Unit 6 Managing Successful Business Projects Assignment

Introduction

The Purpose of this assignment is to make readers understand the skills required for managing a business project. project management is a critical task requirs, independent research and investigation in order to meet the appropriate business aims and objectives. All the characteristics and features of projects and its management are explained in the report. We will study about the principals of project, scope statement of a project, identification of critical path. We will learn about the factors to be considered while developing project budget. Methods which are used to manage the risk by developing different risk strategy in the project life cycle are described in the report. Control is essential to evaluate the performance in every field and there are described various quality methods to evaluate the performance.

Task 1

1) What are the core principles/characteristics of any project and why are they important?

Project is a combination of resources and people with different skills and expertise working to achieve a specific objective for a particular fixed time period. This is purely based on effective planning of resources and manpower. The core principles/ characteristics of any project are explained below with their importance.

• Marketing Planning  is essential in any project. Effective planning is done to manage the resources, time, cost and manpower is done on initial stage of any project.
• Projects are incomplete without any objective. All the activities are done to achieve these objectives in any project (Farkas, 2010).
• All the projects are unique in its attribute and activities. Different projects have different activities and procedure.
• Projects and their results are not stable and there exists uncertainty in the activities. Risk management strategies are to manage these uncertainties (Farkas, 2010).

2) What would you have included in the scope statement for a project?

The scope statement for a project includes all the essential details and requirements for effectively execution of activities of the project. The scope includes all the limits or boundaries to be considered while executing any activity. These boundaries may be of time or deadlines to be meeting for an activity and budget allotted to a particular activity. The scope defines the objective and mission behind any project. The scope management is very well known approach in project management which focuses on the quality of work and products and services created by the project. Scope of a project includes the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) which collects all the information required in the project and deliberates all the responsibilities and information to the most appropriate manner in the project. This deliberation makes all the activities clear and effective (Mentis, 2015).

3) Using the information below, plot out a full project Gantt chart and identify the critical path? How many days does it take to complete the project?

Tasks	Precedence	Time
a	-	4 days
b	-	6 days
c	a	6 days
d	b	2 days
e	c	5 days
f	c	8 days

                Calculation of the days to complete the project by critical path-
The longest or critical path is a-c-f and the total days are 18 (4+6+8).

4) What would you need to consider when developing a project budget?

For efficient completion of any project there should defined effective budget planning for every activity. This helps to ultimate utilisation of resources and achieves profit maximisation by reducing the extra costs. Budgeting is a tool of strategic planning and beneficial for the effectiveness of any project. Budgeting is a process of estimation which is influenced by many factors and can be develop by using the following approaches.

• Top down approach- In this approach we calculate an estimated cost of the project and diversifying them into different activities. In this approach the budget is created by the senior management and this is done by using different strategies and techniques. While creating budgeting for any activity, the work process to be followed to achieve results in the given budget is also defined in this approach. There are estimated direct costs, indirect costs and reserves to be maintained by using the help of expert’s judgements and parametric estimations (Bosch-Sijtsema, et. al., 2014).
• Bottom- up budgeting approach- In this approach the budget is estimated by considering the low level activities and costs are estimated for each and every activity. Otherwise this is same as the bottom down approach. In this method in place of overall charges there are estimated hourly rates and can simplify and reduce the indirect costs (Shore, 2014).

5) How would you develop a Risk Strategy for a project, what method would you use?

The risk management process is very essential to increase the certainty and stability in the business and make develop a positive atmosphere in any project. Risk strategies help to diversify and reduce the level of risk and can be developing by the following steps.

• Step 1- Identify the risk- Risk must be identified and recognised that can affect the  research project.
• Step 2- Analyse the risk- then the risk can be analysed to know the reasons behind it.
• Step 3- Evaluate the tools to manage the risk by comparing them considering the goals and objectives of the project.(Rose, & Schlichter, 2013)
• Step 4- Selecting the appropriate risk management tool and implicate in the project.
• Step 5- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the risk strategy in the project.

