Business Project Management

Assignment Outlines

SCENARIO

• A PROJECT IS GIVEN, DETAILS ARE FOLLOWING

- Apply all question on a project, which is to construct a two level story house on 5
marla (25x50 Sq ft).
- Budget $40,000, can be 20% vary.
- Ideal during is upto 40 weeks.
- Construction Company called Brickson (Pvt) Limited, UK based. Project is also UK
based.
- Suppose you are project manager for this project, and prepare report by answering
all of questions.

(P1)

• EXPLAIN PROJECT LIFE CYCLE, AND APPLY TO GIVEN PROJECT.

• DEFINE AND EXPLAIN BRIEFLY PROJECT LIFE CYCLE, AND ITS STAGES (4-6 LINES).

• APPLY EACH STAGE/PHASE ON GIVEN PROJECT.

• ON FIRST STAGE/PHASE OF PLC (INITIALIZING PHASE). MAKE PROJECT CHARTER AND

IDENTIFY/LIST STAKEHOLDERS.

• SECOND STAGE/PHASE OF PLC (PLANNING PHASE).

• DEFINE ACTIVITIES (AT LEAST 20 ACTIVITIES)

• DURATION OF ALL ACTIVITIES

• RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACTIVITIES (PREDECESSORS)

• GANTT CHART

• CRITICAL PATH DIAGRAM

• PLAN RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR EACH ACTIVITY.

• DRAW RESOURCES AND PROJECT ORGANISATION CHART

• THIRD STAGE/PHASE – EXECUTION PHASE

• PROCUREMENT/PURCHASING OF RESOURCES

• START OF PROJECT

• ALL ACTIVITIES TO BE DONE ACCORDING TO PLANS

• RISK MANAGEMENT PLANS EXECUTE

• CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

• FORTH STAGE/PHASE OF PLC – MONITORING AND CONTROLLING

• PERFORMANCE WILL BE MEASURED PERIODICALLY, LIKE DAILY/WEEKLY/MONTHLY/SEMI-

ANNUALLY ETC (TO CHECK AT WHAT PERCENTAGE ACTIVITIES ARE DONE).

• COMPARISON WITH PLANNING, FIND DIFFERENCES.

• ACTIONS CAN BE TAKEN AGAINST POOR PERFORMANCE, GIVE FEW EXAMPLES (LIKE GIVE
TRAININGS, PROVIDE MORE MATERIALS IF THESE WERE SHORT, ADD LABOUR IF THERE WERE
NOT SUFFICIENT WORKERS, ADD THESE KIND OF EXAMPLES).

• FIFTH STAGE – CLOSURE OF PROJECT

• MAKE SURE ALL ACTIVITIES ARE DONE.

• MAKE SURE ALL PROJECT OBJECTIVES.

• QUALITY STANDARDS ARE ACHIEVED.

• RE-DO IF ANY DEFECT FIND.

 • HANDING OVER PROJECT TO CUSTOMER BY TAKING SIGNATURES ON RECEIVING DOCUMENTS

• UPDATE LEARNED LESSON REGISTER – FOR FUTURE REFERENCES

• COVER ALL ABOVE POINTS IN ONE PARAGRAPH (UPTO 8 LINES)

(P2)

• EXPLAIN THE NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED IN GIVEN

PROJECT.
- Add about 6-7 stakeholders, tell their needs and expectation by filling up following
table. I filled for Project Manager as an example, do rest of by yourself.
Stakeholders Needs Expectations

1. Project Manager 1). Clear features or 1). No additions in project

requirement for the project when it is started.
from client/customers
about this house to be
constructed.
2). On time funds from 2). Sufficient funds be
client or sponsor to make provided.
possible to buy materials
etc

3). Availability of all 3).

resources from Project
management office (PMO).
4). Teams should be trained 4).
enough.

2 Workforce 1). 1).

2). 2).

3). 3).
4). 4).

3. Logistics Team
4. Suppliers

5. Sponsor

6. Government/Authorities

7. Communities

8. Constructors
(D2)
Justify methods used to implement in given project, making recommendations for improvement.

Answer:
Some stages / processes or steps are required to implement the project.

• STEP 1: PREPARE INFRASTRUCTURE

- Prepare place, clear site, remove unwanted things from the site or place where the project
to be implemented.
- E.g in construction of a house, plane the cite, remove extra mud, bricks, or any unwanted
things from the place where construction of a house to be done. We can take this first
activity of this project.

