Project Management for University Event Launch

The assignment reports on the project management required for launching an event at the university to celebrate the successful refurbishment of three campuses. The report outlines the steps involved in managing the project, including determining risks, ensuring quality control, managing time effectively, and dividing responsibilities using work breakdown structure. Leadership is also highlighted as crucial in managing the event, and a methodology (Prince2) is recommended for its feasibility in managing the project properly.

Project management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1 A) Project Initiation Document ..........................................................................................1
1B) Stakeholder Analysis.......................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Risk Register..........................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Work Breakdown Structure....................................................................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4A) Report to Sponsor..........................................................................................................12
4 B) Methodologies:.............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Project management refers to the process of controlling, planning, closing, initiating,
executing of work for accomplishing the pre-determined goals and objectives of an organisation.
Project management is very useful for project managers in order to determine the availability of
resources such as budget, time, materials, workers etc. QA Higher Education which is providing
educational services to the people in London, Birmingham, Manchester. This report will discuss
the Project initiation document along with the objectives, budget, time, approaches etc. of the
project. Further this report will develop a Risk Register with 10 fully documented risks along
with the Gantt chart. In the end, explanation of the need for quality leadership and analysis of
used methodologies will be discussed in this report.
TASK 1
1 A) Project Initiation Document
It is a document which is used by the top-level management for planning a project. This
document includes the combined information which is needed for initiating and executing the
project (Ahern, Leavy and Byrne, 2014). This document states this information to the different
stakeholders involved.
Title of project Event on fresher's week
Title of project
Estimated budget The managing director has provided the budget of approx.
£50000 for launching a event on fresher's week for
celebrating the success of refurbishment of teaching rooms
and computing labs.
Break down of the expected
budget
 Venue: £10000
 Catering services : £20000
 Decoration: £5000
 Entertainment activities: £5000
 Purchasing equipments: £10000
Initial date 1st September, 2019
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Last date 10th September, 2019
Project Sponsor Mr James ford, Managing director, QA Higher Education
Project Manager Mr Henry Augusta, Director of Operations
Objectives  To attract new students towards the university
 To make the university more competitive
 Successful execution of launching event.
 To establish good relation between students all 3
campus i.e. London, Birmingham and Manchester
Approach suggested  Must develop and implement new and effective
marketing strategies for inviting students and visitors
to the event in order to increase the awareness of
public towards the university.
 Updates on website and social media portal of
university so that students and other persons can know
the ongoing events and changes happening in
university.
 Developing a online portal for alumnus's and students
so that they can interact properly.
Any major risks that you would
like to highlight to the sponsor at
this early point in the project
 Risk of safety due to the use of old technical devices.
 Risk of resources such as money, time and supplies
etc.
1B) Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholders Whether interested or not
Students The students of university are interested in this event because they
study in this college and are part of the college. The students are
excited due to the refurbishment as it is helpful in promoting a
healthy and learning environment in the campuses for the students.
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The students are in favour of project manager and helping the
manager in successfully executing the project.
Alumnus The alumni of the university are also interested in this event as they
get the opportunity once again for becoming a part of the campus in
which they studied before. They are excited to meet their old friends
and relative who are also coming to college. This event provides an
unforgettable experience to both students and alumnus. For
managing the alumni people, project manager needs to provide them
opportunities for interacting with present students.
Suppliers For launching this event, various suppliers are required who provides
the required materials and facilities for a better experience of
students and other involved visitors. The suppliers are interested in
this event as they also get the opportunity to supply their products
and services to the university which will increase their earnings. For
managing the suppliers, project manager should choose them
properly from a list of suppliers.
Sponsors Sponsors are interested in this event as through this event they get
the opportunity to advertise and market their products and services to
the students and other people who come to campus. This event will
attract various people and students in-front of whom the sponsors
can promote their products and services for increasing their sales and
profit. For managing the sponsors, project manager must give them
chance to speak their views and opinions on education so that they
take interest in project.
Staff The faculty and staff members are also interested in this event as due
to their participation, the interest and participation of students will
also increase which will assist the students in improving their
personality. The staff is in favour of project manager and the project
manager needs to coordinate with them for determining the
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milestones and activities to be held.
TASK 2
Risk Register
Risks refers to the situations or conditions which can effect the completion of project
(Edwards and Bowen, 2013). Whereas risk register refers to the collection of involved risks in an
project which states the impact, mitigation, contingency etc. When organising the event for
celebrating the success, various risks can effect the execution of project which are discussed
below:
S.
