Managing Operations and Projects

This document provides a comprehensive guide on managing operations and projects. It covers various aspects such as scope management plan, time management plan, cost management plan, communication management plan, and risk management plan. The document also includes project milestones, work breakdown structure, project network diagram, and cost breakdown. It is suitable for students studying operations and project management.

Managing
Operations
and Projects

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
SECTION 1. Scope Management Plan ...........................................................................................3
1.1 Project Description...........................................................................................................3
1.2 Project Scope....................................................................................................................4
1.3 Assumptions.....................................................................................................................4
1.4 Constraints........................................................................................................................4
1.5 Project Roles and Responsibilities...................................................................................5
1.6 Responsibility Assessment Matrix (RAM)......................................................................5
1.7 Project Work-breakdown Structure (WBS)......................................................................7
1.8 WBS Dictionary...............................................................................................................7
Section 2: Time management plan...................................................................................................9
2.1 Project Milestones............................................................................................................9
2.2 Project activity/Time/Dependency base table..................................................................9
2.3 Project Network Diagram...............................................................................................10
2.4 Project Gantt Chart ........................................................................................................11
Section 3: Cost management plan..................................................................................................11
3.1 Cost breakdown and budget formulation.......................................................................11
3.2 Project cost baseline ......................................................................................................13
Section 4: Communication management plan...............................................................................13
4.1 Project Stakeholders ......................................................................................................13
4.2 Stakeholders communication plan .................................................................................13
Section 5: Risk management plan .................................................................................................14
5.1 Risk identification, analysis and action plan .................................................................14
5.2 Project risk matrix .........................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Operations and Project management involves handling of methods, skills, experience
and processes in order to reach specified business objectives in accordance with project criteria
within prescribed parameters. It includes ultimate deliveries which are constrained to limited
timescale as well as budget. An organisation aims at management of its complex processes as
well as project which will assist reaching to set targets in the given time period. Operational
processes deals in approaching daily and also strategic issues related to business. In order to
manage operations, project manager is required to execute appropriate strategies in order to
achieve specified goal in an organisation within finite time scale . This report includes execution
of graduation ceremony by University of Manchester through adoption of systematic approach of
plan management within 3 months. This plan will consist of areas such as project time
management, scope management, cost management, risk management,etc. which will be
evaluated through optimum combinations of approaches in this regard.
SECTION 1. Scope Management Plan
1.1 Project Description
Project includes complex elements which needs to be dealt with over the specified time
period. Managing a project's deadline is something which is needed to cope with in the finite
period (Galli, 2017). A project includes its set goals, ultimate objectives and also the number of
activities which will be taking place. As University of Manchester is organising convocation
event which will take place for 2 consecutive days. Therefore different core objectives for the
project can be discussed as follows.
1.1.1 Project Objectives
 To meet the set target within a provided budget of £7000.
 To implement cost- effective techniques which will help institute to conduct its
programme in given budget and also within limited period of 3 months.
 To manage project by reducing approximately 60% of inherent risk before its execution
date.
 To implement SMART approach towards project's overall scope in order to determine
prevailing contingencies.

1.2 Project Scope
The project comprises of attainment of successful graduation ceremony for 600 students
in a restricted budget as well as time span of 3 months. The project manager should deliver the
required programme within a due time by considering time management as an essential tool of
the complete project. The main scope is to give quality event within available resources in
appropriate possible manner. University of Manchester has decided to opt for familiar place
being their campus hall for the graduation ceremony so that students could connect to the event
even more. Also train speaker in relevance with speech of whole event in order to hold smooth
flow of activities.
1.3 Assumptions
Before implementation of project related activities it is necessary to assume these factors
to be real, true or actual without any actual demonstration or evidence (Suwal and Singh, 2018).
In practical, it is impossible to plan a project without making assumptions over certain grounds.
Therefore, every project assumptions contain a potential risk which an organisation should
eliminate through application of effective techniques. To do so, University of Manchester has
adopted techniques relevant to cost- effectiveness which will help it to actualise the project cost
within given criteria.
1.4 Constraints
Within a project, there are inherent restrictions and risks that demands to be taken into
account and addressed to confirm its ideal success (Taraba, 2019). In general main constraints
faced by organisation could be time, cost and scope. Therefore, Project manager has considered
following constraints by making proper evaluation the given manner:
 Time Constraint: It is referred to event's schedule for completion including finite time
span for every stage of the project. As per this ceremony, Project manager is expected to
meet its deadlines that is 3 months for project execution in order to conclude smooth flow
of events.
 Scope Constraint: Here, project includes specified targets, deliverables, functions as
well as additional tasks which are required to be completed within limited time and

