Project Management: Project on Arranging a Conference Program

This report depicts the role of project management methodologies for the successful accomplishment of any project within estimated budget and time. A professional schedule with the help of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is also represented in this report.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management: Project on Arranging a Conference Program
Name of the student:
Name of the University:

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Table of Contents
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 2
1. Work Breakdown Structure for the project ................................................................................. 3
2. Schedule for the project .............................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Critical Path Schedule technique for the development of the project schedule .................... 4
3. Project progress report ................................................................................................................ 9
a. The way to achieve planned dates ........................................................................................... 9
b. The way to achieve the original total .................................................................................... 10
4. Benefits and Limitations of Critical path schedule technique .................................................. 10
4.1 Benefits of Critical Path Method technique ........................................................................ 10
4.2 Limitations of Critical Path Method ................................................................................... 11
Identification of alternative schedule technique for time management: Gantt Chart ............... 12
References ..................................................................................................................................... 14

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Overview
This report depicts the role of project management methodologies for the successful
accomplishment of any project within estimated budget and time. This is mandatory for the
project manager to consider the most suitable managerial approach that is required to complete
any project. The project is about a presentation on a “prestigious world conference in Asia
Pacific on sustainable brand development”. Professional sales change and management program
are very much crucial for the successful accomplishment of any project. A professional schedule
with the help of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is also represented in this report.
For designing the project schedule the technique that has been followed is Critical Path
Method (CPM). The total budget of the project and for different activities the cost divisions are
also done and it is expected that if all of these aspects are accurately followed by the project team
members then the organized conference will surely show successful financial profit from the
business perspective. At the end of the paper the benefits and limitation of the Critical Path
Scheduling technique are demonstrated. In order to address the limitation of the CPM alternative
scheduling technique is also described in this paper.

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1. Work Breakdown Structure for the project
Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure for the conference schedule
(Source: created by author)
Conference Schedule
planning
Initiation phase
Ideation of the
conference that has
to be held
Identifying location
Venue selection
Identifying company
outsources
Confirmation of
company
outsourcing
Designing publishing
websites
Milestone 1:
Advertise
conference to the
contributors
Planning phase
Project document
planning Budget planning
Feasibility study
Feasibility analysis
Development and
design phase
Communication
planning
Procurement plan
Contingency
planning
Guest listing
List of casual guests
List of VIP guests
Listing the chief
sponsors of the
conference
Sending invitation
Response
consolidation
Name tagging
Stakeholder
management plan
3 days presentation
Master's workshop
Register of the
applicants
Sending the
confirmation
banking
arrangements
Milestone 2: Abstract
of the papers
(submission by the
authors/contributors)
Execution phase
registration confirmation
Coming to final
agreement Draft preparation of the
conference plan
Social media
presentation
Designing Facebook
pages
Design of Instagram
page
Creating links
between the pages
Milestone 3: First
draft of the
conference details
Monitoring and control
phase
Draft of the speaker
lists
Identification the
special needs
Speaker’s list
confirmation
printing
catering
marketing plan
Music and
entertainment
program
arrangement
Arrangement of
presentation speech
Milestone 4:
Completion of peer
review of the papers
Academic review and
validation of the papres
change management
program
implementation
Stakeholder
management plan
Risk management
planning
Organizing event
register
Other planning
Accommodation planning
Listing complete
possible
accommodation
Identification of
special lists
Confirming
accommodation
Other transformation
Transport company
names listing
Checking price
Total time
arrangement
Timing arrangement
Choosing company
with best price range
Milestone 5:
Registration for the
open delegates
Closure phase
final catering
contract
Dinner for delegates
stakeholder's
contract
Stakeholder signoff
Final documentation
Final kickoff meeting
Milestone 6: Final
submission of the
papers

