Download - Assignment MB0049

Name : Ratan Ravindra Singh Reg No : 571016772 Subject : MB0049 : Project Management Assignment Set -1

ASSIGNMENT SET – 1

Answer 1:

To put it in a nutshell, the management skills and the confidence about one's own

abilities, make him/her a good manager. The managerial skills matter most. What

are they? Actually it is a skill set that consists of leadership, decision-making

abilities, an understanding nature and confidence to top them all. Thorough

knowledge in one's domain, expertise in one's field, effective strategic planning

skills and foresight make a good manager. The person within the manager is

equally important. As a person, a good manager is understanding and

considerate. A good manager is able to differentiate between the right and the

wrong. He/She knows where to play the stickler for rules as also times when

he/she needs to be considerate. The combination of an understanding person and

an intelligent professional makes a good manager.

Leadership

Leadership is one of the vital qualities of a good manager. A good manager is

often seen exercising effective leadership in the organization. By effective and fair

leadership we mean the skills to guide the team members, to encourage them

towards attainment of the organization’s goals and take the right decisions at the

right point of time. A good manager has confidence in his/her abilities, and is thus

innovative enough to experiment while nevertheless being brave to admit

mistakes. An effective leader, that a manager is, needs to think out of the box!

Plan and Delegate

Planning well is a part of one’s managerial skills. A good manager has a foresight

that helps him/her plan effectively. A good manager devises fail-proof plans,

divides the task into subtasks and delegates them to his/her team members.

Effective delegation involves an understanding of the skill sets of the employees,

scheduling tasks and getting them done from the employees within deadlines.

Delegation facilitates the division of responsibility; helps accomplish the plan

faster while also giving the delegates an opportunity to excel. The effective

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execution of a plan requires a manager to dream, dedicate resources towards the

fulfillment of the dream and head the team to turn the dream true!

Intelligentsia

A very uncommon common sense is something that is seen in a good manager. A

good manager possesses complete knowledge of his field and is confident about

that knowledge. A thorough knowledge of one's position and responsibilities is

the trait of a good manager. Intelligence is characteristic to a good manager. A

witty sense of humor is a trait that is often seen in good managers. Along with

intellect and humor, creativity is a common trait of good managers. A manager

needs to have a creative mind to welcome new ideas from the team members and

subordinates, and execute the bright, the innovative and the feasible ones. A good

manager always aims at bringing in reforms to work patterns, experiment and

take his/her organization on the path of success. Emotional intelligence is another

important trait of a good manager.

Listen with Concern

A good manager exhibits the trait of always taking everyone along. An excellent

manager is the one who treads with a positive attitude, along with his/her team

and leads them to success. A good manager shows traits such as an optimistic

attitude, a motivating ability, listening skills and a concern for people. An

effective manager must motivate his/her team members and be aware of the

strengths and weaknesses of each of them. A good manager is a good listener to

pay heed to the team members’ problems, be open to their views, accept a

constructive criticism from them and understand their abilities. A good manager

is always aware that ‘subordinates’ are after all ‘humans’ and treats them with

concern and consideration. A good manager never forgets that he/she is leading

people who are the most important assets of an organization.

Keep Your Cool

Being able to keep one’s cool in all kinds of situations is a trait seen in a good

manager. An enthusiastic and optimistic manager is capable of remaining calm in

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all types of scenarios. A good manager does not lose his/her cool even while

facing a difficulty. He/she is able to correct the team members without going

wild. A good manager is an effective communicator and a composed individual.

Answer 2:

Programme management is a fairly new technique and as such is not always well

understood. Following my survey it is clear that programme management is an

area of growing interest for organisations.

To co-ordinate a portfolio of projects to harmonise communications in order to

achieve a set of stated business objectives. Provision of strategy alignment with

design objectives in order to maintain control over a multiple project

environment. Ensuring quality end deliverables which meet business operational

needs.

Objectives of Programme Management

Programme Management is a technique concerned with controlling a group of

related projects carried out to achieve a defined business objective or benefit. If

we take one of Robert Buttrick's definitions that some projects 'are simply too

large to manage as a single entity,' then we necessarily need to split them up

into smaller manageable projects. If the whole is too large for a single project

manager to handle, then it follows that a number of projects managers are

required to take care of the smaller projects.