budget. In this regard Project manager must hold activities in standardized manner in
order to eliminate interrupted flow of activities.
 Cost Constraint: It is also considered as financial restriction in regard to project's budget
having restricted criteria to be carried with. In this regard, Manager must ensure that the
activities of whole event are organised in such a manner that it could be performed in a
given budget of £7000 as a whole.
1.5 Project Roles and Responsibilities
For a successful project, it is mandatory to plan and collaborate with project's team in
more effective manner (Lutsenko, 2018). Project manager is responsible for managing its key
activities in most convenient way by allotting the tasks to various heads in order to ensure
feasible outcomes. Appropriate assignment of duties will result in effective outcomes so it is
necessary to establish superior- subordinate relationship. Leader of each team will play key role
in guiding their subordinates which will develop smooth flow of communication from top to
bottom and vice-versa.
1.6 Responsibility Assessment Matrix (RAM)
Responsibility assessment matrix depict participation by different people and
organisation in order to complete the assigned role or responsibility for a project. It is utilized by
project managers in clarifying roles and responsibilities in projects, processes as well as cross-
functional team (Torres and et. al., 2019). Therefore, RAM includes following criteria:
 Responsible: It includes those who works to achieve the prevailing outcome. In
general it is considered that only one role is responsible and others can be
delegated to help in work needed. Here, project manager as well as executive
officer in the institute will be considered responsible for the project operations.
 Accountable: Here team member who is ultimately coordinating actions, making
decisions as well as delegating to those responsible for task. The member is
accountable for last delivery's quality. In respective project, ultimate accountable
person will be project manager as he is considered to be supreme authority of the
project.
 Consulted: Whose expertise and knowledge is said to be beneficial for
completion of task having two way communication. These people are not
performers but advisors for the performing ones. In the given project, professors

will be considered as consulted as these people are aware of campus environment
and what will be most suitable procedure to conduct the event for their institution.
 Informed: It includes people who are needed to keep up to date regarding project
mostly about completion of deliverables or task having one way communication
(Suk and et. al., 2017). In this graduation ceremony being conducted by
University of Manchester, students will be considered as informed, in regard to
the event;s proposed date, venue, duration, etc. which is one way communication
as they won't be able to respond back.
Deliverab
le /
People
Title
Project
manager Task leader
Group
director Purchasing Staff A
WBC
Code
2.2 Stage designing A R A
3.3
Promotion
responsibility A
4.4 Respondents R I
5.5 Catering A A
6.6
Budget
controlling C C I
(Note: A= accountable; R= responsible; C= consulted; I= informed)
In the above RAM in regard to graduation ceremony, it has been evaluated that the
responsibilities have been assigned to different individuals as per the requirement of the project
in accordance with different activities. As project manager has been held accountable for two
activities whereas consulted for one activity. Task manager has been responsible, accountable,
consulted for one tasks respectively. Group director held responsible for one task, purchasing
department held informed for two tasks and staff A accountable for two tasks.

