Project Management - Sample Assignment

Project Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Executive Summary......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Project Overview...................................................................................................................1
1.2 Project Performance Summary..............................................................................................1
1.3 Follow-on Actions.................................................................................................................1
1.4 Lessons Learned.....................................................................................................................2
2 Project Performance......................................................................................................................3
2.1 Financial Status......................................................................................................................3
2.2 Schedule Performance...........................................................................................................4
2.3 Achievement of Scope...........................................................................................................4
2.4 Variances from Original Business Case................................................................................5
2.5 Lessons Learned.....................................................................................................................5
3 Project Reports..............................................................................................................................1
Overview......................................................................................................................................1
Summary......................................................................................................................................1
3.1 Project Manager.....................................................................................................................1
3.1.1 Project Summary......................................................................................................1
3.1.2 Events that affected Project Performance.................................................................3
3.1.3 Team Performance....................................................................................................3
3.2 Project Sponsor......................................................................................................................4
4 What I Learned.............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

1 Executive Summary
1.1 Project Overview
Waste management is an essential department in any sector to protect the environment
and maintain the quality and delivery of services. It is mainly done by collecting, transferring,
disposing and reviewing the waste. There are several operations and activities that regulate the
disposal of waste and involves about the resource recovery to manage the business environment.
The operational activities in chemical industry is widespread and generates variety of waste
which must be eliminated in systematic ways. This project is based on understanding the
significance of waste management of manufacturing company named as CSBP Limited. This
mainly deals with different aspects of managing the waste in accordance to its utility. This
company is referred as the Fertiliser and Chemical company of Australia which is situated in
Western Australia. It generates several types of wastes that is produced during the manufacturing
of products like PVC, wood plastic composites, fertilisers etc.
1.2 Project Performance Summary
Project performance is the measurement of the entire working practices while completion
of any project. Meanwhile, this project's performance is based on several factors like finance,
time schedule, budgeting and total number of team members. The time schedule was not fulfilled
due to disorganised ways and showed that the fixed budget and allocated resources were
implemented in feasible ways to maintain the sustainability element but few times, there were
delays and it disrupted the budgeting. The managers were focused on the maintenance of safety
and quality aspects overall performance of the team to establish scope for improvements among
the rival companies. Henceforth, it is important to understand that performance is variably
dependent.
1.3 Follow-on Actions
There were mainly two events that took place and had an effect on the entire working
practices while completing the project. The first event where the machinery was unavailable and
required to complete operations like collecting waste, segregating etc. Such delay impacted in
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negative ways and in the form of overestimations of budget and time inefficiency. Moreover, this
also showed about another event that reflected upon the lack of sufficient working materials such
as placement of bins, gloves etc. It has also been found out that after the delays due to occurrence
of such events, the project suffered but recovered in context to the quality aspects. The success of
this project led to an understanding that follow up actions are effective in taking feedbacks and
reviews to make the entire methodology more formal and structured.
1.4 Lessons Learned
It has been demonstrated that there were many lessons that were helpful and beneficial
for the completion of the project as well as that helped all the team members to learn something
new. After facing challenges on continuous basis with few obstacles, it was found out that the
team worked effectively together to produce desired outcomes. In addition to this, the project
management helped in gaining knowledge and technical expertise to manage the schedule in
more approachable manner. Thus, this project not only opened sustainable techniques for better
management of wastes but also assisted the administration of this company to generate
awareness among the entire task force.
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2 Project Performance
It was necessary to evaluate project performance so that report can be developed. Also, it
helps in analyzing how each activity was performed and comparing expected outcome with
actual one. This is easy for stakeholders to view and analyze project performance (Iyer and
Banerjee, 2016). However, it also helps in finding out strong and weak areas so that next time it
can be improved.