So smaller projects with multiple project managers all designed to achieve a

single long-term objective or benefit for the organization. In order to control this

group and have an overall view we require a programme manager.

The programme manager is not concerned with the day to day running of

individual projects in the programme, this is the project mangers responsibility

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but he/she needs to ensure that all projects are running on target and that each

will achieve it's overall contribution to the whole programme.

The activities undertaken during programme management are

Setting the baseline

Agreeing roles and responsibilities

Programme planning

Project prioritorization

Stakeholder communication

Progress reporting

Managing benefits

Quality management

Risk management

Issue management

Programme closure

Programme Management Framework

This chapter looks at a framework in which programme management can

operate. As identified in the introduction, programme management is a way to

control project management. A group of related projects not managed as a

programme are likely to run off course and fail to achieve the desire outcome.

There are eight key areas in the framework:

1. Vision is the high level strategy or idea to drive the organization towards a

goal, benefit or other desired outcome. This vision will usually be a brief

statement of intent communicated down from the management or leadership.

It is important that the vision has high level sponsorship and commitment for

it to be successful.

2. The aims and objectives is a more detailed statement that explains exactly

what is required. This provides a point of reference to go back to when

renewed focus is required.

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3. The scope gives boundaries to the programme explaining what exactly it is

that will be delivered. The scope should leave no room for doubt and everyone

should be clear about what is and isn't being delivered.

4. Design is the way in which the projects that make up the programme are put

together. In this process the programme manager considers which projects

have dependencies on others and therefore which should come first, can run

concurrently and those that come last.

5. The approach is the way the programme will be run. The approach is

dependent on many factors and it is left to the skill of the programme manager

to decide the most effective way. The communication plan is contained within

the approach and at the very least should commit to regular progress

reporting to stakeholders.

6. Resourcing looks at the scheduling and allocation of resources. Short term

and longer-term views should be taken. For the projects that will start

straightaway it is important to identify resources and obtain line manager

commitment early. For later projects, required resource levels should be

identified but line manager commitment is not needed at this stage.

7. Responsibility identifies and allocates responsibility for each area of the

programme. Every member of the programme must clearly understand his or

her roles and the roles of the other team members. It is the task of the

programme manager to ensure that this is clearly communicated and

understood.

8. Benefits realization is the process at the end of the programme by which the

benefits identified at the beginning of the programme and measured. It is the

responsibility of the programme manager to demonstrate to the steering

committee that the desired benefits have been realized. Often this will mean

that the programme manager will continue to monitor a programme long after

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the individual projects are complete in order to ensure that the benefits are

realized at a business level.

This framework will provide:

· A focus on delivering major organisational changes or benefits.

· Greater control through visibility of all projects in the programme.

· An understanding of project dependencies.

· Clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

· A single line of communication to the steering committee or sponsor.

· Optimized use of resources across projects.

· Ability to leverage economies of scale and maximize value.

· Management of risk across related projects.

· Mechanisms for measuring benefit realization

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Answer 3:

A

Traditional Vs. Projectised Organization

Functional This is the most common form of organization. The organization is grouped by areas of specialization within different functional areas (e.g., accounting, marketing and manufacturing). When you see the functional form of organization on the exam, think "silo." Projects generally occur within a single department. If information or project work is needed from another department, the request is transmitted up to the department head, who communicates the request to the other department head. Otherwise, communication stays within the project. Team members complete project work in addition to normal departmental work.

Projectized In a projectized organization, the entire company is organized by projects.The project manager has control of projects. Personnel are assigned and report to a project manager. When you see projectized on the exam, remember "no home." Team members complete only project work and when the project is over they do not have a department to go back to. They need to be assigned to another project or get another job with another employer. Communication generally occurs only within the project.

Projectised organizations Traditional organisations

1. They have teams comprising members who are responsible for completing one entire deliverable product.

2. The teams will have all the resources required to finish the jobs.

3. They have a time schedule within which all the elements of the projects Have to be completed.

4. There is greater accountability among team members and everyone is Responsible for the delivery.

1. They have the formal organization structure, with departments, functions, sections having a hierarchy of managers and their assistants.

2. All of the managers function on a continuous basis catering to a series of requirements issued by the planning Department.

