Project plan
To manage Project effectively, the project manager should be in a position to manage the basic constituents of a project perfectively (Stephens, 2002, p.78). Since all the elements work together, the manager should be able to manage them at the same time. Each of them therefore must be managed appropriately for positive results. The basic constituents of a project include Resources, Time, Money, and Scope (Ireland, 2006, p.121). In the project, resources will include the people involved while time is the duration required to finish the project (Ireland, 2006, p. 123). In this case, the project manager has two months to complete the project. The firm expects to spend less than $ 200,000 on the project. The firm also expects to reduce the amount through competitive bidding when procuring resources. This is the overall impact that the project is expected to exhibit in the firm after completion. The scope of the project is however the most crucial factor in executing a project (Stephens, 2002, p. 79). The project scope includes the size of the project, its objectives, and the requirements for finishing the project. Project scope is thus the definition of the prospects of the project once completed and the budget of both time and expenses required for accomplishing the project (Ireland, 2006, p. 122).
Objectives of the project
In this project objectives include:
- Reducing internal expenses of the product
- Enhancing the sales volumes of the product
- Adopting new technologies to assist workers in production
- Clients and suppliers to enhance the improvement and delivery of the Fire Emergency Automated Sprinkler System (FEASS)
Feasibility Study: A feasibility study is used to gather broad data for the members of management that in turn enables them to decide on whether to proceed with a systems study. In this sense, this section deals with providing management with a clear indication of the nature of the project in terms of business options, costs/benefits, and return on investment. This section will form the basis of a feasibility report, which is expected to be used to initiate the project.
Business options: The product is to recover cost and gain profits by selling FEASS products in the market to increase profitability and increase efficiency and effectiveness. This should capture the various activities of the product taking place.
Cost/Benefit Analysis: Cost/benefit analysis must ensure that Identifiable benefits must equal identifiable costs. So each cost should be weighed against each benefit received.
Cost structure
Time schedule
Electronic communication tools
The electronic communication tools are very crucial in project management. These help in co-coordinating of the activities in project management. These tolls include: management work bench, websites, directory services, online reporting, and teleconferencing and team-based web tool. These assist the project personnel to communicate with suppliers, clients and other workers to achieve the firm’s goals (Phillips, 2003, p. 82).
Monitoring and control systems
The objective of monitoring and controlling of a project is to analyze the progress of the project in the course of its implementation. This provides a guide to identification of the projects deviation from the expectations so that corrective measures can be applied to control the deviation. Monitoring is carried out throughout the project execution while control is usually done when the project’s progress has substantially deviated from the expectations (Harrison & Lock, 2004, p. 87). In the FEASS, the personnel concerned should consistently monitor the project during the six months to ensure that it progresses as planned. Monitoring also includes the budget control. The money spent for project execution should be within the budget. Appropriate monitoring and control of the project will ensure that it meets its targets.
All the processes of project management should move hand in hand in the whole project. The five stages include: commencing, Planning, implementing, Monitoring and Controlling and finishing. Project progress is based on comparison between the actual project progress according to plan and Work Breakdown formation (Harrison & Lock, 2004, p. 88). When the actual project progress is deviating from the plan either in terms of time frame or budget, corrective measures are applied to control the situation. The variations are done using the method of Variance Analysis. There exist various tools and skills that can be applied for project control. In this project, IT automated control tools can be applied. Earned Value breakdown is another technique that can be applied for the same purpose.
Project control is important in project management since it gives useful data for progress measurement, prediction and re-scheduling. Control therefore plays a very significant role in project management. A project plan should therefore bear important elements such as time frame, budget and objectives to ensure that its execution, control and closure are a success (Harrison & Lock, 2004, p. 90).
Procurement management plan
Procurement plan for a project is very important since it greatly determines the cost of the whole project. Procurement is acquisition of resources necessary for executing a project from external suppliers. The Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project requires procurement of several resources from external suppliers. The project requires project management standards from external sources, control tools and also services to offer recreational facilities (Kousholt, 2004, p. 62). Since the firm intends to spend the least amount possible on the project, the procurement procedure must be well planned to go under the $200,000 planned. To achieve this, the project manager has to procure the services through competitive bidding.