2.1 Financial Status
This is the major element that was necessary to evaluate. It is because it helped in
analysing in what way project was successful in terms of financial status. It can be observed that
overall project performance was average (Hwang, Zhao and Tan, 2015). It was not as good as
expected. The functions were categorised on basis of project requirements. For each activity cost
determined was different. Moreover, time was considered as important factor while estimating
cost. The financial status of project is described below :-
Financial cost Expected Actual
Analyzing requirements $1000 $800
Developing plan $1200 $1000
Designing prototype $1400 $2000
Assigning roles $500 $700
Machinery and materials
required
$1500 $2000
Implementing system $25000 $23000
Testing waste management
system
$5000 $4500
Monitoring and evaluation $3500 $3400
It can be evaluated financial performance of project was effective and highly beneficial.
However the main budget of the project was disturbed machinery and material requirement as
well as in designing prototype. Here, as expected the actual cost of several activities were less.
However machinery and materials required increased the overall cost of the project which
disturbed the overall budget of the project. The most less cost incurred was in implementation of
system. Here, total $2000 was saved. Alongside it, in designing of prototype $6000 was saved.
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On contrary in many other areas more additional costs was incurred. Besides this, some extra
cost was incurred that was $2500.
2.2 Schedule Performance
The schedule was developed according to activities and by calculating total time of each
activity. In this each project member worked effectively with others. Also, the roles and
responsibility assigned to them were performed properly (Cummings, 2016). Besides this, the
project manager monitored overall team and activities by taking feedback from them. Through
this, it project progress was monitored. Also, changes were made instantly with delay in any
activity. Thus, it enabled in maintaining smooth flow of project. Alongside it, employees were
assigned task one day before next activity to be done. These all was done according to plan. The
activities initiated are described below :-
Financial cost Expected Actual
Analyzing requirements 10 days 11 days
Developing plan 7 days 8 days
Designing prototype of system 15 days 20 days
Assigning roles 9 days 7 days
Implementing system 25 days 20 days
Testing waste management
system
5 days 5 days
Monitoring and evaluation 7 days 5 days
From this, it can be stated that there was difference in following of schedule and
completion of activities. There was delay in designing of prototype as many changes were done.
The changes were usually small and it required to be evaluated effectively. So, as compared to
expected time of 15 days, it took 20 days to design prototype. But on other hand in many
activities actual time was less as compared to expected one. So, delay in schedule was covered in
next activities. Hence, it can be evaluated that overall project schedule performance was average.
The activities were completed before estimated time except in designing the prototype of the
system and in arranging machinery and materials for the project. Thus, overall waste
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management system was implemented approximately on time but was delayed by few days. This
saved cost as well as time to initiate other activities.
2.3 Achievement of Scope
It refers to comparison of actual and expected scope of project. In this it can be stated that
actual scope of project was effective (Charles, Schmidheiny and Watts, 2017). The scope of
reducing waste in CSBP was successful. The system helped in separating waste from used
materials and recycling it.
There was shift in scope as system required some changes according to change in policy
of company. However, it was expected that waste will be reduced by 20% but actual scope
attained was only 13%.
2.4 Variances from Original Business Case
In project there occurred many variances due to which outcomes was impacted (Beliatis
and et.al., 2018). But project manager effectively handled and managed variances to minimise its
impact. The variances occurred was:-
 Implementation of system
 Testing and recording of data
So, in these areas variances occurred which resulted in impacting on end results. Besides this,
PM took proper measures and action in order to eliminate this variances. The measure was taken
that in testing system expert suggestion was taken. This helped in further testing and analysing
results.
2.5 Lessons Learned
From the scenario, I learnt about resources which were allocated and utilised for finishing
this project. However, I learned that in what activity how many funds are to be allocated
according to their requirement. It also made me realise the significance of team work and
contribution of each member while performing the tasks. There were many barriers in the form
of unavailability of machinery and materials for handling the substances at the site location.
Nevertheless, I gained insights on overcoming the challenges and difficulties and bringing some
innovative ideas to maintain the quality of services. Additionally, it also highlighted the need of
knowing about the progress of the project in more collaborative ways. I understood that
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communication is the key to open the doors and make changes without any compromises and
conflicts.
