Implementation of New Planning Approach at OmniBuild

The assignment content discusses the implementation of a new planning approach in OmniBuild using the 4D project management model. The four stages of implementing the new plan include developing an appropriate plan, formulating an effective team, providing training for staff members, and standardizing planning tools. The project has started on October 26, 2015, and will be finished on February 26, with a total cost of £850,000. A budget is also presented for a 2.5-month project with a total cost of £650,000.

Project Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
introduction......................................................................................................................................1
PART A GENERAL OVERVIEW................................................................................................1
Evaluating Relationship Between Project Planning and Project Controlling..............................1
Techniques to improve financial performance of projects at OmniBuild...................................3
Key weaknesses of the current HR policies.................................................................................5
Implementing a new project planning approach..........................................................................6
PART B- PROJECT PLANNING...................................................................................................8
Project plan:.................................................................................................................................8
Gantt chart for project plan..........................................................................................................9
Tactical options to reduce the project duration to 2.5 months.....................................................9
Updated Gantt chart:..................................................................................................................10
PART C- BUDGET CREATION..................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
Appendix........................................................................................................................................14
B.1..............................................................................................................................................14
B.2..............................................................................................................................................15
C.1..............................................................................................................................................16
C.2..............................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Project management is defined as a systematic process which is applied to the attainment
of certain objectives by combining various other approaches such planning, organizing,
motivating and controlling of resources. A project is a temporary task which is designed to
produce a unique product as well as building service or result for the attainment of unique goals
and objectives (Sommerville, 2011). An approach of project management has found very
effective for handling of various crucial tasks and strategies as per the requirement of particular
objectives.
The present study is going to analyze the various aspects of project management by
considering the case of OmniBuild which is identified as one of leading companies that is
focused on delivering projects and consultancy in the field of construction of large buildings and
infrastructure. In the context of construction business, approach of project management plays an
important role. In this context, management of OmniBuild makes efforts for determining
schedule of activities as per the project life-cycle. It contains four stages such as Initiation,
Planning, Implementation and Closing Phases. By considering project life-cycle, management of
OmniBuild determines the objectives of project (Craighead and Meredith, 2008). In the next
stage, management carries out whole project planning such as budget development and resource
analysis. In the third stage, company executes the project and closes the project after completion
of last stage. Apart from that, this report also carries out detail analysis of different terms of
project management such as project planning, project control etc.
PART A GENERAL OVERVIEW
Evaluating Relationship Between Project Planning and Project Controlling
Management of OmniBuild provides significant consultancy to various large and
construction project. In this process, planning and project controlling play the most important
role. Discussion on these elements are explained below:
Project planning
For managing various building project, administration of OmniBuild pays extra attention
on the project planning process. This is because success of project is greatly influenced by an
appropriate planning. Project planning is defined as a discipline for stating how to complete a
project within a certain timeframe, usually with defined stages, and with designated resources
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(Kousholt,2007). Therefore, it is considered as the most important aspect of project management
process.
Management of OmniBuild follows some stages while carrying out project planning.
Some stages of project planning are mentioned below:
 Stage 1: Project goals: In this section, business entity makes efforts to determine the
goals of the project. In this section, company identifies different stakeholders and their
needs.
 Stage 2: Project Deliverables: This section supports management to make predictions of
project outcomes as per the objectives and current market trends.
 Stage 3: Project Schedule: It is a third stage of project that assists management of
obstructionist company for the development of scheduling activities in order complete
the project as per the predetermined deadlines (Bryde, 2008). Stage 4: Supporting plans: It is considered as the most important section of the process of
project planning in which project manager develops various supportive plans associated
with human resource management, communication system as well as risk management
that have significant impact on the success of project.
Project controlling
Success of a construction project is greatly influenced by an appropriate monitoring and
controlling system. Therefore, Project controlling is termed as data gathering, management and
analytical processes that play an important role to predict, understand and constructively
influence the time and cost outcomes of a particular project or program (Kousholt, 2007). This
approach has found very effective to assist management of several operations and decision
making. This approach assists project to check progress of particular project through which
OmniBuild is able to take appropriate decision and strategies to keep the project on track.