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2. Schedule for the project
2.1 Critical Path Schedule technique for the development of the project schedule
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish Resource Names Cost
0 Conference Schedule
planning 148 days Fri
7/6/18
Tue
1/29/19 $417,840.00
1 Initiation phase 15 days Fri
7/6/18
Thu
7/26/18 $26,680.00
1.1
Ideation of the
conference that has to
be held
3 days Fri 7/6/18 Tue
7/10/18 Project manager $1,920.00
1.2 Identifying location 3 days Wed
7/11/18
Fri
7/13/18 HR manager $1,440.00
1.3 Venue selection 2 days Mon
7/16/18
Tue
7/17/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee $8,560.00
1.4 Identifying
company outsources 3 days Mon
7/16/18
Wed
7/18/18 Exhibit committee $12,000.00
1.5 Confirmation of
company outsourcing 3 days Thu
7/19/18
Mon
7/23/18 Project manager $1,920.00
1.6 Designing
publishing websites 3 days Tue
7/24/18
Thu
7/26/18 Interior decorator $840.00
1.7
Milestone 1:
Advertise conference
to the contributors
0 days Thu
7/26/18
Thu
7/26/18 $0.00
2 Planning phase 50 days Fri
7/27/18
Thu
10/4/18 $126,080.00
2.1 Project document
planning 3 days Fri
7/27/18
Tue
7/31/18 HR manager $1,440.00
2.2 Budget planning 5 days Wed
8/1/18
Tue
8/7/18 $2,800.00
2.2.1 Feasibility study 3 days Wed
8/1/18 Fri 8/3/18 finance manager $1,680.00
2.2.2 Feasibility
analysis 2 days Mon
8/6/18
Tue
8/7/18 finance manager $1,120.00
2.3 Development and
design phase 3 days Wed
8/8/18
Fri
8/10/18 Publicity committee $12,000.00
2.4 Communication
planning 6 days Wed
8/8/18
Wed
8/15/18 Exhibit committee $24,000.00
2.5 Procurement plan 5 days Thu
8/16/18
Wed
8/22/18 HR manager $2,400.00

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2.6 Contingency
planning 3 days Thu
8/23/18
Mon
8/27/18 Exhibit committee $12,000.00
2.7 Guest listing 13 days Tue
8/28/18
Thu
9/13/18 $49,120.00
2.7.1 List of casual
guests 3 days Tue
8/28/18
Thu
8/30/18 HR manager $1,440.00
2.7.2 List of VIP guests 2 days Fri
8/31/18
Mon
9/3/18 Project manager $1,280.00
2.7.3
Listing the chief
sponsors of the
conference
3 days Tue
9/4/18
Thu
9/6/18 HR manager $1,440.00
2.7.4 Sending
invitation 6 days Tue
9/4/18
Tue
9/11/18 Exhibit committee $24,000.00
2.7.5 Response
consolidation 5 days Fri 9/7/18 Thu
9/13/18 Publicity committee $20,000.00
2.7.6 Name tagging 2 days Wed
9/12/18
Thu
9/13/18 HR manager $960.00
2.8 Stakeholder
management plan 3 days Fri
9/14/18
Tue
9/18/18 Project manager $1,920.00
2.9 3 days presentation 3 days Wed
9/19/18
Fri
9/21/18 HR manager $1,440.00
2.10 Master's workshop 3 days Mon
9/24/18
Wed
9/26/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee $12,840.00
2.11 Register of the
applicants 1 day Thu
9/27/18
Thu
9/27/18 Exhibit committee $4,000.00
2.12 Sending the
confirmation 2 days Fri
9/28/18
Mon
10/1/18 Project manager $1,280.00
2.13 banking
arrangements 3 days Tue
10/2/18
Thu
10/4/18 Interior decorator $840.00
2.14
Milestone 2:
Abstract of the papers
(submission by the
authors/contributors)
0 days Thu
10/4/18
Thu
10/4/18 $0.00
3
Execution phase
registration
confirmation
22 days Fri
10/5/18
Mon
11/5/18 $33,000.00
3.1 Coming to final
agreement 6 days Fri
10/5/18
Fri
10/12/18 HR manager $2,880.00
3.2 Draft preparation
of the conference plan 15 days Mon
10/15/18
Fri
11/2/18 $30,120.00
3.2.1 Social media
presentation 6 days Mon
10/15/18
Mon
10/22/18 Project manager $3,840.00
3.2.2 Designing
Facebook pages 3 days Tue
10/23/18
Thu
10/25/18 HR manager $1,440.00

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3.2.3 Design of
Instagram page 3 days Fri
10/26/18
Tue
10/30/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee $12,840.00
3.2.4 Creating links
between the pages 3 days Wed
10/31/18
Fri
11/2/18 Exhibit committee $12,000.00
3.3
Milestone 3: First
draft of the conference
details
1 day Mon
11/5/18
Mon
11/5/18 $0.00
4 Monitoring and
control phase 19 days Tue
11/6/18
Fri
11/30/18 $110,720.00
4.1 Draft of the speaker
lists 3 days Tue
11/6/18
Thu
11/8/18 delegates $36,000.00
4.2 Identification the
special needs 3 days Fri
11/9/18
Tue
11/13/18 HR manager $1,440.00
4.3 Speaker’s list
confirmation 2 days Wed
11/14/18
Thu
11/15/18
delegates ,Master
class workshop
owners
$36,000.00
4.4 printing 3 days Fri
11/16/18
Tue
11/20/18 HR manager $1,440.00
4.5 catering 3 days Wed
11/21/18
Fri
11/23/18 caterer $2,400.00
4.6 marketing plan 2 days Mon
11/26/18
Tue
11/27/18 Publicity committee $8,000.00
4.7
Music and
entertainment program
arrangement
3 days Mon
11/26/18
Wed
11/28/18 show organizer $1,440.00
4.8 Arrangement of
presentation speech 2 days Thu
11/29/18
Fri
11/30/18 delegates $24,000.00
4.9
Milestone 4:
Completion of peer
review of the papers
0 days Fri
11/30/18
Fri
11/30/18 $0.00
5
Academic review
and validation of the
papres
26 days Mon
12/3/18
Mon
1/7/19 $48,480.00
5.1
change
management program
implementation
3 days Mon
12/3/18
Wed
12/5/18 Project manager $1,920.00
5.2 Stakeholder
management plan 2 days Thu
12/6/18
Fri
12/7/18 HR manager $960.00
5.3 Risk management
planning 2 days Mon
12/10/18
Tue
12/11/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee $8,560.00
5.4 Organizing event
register 2 days Mon
12/10/18
Tue
12/11/18 Exhibit committee $8,000.00
5.5 Other planning 3 days Wed
12/12/18
Fri
12/14/18 Project manager $1,920.00

