Report on Managing a Successful Business Project: Project Management

This report provides a comprehensive overview of project management, focusing on the key stages of project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. It emphasizes the importance of using project management tools and techniques to achieve project objectives within the defined timeline and budget, referencing the practices of 'Sussex Builders' as a case study. The report discusses the advantages of project management, including improved probability of achieving desired results, enhanced work quality, and reduced failure rates. It also explores the significance of data collection and analysis, highlighting both qualitative and quantitative research methods, along with ethical considerations, reliability, and validity in research. Furthermore, the report underlines the importance of field work for acquiring practical knowledge and ensuring project success, advocating for the integration of experienced professionals in project teams.

MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROJECT
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
STUDENT’S ID

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme......................3
LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to generate
knowledge to support the project.....................................................................................................6
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful
conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/ or analysis.....................................................8
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance........................................................................................10
Reference list.................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
In this assignment we are going to talk about project management in brief and discuss all the
different aspects of project management in details. The main objective of this assignment is to
develop new and improved techniques and skills for executing, planning, initiating, controlling
and evaluating any kind of a project no matter what the size of the project is. Once the
assignment is completed successfully, we will be able to engage with a lot of confidence in the
process of decision-making, problem-solving and research skills with the use of project
management skills. Project management has developed and attained new heights in recent years.
In this assignment we are talking about the project management done by a well known building
firm in the UK, ‘Sussex Builders’.
LO1 Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme
Project Management: Project management can be defined as a process that involves use or
application of methods, knowledge, processes, skills and experience for successful attainment of
the objectives of the project. A project is a work that has a beginning and an end and is
temporary. It is a unique undertaking that helps to achieve the planned goal; it can define with
reference to the outputs, benefits or outcomes. A project whatsoever can be deemed successful
only when it achieves the objectives according to the plan within the timeline and budget.
The key stages of project management
Project management is performed with the help of five key stages. These set of stages give a
logical difference between the primary elements of handling a project that in turn can improve
the success of any project (Kerzner, 2018). These five key stages are as follows: project
initiation, project planning, project execution, monitoring and controlling the project and closing
the project.
The advantages of using project management
Project management is a very influential business tool that brings a lot of advantages to
businesses of all groups and scales. It provides a business with effective techniques, processes
and guidelines to manage the work and the workforce involved with any project. It helps in

increasing the success ratio and finishing the project on time, within the given schedule and
budget. Some of the main advantages which prove its importance are:
 Improvement in the probability of achieving the desired results for the project
 Improvement in the work quality and productivity
 Decrease in the chances of the failure of the project
 Gain an upper hand on the competition
 Helps in setting the scope, budget and time limit of the project from the beginning.
Initiation of the project and project planning phase
The stages involved in initiating the project and scoping the project involves the following
mentioned steps:
Scope of the project and initiating the project: This is the most important and the first step of
project management. It sets the project in motion for the rest of the cycle. In this stage of project
it is necessary to identify the need of the business and the purpose of the project. There should be
an analysis of the outcomes and the objectives that the project sets out to achieve in the long run.
In this stage, the key sponsors for the project have to be identified so that the project can be
properly funded and can be saved from any kind of roadblocks or hurdles (JOSEPH PHILLIPS
et al., 2018). In the initiation phase of project management, the project team has to be selected
who will carry out the entire project and the scope of the project has to be defined for success of
the project. The scope of the project has to be decided. By scope, we mean about the objectives
and goals of the project and what has to be done with the project.
Planning the project: In this stage all the major planning related to the project have to be done.
Planning the resources for the project, the funding for the project and the timeline of the project
are key things to focus on during the planning phase of a project. Project planning is the stage
where the budget and the schedule of the project is decided.
Executing the project: After knowing the scope of the project and planning the project
accordingly, now it has to be decided that how to bring it to life. In this important stage we have
to think about the ways of executing the plan and making it happen. In this stage we have to
think about some of the important factors related with the project such as the quality and timeline