Relationship between project planning and project controlling
Project planning and project controlling both are interrelated elements of project
management process. Therefore, management tries to establish appropriate relationship in both
terms. In the process of project planning, management develops a systematic plan along with
standards through which management is able to ensure the level of success and profitability of
project as per the business goals and objectives (Beynon-Davies, 2009). In addition to that, the
approach of project planning is also support to the project managers of OmniBuild in evaluation
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of several factors associated with the particular project through which company identifies
potential barrier of project plans. On the other hand, the term project controlling assists managers
for keeping project on right track by resolving different problems and issues that are occurred in
project implementation process (Kerzner, 2009). Apart from that, it has been evaluated that this
approach plays an important role in evaluating the performance and outcomes of projects as per
the predetermined norms and standards.
Techniques to improve financial performance of projects at OmniBuild
Success of the project is greatly depending on different operations and identification of
several areas with a proper manner associated with the project planning (Akpolat and
Pitinanondha, 2009). In this process, management of OmniBuild considers several areas to
improve financial performance of building and other projects.
Consideration of triple constraints and turner's five fuction
While developing different projects, managers of OmniBuild are considering several
project constraints which are playing an important role for the successful project execution along
with the effective decision making. There are three main interdependent constraints addressed
which are considered for every project such as time, cost and scope. This is also known as
Project Management Triangle (Roberts, 2011). These elements are playing a significant role in
order to influence financial performance of company. The first element of this approach is time
which is considered as the most crucial factor which is uncontrollable. If, OmniBuild fails to
meet the deadlines in a project implementation process that leads adverse effects on efficiency
and financial performance of the projects because company faces financial penalties (Staadt,
2012). In addition to that, cost management is identified as a crucial part of project, therefore
different budgets will ensure that project is developed or implemented below a certain cost.
In addition to that, project managers are allocating some additional resources in order to
meet the deadlines that are creating negative impact on the financial performance of projects. In
addition to that, it has evaluated that project manager has to consider both the scope of the
project and any change in scope which impacts time and cost (Hamilton, 2010). In addition to
that, quality management is identified as a crucial factor which is having significant impact on
the performance and cost of projects of OmniBuild. This is because if management pays extra
attention to quality than the cost of project will be increased. Therefore, business entity has to
manage proper balance between price and quality.
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Consideration of project cost management
It is addressed as a most important aspects of project management process which plays
important for ensuring financial performance and success of the project. Apart from that it is
identified that project managers of OmniBuild are using various tactics for ensuring efficient
performance of the project with the help of wide range of cost control tactics through which
company is able to minimize the cost of the projects with hampering the quality of project
(Cooper, 2005). In this regard, some important cost control cubes are explained under this
statement:
 Cost control cube: It is identified as most effective tool of project cost monitoring which
is having direct impact over the performance and efficiency of project of OmniBuild.
This approach also supports management for developing of efficient financial plan
through which business entity is able to income of company through different projects.
The concept of cost control cube helps project manager by showing each aspect of project
cost within in a cube which is build as per the overall budgeted cost of project (Reiss,
2007). This approach provides significant assistance in order to carry out aggregation and
dis-aggregation of cost and expenditure to manage financial planning, monitoring along
with control of costs.
 Earned value analysis: Earned value analysis is an approach which is applied in the
process of project cost evaluation for measuring how much work has been completed in a
project at a certain point of time and performance. It is project management methodology
which is used by the management of OmniBuild for monitoring and controlling for
measuring the performance Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (Oberlender, 2008). It is
an effective Cost Control tool in Project Management which is used as a forecaster and
tracker for measuring the progress of the project with reference to work done and
resources utilized. Therefore, it can be stated that this approach supports management to
ensure cost of project along with its financial performance toward business.
 S-Curve analysis: This approach has found very effective for cost monitoring during the
project management process. S-curve analysis is identified as a display of cumulative
costs associated with the labor hours or other quantities plotted against time (Managing
Projects, 2015). The name derives from the S-like shape of the curve which is addressed
as flatter at the beginning and end and steeper in the middle. The beginning of this curve
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represents a slow, deliberate but accelerating start. On the other hand, end represents a
deceleration as the work runs out. It shows flow of activities through which management
is able to analysis different aspects and factors that increase the cost of project along with
its profitability.
