Project Management Techniques and PRINCE2

This assignment delves into the world of project management, examining various techniques used to ensure successful project completion. It focuses on the PRINCE2 methodology, outlining its structure, processes, and benefits. Students will gain an understanding of how PRINCE2 provides a framework for managing projects effectively across different industries.

Business project
(University Annual Event)
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................5
Project goals, objectives and critical sucess factors........................................................................5
Scope................................................................................................................................................6
Identifying risk and constraints affecting the project......................................................................6
Project quality control mechanism..................................................................................................8
Reporting Framework......................................................................................................................9
Stakeholders analysis and their roles and responsibilities...............................................................9
Milestones .....................................................................................................................................10
Life cycle of project.......................................................................................................................11
Budget assumptions.......................................................................................................................14
Time...............................................................................................................................................15
Deliverables...................................................................................................................................15
Scehdule.........................................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................20
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INTRODUCTION
Project management plan (PMP) is regarded as formal and an integrated process which
clearly demonstrates that how a project will be executed, monitored and controlled by the project
manager. It is an in-depth planning which is communicated to each and every member of the project
team to deliver intended scope and deliverables effectively (Kerzner, 2013). In other words, PMP
refers to the documentation of various actions in order to define, construct, integrate and coordinate
the plans, which in turn, helps to execute the project in an effective manner. The present project
report will designed a PMP through the use of PRINCE2 approach in order to organize a prize
ceremony in a college. In this, time schedule, scope, deliverable, resources, risk and the requirement
of capital will be determined to arrange a prize distribution party in a college. It will enable
manager to execute the plan in a better way by both risk management and regular monitoring.
Brief introduction to the project
Prize ceremony is one of the most important event organizes by the academic institutions
and colleges to give awards to the students for their excellent and remarkable performance
throughout the year. In this assignment, project plan is prepared to organize a prize distribution
party in Imperial college London through applying process driven methodology, PRINCE2 and
PMI.
I
llustration 1: Imperial college's prize ceremony
§
(Source: Nacross, 2014)
Project goals, objectives and critical sucess factors
The goal of the project is to effectively organize the prize ceremony in Imperial college of
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London. The objectives of the project are enumerated below:
 To distribute prizes to the brilliant and excellent performer in different educational fields.
 To provide an platform to the students for their bulding bright carrier path.
 To recognise and motivate talented students of by rewarding. To celebrate a party in the university for outstanding achievements of several students.
Critical success factors:
Effective implementation of each and ever project plan is based on several key contributors
known as critical successive factors. With regards to this prize ceremony, its critical fators are given
here as under:
 Contract with the software provider.
 Proper documentation.
 Effective communication.
 Regular project monitoring.
 Staffing of the project team.
 Skilled and experienced team member and leaders.
 Developing project scope and deliverable.
 Reliable and valid assumptions.
 Solid testing such as database management, user front etc.
 Stakeholders management.
 Risk management
Scope
The main purpose of annual organization university party is to plan, design, build and
implement a prize ceremony. In this, students will awarded for their outstanding achievements in
different fields such as academics, cultural and sports activities. Different access and permissions
will be granted to the appropriate personnel in order to update, manage, and view programs.
Moreover, Joe Green as a project manager will prepare and approve documentation such as quality
checklist, modifications and work performance measurement as well.
Identifying risk and constraints affecting the project
Risk analysis is regarded as the process of determining and managin potential difficulties or
problems in the effective execution of the project. There are different types of risk in a project
management which must be addressed by the project planner to carry out functions and activities in
an effective manner. It is the duty of ceremony committee's manager to manage risk by minimizing
the risk contributing factors and thereby reach success (Patanakul, Iewwongcharoen and Milosevic,
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2010).
(Source: Jun, Qiuzhen and Qingguo, 2011)
In the prize distribution ceremony, there is a chance of following risk, enumerated below:
 Lack of appropriate skills, abilities, experience and knowledge in executives or board
members.