The procurement plan has seven components. These include: risk analysis; the plan must consider the risks involved in procurement, the scope; this is the purpose of the procurement which is dependent on the overall objective of the project, Schedule; this is the work breakdown pattern of the project after which each procurement can then be carried out when its due that is after assigning each task a particular time frame. Budget is another requirement of the procurement plan (Kousholt, 2004, p. 63). This stipulates the amount of money available for procuring.
This is vital for the plan since without funds nothing can be acquired. Quality, human resource and communication plans are the other components of the plan. Quality is an important factor to consider in procurement so as to ensure that commodities or services bought are of good standards. Human resource plan in our case is well planned since all the personnel involved are qualified in their respective positions. Communication is core in ensuring that every individual involved in the project management is aware of the project’s direction and every move that is executed (Kousholt, 2004, p. 71).
Risk Management
Risks are uncertain events that affect the objective(s) of a project. The causes or consequences of a risk can be multiple or cumulative in value. Effects of risks can include a variation on the Cost, quality, scope and time. By acknowledging risks a project managers can reduce costs, maintain schedule, insure scope, and increase quality with the work provided (Hallows, 1998 p. 82-83).
Risks occur in all project management endeavors, as our work requires interaction between clients, employees and providers to reach a common goal. Those involved can provide a large-scale of deviation from the desired aims of the project. This requires a process to manage risk when it occurs. The diagram below helps us understand risk (Hallows, 1998 p. 90).
Project risk Identification: This is the first part of the risk management process. Possible risks to the project are acknowledged and their facets formulated. This is merely a preliminary list, with the cycle of risk identification a continuous process to maintain project viability (Hallows, 1998 p. 84-89). A list of identifiable risks is noted in the table below.
Identifiable Risks in the Feast Product
As seen, it clearly shows the type, nature, probability and impact of some potential risks together with strategies to deal with all identified threats.
Risk Categorization: Risk categorization is a function of probability to impact. Probability is the chance that a particular risk will occur. The impact is the consequential effects of such a risk occurring. Therefore, categorization provides a guide as to which risks are worse than others, allowing for prioritization of risk management. The following table details how risks are prioritized as a function of probability and impact (Hallows, 1998 p. 87).
Risk As A Function Of Probability And Impact
Risk Mitigation Strategy: Mitigation is the process by which a project management team reduces the probability and impact of an event, thus reducing the risk of that event. There are four means to reduce the risk (Hallows, 1998 p. 89).
- Remove Excuses – providers and clients must know the project schedule and expectations, especially the consequences of slippage from these aims
- Visibility – providers must know expectations and milestones for the project, ensuring prompt delivery of items
- Communication – project manager must be involved with what is occurring with employees, clients, and providers. By interacting with them, dilemmas, such as employee grievances, are tempered.
- Plan Fallbacks – these are created to provide swift, concise actions to any setbacks the project may encounter.
The mitigation strategies for the risks noted previously are given below in the order of its priority(Hallows, 1998 p. 90).
Risk Contingency Strategy: The risk contingency strategy provides the answers the project management team will provide for the risks highlighted previously. This part is extremely important due to the effects of risks of project completion, as well as its effects on company reputation (Hallows, 1998 p. 90).
Work cited
Hallows, Jolyon. Information systems project management: how to deliver function and value in information technology projects. New York: Amacon, 1998. P 82-90.
Harrison, Frederick and Lock, Dennis. Advanced project management: a structured approach. London: Gower Publishing, Ltd, 2004
Ireland, Lewis. Project Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006.
Kousholt, Bjarne. Project Management –.Theory and practice. New York: Nyt Teknisk Forlag, 2007
Phillips, Joseph. PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2003.
Stevens, Martin. Project Management Pathways. Association for Project Management. New York: APM Publishing Limited, 2002.