Key weaknesses of the current HR policies
As per the case, it has been evaluated that the management of OmniBuild is facing
several issues associated with human resource management related practices which are having
the negative impact on overall efficiency and performance of different projects that are managed
by OmniBuild. Poor human resource management practices are influencing several issues and
problems such as team management, staff training and development etc (Arizona, 2008). that
hamper overall efficiency and business operations of the construction company. As per the case,
some key weaknesses of current HR policies of OmniBuild is examined below: Lack of coordination: As per the present case, it is examined that HR manger is facing
significant issues due to poor coordination among different project teams. This situation
was emerged due to employees are not having proper information about latest tools and
tactics of communication along with project management approaches so as project teams
are facing several issues in establishment of proper coordination among different
activities as per the project plan and project goals (Kousholt, 2007). All these aspects
leads negative impact on financial performance and costing of the project. Lack of efficient training and skills development program: The present case has
determined that the HR department of OmniBuild is not using appropriate skills
development and training programs for new as well as existing workers through which
management is able to enhance efficiency and outcomes of workers (Beynon-Davies,
2009). In this process, HR managers of OmniBuild should have to formulate appropriate
training programs with the help of external seminars and etc. that assists HR managers in
order to increase understanding of employees about latest project management
approaches that could be applied on different construction projects. This process will
save the cost and increase efficiency of project. But, unavailability of proper as per the
requirements of project planning process could be incurred several issues related to cost,
timely completion of projects etc (Akpolat and Pitinanondha, 2009). All these factors are
playing important role for ensuring the success of business entity.
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 Inappropriate team building: By considering different aspects of case, it has found that
HR management of OmniBuild does not have efficient policies related to team
development that leads negative impact on the team development process within
organization. As per the current market trends, the management of OmniBuild has to
consider team building as a most important aspect of project management that has direc
impact on efficiency and performance of business entity (Roberts, 2011). Apart from that
it is examined that this approach helps management in scheduling of various activities
and operations as per the business requirement and requirement of project planning
process. Currently, HR has failed to apply an appropriate team building approach through
which business entity is facing distinct issues during the process of project management.
Implementing a new project planning approach
As per case, the management of OmniBuild is facing several issues associated with
project planning and implementation. In this context, the new approach of project planning
supports management for resolving of various issues and business problems that would enhance
performance and efficiency of company (Staadt, 2012). In this regard, some most important
tactics are explained under this statement: 4D project management model: The 4D project management model provides significant
assistance to managers for handling different aspects of project. It provides significant
support in project planning process. It contains 4D's such as define, design it, do it and
deliver it. As per the first element (define), OmniBuild determines the background of
project and management also examines company's aims for the project intervention
(Project Management Model, 2015). The term Design it, helps managers for
development of appropriate plan and time-line for different project along with
identification of constraints and dependencies. The section of Do it influences
management for application of an appropriate project plan and reviewing it. The last
section is Deliver it in which management of OmniBuild can test and measure different
outcomes of project with reference to objectives of plans (Hamilton, 2010). Therefore, it
can be stated that 4D project management model has found very effective for
implementation of new planning approaches within business entity.
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 Stages for implementing the new planning approach: For implementation of new
planning approach associated with the project planning, the administration of OmniBuild
has to follow four stages.
◦ As per the first stage, managers need to develop an appropriate plan of
implementation of new planning approach in which management has to consider
different aspects such as cost of plan, time duration, efficiency of workers etc. All
these factor are having direct impact on success of new plan.
◦ In the next stage, management has to formulate an appropriate team of individuals
that control all aspects as per the requirement of new system through which
management could generate efficient outcomes in the from of increment in efficiency
and productivity of organization (Cooper, 2005). This is also responsible for
establishment of coordination among different aspects of project planning process.
◦ Roll out of training is identified as third section of this plan. According to this
section, managers provide an appropriate training system for staff member that
supports employees in order to understand new system. It plays important role for
improving skills of workers as per the new system (Roberts, 2011). By matching
employees skills as per the requirement of new system, OmniBuild is able to assess
the support of workers for application of new system that would have positive impact
on overall efficiency of business entity.
◦ The last stage of implementation of new planning approach is standardization of
planning tools in which managers examine effectiveness of different planning tools
and selects best planning tools (Beynon-Davies, 2009). In this section, management
also determines the potential outcomes and their effectiveness in different situations
associated with the project planning process.
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PART B- PROJECT PLANNING
Project plan:
As per the given information project has started on 26 October 2015 and will be finished on 26 February. Considering holidays
as non-working project manager have total 87 working day. As per this information proposed project plan is as follows:
Table 1: Project plan
S.
No. Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Start
Slack Resource Initials
1 The implementation of the new
Project Planning approach 80 days Mon
10/26/15
Wed
2/17/16 0 days
2 Analysis of cost planning 20 days Mon
10/26/15
Mon
11/23/15 0 days C1,C2,S1,SPO
3 Detailed Analysis of the
Effectiveness of Project Planning 5 days Tue
11/24/15
Mon
11/30/15 2 3 days C1,C2,SPO
4 Improvement of Project Planning
Processes 15 days Tue
11/24/15
Mon
12/14/15 2 0 days C1,C2,SPO
5 Detailed Description of the
Project Planning metrics 7 days Tue 12/1/15 Wed 12/9/15 3 3 days C1,C2,S1,S2,SPO
6 Selection of Project Planning
Software solution 30 days Tue
12/15/15 Wed 1/27/16 5,4 0 days C1,C2,SPO
7 Meetings with suppliers 10 days Thu
12/10/15
Wed
12/23/15 5 4 days C1,C2,S1,S2,SPO
8 Discussion of report with
Managing Director 19 days Thu
12/24/15 Thu 1/21/16 7 4 days C1,C2,SPO
9 Writing of final PMO report 12 days Thu 1/28/16 Fri 2/12/16 8,6 0 days C1,C2,S1,S2,SPO
10 Presentation of final PMO report 3 days Mon
2/15/16 Wed 2/17/16 9 0 days C1,C2,SPO
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Calculation has reflected that critical path for the above discussed project plan will be 2-4-6-9-10 = 15+30+12+3= 80 days. It
has reflected that project will be completed minimum 80 days. Above discussed path is longest path for completing whole project.
Gantt chart for project plan
Appendix Part B.1.
Tactical options to reduce the project duration to 2.5 months
Project manager can change the duration of different activities for reducing the total time. It will help completing whole project
earlier. Using the following chart project manager can reduce the project duration to 2.5 months.
Table 2: Updated project plan for reducing total duration of the project
Updated project plan for reducing total duration of
the project
Task
Mode Task Name Duratio
n Start Finish Predec
essors
Start
Slack
Resource
Initials
Baseline
Finish
Base
line
Dura
tion
1
The
implementation
of the new
Project Planning
approach
35 days Mon
10/26/15
Mon
12/14/15 0 days Wed 2/17/16 80
days
2 Analysis of cost
planning 9 days Mon
10/26/15
Thu
11/5/15 0 days C1,C2,S1,SP
O Mon 11/23/15 20
days
3
Detailed
Analysis of the
Effectiveness of
Project Planning
5 days Fri
11/6/15
Fri
11/13/15 2 0 days C1,C2,SPO Mon 11/30/15 5
days
4
Improvement of
Project Planning
Processes
10 days Fri
11/6/15
Fri
11/20/15 2 2 days C1,C2,SPO Mon 12/14/15 15
days
9

5
Detailed
Description of the
Project Planning
metrics
2 days Mon
11/16/15
Tue
11/17/15 3 0 days C1,C2,S1,S2
,SPO Wed 12/9/15 7
days
6
Selection of
Project Planning
Software solution
10 days Mon
11/23/15
Fri
12/4/15 5,4 2 days C1,C2,SPO Wed 1/27/16 30
days
7 Meetings with
suppliers 10 days Wed
11/18/15
Tue
12/1/15 5 0 days C1,C2,S1,S2
,SPO Wed 12/23/15 10
days
8
Discussion of
report with
Managing
Director
5 days Wed
12/2/15
Tue
12/8/15 7 0 days C1,C2,SPO Thu 1/21/16 19
days
9 Writing of final
PMO report 2 days Wed
12/9/15
Thu
12/10/15 8,6 0 days C1,C2,S1,S2
,SPO Fri 2/12/16 12
days
10 Presentation of
final PMO report 2 days Fri
12/11/15
Mon
12/14/15 9 0 days C1,C2,SPO Wed 2/17/16 3
days
Critical path for the updated project plan will be 2-3-5-7-8-9-10= 9+5+2+10+5+2+2= 35 days. After rescheduling the current
project will be completing in 35 days. Project completion date will be 14 December 2015.
Updated Gantt chart:
Appendix Part B.2.
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PART C- BUDGET CREATION
Development of budget an appropriate is identified as a most crucial aspect of project
management. As per the budget of 4 months project with the total cost of £850000 shown in
Appendix C.1, it is evaluated that total lobar cost of the project is £290200 and total fixed cost is
£287000. In addition to that travelling and other expenditures have managed significant portion
in total budget cost which is £226000 so as it can be stated company is facing huge expenditures
on travelling related activities that increases overall cost of the project.