of the work associated with the project, potential threats and interaction with the stakeholders to
ensure that the project works smoothly without hurdles.
Controlling and monitoring a project: This step falls helps you know the current state of the
project and helps in keeping a track of the work. It acts as a feedback tool between the planning
phase and the execution phase (Heldman, 2018).
Closing the project: This is the final stage of project management. While closing a project, all the
finances have to be cleared along with all the project tasks and all the important documents have
to be acquired for future use. In this phase, the project has to be handed over to the customer
after the completion and all the open contracts have to be closed and settled. It is important to
document the entire project and keeping a record for it so that it can be used for future
references.
Bar and Gantt chart for effective planning
This chart is most commonly used tool in project management. It is a popular tool and used for
showing tasks against time taken. The left side of the chart shows the work done with time on the
top of the chart (Cooper and Sommer, 2018). Every task or activity is denoted by a bar, the
position of the length of the bar denotes the beginning date, time taken and the end of the task or
activity.
The benefits of using this chart are:
 Provides clarity
 Helps the project team in communicating and understanding the tasks in a better way
 Provides motivation for the project
 Increases efficiency
 Helps in managing time better
 Increases creativity

LO2 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to generate
knowledge to support the project
Project execution phase
Project execution phase is the third most important phase in the project life cycle. This is the
longest phase of the cycle and consumes most resources and energy. This stage of the project
management comes after initiation and planning of the project.
In order to be able to monitor and control the project during the execution phase we need to use a
range of management process (Fossum et al., 2018). These help in managing the time, quality,
cost, risks and threats associated with the project.
The methods and the activities involved in the project execution phase are the following:
 Performing time management
 Performing cost management
 Performing quality management
 Performing change management
 Performing risk management
 Performing issue management
 Performing procurement management
 Performing acceptance management
 Performing communication management
 Performing phase review
All the information, data and material resourcing for the project management of Sussex Builders
has to be done by following the needed methods and the data collected should be genuine.
Important and necessary steps have to be followed and research analysis and different case
studies have to be done to gather information and data needed for the project execution of the
project management.
Apart from the primary case study, a second research has to be carried out to be more aware and
sure of the data recovered in the primary case study. It helps in studying the minor differences
and fluctuation, which helps in the success of the project.

Qualitative and Quantitative research methods
Qualitative research methods can be defined as a research method where the data is not in the
form of numerals or numbers.
Quantitative research methods can be defined as a research method where the data is in the form
of numerals or numbers.
The research method basically depends on the nature of the data. The nature of the data is the
point of difference between the qualitative and quantitative methods. But, qualitative research
method is more diverse in nature than qualitative research method in way of thought, the data
and the methods used (Daniel and Daniel, 2018).
The methods used in the research can be conducting field work, interviews, surveys, etc.
Field work
Field work in today’s time is an integral part of the project execution in the project management.
Having knowledge about project management through different courses and studies is a different
thing but it is field work that provides practical knowledge of the entire process.
The company before starting any project has to consider recruiting people with work experience
in and off the field. Practical application is more important in today’s world than having just
theoretical knowledge.
The field work in project management helps acquire knowledge, information, data and other
useful resources that help the planning and execution of the project and guarantees success of the
project. The works included in the field job: conducting interviews, doing surveys, talking to
different sections of people to know the general mindset of the people, visiting the project site to
see its progress and things that lack (Amoako-Gyampah et al., 2018). All this field work is
ultimately for the benefit of a project. It is very important for Sussex Builders to pay special heed
to the field work during the project execution phase.
Ethics, reliability and validity

All the research work, the collected data, the information have been attained ethically with the
correct means. The entire assignment, case study and the research analysis have been done with
morality and by keeping ethics in mind. The information and data provided in the assignment
and in the research is true to knowledge, valid, genuine and are all recovered from very reliable
sources. The entire project and the research work have been done ethically and with great
morality and responsibility. The analysis has zero influence from any other individual and there
is no plagiarism as the data and the information has not been copied from anywhere and are all
ethical. There has been a correct understanding of the matter associated with the project. The
main goal of this assignment is to learn new and innovative ways to develop the process of
project management.
All the information is gathered from reliable sources leaving no doubt about the reliability of the
entire project. The source should always be trustworthy, the recruits who have done the field
work and conducted all the interviews are all trustworthy and reliable. Reliability is an important
factor here because it is very easy to sabotage any data, information or work. So there should be
people around an organization that are reliable (Weiss and Swan, 2018).
There have to be conducted proper tests and use of proper channels or instruments to measure the
validity of a project. All the data and information here are valid and logically correct.
Analysing information and data
It is very important to analyse the collected data and information using them in the project
execution. The data needs to be analysed, the authenticity of the data has to be checked, the
reliability and the validity has to be looked on. It has to be made sure that the entire process is
ethical and morally correct. Analysis of information and data is an important step as information
is the most important tool for conducting a research (Larsson et al., 2018). If the data or
information proves to be incorrect and is not analysed properly then it can lead to the failure of
the entire project.
LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful
conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/ or analysis
Communicating Outcomes

