.N., Bhargav, S., 2006. Project management
quality and the value of flexible strategies. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 13(3), pp.
275-289
Harin, E., 2007. Project
management in the real world. Swindon: The British Computer Society
Horine, G., 2013. Project
management: absolute beginner's guide. 3rd Ed. Horine
Indianapolis, IN: Que
Jugdev, K., Mathur, G., 2006. Project management
elements as strategic assets: preliminary findings. Management Research News 29(1), pp. 604-617
Kerzner, H., 2013. Project
management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. New
York: Senior Executive Director for Project Management, the International
Institute for Learning
Larson, E.W., 2011.
Project management: the managerial
process. 5th Ed. New York : McGraw-Hill Irwin
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