Project Management: Definition, Characteristics, and Role of Project Manager

This report discusses project management in the context of opening a new café. It covers the definition of the project, its characteristics, and the role of a project manager. The report also explores the application of theoretical frameworks and methodologies in a project environment, evaluates team composition and management, formulates a project management plan, and appraises measures to control and monitor project risk, quality, change, and configuration.

Project Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
1. Definition of the project, its characteristics and the role of project manage...........................1
2. Justification of the application of theoretical frameworks and methodologies within a
project environment.....................................................................................................................2
3. Critical evaluation of the composition and management of teams in a project environment..3
4. Formulation of the project management plan..........................................................................4
5. Appraisal of measures to control and monitor project risk, quality, change and configuration
.....................................................................................................................................................5
6. Evaluation of the project success and failure..........................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Project management can be defined as the process of controlling, monitoring, and evaluating
all the steps that are taken to run a project (Abbas, Abbas and Mazhar, 2019). It is very important
for all the entities to make sure that effective decisions for the management of projects are
formulated so that success could be acquired. In order to meet the long-term goals that are
related to it, the managers are required to pay attention to each and every action which is taken
by them to successfully meet the requirements. If they are not able to do the same then it will be
very difficult to attain success. This report is based upon the project of opening a new café and
acquiring funding for the same. It will be opened in different areas of the United Kingdom with
the objective of offering high-quality coffee to the customers and fulfil all their needs. This
assignment covers various topics such as the definition of the project, its characteristics, the role
of the project manager, application of theoretical frameworks. Critical evaluation of composition,
management of teams, etc. Additionally, the project plan, measure to control and monitor risk,
quality change, and configuration along with the evaluation of the project success and failure are
also covered in this report.
MAIN BODY
1. Definition of the project, its characteristics and the role of project manage
A project can be defined as a combination of different types of tasks that are performed
for the purpose of meeting a common goal. While working on a project it is very important for
the managers to make sure that they are taking appropriate actions to meet the objectives. A new
project on the establishment of a new café in the United Kingdom is being proposed. The café is
required to explore all its products and services in the market and for this purpose it requires
funding so that all the planned activities could be performed systematically. It has been planned
by the owners of the café that it will be opened in different areas of the United Kingdom so that
high-quality coffee could be offered to a large number of targeted audiences. Along with high-
quality coffee, breakfast and lunch within a reasonable price will also be offered to the
customers. The cost of establishing the whole café's total funding requirement is 20000 dollars. It
has been estimated that in one month the whole work of the project will be completed and the
café will be established. The significant resources which will be required by the coffee shop are
skilled staff, funds, furniture, material to prepare coffee, lunch and breakfast for the customers.
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Key characteristics of the project: The main characteristics of the new coffee shop
project are as follows:
 The new café will offer high quality coffee to the customers which will be loved by them
and it will help to retain individuals for long run.
 The café which will be opened in UK in upcoming one month will offer breakfast and
lunch in reasonable price to the customers so that they can afford a great meal.
 New café will be opened in 1900 square feet area which is a big place where individuals
can sit and have meals according to their preferences.
Roles of project manager: While working on a project the managers has to play different
roles all of them could be analysed with the help of following discussion:
 The main role of a project manager is to plan and define the scope of whole project so
that the individuals working on it can perform their jobs systematically (Ingason and
Schoper, 2017).
 The project manage is also responsible to estimate the time which will be taken by the
project to get completed as it can help to arrange resource accordingly.
 Cost estimation and development of budget is also a responsibility of the project manager
because it can help to make sure that all the desired resources will be acquired or not.
 Scheduling all the activities is also a role of project managers as they are responsible to
make schedule for all the operations as it can help to meet the goals that are related to the
completion of project.
2. Justification of the application of theoretical frameworks and methodologies within a project
environment
Project management environment can be defined as the surrounding of a project where
the managers implement different types of theoretical frameworks and methodologies so that the
project could be accomplished successfully. While working on the project of new café different
types of them will also be used which are listed and discussed below:
Critical path method: It is a theoretical framework which is used in project management
for the purpose of analysing the algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities (Kachoka and
Hoskins, 2017). In order to complete the project of new café which will be established in
different areas of UK it will be used. With the help of it, the most important task in the whole
project could be identified. Apart from this, the manager of café project will be able to
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understand the task duration and make modification in them accordingly so that the deadlines
could be met.
Six sigma: It can be defined as the set of different types of management techniques
which could be used for the purpose of improving business process and reducing the possibility
of errors. While willing to complete the project of opening a new café in UK the project
managers will use it and pay attention towards all the principles of it so that they can reduce the
possibility of adverse situations which may create challenges to establish it successfully (Kim,
2018). All the principles of it which will be focused by the project manager of café are as
follows:
 The managers have planned to be focused with the customers so that all the requirements
of them could eb fulfilled.
 By using six sigma principles the managers will understand the way in which work really
happens so that progress could be monitored (Yildrim, Rosetti and O'Donnell, 2019).
 Six sigma principles will be beneficial for project managers to make the flow of
processes smoothly.