3. They have teams comprising members who are responsible for completing One entire deliverable product. An assembly of various units of their production forms a

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5. It is found that a sense of ‘ownership’ of the project motivates team members to be creative, cooperative among them to achieve high productivity

products and a variety of such products make up the Business of the company.

4. No particular member or a department or a team is responsible for the Completion of any particular product. Their creativity and innovation is in Particular respect of their jobs.

Structure Explanation

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B

Re-engineering:1. Reengineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an

organization. A business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome.

2. Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete cross-functional processes.

3. It is an approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization's mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs

E-engineering1. e-Engineering is an answer for growing globalization of manufacturing,

sourcing and engineering. In the world of ever increasing speed, competition, treats and opportunities, you need to conduct your business better, faster and more efficiently every day.

2. This is exactly the main goal of our e-Engineering: to help run your business according to the highest global standards and best practices, by providing

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with up-to-date, leading-edge industrial Web applications, customized to your needs.

3. Although the term “e-engineering” has been around for a while, its definition has been broadened as of late to encompass entirely new job roles and ways of working. Initially, “e-engineering” simply referred to electronic engineers working collaboratively from different locations.

Answer 4:

Macro issues

A : Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront: In order to provide complete

stability to fulfillment of goals, one needs to constantly evaluate from time to

time, the consideration of what will constitute the success of completing a project

and assessing its success before completion. The KSF should be evolved based on

a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will also provide an input to effective

exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit from the project but from any of

the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be hurdles rather than

contributors. Broad level of KSF should be available at the conceptual stage and

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should be firmed up and detailed out during the planning stage. The easiest way

would be for the team to evaluate each step for chances of success on a scale of

ten. KSF should be available to the management duly approved by the project

manager before execution and control stages. KSF rides above normal

consideration of time and cost – at the levels encompassing client expectation

and management perception – time and cost come into play as subservient to

these major goals.

B : Empowerment Title (ET) – ET reflects the relative importance of members of

the

organization at three levels:

1. Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated

responsibilities – the major change from bureaucratic systems is an

expectation from these members to innovate and contribute to time and cost.

2. Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards client

expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers.

3. Managers are empowered further to act independently

4. but to maintain a scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and

perception,

apart from being a virtual advisor to the top management.

Partnering Decision Making (PDM) :

PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control. A senior with a better decision

making process will work closely with the project managers as well as members

to plan what best can be done to manage the future better from past experience.

The key here is the active participation of members in the decision making

process. The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels – the term

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equally should be avoided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right

feeling of ownership is important. This step is most difficult since junior members

have to respond and resist to being pushed through sheer innovation and

performance – this is how future leaders would emerge.

Answer 5:

A

Risk Identification:

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To identify risks, we must first define risk. Risks are potential problems, ones that

are not guaranteed to occur. When people begin performing risk identification

they often start by listing known problems. Known problems are not risks. During

risk identification, you might notice some known problems. If so, just move them

to a problem list and concentrate on future potential problems.

Risk identification can be done using a brainstorming session. The brainstorm

typically takes 15 30 minutes. Be sure to invite anyone who can help you think of

risks. In the brainstorming session, people call out potential problem that they

think

could hurt the project. New ideas are generated based on the items on the

brainstorm

list. A project manager can also use the process to refer to a database of risk

obtained from past.

The information obtained from such databases can help the project

manager to evaluate and assess the nature of the risk and its impact on the

project.

Example of risks are: “We may not have the requirements right.

“The technology is untested,” “Key people might leave,” “The server won’t restart

in

situation X,” and “People might resist the change.” Any potential problem, or

critical

project feature, is a good candidate for the risk list.

B

Risk Analysis : Are those events or conditions that may occur and whose

occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aims

to identify the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project.

Risk management entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be

considered cost effective only if the cost of risk management is considerably less

than the cost incurred if the risk materializes.

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There are different types of risk involved in a project. The main types are:-

(a) Project risksit is the risk arising out of a change in the scope of the project,

changes in the work quantities, changes in the resource requirements, estimation

error or unexpected developments in a project.

(b) Market risks it is the risk arising out of a change in any of the

Following marketing parameter – price change, changes in market regulations,

Economic changes, competition, competitor’s product changes, etc.