No.
Description of
risk
Likeliho
od
Impact Respons
ible
person
Mitigation Contingency Pre
actio
n
score
(out
of 10)
Post
actio
n
Score
(out
of 10)
1 Extra cost
risk: The risk
of extra cost
exists in doing
this project
due to the
improper
budget
allotments.
High High Managin
g
director
Project
manager
needs to keep
several
options such
as low
facilities,
economically
cheap
resources etc.
More options
such as extra
reserved cost
must be
considered
and effective
utilisation and
assigning of
cost for the
event.
6 8
2 Time risk: It
is also can
impact the
completion of
High High Project
manager
Project
manager
needs to
create
The project
manager
needs to
develop more
8 9
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the event as
due to lack of
proper
management
time delay is
possible.
another plan
for handling
such risk and
also needs to
interact with
the
coordinators.
plans so in
case in plan
fails then
another can be
used.
3 Technical
risks: The
technological
risk also
impact the
execution of
the work due
to the
outdated
equipments
used in the
event.
Medium Low Technic
al team
and
project
manager
Repair all
equipment on
time and
check before
event
New and
updated
technology
needs to be
used along
with the
maintenance
team.
4 6
4 Risk of lack
of resources:
Risk of Lack
of resources
also exists due
to the
insufficient or
inappropriate
allotment of
resources
which is
Low Medium Resourc
e
manager
Project
manager
needs to
arrange extra
resources and
also needs to
stay in
contact with
other
supplier.
Proper
training must
be provided to
project team
for effectively
using the
resources and
to reduce the
wastage.
7 8
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required in
event.
5 Operational
risk: It also
exists which
can affect the
operations or
activities of
the project.
Low High Operatio
ns
manager
Contact with
the involved
people in the
event directly
or indirectly
as well as to
provide the
clear
directions to
team
members.
Pre determine
the strategies
and
implement
them one by
one for getting
improved
results.
6 9
6 Government
interference
risk: Risk of
governance
also exists due
to change in
laws and
regulations for
planning the
event.
Medium Low Managin
g
director
Contact the
government
officials for
determining
the changes.
Project
manager
needs to
coordinate
with
government
officials for
determining
their impact
on event.
8 9
7 Suppliers risk:
The risk of
suppliers also
exists which
can impact the
execution of
the project
Medium Low Project
manager
The suppliers
should be
provided
with good
prices so that
they can
provide their
Alternate
suppliers must
be selected in
case the
selected
supplier
delays in
8 8
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due to which
the demand
and needs of
the event
cannot be
fulfilled
because of
late in supply
services.
services with
full
capabilities
and efforts.
providing the
services.
8 Safety risk:
The risk
associated
with safety
also exists in
this project
which can
negatively
impact the
university and
its brand
image.
Low High Safety
officer
Check for
past issues
associated
with event to
understand
the future
issues.
Arrangements
of security
services along
with the
police for
handling the
emergency
situations.
4 7
9 Performance
risk: The risk
of
performance
also exists due
to handling
equipments
without
training.
High Medium Project
manager
Project
manager can
provide the
guidance and
support for
helping the
workers to
easily and
comfortably
Technical
training must
be provided to
team members
for properly
handling the
equipments
with care.
5 7
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handling the
equipments.
10 Quality risk:
This risk can
also impact
the project
and can even
leads to
project failure.
This risk can
occur due to
assigning
work to in
appropriate
workers.
Medium Medium Project
manager
All the
planned
strategies and
plans must be
followed for
doing them
accordingly.
Team
members need
to be provided
the work
according to
their
knowledge
and
capabilities.
6 8
TASK 3
Work Breakdown Structure
It is the method in which the big work is divided into small tasks for executing the work
in an easy and effective manner. It is complex and multi-step process for executing the project
with required speed (Fortune and et. al., 2011). It is a hierarchical tree structure which outlines
the project and manages the segmented parts in proper manner. The aim of this project is to
divide the huge work in the manageable smaller parts so that these small parts can be executed in
less possible time. The tasks which are carried out in these 7 days are shown below in the work
breakdown structure along with the subtasks. Through these small tasks, work can executed in an
efficient manner as they are small tasks which takes less time to complete.