1.7 Project Work-breakdown Structure (WBS)
Work breakdown structure means breaking tasks into smaller form in order to increase
productivity as a whole. This way project becomes manageable and smoother flow of tasks are
reflected through their execution (Fernandes and et. al., 2019). WBS is an effective tool which
itself integrates cost, scope and timeline ensuring their proper alignment. In this graduation
event, tasks are divided into various parts namely invitations, foods & drinks, decoration,
entertainment, event hosts, souvenir and sound & lights, Stage formation, utility expenditure, etc.
To University of Manchester, this structure will assist by making activities attainable which will
reflect higher profitability. Therefore, this structure will ultimately prosper organisation in
achievement of effective results.
1.8 WBS Dictionary
Cost baseline

Budget
Particulars Amount (In £)
Stage Formation 900
Stage background 500
Chairs and tables 400
Sound & lights 700
Souvenir 200
Memento / token 200
Invitation 400
Decorations 600
Props 150
Cloth decoration 300
Flowers 150
Event Host 400
Food & drinks 1000
Snacks 250

Lunch 450
Dinner 300
Utility expenditure 1000
Telephone bills 1000
Security & privacy 400
Guards 200
Bouncers 200
Miscellaneous expenditure 400
Registrations expenses 400
Event venue 1000
Total £ 7000
Section 2: Time management plan
2.1 Project Milestones
It is considered as a way of recognizing the manner of project advancement, in a situation
where you are not known to the executed tasks (Uddin, 2017). In this graduation ceremony
conducted by University of Manchester has been marked as a milestone for students who got
graduated from institution. Project manager uses this term being checkpoint in a project's time
scale. In short it is considered as checkpoint which reflects success of a project's activities,
groups keeping in mind project deadline. It ensures whether your project is going in the correct
direction by building project plans, monitoring its progress, any drawbacks, etc. Manager has

implemented techniques such as Gantt chart, budget preparation in order to promote smooth
operational working of project.
2.2 Project activity/Time/Dependency base table
Project activity Time duration
Event 2
Stage Formation 1
Sound & lights 1
Invitation 6
Food & Drinks 7
Decorations 4
Event hosts 6
Utility expenditure 4
Security & privacy 3
Miscellaneous expenditure 1
Souvenir 2
2.3 Project Network Diagram

Critical path analysis

2.4 Project Gantt Chart
Section 3: Cost management plan
3.1 Cost breakdown and budget formulation
Costing as well as budget preparation are regarded as an effective tools of management
accounting (De Waal and de Boer, 2017). They have been used in a wide range by organisations.
In this project event, budget is prepared in order to allot each activity its respective cost in order
to manage the events in the said criteria or budget of £ 7000. So the formulation of budget for
graduation ceremony can be shown as follows:
Budegt
Particulars Amount (In £)

Stage Formation 900
Stage background 500
Chairs and tables 400
Sound & lights 700
Souvenir 200
Memento / token 200
Invitation 400
Decorations 600
Props 150
Cloth decoration 300
Flowers 150
Event Host 400
Food & drinks 1000
Snacks 250
Lunch 450
Dinner 300
Utility expenditure 1000

Telephone bills 1000
Security & privacy 400
Guards 200
Bouncers 200
Miscellaneous expenditure 400
Registrations expenses 400
Event venue 1000
Total £ 7000
3.2 Project cost baseline
Section 4: Communication management plan
4.1 Project Stakeholders
Those individuals and authorities actively engage in a respective project or whose interest
has been affected from project's execution or completion is termed as Project Stakeholders.

Stakeholder means someone who has something to loss or gain from project's ultimate
completion (Jin, Shen and Wang, 2018). They are somehow related to a particular project. In
relevant graduation ceremony, stakeholders could be summarized as sponsors, project manager,
management, project team, students, suppliers and so on. These people are somehow connected
with the project's execution as well as completion. So the overall project influence their interest
in terms of monetary or non-monetary.
4.2 Stakeholders communication plan
As stakeholder has been allotted significant place in a project, therefore their interest in
the Graduation ceremony of University of Manchester can be illustrated as follows signifying
their relevant interests and their level of impact on project.
Stakeholder Interests Estimating project
impact
Sponsor Implementation of successful
event
high
Project manager Meet all project constraints high
Management Proper activities medium
Project Team Completion of tasks before
deadline
medium
Students Fulfilment of expectations low
Section 5: Risk management plan
5.1 Risk identification, analysis and action plan
In a project, risk management is a core object which is managed through identification,
evaluation, prevention and elimination of potential influence of risk over the ultimate goals.
Typically, project managers are responsible for overseeing potential risks which might effect
project's overall efficiency (Sergeeva and Ali, 2020). Manager must have optimum
understanding of project objectives in order to eliminate the chances for prevailing risks in the
project. The nature of risk could be wide or narrow depending upon its involvement in type of
activity. There may be differing type of risks depending upon project form. These risks could be