(c) Industry risk it is the risk arising out of a change in scientific instruments

Used in business activity, changes in companies policies because of changes in

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Industry.

(d) Social and political risk it arises out of changes in labor situation,

labour laws, environment law, etc.

C

Risk Management Planning :

Risk is real for any company or organization. Don't kid yourself. Things happen

when you least expect them to happen. Are YOU ready for the unimaginable, the

unexpected, the unwanted? As an executive, have you put your head in the sand

around risk? Do you pretend that all is well, and nothing will change? If so, it's

time to face reality: data gets lost, buildings burn, people resign. When any of

these occur, your organization is at risk for malfunction, inefficiency, chronic

struggle, revenue loss, and even total failure. Is this the path you want to go

down?

Beginning now, you can initiate the process of developing your organization's risk

management plan. Take charge. Form a committee representing Board members

and staff, and ask them to partner with you to create this critical document. Make

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sure everyone understands the importance of the work, and explain to them how

they can benefit from contributing to the finished product. Risk managements

plans are not optional; they are essential for every company, large or

small. There are no valid exceptions.

Implement the following seven steps, and give yourself and others a huge slice of

peace of mind:

1. Define what risk looks like for your organization.

What constitutes risk in your shop? Threats to normal operations? Threats or

compromises to people's safety? Loss of physical and electronic property? Loss of

revenue? Decreased public/community support? Unethical behaviors? Create a

comprehensive definition of risk that means something to YOU and YOUR

organization.

2. Identify specific risks.

Ask the committee to brainstorm as many different risks as they can possibly

imagine. Record them on a white board or flip chart. Examples of various risks

include: firing of the chief executive, dwindling interest in one of your major

products, departmental silos, Board infighting, inability to fundraise, economic

downturn, layoffs, building fire, computer crashes, philosophical differences

between key employees, extended leaves for managers, interruption in receiving

necessary supplies. All of these are potential risks, and there are many

others. Continue brainstorming until the group believes they have come up with

an exhaustive list.

3. Categorize each risk.

Determine category names for the identified risks. Examples may be: Chief

Executive, Board of Directors, Physical Property, Technology, Data, Employees,

Products or Services, Customers/Clients, Stakeholders,. Place each risk under

one of the selected categories. Create as many category names as you need.

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4. Rank each risk according to severity or significance.

Choose headings such as "most severe", "moderately severe", "of minimal

concern". You don't have to use these same words for your headings, but be sure

that your phrases adequately differentiate between the degrees of

seriousness. Perhaps you would like to color code each risk according to its

significance heading: red for "most severe"; black for "moderately severe", and

green for "of minimal concern". Set it up the way it best works for you and your

organization.

5. Develop strategies for reducing or eliminating each risk.

Begin with the risks under your "most severe" heading. It's critical that you don't

delay in thinking through possible solutions for those major issues. Ideally,

determine multiple strategies for each risk. Be sure to consider who within the

organization is going to be responsible for implementing the various strategies,

and the resources needed to implement them. Omitting this information from the

plan only causes big problems later.

6. Write your plan.

Using all of the above input, shape a readable document. Practicality is

paramount here. The plan is worthless if nobody can follow it, interpret it, or

actually rely on it as a guide during crisis. After it is compiled, seek feedback

from the committee as well as other employees and Board members. Incorporate

changes where indicated. Check for evidence of common sense throughout the

document. Hold yourself accountable to a high standard around common sense. A

pie-in-the-sky risk management plan doesn't serve anyone.

7. Test some of those strategies in your plan for viability.

Do they work? Can they work? Why or why not? Where are the pitfalls? What

steps are missing? Would you benefit from having certain outside experts review

your strategies? If so, which types of experts?

D

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Risk Review:

1. Identify Threats:

The first stage of a risk analysis is to identify threats facing you. Threats may be:

Human – from individuals or organizations, illness, death, etc.

Operational – from disruption to supplies and operations, loss of access to

essential assets, failures in distribution, etc.

Reputational – from loss of business partner or employee confidence, or

damage to reputation in the market.

Procedural – from failures of accountability, internal systems and controls,

organization, fraud, etc.

Project – risks of cost over-runs, jobs taking too long, of insufficient product

or service quality, etc.

Financial – from business failure, stock market, interest rates,

unemployment, etc.

