Project Management Student

Table of contents Contents page payoff Executive summary entree Problem identification Case analysis Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Conclusion and Recommendations Bibliography EXECUTIVE compendium Polk County is a scarcely populated County in the state. The roads ar in a very misfortunate condition and the Transportation Department supervisor, JR has been tasked to manage totally the tierce devises * The entrance to the Big Johns superstore ELK Mountain road * Bridge on County road 1045 The writer allow analyse the case, rate the alternatives and propose a solution for the case that would benefit the Polk County Transportation Department to execute their stands effectively. Various models and literature will be theatrical roled to motivate the assertions. intromission Polk County is the largest county in the state it is g everywherened by three-member Board of commissi oners Harold, Richardson and Thomas.The state faces a challenge of delivering critical dates which impress improvements to the local roads which at the current state adjudge put the local residents as well as tourists at risk because they atomic number 18 dilapidated, worn bulge and inadequate for purpose generally being serious for use. This challenge is due to many frames competing over limited resources. The three draws are * The entrance to Big Johns Superstore * Elk Mountain road Crockett creek bridge on the country road 1045 near prison The reasecher will analyse the case evaluate it, systematically prioritise the steps to be interpreted on the approach to successfully propose a solution which will benefit the Transportation Department, Polk municipality and ultimately the partnership at large. Various haplessfalls are unmistakable in the current Polk county municipality. The researcher will discuss them in depth with reference to unlike models and literatures as well as assumptions to back up the recommendations, downstairs are the place shortfal ls * No poor project office Funds are very limited to kick start projects that would add rate to the community and improve their safety. * The tax is minimal to sustain the developments * Insuffient or no fundraising initiatives * High rate of crime As depicted on the case, there are three projects at hand and below is the gathered information on each project. Body governing the county The following individuals comprise the Polk County administration team NAME destination/ STATUS Thomas Commissioner retired Herald Commissioner retiredRichardson commissioner JR Supervisor- Transport Department Joe Former head of Transport Department Unnamed Current Senator Zachary Transport Department intern (civil engineering) pop 1 THE ENTRANCE TO THE BIG JOHNs SUPERSTORE * It is off a two highway high at the base of the hill * It is difficult for cars travelling in the opposite focussing until they come over the crest * This makes it difficult for the cars turning left into the store and those pulling out of the parking lot. * A number of accidents confound occurred The number of cars travelling on the road has increased over the last three historic period since the store opened * Several residents have embossed concerns at the commissioners meetings in the past * JR had approached the store passenger car about helping to pay for road improvements to widen the roads to add a turning lane or install a traffic light. * The film director replied that they are barely making any profit and if they do non make profit embodied headquarters will close it down and a lot of plenty will lose their jobs thus they screw non afford to assist * Many people go to the store because there are no other shopping malls in the countyPROJECT 2 WIDENING AND REPAIR OF ELK MOUNTAIN ROAD IN THE north PART OF THE COUNTY * The winters have taken their toll on the road and left it with large deep potholes * The increase in unemployment in the county has led to an increase in independen t loggers using the road to bring logs from Elk Mountain to several saw mills, including Ye Olde Saw mill in the adjacent county. The lack of repair over the years and the heavy trucks are causing the road to deteriorate even faster Both commissioners, Thomas and Richardson have seen the worsening condition of the road they use it frequently to go hunting and fishing on ELK Mountain. * Each has received an earful of complaints from friends who use the road. * Zachary also knows how bad the road is from personal witness as he was nearly sideswiped by the logging truck and was forced off the resulting in his cars low hanging tail pipe up and muffler ripped off as he hit a large pothole.PROJECT 3 CROCKETT CREEK BRIDGE ON COUNTY ROAD 1045 NEAR THE PRISON * It is the important road to the state correctional Institution in the south western past of the county. * The bridge barely passed the last state inspection four years ago. * Each spring during the winter thaw Crockett Creek threa tens to wash the bridge. * If the bridge is washed out or closed, the detour would be nearly 15 miles for people who work at the prison. * The largest employer in the county is the state correctional institution for female offenders located in the south western part of the county.A project is an endeavour to litigate a specific objective by a unique set of interrelated tasks and the effective utilisation of resources (Clement and Gido, 2012 4) It has a clear objective of what is to be double-dyed(a) and this is usually defined in the form of deliverable, schedule and budget. A project utilises dissimilar resources to carry out interdependent task that need to be concluded in a certain sequence in order to achieve a project objective within a specific time frame. A project has a sponsor who provides the silver necessary to accomplish the project.A project usually has challenges because it is constrained by many factors including scope, quality budget and risks. 1. SITUATION ps ychoanalysis 1. 1. NO PROPER PROJECT OFFICE Polk County is the largest county in the state with a shallow structure of Authority. This is evident as the line of command is very short from the top, senator, commissioner to bottom lower management this could be of advantage as there is rapid communication hence close interactions and therefore easy delivery of organisational / municipality goals strategy. JR is the supervisor for the county Transportation Department.The case states that county roads have progressively deteriorated and several critical projects need to be done. He works with his summer intern Zachary and is concerned that if the does not present a good case for the at least one of the project, then the commissioners probably would not fund any of the project. It is evident that JR is struggling as he cannot apply himself explicitly on the tasks at hand as he lack the skills, methodologies that would easily aid to address the projects smoothly, this therefore calls for the introduction of project management office in the municipality 1. 2PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE jump out management is defined by the PMBOK as. the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in order to meet stakeholders needs and chance from a project. (Burke, 2011 18) 1. 3GENERIC ROLES OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE 1. 3. 1The project management offices aim is to link individual project to the organisations dynamic strategic intent through a focuse discipline of project management. 1. 3. 2The project management office is established to act as bridge over and reporting channel between projects and senior management without removing the accountability or authority of project managers. . 3. 4The project management office provides top management with a consolidated view on all projects within the organisation and thus assists top management in ensuring that all projects are aligned with the strategic direction of the organisation. 1. 3. 5The project management office wi ll provide value-added assistance to all its identified customers in the organisation. 1. 3. 6The project management office will enable instigate and facilitate project disciplines with a * A project life cycle Programme/project management * check management training * Prioritisation support * throw start-up workshops and project administration With the budget situation JR is worried that none of the projects may get done, the case reads, this emphasises how the department is monetaryly constrained and several projects are competing over this limited bullion. The project management office is equipped with tools and techniques which provide a systematic approach on every project. The PMBOK states .Because projects are unique and involve a certain degree of risk, companies performing projects will generally subdivide their project into several project arranges to provide better management control. Collectively these project builds are called the project lifecycle. (Burke, 2011 40) The general project life cycle has four phases * Concept or initiation phase * Design or planning phase * Implementation or performing phase * Commissioning and handover or conclusion phase In the initiating phase, projects are identified and selected. They are then authorised using a document referred to as a project charter.The planning phase includes defining the project scope, identifying resources developing a schedule and budget and identifying risks all of which makes up a baseline plan for doing the project work. In the performing phase the plan is executed and work tasks are carried out to produce all the project deliverables and to accomplish the project objective. During this phase the project progress is monitored and controlled to assure the work re main(prenominal)s on schedule and within budget, the scope is fully completed tally to specifications and all the deliverables meet the acceptance criteria.Also any changes need to be documented, approved and incorpora ted into an updated baseline plan if necessary. In the closing phase the project ratings are conducted lessons learned are identified and documented to help improve performance on future projects and project document are organised and archived. (Clement and Gido, 2012 9) Phases in a project lifecycle are interrelated which means the previous phase should be successfully completed before progressing to the next phase.In this particular case, JR, the supervisor at a Transportation Department is struggling to make a selection on a project to perform first since there are limited funds. The main focus of this case is based on the initiation phase of the project lifecycle and because of the interrelation of the phases it has to be successfully completed to move forward to the next phase of project. The initiation phase of the project lifecycle starts with recognising a need, problem or opportunity for which the project or projects are identified to address.Projects are identified in var ious ways during an organisation strategic planning, as part of its normal operations, in a response to unexpected events or as a group of individuals deciding to organise a project to address a particular need. It is important to try to quantify the need to help evaluate whether the expected benefits from implementing a project outweigh the costs or consequences of conducting the project. Once the magnitude and the expected benefit or improvement has been estimated the cost for a project to implement the improvement. The transportation epartment of Polk County identified several needs but have limited funds and people available to pursue the projects to address those identified needs. In this case the department essentialiness go through a decision making process to prioritise and select the project that will result in the greatest overall benefit. Project selection is making a commitment for the future. The execution of a project will tie up the company resources and as an oppor tunity cost, the selection of one project may preclude your company from pursuing another (perhaps more profitable) project.We live in a world of finite resources and so cannot carry out all the projects we may want or need. consequently a process is required to select and rank projects on the basis of their beneficial change to a company. (Burke, 2011 66). The steps in the project selection process include * develop a set of criteria against which the project will be evaluated * list assumptions that will be used on the basis of each project * Gather data and information for each project to help ensure an intelligent decision regarding project selection.Methods of gathering this information could include surveys, focus groups, interviews or analysis of available reports * Evaluate each project against criteria. Once all the data and information have been collected analysed and summarised for each potential project it should be given to all the people responsible for performing the evaluation. It is beneficial to the have several individuals in the evaluation and selection process in order to get various viewpoints.Each person on the evaluation and selection committee should have a different play down and experience to bring to the decision making process, (Clement and Gido, 201235) emphasises that although it may take longer and be more stressful to gain group consensus on projects priorities and selections it will close likely be a better quality decision than if the decision is made by just one individual. The committee may develop a set of evaluation criteria with some type of rating system (such as Low-Medium-High, 1 to 5) against which to rate each potential project against each criterion.Various models can be used in project selection. The main purpose of these models is to aid decision making leading to project selection. The models include * Numeric models * Non- numerical models A numeric model is usually fiscally focused and quantifies the proje ct in terms of time to repay the investment or return on investment date non-numeric models look at a much wider view of the project considering items such as market share, relocation or environmental issues. Most importantly the models must evaluate projects by how well they meet the companys strategic goals and corporate mission. 