If management change budget with 2.5 months with a cost £650000 than project manager
has significantly reduced the labour cost along with travelling expenditures for managers. In this
situation, the total labour cost is reduced to £176575 from £290200. In addition to that drastic
reduction is addressed in the travelling expenditures of managers and other staff which is
decreased to £157825 from £226000. In this situation, fixed cost remains the unchanged because
cost of different equipment cannot be altered. Therefore, it can be stated that the project
budgeting provides appropriate information about cost of the project in different situations
through which management is able to take appropriate decisions that have significant impact on
efficiency and outcomes projects (Akpolat and Pitinanondha, 2009). This approach provides
significant assistance for identification of such activities that are possessing maximum portion in
the total cost of project. On the basis of this information, project can select appropriate cost
management tools that would save overall cost of the project by identifying deviation.
11

REFERENCES
Journals and Online
Akpolat, H. and Pitinanondha, T., 2009. A Framework for Systematic Management of
Operational Risks. Asian Journal on Quality. 10(2). pp.1 – 17.
Beynon-Davies, P., 2009. Business Information Systems. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bryde, J. D., 2008. Modelling project management performance. International Journal of
Quality & Reliability Management. 20(2). pp.229 – 254.
Cooper, D. F., 2005. Project risk management guidelines: managing risk in large projects and
complex procurements.
Craighead, W. C. and Meredith, J., 2008. Operations management research: evolution and
alternative future path.
Hamilton, A., 2010. Art and Practice of Managing Projects. London: Thomas Telford.
Kerzner, H., 2009. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and
Controlling. 9th Edition. John Wiley and Sons.
Kousholt, B., 2007. Project Management. Nyt Teknisk Forlag and Commercial Training. 35(6).
pp.256 – 258.
Oberlender, G. D., 2008. Project management for engineering and construction. 2nd ed.
McGraw-Hill.
Reiss, G., 2007. Project Management Demystified. 3rd ed. USA: Routledge.
Roberts, P., 2011. Effective Project Management: Identify and Manage Risks Plan and Budget
Keep Projects Under Control. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Sommerville, J., 2011. Ethical views of micro-enterprises delivering project and asset
management services in west-central Scotland. Built Environment Project and Asset
Management. 1(1) pp.91 – 103.
Staadt, J., 2012. Redesigning a project-oriented organization in a complex system: A soft
systems methodology approach. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
5(1). pp. 51-66.
Online
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Arizona, 2008. Project Management methodology. [Pdf]. Available
Through:<http://www.chandleraz.gov/content/pm000pmmethodologygde.pdf>. [Accessed
on 22nd December 2015].
Managing Projects. 2015. [pdf]. Available through:
<https://www.chandleraz.gov/Content/PM000PMMethodologyGDE.pdf>. [Accessed on
22nd December 2015]
Project Management Model. Project Management methodology. 2015. [Online]. Available
Through:<http://www.the-happy-manager.com/articles/project-management-model/>.
[Accessed on 22nd December 2015].
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APPENDIX
B.1
Figure 1: Gantt chart for implementing project plan
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B.2
Figure 2: Updated Gantt chart for completing project on early date
15

C.1
Budget of 4 month project with the total cost of £850000
Labor cost
Grade
Number of
individuals
(X)
Cost per
Day/week/month
(£) (Y)
No. of
Days/Weeks/Months
(Z)
Total cost
(£) (X*Y*Z)
Secretaries 2 3250 per month 4 Months 26000
Consultant 2 1600 per day 76 Days 243200
Project planning
managers 1 5250 per month 4 Months 21000
(A)Total lobar cost 290200
(B)Accommodation
expenses 4 650 per weak 18 weeks 46800
(C) Total travelling and other expenditure 226000
Fixed cost
New PC hardware 35000
Project planning software 27000
Miss. Fixed cost 25000
Cost of training and development of teams 200000
(D) Total fixed cost 287000
Total cost (A+B+C+D) 850000
C.2
Budget of 2.5 month project with the total cost of £650000
Labour cost
Grade
Number of
individuals
Cost per
day/week/month
No. of
Days/Weeks/Months Total cost
Secretaries 2 3250 per month 2.5 Month 16250
Consultant 2 1600 per day 46 Days 147200
Project planning
managers 1 5250 per month 2.5 Month 13125
(A)Total labour cost 176575
(B)Accommodation
expenses 4 650 per weak 11 weeks 28600
(C) Total travelling and other expenditure 157825
Fixed cost
New PC hardware 35000
Project planning software 27000
Miss. Fixed cost 25000
Cost of training and development of teams 200000
(D)Total fixed cost 287000
Total cost(A+B+C+D) 650000
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