Technical – from advances in technology, technical failure, etc.

Natural – threats from weather, natural disaster, accident, disease, etc.

Political – from changes in tax regimes, public opinion, government policy,

foreign influence, etc.

Others

This analysis of threat is important because it is so easy to overlook important

threats.

One way of trying to capture them all is to use a number of different approaches:

Firstly, run through a list such as the one above, to see if any apply.

Secondly, think through the systems, organizations or structures you

operate, and analyze risks to any part of those.

See if you can see any vulnerabilities within these systems or structures.

Ask other people, who might have different perspectives.

2. Estimate Risk:

Once you have identified the threats you face, the next step is to work out the

likelihood of the threat being realized and to assess its impact.

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One approach to this is to make your best estimate of the probability of the event

occurring, and to multiply this by the amount it will cost you to set things right if

it happens. This gives you a value for the risk.

3. Manage Risk:

Once you have worked out the value of risks you face, you can start to look at

ways of managing them. When you are doing this, it is important to choose cost

effective approaches – in most cases, there is no point in spending more to

eliminating a risk than the cost of the event if it occurs. Often, it may be better to

accept the risk than to use excessive resources to eliminate it.

Risk may be managed in a number of ways:

By using existing assets:

Here existing resources can be used to counter risk. This may involve

improvements to existing methods and systems, changes in responsibilities,

improvements to accountability and internal controls, etc.

By contingency planning:

You may decide to accept a risk, but choose to develop a plan to minimize its

effects if it happens. A good contingency plan will allow you to take action

immediately, with the minimum of project control if you find yourself in a

crisis management situation. Contingency plans also form a key part of

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) or Business Continuity management

(BCM).

By investing in new resources:

Your risk analysis should give you the basis for deciding whether to bring in

additional resources to counter the risk. This can also include insuring the

risk: Here you pay someone else to carry part of the risk – this is particularly

important where the risk is so great as to threaten your or your

organization's solvency.

4. Review:

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Once you have carried out a risk analysis and management exercise, it may be

worth carrying out regular reviews. These might involve formal reviews of the

risk analysis, or may involve testing systems and plans appropriately.

Answer 6:

The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the

project’s goals or objectives. Regardless of scope or complexity, any project goes

through a series of stages during its life.

Every project requires careful planning so that deliverables are met in a timely,

cost-effective and professional manner. In today's economy, project managers

must ensure that all allocated resources are used in the most efficient manner.

This means a focused and professional project plan which is based on the project

life cycle. Here is how the basic structure is laid out:

Initiation Phase

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In this phase the project scope and timing are determined. Scope means all the

things that must be considered are accounted for (such as budget, time

allotment, etc.) and those that are not mandatory for the success of the project

must be excluded so as to keep the plan on track in terms of time, budget and

stakeholder expectations.

This is also the highest risk portion of the project life cycle because the variables

must be determined and if the wrong budget, resources, or timelines are set it

could throw the whole project off and risk stakeholder discontinuance.

Planning Phase

In this phase, the detailed planning occurs and the actions to complete the plans

are set in motion. Whereas the initiation phase saw the high level planning, this

is about creation of project plans that will guide the team through to successful

completion.

For example, in the initiation phase the Project Manager might determine that a

technical person is required on the team. This portion of the project life cycle will

determine who that person should be, and show the actual acquisition of that

specific individual to the team.

Execution Phase / Controlling Phase

This portion is usually the longest portion of the project life cycle and will

consume the greatest amount of resources. In this phase, the action items in the

project plan are accomplished and the physical deliverables are achieved. This

phase also shows the implementation of management processes to ensure that

time, cost, quality, change, risks, procurements and any grievances or issues are

addressed.

Close-out Phase

This phase is the wrap-up phase. The project is formally closed and final reports

that summarize the project’s successes and lessons learned delivered to the

stakeholders. This phase also shows the return of all equipment, the closure of

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human resource contracts, and the transfer of documentation and deliverables to

the customer or stakeholders.

Post-Implementation Phase

Many companies choose to add on one extra phase to the basic project life cycle

structure: the Post-Implementation Phase. One to three months after the

completion of the project, a Post-Implementation report is created to evaluate the

success of the project and product now that the company has had a chance to

evaluate the success of the implementation

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