 Inappropriately deciding the scope of the project and scope creeping. In this, scope creeping
refers to the fluctuations or volatility that are uncontrollable in nature.
 Inaccurate estimation of expenditures on various functions. The success of the ceremony is
highly based upon accurate estimation of the futrue expenses (Jun, Qiuzhen and Qingguo,
2011). Henceforth, if spendings are forecasted inaccurately than it will direct impact
financial management and may lead to driven project risk due to high cost.
 Conflicts among managemers is also a risk which influenced the project execution.
 Lack of change management system or process at the departmental level is a risky
component which creates negative impact on the project success.
 Ineffective communication may mislead the human resources. For instance,
misinterpretartion of the direction of executives or team member creates a gap between
managerial expectations and work performed (Ojiako and et.al., 2011). As a result,
execution of the work will be adversely affected.
 Shortage of resources such as funds, inadequate staff training, improper functioning of
technological equipments, system failure, lack of required documentation etc. are the
elements which brings risk in the execution of prize ceremony (Teller and et.al., 2012).
 Other factors such as irregular monitoring, worst quality service, vendors failure, improper
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delegation of authorities and responsibilities and delayed in the executives approval.
Risk assesment
Risk description Probabilit
y (1-Low,
5-High)
Impact
(1-low, 5-
high)
Rank
Unability to find out skilled team members 5 5 2
High rent of the hall 5 5 2
Late arrival of the equipments 2 3 3
Inadequate training to the workforce 5 5 3
Inaccurate estimation of the expenditures 3 4 4
Project scope creeping 2 3 3
Managing project risk
 One of the most effective step in the risk management is making a risk management plan by
taking into account all the potential failure or difficulties which can be arisen in its effective
implementation.
 Project manager must focus to communicate the bigger risk to all the team members so that
they can put their best efforts to mitigate it and take timely decisions. Proritizing the risk is
also a better way available to the manager in their risk management procedure. In this, In
this, project sponsor will be responsible to manager gerater risk by taking into account
proper care. While, other members of the committee will be liable to manage other type of
risk to carry out operations effectively.
 Risk Maturity Model, Event Chain Methodlogy, maintain proper risk register and
probability risk assesment etc. are also serveal types of project risk management tools which
project manager will use to manage risk and achieve desired outcomes.
Project quality control mechanism
 Total Quality Management (TQM) is an effective technique to manage quality of the prize
distribution program in Imperial College. In this, each and every member of the ceremony
committee will put their best efforts to complete their assigned duties in an effective manner
and thereby achieve deliverables (Flyvbjerg, 2013).
 Regular monitoring is also a better way to manage quality assurance in the execution of
prize ceremony in the college. Through the regular inspection or reviewing the progress,
manager can identify the variances and take immediate remedial actions to remove it.
 Causes and effect diagram are also used to determine the reasons for potential difficulties or
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problems (Sharma, 2013.). By this, executives and ceremony committee members will be
able to eliminate hurdles and accomplish targets.
Reporting Framework
Effective communication management plan is essential to exchange information among all
the managers, participates and other team members. Otherwise, it may arise confusion or may lead
to project failure. Communication plan for the launching of award ceremony will be as under:
 Weekly status report will be communicated to the project sponsor, team members and other
stakeholders through the use of email.
 Scheduled committee meetings will be organized to deliver information to the members for
updated actions register on a weekly basis (Planning an award ceremony, 2013).
 Metrics and status will be presented to the project board members for the reviewing of
projects on a monthly basis.
 Other information such as requirement of modification in plan to organize event
successfully can be shared by any of the team member as per their requirement. Moreover,
informal discussion between committee members regarding issues and concerns can be
communicated to the board manager to take appropriate actions practically.
Stakeholders analysis and their roles and responsibilities
Award ceremony cannot be orgaized without hiring personnel in requirement number.