Furthermore, the focus is on maintenance of the deliverables in terms of time and cost which
got extended due to the uncertain situational crisis. I also found out that a structured strategic
planning aids in maintaining the quality and delivery of services. Different individuals with
different experience and knowledge helped in achieving the effectiveness ad productivity to
display collaborative team work. It also shed light on the drawbacks that most of the projects
might face but this project helped in generating awareness about proper disposal of wastes. I also
got to know about the financial performance analysis to keep an estimated value for the
completion of project on time without any delays. I understood that scheduling and forecasting
are two elements that help in maintaining the delivery of the project under the sponsorship. It
helped to establish an integrated framework to maintain the completion. Alongside, the scope of
reducing waste at this organisation was successful by creating robust system which helped in
separating waste from used materials and recycling it. Thus, I learnt lot of concepts and
techniques that helped me to grow at professional levels and brought concrete changes.
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3 Project Reports
Overview
Waste management has become one of the most crucial part of every industry today.
There are many organisations that are focusing on waste management so that they can collect,
transport, dispose, reuse, treatment of waste (Waste, 2018). CSBP is an Australian chemical and
fertiliser company based in Western Australia. This waste management project is important to be
executed within the company as after manufacturing of their products lots of waste is produced
like liquid waste that is generated in operational and manufacturing phase, chemical waste etc.
due to which pollution is increased, natural resources is depleted due to emission of toxic
elements or chemicals (Rhyner and et.al., 2017). So this waste management project was
developed for CSPR organisations so that they can manage and maintain their waste that is
produced from their manufacturing of products.
Summary
In this perspective of both project manager and project sponsor has been discussed. Area
of interest of both manager and sponsor is completely different like project sponsors are
interested in time, cost, quality etc. of the project whereas project managers has be interested in
the performance of their team members against the key baselines scope of the project, time
duration and overall cost of the project (Letcher and Vallero, 2019). Other than this managers
mainly focuses on overall performance of the team, things they have learned and improvement
they have brought within themselves.
3.1 Project Manager
3.1.1 Project Summary
This waste management project was designed for CSPR organisation of Australia to
reduce their waste. The final duration of this project was 3 months with overall budget of
$37,400 which was sponsored by the organisation itself. In this project all kind of harmful liquid
waste, chemical waste, plastic waste and all other kind of solid waste was focused on. All the
collected waste was bifurcated into three parts which are: first were the waste which can be
reused and recycled, second were the waste that can be treated, improved and used in another
form, third was the kind of waste that is needed to be disposed off (Blackman , 2016). For this
various kinds of machinery were used which helped in disposing sold waste, transforming plastic
waste so that it can be reused in another form and machinery for collecting waste and storing it at

one place. In this project overall 10 people were involved with different responsibilities so that
this complete project can be completed on time. All the required materials and machinery that
were useful for this project were made available by the organisation themselves.
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3.1.2 Events that affected Project Performance
It is important to manage and focus on all kinds of events that can disturb and hamper the
overall performance of the project as it can disturb time, budget and quality of the project. There
were various events that affected this complete waste management project such as:
Event First: first and the foremost event that affected this waste management project was
unavailability of machinery that were used for various purposes such as collection of waste
material, bifurcating useful materials that could be reused or transformed etc. Due to this
unavailability of machinery overall performance of the project members were affected and due to
this project got a bit delayed as well as overall cost of the project was also increased and other
machinery were made available at end moment.
Second Event: Another event that affected project performance was lack of sufficient working
materials such as gloves, storage bins etc. All of these materials are important as waste of
chemical and fertiliser company is quite harmful and without any safety materials and storage
bins it becomes a bit difficult for initiate the project and due to this last moment arrangement of
required materials were done as a result overall budget of the project was increased. Both the
events created another issue due to which project performance was hampered and that was the
overall time duration of the project. Due to both the events overall time period within which this
was was to be completed was increased by at least half month.
Third Event: However third event was a bit positive as all the team members performed their
responsibility with uttermost sincerity and completed their part of work on time with respect to
all the key parameters. Due to this project performance was improved and quality was
maintained.