There can be done qualitative and quantitative risk analysis and risk response planning and risk monitoring and control to manage the risk. To control or manage the risk in the project there must be effective allocation of resources and every human resource must be clear with the goals and objectives. There must be developed effective Work Breakdown structure in the project. The risk management process and tools must be effective and accountable. There should conduct an effective monitoring process to control the activities and lower the risk (Andreji?, et. al., 2011).

6) What quality methods (project evaluation, monitoring and control) would you introduce to ensure a project is completed successfully?

There are different quality methods to ensure the success of the project by evaluating, monitoring and controlling the project. These are as follows-

• Payback period- This is a recovery period of the initial investments done in the starting of the project. This is an easy method to evaluate the project.
• Payback period = Initial investment in cash/ Inflow per period (Turkulainen, et. al., 2015)
• Net Present Value (NPV)- It is the net present value of the net cash inflow generated by the project.
• Internal Rate of Return- It is a discount rate in which the present value of the future cash flows to be generated by the project is estimated to evaluate the performance of project (Turkulainen, et. al., 2015).

Task 2

Wroxham designs and builds boats and motors for the leisure industry. The company has stability and reliable in the market and successful to retain the customers. The company can estimate its demand and its level of internal efficiency because they cover a limited but loyal number of customers. But by the introduction of globalisation and removal of trade barriers it becomes tough and competitive environment for the company to retain its customers and compete with the competitors in the market as in the company required some modification. The company is expanding its business around the world to compete with its rivals and for that it wants to introduce the ERP system to manage all the activities and connect the company with all the companies around the world. There are different features of this system which are beneficial for the growth of the company (Voordijk, 2016). Wroxham is introducing the ERP system in the company to meet the requirement of the competitive  business environment.  This new process or project should be managed effectively to take all the benefits of it and achieve good results. There are activities which are required to manage effectively for the project’s success. They are as follows-

1. Introducing objectives and goals of project

There must be some objects and goals of every project to be achieved. Without any objective the project is incomplete. So it is essential to make a particular goal for a project and all the activities leads in the direction of the goals. Every person involved in the project should be clear for the objectives in the project so there will be less miscommunication in the project. There must be defined an estimated time to achieve these goals which are divided in the different activities. The lack of communication can generate problems in the effective execution of the activities in the project. This can be done by the effective organizational structure in the project which is liable for the communication channel of any project (Reuther & Jetton, 2013).

2. Efficient Project Manager

Project manager is the person responsible for the effective management of any project. A manager is a person who is capable to make others effectively work and utilisation of resources effectively in every project. The role of project manager is crucial and important as in themonitors and diversifies all the activities effectively to manage the project activities. A project cannot be successful without the effective working of the project manager (Roeder, et. al., 2013). The role of a project manager is defined as below.

1. Collect information- The role of project manager is to collect information required for the success of the project and utilise them, in the growth of the project. The project manager identifies the resources for collection of the data and their allocation in the project. This is an initial process and important for the projects working (Roeder, et. al., 2013).
2. Process of the project- The project manager defines the process to be followed for executing and running the project effectively. He is responsible for the systematic running of the activities and their effectiveness. He can manage the sequence of the activities by doing strategic analysis.
3. Organising the activities- Organisation is very important for getting the quality results from project. Project manager organises the activities of the project and manage them effectively. Lack of organisation increases uncertainty in the process of project (Roeder, et. al., 2013).
4. Allocation of resources and responsibilities- The project manager is liable to effectively allocate the resources in the project and reduces the chances of lack of resources and any wastage. This helps to optimum utilisation of resources. The project manager is also responsible for the allocation of the responsibilities in the human resource according to their specialisation and expertise. This allocation must be effective and everyone must be clear with this (Brandon & Guimaraes, 2016).
5. Budgeting of activities- Budgeting is the process to estimate. In every project there are adopted strategic planning by taking strategic decisions to effective running and achievement of the goals of the project.Budgeting of activities allocate boundaries for the expenses that can be made in any activity. This helps to reduce any over expense and wastage of money. Budgeting is useful to control the cost of the project and increase the profits in the activities. Budgeting gives a benchmark to be followed in the project and evaluation also can be done by calculating the variance by the project manager (Brandon & Guimaraes, 2016).
6. Time limits- Every activity in the project is defined to be completed in the particular time period. These time limits are the standards which show the effectiveness of the execution of the projects. Project manager is the responsible person to execute and monitor these deadlines in every activity (van Offenbeek, & Vos, 2016).