Human capital will be require to perform numerous activities and functions in order to provide
awards to the best and excellent students. Each member will have roles and responsibilities to carry
out their assigned tasks and duties appropriately. While, conducting prize distribution ceremony,
Imperial college will need following human resources, enumerated below:
Team member Role Responsibilities
Joe Green Project manager  Plan and set project agenda and
communicate it with the team
members.
 Proper scheduling and coordinate
meetings.
 To ensure that all the planned functions
of the ceremony are carried out in an
effective manner.
 To continuously monitoring the
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activities for the better administration.
Jacob Botam Administrative manager  To manage administrative processes
such as necessary documentation,
creating files, making contracts etc.
Dylan Bush Finance manager  To manage approriate availability of
money and meet operational
requirement.
 To minimize financial risk (lack of
resources) by maintaing surplus funds.
 To manage financial cost according to
the budget.
Alfie Oliam Technical experts OR system
analyst
 To ensure proper functions of the
electrical equipments to organize
ceremony effectively.
 Collaborate with other team members
to ensure system integration for
achieveing desired results.
 Optimum and effective usability of the
system.
 Provide technical support and propose
effective solutions.
Other staff member
(Electricians, Cleaners and
swepers etc.)
 To carry out their roles and
responsibilities effectively so that plan
can be executed in an appropriate
manner.
Milestones
Imperial college will require different types of resources to carry out planned activities and
functions in an efficient way. The manager of ceremony committee will need appropriate amount of
money, human capital and electrical equipments like mikes, speakers etc. Adequate availability of
funds will be needed to outsourcing the activities, pay salary to the human resources, proper
arrangements etc (Aubry and Hobbs, 2011). However, the requirement of human capital will be
arise to carry out planned functions, monitoring and effective administration. For instance, Imperial
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college has to recruit human capital to manage technological operations, quality and funding
operations. On the other hand, electrical equipments will be needed such as projector, big TV
screens, stereo, mikes, speakers etc. so that all the participants can be communicated easily.
Life cycle of project
PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environment, version 2) is a methodology which assist
project manager to organize planned activities in an coordinated man Grammatically incorrect
Grey - Not clearner. Moreover, it facilitates manager to align various actions with the project aims
and objectives and manage quality as well. It is a process-oriented methodology which encompasses
several stages to carry out project effectively(Meredith and Mantel, 2011).
Illustration 2: Structure of PRINCE2 methodology
(Source: Aubry, M. and Hobbs, B., 2011)
As per the structure, it can be said that PRINCE2 encompasses 7 themes that are quality,
risk, plan, change, business case, organization and progress as well. However, its 7 principles
includes consistently justification, defined roles and responsibilities, learning through experience,
manage by stages, management by exception, focus on products and tailoring the environment
(Schwalbe, 2015). On the contrary to this, following stages needs to be addressed by the project
planner, while conducting prize distribution ceremony in the college, that are enumerated below:
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(Source: Walker, 2015)
Procedure of PRINCE2:
Following is the process which an university has to take into account while arranging a prize
ceremony, enumerated below:
Starting up the project (SU):
At the inaugural stage, project sponsor needs to appoint a project team and board to carry
out the planned and decided activities appropriately. In order to organize a prize distribution party in
Imperial college, Joe green will be appointed as a project manager. He owes authority as well as
responsibility to administrate and execute the planned activities in an effective manner. However,
Jacob botam, Dylan bush, Alfie Oliam and Cameron will be the members of ceremony committee.
Each and every personnel of the board will be liable to perform assigned duties appropriately such
as quality control, technical management and financial management etc (Holding award
ceremonies, 2014). Every activity and plan of the prize distribution program will be only executed
after the written approval of project manager. All the committee member will be obliged to manage
their operations to organize ceremony according to the plan. This party will be conducted to give
prizes, certificates and plaques to the students who shown their excellent or remarkable
performance in the year. Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University will be welcomed as a chief
guest and the ceremony will be held on 1st October, 2016 in the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Initiating the project (IP):
At this stage project brief is used so as to prepare necessary managerial documents which
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will be required for the execution of prize ceremony. For instance, ceremony sponsor has to manage
quality and monitor and review the progress for effective administration. At this stage, necessary
files are created for preparing an in-depth project plan (Wysocki, 2011). Henceforth, it can be said
that this stage assembles or consolidate project initiation documents so as to exert effective control
over the planned activities.
