Project Management Assignment Guidelines

Project Management Assignment Guidelines

Part A‐ General Overview

• This component requires the use both theoretical (journals, texts) as well as practitioner references in your work.
• Please use Harvard Referencing System to cite sources and produce your Reference List http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvar d.htm
• It is also important that you apply the context of the case to your discussions

Part A‐ Requirements

Evaluate and analyse:

1. Relationship between Project Planning and Project Controlling
2. Steps to improve the financial performance of projects at OmniBuild

3.Key weaknesses the current HR focus

4. Key measures and tactics to implement a new project planning approach

1.0 Introduction

Part A‐Structure

– Define Project Management

– Discuss Project Lifecycle and Introduce Project Management Process Groups(brief)

1.1 Relationship Between Project Planning and Project Controlling

– Discuss the Project Planning

– Discuss Project Controlling

– Discuss the relationship between Planning and Controlling. (see session 8 slide 34‐39 for key points)

– Use PMI models:

• ProjectManagementProcessInteractions(see handout 1)
• Project ManagementProcessGroupandKnowledgeArea Mapping (see handout 1)
• ProjectManagementProcessGroups(see Session 8 slide34)

1.2 Steps to Improve Financial Performance of Projects

– Start by saying that project success depends on managing the knowledge areas

– Introduce triple Project constraints and Turner’s five functions of PM (see session 2 slide 5)

• –  Go into each, discussing what it involves i.e. processes
• –  Discuss briefly the tools and techniques that can be used.

(see session 2 slide 8)

– Focus heavily on Project Cost Management i.e. Monitoring and Controlling Cost. Discuss use of CBS, Cost Control Cube, EVA, S Curve Analysis

– Remember to discuss in relation to improving financial performance throughout

1.3 Key Weaknesses of the Current HR Focus

– Discuss the processes involved in HRM for Projects. (see Session 8 slide 3)

• –  Analyse what was done at Omnibuild
• –  Evaluate the gaps by comparing what they did to

theory. i.e. say what they did not do?

– Discuss that an HR focus alone cannot lead to project success (see handout 3 for articles)

– Include a summary checklist (see handout 3 for Personnel Related Issues Checklist)

1.4 Implementing the new Planning Approach

• This must be managed as a project
• Use the 4 D’s model
• Discuss all the stages involved in the project i.e. implementing the new planning approach
• Discuss what tactics you would use during each stage
• Discuss what tools and techniques you would use during each stage

Part B‐ Original Gantt Chart‐ 4 month

• Create Dependency Table from information provided

ID TASK NAME DURATION PRDECESSOR

• Input data onto MS Project
• Set start date
• Add project summary task
• Change/Adjust working time on calendar
• Mark milestone task (if necessary)
• Insert Total Slack Colum in Gantt Chart
• Make sure that the critical task are shown using Red bars. (May need to Format Bar styles)
• In Body
  – List all assumptions e.g. start date, holidays etc

– Print Dependency Table

– State the critical path

– Comment on what is a Critical Task/Path and its significance

• Print In Appendix B.1
  – Original Gantt Chart‐ 4 month

Part B‐ Updated Gantt Chart‐ 2.5 month • Update Gantt Chart in MS Project

• You will need to justify your modification to shorten duration
• Include on New Gantt Chart a column for Baseline Finish and Baseline Duration
• In Body
  – Discuss briefly that you used the Critical Path

Method to Crash or Fast Track Project or both

– Briefly explain concepts of Crashing and Fast tracking

• In Body (cont’d)
  – State assumptions

– Explain the adjustments made
– Show calculations were possible for adjustments – Note new schedule finish date (2.5 month)
– Note new critical path or paths

• In Appendix B.2
  – Print Updated Gantt Chart‐ 2.5 month

Part C‐ Budget Creation

• Calculate Original Budget using MS Excel
• Include Direct Labour Cost, Indirect Labour, PC Hardware, Software, Misc. Fixed Cost, Accommodation Cost, meetings, travel and other cost including a Contingency
• Remember constraint of £ 850,000.00
• In Body
  – State assumptions
  – Other Explanatory notes
• In Appendix C.1
  – Print Original Budget from MS Excel

Template

Part C‐ Budget Creation • Calculate Alternative Budget

• Consider the use of the Updated Gantt chart (3 mon) to adjust labour cost
• Adjust other cost
• Remember Constraint of £ 650,000.00
• In Body
  – State assumption
  – Justify adjustments to cost elements
• In Appendix C.2
  – Print Alternative Budget from MS Excel

