Project Management
“We aren’t big enough to have a project office, but we need the discipline of project management methods and standards.” What advice would you give the CEO of this organization? Justify.
Project management is a discipline that involves forecast, controlling, systematizing and the management of resources to ensure that a certain project’s purpose, objectives and targets have been arrived at. Project management is an area in many organizations that has gained emphasis in the last couple of years. It is becoming essential for all firms to set up a project management office or department. For the case study above, the organization’s management says that they do not have adequate space to set up a project office. Project management offices (PMOs) can be outsourced. The C.E.O can seek to outsource a PMO so that the duties and procedures that relate to projects are carried out in an office outside the company premises (Larson, 2008).
How do environmental factors affect project implementation?
Implementing projects is a step of project management that is affected by different factors. Depending on the problem that is being addressed by the project objectives, problem implementation can be affected by the environment. Take the example of a company that wants to construct a tarmac road to their company premises. Some of the environmental factors that could affect this project are the legal policies that govern that particular area and also the rules and regulation of construction. The company has to ensure that the project implementation policies encompass these environmental factors.
What role do local intermediaries play in helping an outsider complete a project?
Local intermediaries play a very vital role when it comes to helping an outsider complete a project. Many outsiders are not conversant with the laws that govern a particular country and therefore the locals would help explain then to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law while undertaking a project. Also being very new in the country the local would help in simple details such as directions, show the outsiders where some products and tools for the operation can be bought among others (Larson, 2008).
What major information would you expect to find in a project audit?
A project audit is an evaluation that is undertaken by the project team either in the interim of a project or at the end of the project in order to come up with a report indicating the successful areas of the project, the concerns and the challenges that they came across during the project life cycle. The team then uses the recommendations from the audit report to improve on the identified areas. Below are some of the information criteria that are likely to be included in a project audit: A compilation of information that has been received from interviews and questionnaires; the results from the assessment of the project documentation; identification of the matters, apprehensions and challenges; a list of recommendations and finally the changes that ought to carried out (Larson, 2008).
What are the major economic forces that serve as a force for using oversight/governance tools and processes?
Various economic forces serve as the push toward oversight governance tools and processes. Aspects of the economy such as level of employment; inflation, interest rates, demographic changes, and monetary and financial policies, which determine the state of competitive atmosphere in which a firm manages. These forces influence the result of the firm’s advertising and promotion actions, by influencing the degree and strength of demand for its products. Therefore these factors are at the forefront when a company is aiming at implementing a project (Larson, 2008).
What are the five major activities for closing a project?
Decommissioning a project – Decommissioning means that resources that had been administered for the sole purpose of completing the project are withdrawn. These resources are then allocated to the next project or to any other beneficial activity of the company. These resources could include the human resources or and financial resources.
Administrative Closure: At this phase the management closes the books of accounts and any other documents that were involved with the project.
Identifying follow-on Actions – After the project has been fully implemented the company needs to come up with actions that will ensure that the functions of the project continue as planned. To do this the company needs to employ a team of individuals who will follow up on the activities of the project to ensure that the objectives have been met.
Project Report- A project report is a compilation of activities that have taken place throughout the life cycle of a project. The report serves as a reference document for future projects and is also used in evaluation to determine whether the standards and the objectives have been met.
Lessons Learned from the Project cycle – At this stage of closure the management evaluates the lessons that have been learnt from the project life cycle. Answers should be sought for questions such as whether the project objectives have been met; evaluation of customer satisfaction; what were the risks identified (Larson, 2008).
Schedule variance (SV) is in dollars and does not directly represent time. Why is it still useful?
Scheduled variance is a measure of variation between the planned completion date of the project and the definite project completion date. Scheduled variance is used the project team to supervise and manage a project’s progress. Time is money and time in organizations is measured in monetary terms. Therefore the fact that scheduled variance in the case above is in dollars is important because time is valued in monetary terms (Larson, 2008).
How would a project manager use the CPI?
Consumer Prize Index (CPI) is a measure that is used by the statistics bodies of various countries as a basis of analyzing inflation. The CPI measures the change in the prizes of goods that are bought by a consumer in a given geographical area and within a certain time. CPI can also be used to measure or index other forms of monies such as salaries and contracted amounts. Projects fall with the bracket of contracted amounts especially in a situation where the company has outsourced the project responsibility. The project manager can perform CPI on the project amount to determine the outcome of inflation on the real rate of contacted amount (Larson, 2008)
Why do firms outsource project work?
There are numerous reasons as to why a company could outsource project work. Below are the most common: it cuts back on cost; knowledge and expertise is transferred; fixed costs are eliminated; lack of available internal personnel; and improved IT performance (Larson, 2008).
Reference
Gray, C. & Larson, E. (2008). Project Management: The Managerial Process: 2009 Custom edition (4th edition), Boston: McGraw-Hill.