Directing project (DP):
This stage indicates that how ceremony will be directed and authorized by the board
members. In such respect, board members includes executives or project sponsors. Moreover, it
describes that how program manager dictates and authorize a stage plan. Along with this, in case of
unforeseen circumstances, an existing plan can be replaced by any exception plan. In the end, it
mention that how prize ceremony will be closed down.
Controlling stages (CS):
This stage put control over each of the planned activities that has been identified to organize
a prize distribution party (Walker, 2015). This stage indicates that continuous monitoring and
reported the progress to the ceremony committee. It is necessary because it facilitates project
manager to address any issue or difficulties. So that, corrective actions can be taken timely and
event can be continued effectively.
Managing product delivery (MP):
This stage consists of acceptance, execution and delivery of work package. It confirmed that
work is allocated to the authorized and agreed member of the project board. So that, each person
will be very clear about his or her objective and put required efforts and perform quality work at an
agreed cost to accomplish the targets (Hwang and Tan, 2012). Moreover, prominent information
regarding progress must be provided to the manager at fixed duration of time to achieve desired
outcome.
Managing stage boundaries (SB):
According to SB, at the end of each stage, next activity must be planned. Moreover, at this
stage, project manager has to update the entire prize award ceremony, risk register and make
amendments, if necessary (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010). Furthermore, it decides the
reporting structure to deliver information to the manager after completion of every stage. Besides
this, project manager also gather views, ideas and suggestions of the team member to identify the
best practice which can be implemented to manage risk. It may lead to execution of an exception
plan instead of those activity which has been planed earlier.
Closing a project (CP):
As name implies, this stage covers activities or plans which are required to carry out for the
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closure of prize ceremony. In this, manager has to prepare benefit review plan which indicates the
resource requirements and the respective benefits of the prize distribution at the end.
PRIZE CEREMONY PROJECT
Human capital Name
Project Venue Royal Albert Hall, London.
Project date 1st October, 2016
Chief guest Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University
Project manager Joe green
Administrative manager Jacob botam
Finance manager Dylan bush
Technical experts Alfie Oliam
Budget assumptions
Cost can be estimated by constructing budget in which, finance manager of the project team
needs to forecast expenses which will be incur to conduct ceremony in an effective manner. Budget
comprises estimation of potential expenditures to organize prize distribution program for the
Imperial College (Chou, 2011). It is the duty of finance manager to forecast expenditures accurately
so that financial risk can be minimized. In order to organize prize ceremony, budget is constructed
below:
Particular Amount
Royal Albert hall rent 3000
Food and beverages 1800
Decoration (Arrangements of tables/chairs,
floral decoration etc.)
1500
Lighting and sound decoration 1200
Outsourcing of catering 1000
Printing banners and posters 600
Cleaners and servers 300
Staff remuneration 1600
Drinks 200
Linen 300
Media advertisement 500
Total 12000
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According to the prepared budget, it can be seen that estimated expenditures for prize
ceremony will be worth £12000.
Time
This prize award ceremony will take time period of 2 months to carry out planned activities
by the project manager.
Deliverables
This project will deliver an effective lanching of prize distribution ceremony to give awards
to the best performed students in Imperial College. This event or award ceremony aims to motivate
and encourage students who shown brilliant, outstanding and exceptional performance throughout
the year in different academic field such as science, IT, management, arts etc (Planning an award
ceremony, 2013). Moreover, it will be organized to inspire and showcase emerging and creative
talent of the Imperial college. It will give a platform to the students for the future success or better
placements to reach their career goals.