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5.6 Accommodation
planning 6 days Mon
12/17/18
Mon
12/24/18 $10,960.00
5.6.1
Listing complete
possible
accommodation
3 days Mon
12/17/18
Wed
12/19/18 Project manager $1,920.00
5.6.2 Identification of
special lists 1 day Thu
12/20/18
Thu
12/20/18 HR manager $480.00
5.6.3 Confirming
accommodation 2 days Fri
12/21/18
Mon
12/24/18
Interior decorator
,Publicity committee $8,560.00
5.7 Other
transformation 10 days Tue
12/25/18
Mon
1/7/19 $16,160.00
5.7.1 Transport
company names listing 2 days Tue
12/25/18
Wed
12/26/18 Project manager $1,280.00
5.7.2 Checking price 2 days Thu
12/27/18
Fri
12/28/18 HR manager $960.00
5.7.3 Total time
arrangement 1 day Mon
12/31/18
Mon
12/31/18 Publicity committee $4,000.00
5.7.4 Timing
arrangement 2 days Tue
1/1/19
Wed
1/2/19 Exhibit committee $8,000.00
5.7.5
Choosing
company with best
price range
3 days Thu
1/3/19
Mon
1/7/19 Project manager $1,920.00
5.8
Milestone 5:
Registration for the
open delegates
0 days Wed
1/2/19
Wed
1/2/19 $0.00
6 Closure phase 16 days Tue
1/8/19
Tue
1/29/19 $72,880.00
6.1 final catering
contract 2 days Tue
1/8/19
Wed
1/9/19 Project manager $1,280.00
6.2 Dinner for
delegates 3 days Thu
1/10/19
Mon
1/14/19
caterer, Project
manager $4,320.00
6.3 stakeholder's
contract 3 days Tue
1/15/19
Thu
1/17/19 Project manager $1,920.00
6.4 Stakeholder signoff 2 days Fri
1/18/19
Mon
1/21/19 Exhibit committee $8,000.00
6.5 Final
documentation 3 days Tue
1/22/19
Thu
1/24/19
Project manager,
delegates ,Master
class workshop
owners
$55,920.00
6.6 Final kickoff
meeting 3 days Fri
1/25/19
Tue
1/29/19 HR manager $1,440.00
6.7
Milestone 6: Final
submission of the
papers
0 days Tue
1/29/19
Tue
1/29/19 $0.00

8PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Figure 2: Schedule developed for the conference program
(Source: created by author)

9PROJECT MANAGEMENT
3. Project progress report
a. The way to achieve planned dates
In order to achieve the original planned dates and to accelerate the relevant activitie
project baseline should be set for the project. According to the project complexity and activity
details it has been defined that the total time will be required for the successful accomplishment
of the conference program is 148 days. It is a 3-days conference which is comprises of 2 days
optional master class workshop also. According to the current situation of the project it is found
that, before the starting of the conference the clients are willing to undertake a health check of
the program. Du to extreme staff turnover the authority has faced serious issues. Du to this delay
they also have to change the booking venue also this will cause loss for the project development
authority. On the other hand, different venues are also available but it will cost additional 50% to
is initial estimation. In order to maintain the original planned dates, baseline schedule is required
to be maintained. The ways through which this can be maintained is as follows:
 The original program plan should be configured
 Based on the stakeholder’s consequence the deliverables, acceptable dates and
resources are to be represented
 Consistent project budget and plan should be prepared
 The responsibilities of the project performers should be clearly mentioned
 Inclusion of original forecasting activities