• STEP 2: COORDINATION WITH TEAMS WITHIN THE PROJECT

- This means align teams, or explain relationship between teams.
- Project manager’s responsibility to make sure teams are available on time
- Inform teams before start of their work.
- And make possible availability of resources on time
- Share activities details
- Resolve problems on time with best course of action/s.
- Take any feedback and respond accordingly.
- Project manager make possible his availability all the time.
- E.g in construction of a house, align different teams including labour, carpenters,
electricians, plumbers, tile work team etc, and make possible available of material like
cement, bricks, crash, concrete, wood, wash basin, water pipelines, taps, etc etc . When
some teams work joint, like electrical and woodwork, share information and nature of work
with concerned teams.

• STEP 3: CONDUCT ANY TRAININGS

- Construction of a house, when trainings required
o If anything new a project, and teams are not familiar with, need trainings e.g new
design has to be created.
o If they are using new equipment, latest technology, or machines, or even computer,
or communication gadgets (wireless phones etc).
o If teams are not skilled, new staff etc
 • STEP 4: FOLLOW UP PROJECT PLAN
- Ensuring project activities are implemented according to plan and schedule. Give examples
from given project (e.g construction of a house).
- Make sure activities are done within planned time scale or duration
- More focus on critical activities (critical activities are those, which can impact on delay of
project).
- Making sure no wastage of resources
- And project should be with in cost budget.

• STEP 5: MONITORING AND CONTROLLING

- This means measuring performance, finding poor performance, and taking actions to make
it correct.
- Though its separate phase of a project, even in construction of a house, monitoring and
control helps better control over project implementation or execution.
- Monitoring in construction of house could include monitoring either labour/teams joining
on time, working efficiently and effectively, following quality procedures and standards,
waste control etc, add more examples . . .

• STEP 6: FEEDBACK FROM TEAMS AND IMPROVEMENTS ACCORDINGLY.

add examples for project implementation improvements (one para, 5-7 lines).

M1
Draw on your evidence for P1 and P2 and, giving examples, examine the impact on each of the
stages of the project if it is poorly managed. You must also assess the importance of project
management throughout a project’s life cycle.

• IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

- Helps to reduce complexities of the projects
- Projects can be completed in minimum time during, or to achieve efficiency.
- Teams be aligned, and eliminates conflicts between teams activities.
- And 5-6 more points

• IMPACT OF POORLY MANAGED STAGES OF PLC

• IMPACTS FROM POORLY MANAGED INITIATING STAGE

- Discuss with relation to given project

• IMPACTS FROM POORLY MANAGED PLANNING STAGE

- Discuss with relation to given project
 • IMPACTS FROM POORLY MANAGED EXECUTION STAGE
- Discuss with relation to given project

• IMPACTS FROM POORLY MANAGED MONITORING AND CONTROLLING STAGE

- Discuss with relation to given project

• IMPACTS FROM POORLY MANAGED CLOSURE OF PROJECT STAGE

- Discuss with relation to given project

P3)
Prepare a project plan and a PowerPoint presentation of a selected project and define its relevance to
meeting organizational goals such as an increase in market share, increase in profits etc. This will
include setting the overall purpose of the project, aims and objectives, timescales and resources, the
likely outputs, and the evaluation criteria.
- Project is already done in P1, so here you only make power point presentation.
- Slides must include following points

• PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• PROJECT OBJECTIVES

• PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL, LIST)

• PROJECT MILESTONES

• PROJECT ACTIVITIES (LIST)

• GANTT CHART OF THIS PROJECT

• CRITICAL PATH CHART

• PROJECT RISK (INCLUDING PROBABILITY AND IMPACTS)

o Or anything you think could be . . .
D1
, Evaluate the planning of a selected project in terms of meeting purpose, aims and objectives. You must
give a recount on the project planning in terms of your experience of the projects so that you are able to
apply lessons learned to future projects.