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Critical path analysis: Critical path analysis was developed for estimating the time
duration of a project as well as for aligning the project according to the schedule of project. It is
used to determine the priority tasks and for ensuring that the project is going accordingly as
determined. It is important for shortening the time, effectively improving the resources
management as well as for properly planning the project in an effective manner. The Gantt chart
and critical path analysis are given below:
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10

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Milestone: It is a management tool which is used of representing a point in the schedule
of the project. These points note the initial and final point of a project in order to execute the
major stage of the project (Marchewka, 2014). It is helpful in initiating the project by using the
project schedule. The objective of the project is to promote the newly developed facilities which
are developed by the refurbishment of London campus of QAHE.
Start and end dates for project phases: 1 september, 2019 to 7 september, 2019
Key deliveries:  Marketing
 Catering
 Decoration
 Guests
Client and stakeholder approvals: Mr Henry Augusta, Director of Operations
and Mr James ford, Managing director, QA
Higher Education
Important meetings and presentations:  Guests list
 Decorations to be done
 Food and catering
Key dates or outages that may impact your
timeline:
Lack of updated technology in equipments and
Suppliers
TASK 4
4A) Report to Sponsor
PROJECT REPORT
QA Higher Education (QAHE) has successfully completed the refurbishment of their
teaching rooms and computing labs for all the three campuses i.e. London, Birmingham and
Manchester. The University has taken decision for launching an event on the fresher's week
which is going to take place in September in order to celebrate this success. The aim of this
report is to determine the importance of leadership in a project along with the analysis and
recommendation of used methodologies for managing this project.
Importance of Strong Leadership:
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Successful project managers practices both strong leadership and management skills.
Leadership plays a major role in the working of project manager for effectively completing their
undertaken projects. With the help of quality leadership, project manager can success can
achieve success in a project. A successful project manager must have the capabilities to
manage dependencies, deliverables and milestones in every level for launching the event in a
proper manner. Also a project manager needs to be agile for effectively carrying out the work of
project (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). This event will be launched in London campus, so the
leadership must be given to a responsible person who can promote the brand image of the
university among the competitors and general public through its communication and leadership
skills. Leadership skills are necessary for the project managers for ensuring that the team
members are effectively carrying out the project. The leadership skills are also important for
providing the guidance and support to the team members when issues and problems arise in
their working. The project manager can effectively provide the solution to the team members
for their problems and issues. Project management is different from leadership. It is not
compulsory that successful project managers may be effective leaders. Successful leaders uses
their innovative thinking and creative skills for developing the leadership skills for ensuring
their project management abilities. Project Managers as a leaders needs to show their concern
for the quality of project and for the information of tasks and workers included in the project.
Project Managers know how to keep the project team members motivated for bringing the
quality in the performed tasks with the help of staying updated with the tasks done and by
stating the appropriate role to the team members.
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4 B) Methodologies:
Various methodologies are used for launching this event such as waterfall, agile and
prince2 methodologies. Agile methodology is used in the projects mostly. This methodology
does not provide the estimation of project life-cycle along with the scope of the taken project
(Rosenau and Githens, 2011). So, this methodology is feasible where the rules are uncertain. In
this methodology, the measuring of work is a hard work and also the documentation can also
get sidetracked. Waterfall methodology provides the every stage of project life cycle for
ensuring the work progress accordingly (Söderlund, 2011). The major strength of this
methodology is that it can determines the alternate solution using the proper documentation. In
this methodology, the contingencies and changes to requirements cannot be predicted easily.
The PRINCE2 methodology is the customised technique of project management which can be
used according to the needs of organisations for managing the project (Van der Wagen and
White, 2018). This methodology cannot be used for small projects where changes takes place
regularly.
Recommendation:
It can be recommended that the Prince2 methodology is very useful for executing this
taken project of launching an event. This methodology is very feasible for the project team for
managing the launching event properly. The main reason for choosing this methodology is that
its breaks down the project into stages which can be monitored easily using the step-by-step
method from initiation to closure. This methodology standardises each aspect of project for
avoiding misdirection and miscommunication. Also this methodology is free to use so it is time
and cost saving.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussed report, it has been concluded that project management is very
useful for managing the launching event of university in order to celebrate the successful
refurbishment of the three campuses of university. The project manager needs to determine the
risks, quality, budget, time for launching the event in an proper manner. With the help of work
breakdown structure, responsibilities can be divided in sub parts for determining the solution of
problems which can arise during the project. Also a report has been prepared for conveying the
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importance of leadership in managing the event along with the methodologies used to the
sponsors of the event for investing in the project.
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