10PROJECT MANAGEMENT
b. The way to achieve the original total
In order to achieve the original budget of the project it is mandatory for the finance
manager to design a feasibility study at this phase to ensure that whether the project will be
beneficial or to check any further additions are required. The ways through which his can be
achieved re as follows:
 Reducing the total number of days
 Reducing the estimated fees of the delegated respectively for the master’s
workshop delegates and 3daysconference programs
 Increasing the total number of workers to reduce the time and complete the
project work as soon a possible
4. Benefits and Limitations of Critical path schedule technique
4.1 Benefits of Critical Path Method technique
The Critical Path Method is also defined as a time management tool implemented in
United States and most of the companies use this mechanism for reducing the time related issues
that may interrupt the estimated budget of any project also. In order to track and monitor the
progress of the projects the project managers use this technique in their application field.
However for all the projects the Critical Path Method may not be appropriate therefore,
Therefore, the project manager should have to be aware of the capabilities and the limitation of
the Critical Path Method (CPM) technique.
The benefits that can be achieved from the appropriate usage of the CPM are as follows:

11PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Helps in detail process analysis: With the help of the Critical Path Method the entire
process can be analyzed in details. Though, the total time spend for combining the activities
altogether is quite long. If the project plan is accurately prepared then the project will run all
smoothly throughout the development period. It is expected that if the project run without any
sort of interruption then definitely the project will lead to cost and time savings in later cases.
Apart from this, it also helps to ascertain the time schedule of different activities have sequential
relationship between each other.
Easy control: The project manager can easily control the entire project with the proper
application of the critical Path Method technique.
Critical element identification: The critical elements associated to the projects can be
easily identified with the help of the critical Path Method (CPM). In other words the
management gives additional attention to these activities to avoid unwanted interruptions.
Moreover, it supports to create more detailed and planning possible while developing any
project.
4.2 Limitations of Critical Path Method
In case of Critical Path Method a large project is broken down into small segments rather
into discriminated activities. Apart from this, based on the complexity of the activities the time
and cost ate also allotted. All the assigned activities are also linked to their graphical views in
order to represent the possible direction towards the completion of the project. It is found that
many directions will be available for successfully reaching the ultimate destination but the
shortest path is known as the critical path. The limitations associated to CPM are as follows:

12PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Time consuming approach: It has been assumed that this approach takes lots of time for
the identification of the activities. Not only this but also for inter relating these activities it take
numerous time and as it creates multiple numbers of paths thus the confusion also increases.
These are the reasons for which the users lose their temper during the project development
period.
Shift of the project resources: In case of any practical situation the CPM approach fails
to work and as a result the employees are re located throughout the activities associated to the
project which is very haphazard. The previously allocated time and budget also distrusted due to
this reallocation and overall the CPM also gets interrupted highly.
Issues of parallel path: CPM creates many similar looking paths with same time duration
and thus it become difficult for the users to identify the critical project path. Internal conflicts
occur during the section of the critical path. Not only this but also the activities become more
critical than the initial phase.
Identification of alternative schedule technique for time management: Gantt Chart
Many alternative techniques such as Gantt chart, Schedule network analysis, PER chart
etc are there that can be widely used by the project managers to avoid the issues of Critical Path
Method technique. Project managers are allowed to use range of techniques and tools for
developing, monitoring and controlling project schedules. However, many if these tools can also
be applied in digitized format such as Microsoft Project, Excel sheet etc.
The most suitable alternative scheduling technique for managing the project time is the
Gantt chart. This is a horizontal bar cart which is plotted over the time that is either based on
days, weeks or month. The bars may run in parallel manner or can show sequential stages based

13PROJECT MANAGEMENT
on the dependency of the tasks and the assigned resources. Each of these bars are plotted to the
start at the very earlier possible date of starting. The planned time duration and the actual time
can be compared through this tool Not only this but also the difference between the actual cost
and the planned cost can also be determined with the help of the Gantt chart.
Gantt chart gives clarity and possible visualization ability to the project team members.
Multiple tasks can be formalized in a single document with this Gantt chart and also the
stakeholders can easily understand the process progress in details during the grasping on ways.
In this process all the independent elements can also come together to the success of the project.
It gives error free communication capabilities to the project team members. In order to replace
any meeting or to update the status documents the application of Gantt chart is very helpful. The
positions of the team members become clearer to the project team members as they become
familiar to their role, responsibilities and current progress updates of the project. In addition to
this, it helps to create external motivation among the project manager and the project team
members.
In the overall project schedule if the project team members plug their own roles then the
complexity of the project activities will be reduced. The chance of overrunning cost, over
allocation of resource and budget will be also reduced if the time management tool Gantt chart is
accurately utilized by the project manager and the project team members. According to most of
the project managers the time scheduling is one of the most important benefits served by the
Gantt chart technique. The chances of project delay and its negative impact on the project team
members can be easily identified through this application. Therefore, instead of CPM if Gantt
chart is used by then the limitation of the CPM can be addressed and resolved accordingly.

14PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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