The method used for the communicating outcome was verbal, through interviews from different
people and the medium was report. After conducting the interviews a report was made which
talked about all the pros and cons and gave all the outcomes. After doing the entire project
management and conducting all the necessary research analysis through the report made after
conducting interviews from people we have an idea about the strength and the weakness of the
last project conducted by Sussex Builders in the year 2017.
Last year the company undertook a project of a mall in Manchester and it was a successful
venture for the company and the makers. The project benefited Sussex Builders and strengthened
its reputation in the market. But the biggest communicating outcome proved to be a negative
aspect of the project that is lack of marketing by the stakeholders (Jiang et al., 2018). Most of the
people who were a part of the interviews that were conducted had one thing to say in common
and that was they found that there was a lack of marketing of the project which affected its
growth.
Convincing arguments
After a detailed study of all the findings and outcomes be it positive or negative, it is clear that
the local audience had a very little or no knowledge of the project. All the outcomes of the report
are convincing and have a logic related to it. The outcomes have a logical explanation. If the
audience had no knowledge or little knowledge of the project and it failed to attract them then it
is a failure on the stakeholders’ part. Sussex builders had the responsibility of completing the
project in the best way possible and we did our job in the most efficient manner possible but it is
our moral duty to conduct a project management report to know about the positive and the
negative outcomes of the project. No matter whose failure it is, the makers or the stakeholders
but it is our duty too, to make sure that the negative aspects are resolved and the project is a huge
success. The project was completed in the year 2017 and it took three years to complete it. A lot
of manpower, time, resources and money was involved in the process (Christov and Hoffman,
2018). So it is our duty to look after its drawbacks. As a part of the project management,
interviews were conducted by the field workers to create a report for the expected outcomes. A
major chunk of the people knew about the project, but an equal amount of people were not at all
aware about it. People who knew about it had one thing to say in common; that the project lacks
proper marketing. Once it is marketed properly it has all the things needed to be a great success.

Critical and objective analysis and evaluation
The main objectives of the analysis are the positive outcomes of the project, the drawbacks of the
project and the recommendations to improve the drawbacks of the project. The project has a lot
of positives that we can talk about, it is huge, expensive, beautiful, spacious, has a suitable
location and ambience and so on. The drawback found after analysis was lack of marketing of
the project which also resulted in loss of manpower needed to work in the project. As not many
people know about it, they do not visit it and people don’t go there looking for job opportunities.
The makers have to take necessary steps to take care of these drawbacks. The project needs
proper marketing tools to market it in most efficient manner possible. Lack of marketing is
damage to any project, business or organization (Anbari, 2018). Today, marketing strategies
should be developed even before the launch of any product or services. The stakeholders need to
align their focus on this very important factor for the success of their project.
LO4 Reflect on the value gained from conducting the project and its usefulness to support
sustainable organizational performance
Reflection for learning and practice
The entire project is of great significance to the future. The project highlights the key features
like the outcomes, the positive and the negative aspects, the remedies needed for any project to
be a success. The project can be used further for learning and having an idea about the process of
project management and can have an application in the processes involved in the project
management (Shtub and Rosenwein, 2018). Any company that starts a new project can go
through the report and get all the knowledge and information that they need to avoid the mistakes
that we did with our project.
The cycle of reflection
The entire project shall act as a cycle of reflection for the future generation and all the future
projects that are being made. The project should act as a loop that keeps on helping new projects
that are coming up so that with the help of the project and the report they can avoid or minimize
the risk of failure and can look forward to adapting methods for success (Tonchia, 2018). The

project can prove to be of great help and significance if people look up to it as a source of
knowledge and information. This could help the industry in the long run and maximizing profits
and growing the economy.
Reflective writing
The writing in the project report should be reflective and should never be for the purpose of
professional development. It should be for the betterment and welfare of the future projects.
Generalization
Human resource management is a very important part of any research or study. It is the section
that handles all the human resources like manpower, workforce needed for proper functioning of
any project. The findings of this project are not generalized and are different. It contains
information that is valuable (Martinsuo and Hoverfält, 2018).

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