• DISCUSS HOW PLANNING IS GOOD/EFFECTIVE/HAS ABILITY TO MEET PROJECT PURPOSES,

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES, WHILE DISCUSSING MUST COVER FOLLOWING POINTS.
o Parametric technique is being to estimate the project budget. And still there is 20
variations can can be acceptable.
o All activities were identified first and after schedule them by considering their
relationship (predecessors and successors activities). This will help to achieve
project purposes, aims and objectives.
o Expert judgments were taken from expert teams while planning project.
o Previous learned lessons were been considered.
o All possible risk were taken into considerations, and risk register is updated and
alternative course of actions are planned to be taken in any kind of unwanted
circumstances.
o Note: discuss each above point in paragraphs (5-6 lines each)

P4)
You are required to prepare at least two different methods of monitoring the progress of your project
through Gantt chart, Pert Chart, Logic Network or critical path diagram manually or electronically. You
are also required to show how the activities are going to be monitored. You must also describe how the
selected methods help with decision making.

• EXPLAIN PROJECT MONITORING (2-3 LINES).

- How will you monitor the project
 • METHOD 1

• MEASURES THE PERFORMANCE DAILY/WEEKLY/MONTHLY BASES

• COMPARES WITH PLAN

• EARN VALUE MANAGEMENT TOOL APPLIED TO MEASURE VARIANCES

• REPORTS ARE GENERATED

• AND SHARED WITH CONCERNED TEAMS/AUTHORITIES/STAKEHOLDERS

o Use above steps into heading, and explain each with its function and importance,
also explain how Brickson Construction will perform each step.

• METHOD 2

• -GANTT CHART ALSO HELP TO MONITOR PERFORMANCE OF THE PROJECT

• TELL ABOUT SOFTWARE, HOW THEY PRODUCE REPORTS ABOUT CURRENT

STATUS/PERFORMANCE WITH ANY EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE CHART
o Do this question upto 2 page.

M2
Explain how these two different methods of monitoring the project progress contribute to managing
different and contrasting types of projects.
- Discuss advantages of above two different monitoring methods by relating various types of
projects.

D2
, Justify effectiveness of the methodology used for the project life cycle.
- See above

P5
New projects are likely to experience unexpected events. Identify types of problem this project may
face like time management, resource allocation, and increasing costs in the form of a project diary. Also
describe their impact on the outcomes.
 • IDENTIFY POSSIBLE PROBLEMS (RISKS) CAN BE FACED BY THE PROJECT FIRM.

• PLAN CAN BE INAPPROPRIATE

• PROJECT BASELINE CAN BE CREEP OR CHANGES REQUIRED FROM CLIENT DISCUSS WITH
EXAMPLES

• SHORTAGE OF RAW MATERIALS IN MARKET OR WITH SUPPLIERS

• CONFLICTS BETWEEN TEAM

• RAINS/BAD WEATHER
o Can from above, and add few more reason by yourself (in total 5 problem/risks)
o Relate impact while discussing each (hint: impact on cost, duration, quality, project
scope etc)

P6)
Monitoring and evaluation is critical to ensure effective decision making. Design a suitable reporting
method through a structured report to review outcomes for this project. Your report can include
information on outputs, immediate and short-term outcomes, and longer term outcomes, Stakeholder
feedback etc.
 • WHAT IS PROJECT REPORTING, 2-3 LINES, BRIEFLY DISCUSS

• METHOD 1

• SOFTWARE DEVELOPS REPORTS (E.G MICROSOFT PROJECT, HERE ARE SOME COMMON
REPORTS

• TEAM AVAILABILITY REPORT.

• STATUS REPORT

• PROJECT HEALTH REPORT

• RISK ASSESSMENT

• TIME TRACKING REPORT

• BASELINE REPORTS

• BRIEFLY EXPLAIN EACH IN 3-4 LINES, EXPLAIN USE OF EACH PROJECT REPORT FOR BRICKSON
FIRM

• METHOD 2

• REPORT CHARTS WILL BE MANUALLY ON CLIP BOARDS AND WILL BE DISPLAYED IN PROJECT
OFFICE.

M3
Analyze the importance of achieving project outcomes within agreed timescales, resources and
budgets.
• BOUNDED BY LEGAL CONTRACTS

• TO SATISFY THE CUSTOMERS

• TO ENHANCE MARKET REPUTATION

• TO MAXIMIZE PROFIT

• TO COMPLETE MAXIMUM PROJECTS IN A TIME PERIOD

• RESOURCES ARE LIMITED

• AS ITS PART OF PROJECTS OBJECTIVES

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