3.1.3 Team Performance
If overall team performance is compared then it was good however at some places it was
was not as expected but at some places it was much better than expected. Due to various events
like unavailability of machinery, materials overall time was increased. Team members took extra
time to complete the project. Due to those unavailability overall budget of the project was also
increased as at last moment material and machinery was made available. However individual
performance of the team members varied for member to member. Performance of senior team
manager was average as he was not able to manage the overall budget of the project neither he
was able to complete the project on time as he didn't manage work of his team members
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properly. However he perfectly managed the overall desired quality of the project. Quality
analyst successfully managed to maintain the desired quality of the project that was expected by
the organisation. Labour and staff members worked quite efficiently and managed to complete
the project despite of all the events that occurred and affected the overall project performance but
got delayed to complete the project by 15 days. Lastly individual performance of the test
engineer was was also good as he was able to coordinate with the quality analyst and team
members to maintain the quality of the project.
3.2 Project Sponsor
Complete project was sponsored by the CSPR organisation itself all the funds that were
required to complete this waste management project was managed and provided by the company
themselves. Main perspective of the project sponsor was to that whether the project was
completed on time within the expected budget with desired quality or not. From time to time
they used to conduct a quality test and a team meeting so that they can ensure whether the overall
quality of the project was maintained or not, all the desired outcomes were fulfilled or not,
whether complete project was on track or not and lastly whether the project was completed
within the allotted cost or not (Shrivastava, Mishra and Katiyar, 2015). Other than this their main
aim was whether all the waste that is created from manufacturing was taken care of or not and all
the waste that can be reused are segregated and cleaned from other harmful waste or not.
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4 What I Learned
Learning is one of the attributes that helps any individual for the development and growth
in both personal and professional levels. I learnt from this project that moral duty is an essential
key in fulfilling the responsibilities and complete the assigned duties for smooth running of
operations. As a Quality Analyst, I learnt that the entire project is a collective work under several
people of different view points and considerations. I learnt that one must be held responsible to
make its contribution countable in finishing the project. There are many stages for project
management and one must be aware about each information to maintain the quality component
from the beginning till the end of the project. This project was a dream project of my company
and gave me a platform to explore may new concepts effectually.
In addition to the above, I also found that there were challenges and continuous obstacles but
with the support and coordination from my other colleagues, I solved them without any delays or
barriers. I realised that few factors like total budget, number of staff allotted, time scale and other
such resources assist to make the foundation more strong and better. It also supports in
maintaining the delivery of services with complete satisfaction while performing tasks.
Moreover, I gained knowledge while performing each operation and enhance my technical
expertise for my future projects. It helped me become a better version of myself and for my
better future which I now look forward to maintain the quality aspect attached with my
designation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beliatis, M.J., and et.al., 2018, June. Digital waste management using LoRa network a business
case from lab to fab. In 2018 Global Internet of Things Summit (GIoTS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Blackman Jr, W.C., 2016. Basic hazardous waste management. Crc Press.
Charles Jr, O.H., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P., 2017. Walking the talk: The business case for
sustainable development. Routledge.
Cummings, C., 2016. Choice in C57BL/6n Mice: Behavioral and Pharmacological Mechanisms
of Concurrent Schedule Performance.
Hwang, B.G., Zhao, X. and Tan, L.L.G., 2015. Green building projects: Schedule performance,
influential factors and solutions. Engineering, Construction and Architectural
Management. 22(3). pp.327-346.
Iyer, K.C. and Banerjee, P.S., 2016. Measuring and benchmarking managerial efficiency of
project execution schedule performance. International Journal of Project
Management. 34(2). pp.219-236.
Letcher, T.M. and Vallero, D.A. eds., 2019. Waste: A handbook for management. Academic
Press.
Rhyner, C.R., and et.al., 2017. Waste management and resource recovery. CRC Press.
Shrivastava, P., Mishra, S. and Katiyar, S.K., 2015, December. A Review of Solid Waste
Management Techniques using GIS and Other Technologies. In 2015 International
Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks (CICN) (pp.
1456-1459). IEEE.
Waste, F.H., 2018. Hazardous waste management.
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