Project management skills in a project manager-

• The project manager should attain all the skills related to effective communication to manage the employees and their activities by communicate directly to them. The project manager should be able to resolve all the conflicts emerged in the project to maintain discipline in the project.
• The manager should expert in managing the estimation of the costs and budgets for every activity in the project and should be able to do project audits and evaluation of process.
• Manager should clear with all the information of the process and efficient to communicate about the project with other and explain them effectively (van Offenbeek, & Vos, 2016).
• The project manager should be friendly with all the  employability skills  applicable in the project’s effective running.
• The manager should be frank with the integrated skills to understand all the activities in the project.
• He must be responsible and accountable for his activities to take care of his authorities (Aarseth, et. al., 2014).

3. Project Life Cycle stages

A project is developed and run in many stages in which there are different factors influencing the running of the project. Project life cycle defines the stage of any project and its characteristics. There are four stages in the project life cycle which are as follows.

1. Conceptualisation: In this stage of project life cycle the project is idealised and conceptualised. Then the idea or concept is developed and further goals and objectives are established for the particular project. Technical specification of the project is developed. So this stage is the initial and incorporation stage of any project (Patanakul, 2015).
2. Planning: In this stage the planning for the project is done on initial basis. Planning is very important for the effective execution of the activities and creating stability in the project in which there is executed a framework to be followed for every activity in the project. Planning includes strategic decision making which is a method to select the most suitable option form the given alternatives. In this stage of project life cycle the activated are segmented with the specialists of those activities and application of resources and responsibilities are done. All the plans and schedules are planned in this stage for the project life cycle (Patanakul, 2015).
3. Execution: In this stage of project life cycle the activities are done in reality and performance is done.All the planning process is executed in reality in this stage in the manner defined for that in the planning stage. All the activities in the execution process are also monitored and controlled to increase the performance of the project. In this stage of project life cycle the activities are leaded in the direction of the achievement of the goals and objectives (Patanakul, 2015).
4. Termination: This stage comes when the goals and objectives for which the project is executed are achieved successfully. Or it can come after a particular defined time period for the life of the project. In both the situation the project is closed and all the resources are reassigned to their departments and the project is transferred to the customers. This is the last stage of the project life cycle.

4. Leadership in the project

Leadership can be defined as leading the activities of the employees towards the goals and objectives of the company. Every project is depends on the effectiveness of the performance of the project employees. A leader can influence the employees by motivating them towards the growth of the project. There must be leadership qualities in the manager of the project without which the performance cannot be increased of the project. There are different styles of leadership which can be used by a leader to motivate its employees (Patanakul, 2015).

Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership the leaders make decisions without considering other’s perceptions. This is a de motivating style of leadership. Employees are depended on the leader for any kind of decisions. There comes a lack of involvement of the employees in the project and there comes a high level of staff turnover. This is a classical approach of leadership (Aarseth, et. al., 2014).
Democratic leadership style: In this style of leadership decisions are taken by considering the perspective of others by the leader and benefit of different perspectives are taken. Consultation is taken by the leader before taking the decision. This increases the motivation and involvement of the employees in the projects growth. This helps to increase the performance by leading them in a positive manner. This is a persuasive and modern style of leadership (Aarseth, et. al., 2014).
Laissez- Faire style of leadership: In this style of leadership the role of employees is very important as in there is divided the responsibility of leadership within them. This helps to innovating the new ideas and innovations by the sub ordinates in the projects and also increases their level of involvement in the growth of the project. This is very useful for increasing the creativity and highly motivated approach of leadership (Aarseth, et. al., 2014). There are difference between the perspective of the management and the leadership. The factors which are covered by the leadership are different form the management. These factors are as follows.