Project Management

Session 8‐ Risk Management

• Risk Management – Risk Identification

– Risk Analysis
– Risk Reduction/Mitigation

This Session

Fundamentals! • Everything we do carries risk

• Project which break new ground attract many risks
• Project risks can be predictable or completely unforeseeable
• Risks can occur at any stage in a project
• For very large projects it is necessary to appoint a Risk Manager, who develops and monitors a comprehensive Risk Strategy
• Project Support Office is a logical place for the risk management function to reside

Importance of Risk Management

• Potential effects range from trivial inconvenience to project disaster
• A risk even that occurs late in a project can be more costly than a similar event nearer the start of the project
• Simply because as time passes there will be a greater value of work in progress and higher sunk costs at risk of loss or damage
• We read in the newspaper about cost overruns and schedule slips on a wide variety of large scale development projects. Is it because of RISKS?

What is a Risk?

• Project Risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project objective
• A risk has a cause, and if it occurs a consequence /impact e.g.

• –  Event‐ not enough personnel assigned to a task
• –  Cause‐ having limited personnel assigned to the

project

– Consequence/Impact‐ increase in project cost, delays or poor quality

Primary Components for a Risk

• A Probability (likelihood) of occurrence of the event
• Impact of the event occurring (amount at stake)
• Risk = f (Likelihood,Impact)
• In general, as either the likelihood or impact increases, so does the risk

Alternative View

• Risk constitutes a lack of knowledge of future events
• Future events that are favourable are called opportunities, whereas unfavourable events are called risks
• We denote the cause or source of the event as the HAZARD
• Hazards can be overcome by knowing them and taking action to overcome them, SAFEGUARDS
• So we can say, risk increases with hazards but decreases with safeguards
• Risk = f (Hazard, Safeguard)
• The implication is that good project management should be structured to identify hazards and to allow safeguards to be developed to overcome them

Risk Management

• Risk Management is the act or practice of dealing with risk. It includes planning for risk, assessing risk issues(identifying and analyzing), developing risk handling strategies (risk reduction) and monitoring risks to determine how they have changed
• Properriskmanagementisproactiveratherthan reactive e.g. schedule indicates 6mths for an activity, but engineers think that 9mths is more realistic.
• IfPMisproactive,theywilldevelopaStrategy right now (risk averter), whereas
• IfPMisreactive(riskseeker)thentheywilldo nothing until the problem occurs
• Bythattime,PMwillhavelostvaluabletime when contingencies could have been developed
• Henceproperriskmanagementwillattemptto reduce likelihood of the event and the magnitude of impact
• There is no single textbook answer on how to manage risk
• The project manager must rely on sound judgment and use of the appropriate tools in dealing with risk
• The ultimate decision on how to deal with risk is based in part upon the project manager’s and stakeholder’s tolerance for risk

Risk Identification

• Involves determining which risks might affect the project and documenting their characteristics
• Participants include project team, risk mgt team, customers, end users, outside experts
• Identification is iterative process
• Documentation – Cost analysis

Where to start?

– Plan/WBS decomposition – Schedule
– Requirement document – Lessons learned report

– Resource plan
– Procurement plan
– Assumptions and constraints

Risk Categories

• External‐ unpredictable‐ gov’t regulations, natural hazards, acts of god
• External‐ predictable‐ cost of money, borrowing rates, raw material availability

External risks are outside the PM control

• Internal (nontechnical)‐ labour stoppages, cash flow problems, osha
• Technical‐ changes in technology, design issues, operations issues, change in industry standards
• Legal‐ licenses, patent rights, lawsuits, contractor failure/performance
• Project Mgt‐ poor allocation of time and resources, inadequate quality of plan, poor use of pro mgt disciplines
• Organizational‐ inconsistent objectives of cost, time, scope, lack of prioritization, inadequacy or interruption of funding

Tools and techniques for Identification

• Documentation review
• Brainstorming
• Delphi technique
• Interviewing

• Checklists
• Cause and Effect ‐ Ishikawa or Fishbone

diagram
• Assumption analysis

Risk Analysis

• Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
  • Failure Mode Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) • Risk Register
  • Risk Score/Risk Exposure = Probability x Impact • Risk Matrix (Probability/Impact Matrix)

Risk Reduction/Mitigation/Handling

• Consider the most cost effective option, use of decision trees can indicate appropriate choice

• Use prioritized list of risks from analysis
• Determine Risk thresholds
• Determine Risk owners

• Acceptance
• Avoidance

Strategies

• Transference‐ Insurance, Contracts, Bonding
• Mitigation
• Contingency Plans
  – Make an allowance by increasing the time and or

cost budgets
– Plan to change the scope