 With the help of this, theory the management can reduce the waste and pay attention
towards the value so that the goal of establishing the café could be achieved successfully.
 One of the principles is related to reducing defects by removing the variation and it will
help the project managers of café to assure success.
 The last principle is related to making efforts in scientific and systematic manner so that
desired goals could be accomplished. It will be beneficial for the project to meet the
deadlines.
Prince 2 methodology: It is a well-structured methodology which is used in project
management and it will also be used in the project of new café. Main reason for using it is that it
is widely practiced in the private sector of UK and the café will also be a part of private sector.
By using it all the stages and steps which will be taken by the managers could be controlled and
managed for successful completion of project (Kristina and Wijaya, 2017).
3. Critical evaluation of the composition and management of teams in a project environment
While working on a project such as opening a new café it is very important for the
managers to make sure that they manage and compose the teams appropriately. While composing
the teams they are required to analyse the activities which will be performed. For example, while
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working of the project of café design is required to be made, arrangement of furniture etc, are
required to be focused. The teams will be composed accordingly. A team to look at the interior
of the café, another team to make design and one team to make arrangement of furniture will be
made. In order to manage all the teams, it will be very important for the managers to make sure
that they track performance of all the individuals (Lückmann and Feldmann, 2017). Apart from
this, effective leadership style is also required to be selected to make sure that teams are
performing all their jobs properly. In case of the project of café democratic leadership style will
be suitable as it will motivate all the workers to perform all their jobs properly and meet the
expectations of leader. The performance of all the individuals will be managed by supervising
them to work effectively and finding solution for all their issues that could be faced by them
while performing their jobs.
4. Formulation of the project management plan
Project management plan can be defined as the combination of different types of
activities which are performed for the purpose of completing a project in systematic manner. In
order to meet the goals of a project it is very important for the managers to formulate a project
management plan. While planning to complete the project of opening a new café the manager
will be responsible to formulate a project management plan. All the steps of it are as follows:
Identifying and meeting the stakeholders: It is the first stage where the managers
handling the project of opening a new café will be required to identify the stakeholders and meet
them. The main stakeholders for the project are owner, customers, staff members etc. By meeting
all of them the manager will be able to identify tehri needs and use them to formulate appropriate
strategies for the project (McIntyre-Tamwoy, Buckley and Abdulhalim, 2019).
Setting and prioritising the goals: At this stage future goals will be formulated by the
manager and strategies for the same will also be formed. The objective of the project of opening
new café is to establish it successfully in one month so that the owner can carry out operations.
Defining deliverables: This stage of the plan is related to the identification of all the key
elements which are required to meet the desired goals. The main deliverables which will be
focused by the managers of the project of new café are furniture, individuals who can work
productively to make arrangements etc.
Creating the schedule for project: At this stage, the project manager of the new café
will create the schedule for the project so that the deadlines which are decided to open the café
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could be met. For this purpose, the managers will be responsible to track the progress of all the
activities so that possibility of delay could be ignored (Sankaran, Rowe and Cady, 2017).
Identifying the issues and risks for the project: This step of project management pan is
highly focused with identification of risks and issues which may take place in future so that
strategies for responding them could be formed. Some of the issues which may affect the
successful completion of the project are delay in the completion, lack of funding etc.
Presenting the project plan to stakeholders: It is last stage of project management plan
where the plan will be shown to the stakeholders so that their views for the same could be
analysed. At this step the project manger take feedback from the stakeholders that the plan is
appropriate or not according to them.
5. Appraisal of measures to control and monitor project risk, quality, change and configuration
A project which intends to compete in a competitive market such as a café in United
Kingdom, it is important to appraise all the measures that can help in control and monitor change
in project along with quality, risk and configuration in the project. Some of the most appropriate
measures are assessed below:
Project Risk:
In order to control the risks in café project, it is first required that every risk is effectively
identified that can impact the project in future. Once all the risks are identified then it is
important to classify them into actual, residual and secondary risks. This measure of
classification is important as it will help in prioritising the risk and according risk responses will
be planned. These measures can be used by utilising the project management tool of risk register.
Other measures to control the risks are to analyse the risk trends and risk auditing. Using these
measures, the project will be effective controlled and then for managing these risks risk
reassessment tool can be used (Sharifgalieva, 2020).
Project quality:
In a competitive market where there are numerous similar businesses already established in
market, it is important for the intended café project to ensure project quality so that consumer
can be attracted to this café. In order to control and monitor project quality, the measure of
benchmarking can be used in which a standard of quality will be set, this benchmark and quality
can then be monitored by using the measure of statistical sampling can be used.
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Other secondary measures that can also be used are cost benefit analysis, flow charts,
inspection and cause and effect diagrams. All these measures will not ensure that project café is
effectively operated; it will also help in determining the future changes in quality controls that
will be required.
Project change:
The project of the new café is intended to be established in United Kingdom in which
entertainment of consumers will be ensured by using arcade games and books. But it is important
for this café to ensure versatility so that if one attempt to satisfy people, does not work; another
attempt can be made through smooth change process. This change process will need few
measures that will ensure control and monitor of the project change. The first measurement is to
propose the change in front of the all essential personnel of the café. Once the change request is
accepted, it important to analyse the consequences of that change (Silva and Guenther, 2018).