• The process of leadership focuses on the people in every project, whereas the management focuses on the tasks and activities in any project. Leadership leads all the activities in the direction of achieving the goals effectively and increases the level of performance of the human resource in any project.
• Project leadership influences the people in the project by inspiring them with different techniques and tools to increase the involvement of the human resource in the growth of the project by increasing their level of performance.
• Project leadership focuses on motivating the human resource by giving them different motivations. These motivator factors works according to the different theories given like Maslow’s need hierarchy, Herzberg’s motivational theory and X and Y factor theory of motivation etc. (Aarseth, et. al., 2014).
• Project leadership helps to give structure to the projects and entities. The level of the performance of the human resource defines the productivity and growth stage of any project. The level of employee turnover is also decreased by the effective leadership in any project.

5. Project Team

Working in a team is very beneficial and important for the success of any project. Working in a team boosts the level and speed of the activities in a project. Project teams are executed with the people having the skills and creativity in their performance and generate new ideas which are beneficial for the growth of the project.

Advantages of project teams-

• Working in teams in projects enables effective and efficient execution of tasks by sharing good practices and contribution of all the team members in a team.
• The team supports each other in different perspectives and manner. The specialisation of one team member helps to learn the other about the skills where he is lacking in his performance.
• The hierarchy level is reduced by allocating the authorities to take decisions in the team and responsibilities to be fulfil by them. This motivates the team members (Reuther & Jetton, 2013).
• The communication becomes very effective and efficient because the hierarchy is reduced and a direct contact is possible for transfer of information. Feedbacks are also easily transferable in the team.
• The efficiency is increased in the performance of the team and its activities. The chances of duplication of work are reduced.

There are defined many reasons behind the failure of the teams-

The teams which are executed in wrong size failed because of the lack of management of the activities of the access team members. This generates the ineffective communication which misleads the performance of the activities. Inadequate resources can be the reason for the failure of the team projects. Resistance to change is also a reason for the failure of the team in a project.There must be taken the advantage of the opportunities by  developing manager  the creativity and new ideas by motivating the team members. But when these opportunities are not utilised then it leads to the failure of the team. So we have discussed all the elements which are essential to manage the project and their role in the process of project management. To make the process more effective the role of budgeting and planning are crucial. The company Wroxham conversion is taking an investment of 750000 pounds which is the total budget of the project and the time limit is 8 weeks which must be considered while executing the project. This can be done only by project management process. The company can assure the effectiveness of the application of ERP system in the functional environment to increase the performance of the company (Reuther & Jetton, 2013).

Conclusion

The Unit 6 Managing Successful Business Projects Assignment has stated an overall study of the project and its management in every organisation. There is defined different characteristics and importance of the projects and its management. There is a project of a company to introduce new technology in the company is analysed in the study with all the attributes.

References

Farkas, E.B. 2010, Managing web projects, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Mentis, M. 2015, "Managing project risks and uncertainties", Forest Ecosystems, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-14.
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Bosch-Sijtsema, P.M., Henriksson, L., Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Construction Management, Institutionenförbygg- ochmiljöteknik, Construction Management & Chalmers tekniskahögskola 2014, "Managing projects with distributed and embedded knowledge through interactions",International Journal of Project Management, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 1432.
Shore, D.A. 2014, Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations: Managing Successful Projects, 1st edn, Jossey Bass Ltd, US.
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Brandon, B. &Guimaraes, T. 2016, "Increasing Bank BPR Benefits by Managing Project Phases", Knowledge and Process Management, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 136-146.
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Patanakul, P. 2015, "Key attributes of effectiveness in managing project portfolio", International Journal of Project Management, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1084.

Unit 6 Managing Successful Business Projects Assignment is about the importance and role of the project management in the business process, We are posting units solutions so scholars can explore the our  Assignment Help in UK  and get review the quality of our work.