capital- related, deadline- related, performance-based, scope based, etc. In order to eliminate
risks, there should be need to follow steps in accordance with risk management:
Identification: It is necessary to identify the existing risk into the project event so that its
efficiency won't be compromised. Therefore, graduation ceremony should be implemented
before identification of potential risks in the project event in order to eliminate them.
Assign head: After their identification, risks should be assigned to their respective head
in order to analyse it in more effective manner. Relevant team leader will be able to terminate the
risks more easily than others as he is familiar with the task. Project manager of graduation
ceremony is responsible for appropriate allotment of risk to their team leader so that their
analysis will become easier.
Prioritizing: It is required for each risk to include their impacts and effects over the
projects execution and completion. Therefore by understanding their level of impact, it will be
easier to consider their severity into a category. Here, project executive has given priority to pre-
determined risks as per their nature of occurrence and their impacts.
Analyse: It includes analysis of project related risks after allotting them to their category
of impact (Turner, 2017). This stage is crucial in nature as it is important to evaluate and analyse
the risks in order to over shadow their significant impact over the project's operations.
Follow up: After analysing risks, ultimate step it to follow up the actions being taken in
regard to the risks. In the graduation ceremony, there could be lot of risks such as low budget,
restricted time period, etc. In order to manage these risks, their relevant actions needs a follow up
in order to eliminate any further implications.
5.2 Project risk matrix

CONCLUSION
In this Project management event conducted by University of Manchester being one of
the most known college in UK in respect of its quality education system. It is required to conduct
graduation ceremony in month on November 2021 which will comprise of different activities
having impact over project. Therefore, Project manager has been emphasized over various tasks
forming part of project in order to eliminate involved risk and manage time span and cost base.
It is done through adoption of approaches such as Gantt Chart, Budget formulation, cost
baseline, stakeholder interest assessment, risk matrix and so on.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Galli, B.J., 2017. Risk management in project environments: Reflection of the standard
process. The Journal of Modern Project Management. 5(2).
Suwal, S. and Singh, V., 2018. Assessing students’ sentiments towards the use of a Building
Information Modelling (BIM) learning platform in a construction project management
course. European Journal of Engineering Education. 43(4). pp.492-506.
Taraba, P., 2019. Project management methods in conditions of business companies in the Czech
Republic. International Journal of Circuits, Systems and Signal Processing.
Lutsenko, G., 2018. Case study of a problem-based learning course of project management for
senior engineering students. European Journal of Engineering Education. 43(6).
pp.895-910.
Torres and et. al., 2019. Implementing project based learning pedagogy in concrete industry
project management. International Journal of Construction Education and
Research. 15(1). pp.62-79.
Fernandes, G. and et. al., 2019. An extension of the improving and embedding project
management practice framework. International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business.
Uddin, S., 2017. Social network analysis in Project management–A case study of analysing
stakeholder networks. The Journal of Modern Project Management. 5(1).
Jin, H., Shen, L. and Wang, Z., 2018. Mapping the influence of project management on project
cost. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering. 22(9). pp.3183-3195.
Sergeeva, N. and Ali, S., 2020. The role of the Project Management Office (PMO) in stimulating
innovation in Projects initiated by Owner and Operator Organizations. Project
Management Journal. 51(4). pp.440-451.
Turner, J.R. ed., 2017. Contracting for project management. Taylor & Francis.
De Waal, A.A. and de Boer, F.A., 2017. Project management control within a multicultural
setting. Journal of Strategy and Management.
Suk, S.J. and et. al., 2017. Quantifying combination effects of project management practices on
cost performance. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering. 21(3). pp.603-615.