Change in the project of café can be controlled using timescales, which can analyse the
schedule and resources that will be used to implement the change and a budget that will help in
analysing the cost that will incur in order to process the change. This change management
process of the café project can even un monitored by using the tool of deliverables, this tool will
assist in monitoring that whether or not the targeted deliverables are acquired by the processed
change.
Project configuration:
Configuring a project refers to the process of effectively managing the project throughout its
project life cycle. There are various measures that can be used to effectively monitoring and
control the project configuration. Critical path method and Gantt chart are both most effective
measures which can be used to monitor the progress of project configuration (Speer and Lara,
2017).
In order to control the configuration of café project, the measure of performance baseline is
the most appropriate as by this any defect can detected as soon as it occurs.
6. Evaluation of the project success and failure
The above project of a café which intend to be established in United Kingdom has lead
towards various key learning points, some of these learning points acquired from the delivery of
project are analysed below:
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From the above project delivery it has been learned that it is important to consider each
constraint of the project management in order to ensure the success of the project. These
constraints of café projects involve project risk, quality, change and configuration. It has also
learned that there are few pre experimented measures which can be used to for each of these
constraint.
The above project of café is successfully resulted in delivering a key learning point that in
the case where project intends to offer the same product which has been already offered in
market, then the only aspect which can help in acquiring success is the quality of products. And
the quality constraint is a long run constraint that must be monitored though the business life
cycle by using benchmarking as a quality measurement.
Another learning project acquired from above project is that planning is the most important
element which plays an essential role in the success of a project management. The above café
project has planned to be completed on time through the use of Critical path method as this
method provides the critical time period for the completion of entire project. Other methods
which are planned to be used are six sigma and prince 2 methodologies (Tsairas, 2019).
The project of café has provided a learning that managing a project is not limited to only
planning for the project but it involves managing the project configuration for the entire project
life cycle. And for this the tools of project management such as network diagram and time scales
are effective.
After disseminating the key learning points, it can be said that the project of café will be a
successful project as each and every aspect of the project has been considered and various
contingencies provisions are developed that can help in the situation of any issues in near future
of the project.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that project management is the
process of controlling, monitoring and evaluating progress of a project so that the goals could be
accomplished successfully. While working on project different types of theoretical models and
methodologies could be used. These are prince 2, six sigma, critical path method etc. Project
management plan is one of the main documents that should be formulated by all the managers as
it can help to analyse that all the activities are performed appropriately or not. Different types of
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measures to control and monitor risk, quality, change configuration etc, are also used in the
project management so that all the tasks could be completed successfully.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Abbas, Z., Abbas, S. and Mazhar, A., 2019, March. Automatic Cafe Management System Using
Waiter Robot. In 2019 2nd International Conference on Communication, Computing
and Digital systems (C-CODE) (pp. 211-214). IEEE.
Ingason, H. T. and Schoper, Y., 2017. Project Management and sustainability-review of the 4th
IPMA Research Conference 2016. Project Management Research and Practice. 4.
pp.5467-5467.
Kachoka, N. and Hoskins, R., 2017. Using project management strategy to evaluate the
challenges of managing a renovation project at the chancellor college library, university
of Malawi. African Journal of Library, Archives & Information Science. 27(2). pp.189-
200.
Kim, T., 2018. Identifying Stakeholders and Interactions in the Dementia Café in Seongju
through Empathic Service Design Approaches. Journal of Open Innovation:
Technology, Market, and Complexity. 4(3). p.28.
Kristina, S. and Wijaya, B. M., 2017, December. Risk management for food and beverage
industry using Australia/New Zealand 4360 Standard. In IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 277, No. 1, p. 012025). IOP Publishing.
Lückmann, P. and Feldmann, C., 2017. Success factors for business process improvement
projects in small and medium sized enterprises–empirical evidence. Procedia computer
science. 121. pp.439-445.
McIntyre-Tamwoy, S., Buckley, K. and Abdulhalim, H., 2019. Knowledge Café 2.1: Beyond
the'war on nature'and the'attacks on culture': the CultureNature Journey through Rural
Landscapes.
Sankaran, S., Rowe, W. and Cady, P., 2017. Developmental progress in conducting action
research. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 34(5). pp.609-617.
Sharifgalieva, I., 2020. Business plan for CheapSleep hostel café.
Silva, S. and Guenther, E., 2018. Setting the research agenda for measuring sustainability
performance–systematic application of the world café method. Sustainability
Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.
Speer, L. and Lara, J., 2017. Book Club Café: A new recipe for extensive reading. English
Australia Journal. 32(2). p.3.
Tsairas, N., 2019. Business Plan for starting a dementia Café as a Social Cooperative Enterprise.
Yildrim, E., Rosetti, I. and O'Donnell, P., 2019. Knowledge Café 4.1: Rural heritage and urban-
rural linkages in the ICOMOS SDGs Policy Guidance.
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