2.NUMERIC MODELS The numeric selection models may be subdivided into financial models and scoring models. The financial models are * Payback period * Return on investment * Net present value * Internal rate of return Companies tend to prefer financial models and often select solely on profitability. 2. 1 win MODELS The numeric models mostly have common limitation, they only look at the financial element of the project. In an hear to broaden the selection criteria, (Burke, 201179) suggest a scoring model called the factor model, which uses multiple criteria to evaluate the project will be introduced.The factor model apparently lists a number of desirabl e factors on a project selection pro-forma along with columns to show the rating of each factor. A weighted column can be added to increase the score of important factors while reducing the scoring of the less important. The advantages of using a scoring model are * It encourages objectivity in decision making * It uses multiple selection criteria to widen the range of evaluation * It uses the simple structure therefore easy to use It uses selection factors structured by senior management, this implies that they reflect the companys goal and objectives * It makes it easy to change factors. * It uses weighted scoring to reflect the factors differential importance * It is not biased towards short run projects favoured by financial models. * It is a weighted model which can also be used as a ease off to improve projects by identifying the variance between the factor score and the maximum possible score The disadvantages of using a scoring model are If the factors are not weighted they will all equal importance * A simple model may encourage the developments of long lists that could introduce trivia factors and therefore waste management time. Assuming that the county Transportation Department has a budget of hundred million pula (P100000) to allocate over the three project the researcher has used a scoring model to score some desirable factors on each project. This analysis and evaluation determines which project is critical and assist the project manager to prioritise effectively on which project to perform first followed by others.The figure below shows the factor scoring model for a county Transportation Department. SCORING FACTOR MODEL PROPOSED SOLUTION FACTORS PROJECT 1 PROJECT 2 PROJECT 3 1. BENEFITS 8 9 9 alignment to organisation strategy, mission, visions, set 4 4 4 impact (organisational Department County) 4 5 5 2. COSTS 4 6 8 budget (impact on budget) 2 3 4 expenditure 2 3 4 3. TIME 7 6 7 delivery(how long will it take to deliver value to the community 4 3 3 start- up (when can the project start) 3 3 4 4. RISKS 5 7 9 safety and wellness (stakeholder and community 3 4 5 environment 2 3 4 5 RESOURCES 7 7 8 capacity (at your disposal) 4 4 4 availability 3 3 4 6. STAKEHOLDERS 5 6 9 commitment 2 3 4 reputation 3 3 5 TOTAL 36 41 50 PERCENTAGE 60 68. 33 83. 33 Key 5= very good weighting 4= good 0-40% low priority 3=fair 41-60% average priority 2= poor 61- 80% high priority 1= very poor 81- 100%very high priorityA priority list of projects from the model depicts Crockett Creek Bridge on road 1045 will progress under the current budget, if plenty funds will be secured. ELK mountain road will follow then lastly the entrance to the Big Johns superstore. Therefore the researcher recommends that the county Transport Department should adopt the project management approach by introducing a project management office. The project management office will be merged into the current county municipality opening structure to u ndertake all the projects across all departments with expertise.A project will be allocated a project manager and through his knowledge and skills. A methodological approach of project management will be applied. From project initiation phase are identified and selected through planning phase which involves defining the project scope, identifying resources, developing a schedule and budget and identifying resources development risks to the performing phase whereby the plan is execute and finally the closing phase/ project handover where the project lifecycle terminates.This methodological approach would be suitable for Polk County Transportation Department as projects would be executed effectively and effectively. To generate funds for the county, the commissioners can come up with initiatives like introducing road levy, introducing toll gates as well as adjusting tax higher so as to memorize funds for local developments. The crime rate is also igh as the case states that the large st employer is the state correctional institution for female offender, therefore prison as an offenders renewal centre with skills they acquire during their serving period, prisoners can produce goods that can be sold to the local community to generate funds which could assist with the developments. CONCLUSION Polk County faces a problem of under development or road improvement because of limited funds. Multiple projects have been identified to address the current situation, besides the limited funds inadequate skills and lack of proper facilities have been identified.The writer analysed the case, quantified case data, evaluated it and suggests that introduction of project management office in the Polk county municipality would highly benefit the organisation as a proper systematic methodology of project management will be used to tackle and manage all projects effectively and also various fund raising initiatives will be implemented to raise money for the local government for devel opments. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Burke, R. 2011, Project Management Techniques, ( College Edition), China, Burke Publishing 2. Clements, J. P. and Gido J. 2012 Effective Project Management Fifth Edition, Canada. Joe Sabatino