Assignment of the Week- Project Management Assignment

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Develop a project plan in MS project 2013 or any other project management software. Prepare a report in MS Word to the project sponsor that shows how you propose to implement this project.

Assignment Solution

INTRODUCTION

The report presents a project plan describing the plan for a project of constructing a new bridge over a small river, which has a zoo on the other side. A project plan refers to the formal document that is presented to describe the design and plans for a given project (Kerzner, 2013). It helps in defining the requirements of the project, which is then used as a guide or blueprint for carrying out or completing the project. The project plan is one of the most important documents for project management and completion (Kerzner, 2013). Different aspects of the project plan are described below with respect to the project of constructing a small bridge as stated above.

GOALS, SCOPE AND ASSUMPTIONS

PROJECT GOALS

To construct a new bridge over a small river To complete the project within one year of its start To complete the project within a budget of $20,000 To ensure high quality of the bridge

SCOPE

The scope of the project is the construction of the bridge such that it is ready to use by people. The scope hence includes preparation of the site for the construction, procurement of all the materials as required for it and the final construction.

ASSUMPTIONS

The costs of materials and other resources would remain the same during the project The project needs to be completed according to the defined requirements in the plan document

PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT

The river has a zoo on the other side and the current means of crossing the river is a boat. Hence, the project would not only benefit the people and would make it easier for them to cross the river via the bridge but would also help in increasing the revenues of the zoo as more people would be able to cross the bridge easily. Thus, the project would have multiple advantages and benefits.

TASKS

There are various projects that need to be completed in the project and they can be divided into different groups. Marques et al (2011) explain that categorization of tasks of a project helps in better planning and also helps in ensuring that the tasks are planned better. Allocation of resources also becomes better with the categorization of tasks (Marques et al 2011). The tasks for the project and their start and end date along with duration are given below.

RESOURCES

Resource management is one of the most important aspects of project planning and management and involves all activities related to the acquisition, application and management of resources (Turner, 2014). Hwang and Ng (2013) argue that resources are among the key constraints that are faced by a project and it is important to ensure that the project tasks are completed within the available resources so that higher efficiency and higher profitability is obtained. Some of the key resources required for the project are defined below. Financial Resources: Financial resources are the most important resources for a project (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). The current project needs to be completed within a given budget of $10,000 and since one of the project objectives as defined earlier is that the project must be completed within the defined budget this resource needs to be managed adequately. The resource needs to be allocated among the defined tasks and for procurement of other resources. People: Human resources are essential for execution of the project tasks and for implementation and completion of all the activities as related to it. Wysocki (2011) argues that adequate hiring and management of people in a project is one of the most important critical success factors. The people resource requirement for the project is defined as follows.

Thus, the project needs to hire a total of fourteen project members.  As it is a small project, it can be completed by fourteen members. Wysocki (2011) argues as the scope, size and complexity of a project keeps on increasing, the number of people required for completing the project also increases. Materials and Equipment: In addition to the human resources, the project would require the materials and equipment as desired for construction. According to Heagney (2016), the costs of materials form the major expense in a construction project because the materials required for construction are expensive and there are various materials that are essential for completing the project (Heagney, 2016). As the project is a small scale project, the equipment and machinery required for construction can be rented for a small period of time instead of purchasing it as purchasing it would incur higher costs. The materials are usually around 30% of the entire budget of the project (Gasik, 2011) and would be around $6000. The equipment renting and hiring charges would be around $3000 for the construction period. Thus, these resources would require an expenditure of around $14,500 out of the given budget, which leaves significant financial resources for the construction, legal and other aspects. Further discussions present different graphical evidence of the project to explore its management.  

Gantt Chart

Gantt chart is a commonly used project management tool that helps in presenting the time in which the project will be completed. The tool helps in not only mapping the project against the time required to complete it but also helps in communicating the time in which the project must be completed (Fortune et al 2011). The Gantt chart for the project is given below and also incorporates some buffer time in the activities to ensure that the project is completed within the given time period of one year.

Network Diagram

Risk Management Plan

(Kerzner, 2013; Turner, 2014)

Conclusion

The project plan as presented above provides a feasible plan with manageable and realistic goals, resource requirements etc. The resource requirements of the projects are not high and it would be completed in one year and would contribute towards financial and non-financial benefits. The risks of the project are also generic and can be mitigated easily. These factors thus suggest the project to be feasible and implementable.

References

Fortune, J., White, D., Jugdev, K., & Walker, D. (2011). Looking again at current practice in project management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(4), 553-572. Gasik, S. (2011). A model of project knowledge management. Project Management Journal, 42(3), 23-44. Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Hwang, B. G., & Ng, W. J. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2), 272-284. Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons. Marques, G., Gourc, D., & Lauras, M. (2011). Multi-criteria performance analysis for decision making in project management. International Journal of Project Management, 29(8), 1057-1069. Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 202-217. Turner, J. R. (2014). The handbook of project-based management (Vol. 92). New York, NY: McGraw-hill. Wysocki, R. K. (2011). Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. John Wiley & Sons.