(Source: De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010)
Scehdule
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
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Annual organization university party 77 days Wed 8/3/16 Thu 11/17/16
Starting up a project 11 days Wed 8/3/16 Wed 8/17/16
Appointing project team 2 days Wed 8/3/16 Thu 8/4/16
prepare project brief 3 days Fri 8/5/16 Tue 8/9/16 3
Forming of project board 2 days Wed 8/10/16 Thu 8/11/16 4
designing and appointing a project
management team 2 days Fri 8/12/16 Mon 8/15/16 5
preparing an outline of event 2 days Tue 8/16/16 Wed 8/17/16 6
Initiating a project 7 days Thu 8/18/16 Fri 8/26/16
planning a project 2 days Thu 8/18/16 Fri 8/19/16 7
refining the event plan and risks 3 days Thu 8/18/16 Mon 8/22/16 7
Prepare project controls 2 days Tue 8/23/16 Wed 8/24/16 10,9
Setup of project initiation
documentation 2 days Thu 8/25/16 Fri 8/26/16 11
Directing a project 10 days Mon 8/29/16 Fri 9/9/16
Authorizing initiation 2 days Mon 8/29/16 Tue 8/30/16 12
Prepare directions and rules 3 days Wed 8/31/16 Fri 9/2/16 14
Conforming project closure 5 days Mon 9/5/16 Fri 9/9/16 15
Controlling a stage 21 days Mon 9/12/16 Mon 10/10/16
Capturing and examining project
issues 3 days Mon 9/12/16 Wed 9/14/16 16
Monitoring and controlling risks 5 days Thu 9/15/16 Wed 9/21/16 18
Review progress of party plan 5 days Thu 9/22/16 Wed 9/28/16 19
Reporting progress to project board 3 days Thu 9/29/16 Mon 10/3/16 20
Take corrective actions 5 days Tue 10/4/16 Mon 10/10/16 21
Managing product delivery 7 days Tue 10/11/16 Wed 10/19/16
Making changes in party plan 3 days Tue 10/11/16 Thu 10/13/16 22
Define deliverables of plan 4 days Fri 10/14/16 Wed 10/19/16 24
Managing stage boundaries 5 days Thu 10/20/16 Wed 10/26/16
Execute project plan 1 day Thu 10/20/16 Thu 10/20/16 25
Updating risk register 4 days Fri 10/21/16 Wed 10/26/16 27
Closing a project 16 days Thu 10/27/16 Thu 11/17/16
decommissioning of plan 3 days Thu 10/27/16 Mon 10/31/16 28
Project evaluation 4 days Tue 11/1/16 Fri 11/4/16 30
Closing of contracts 4 days Mon 11/7/16 Thu 11/10/16 31
Prepare project report 5 days Fri 11/11/16 Thu 11/17/16 32
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CONCLUSION
Above project concluded that PRINCE2 is an effective technique or methodology which
success is dependent upon the accurate execution of the planned activities. Appropriate
implementation of the planned activities helps to achieve desirables by the project planner. The
report concluded that by recruiting human capital, gathering sufficient funds, managing risk and
quality assurance etc. facilitates project manager to organize prize ceremony effectively and
efficiently.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aubry, M. and Hobbs, B., 2011. A fresh look at the contribution of project management to
organizational performance. Project Management Journal. 42(1). pp. 3-16.
Chou, J. S., 2011. Cost simulation in an item-based project involving construction engineering and
management. International Journal of Project Management. 29(6). pp. 706-717.
De Bakker, K., Boonstra, A. and Wortmann, H., 2010. Does risk management contribute to IT
project success? A meta-analysis of empirical evidence. International Journal of Project
Management. 28(5). pp. 493-503.
Flyvbjerg, B., 2013. Quality control and due diligence in project management: Getting decisions
right by taking the outside view. International Journal of Project Management. 31(5). pp.
760-774.
Hwang, B. G. and Tan, J. S., 2012. Green building project management: obstacles and solutions for
sustainable development. Sustainable development. 20(5). pp. 335-349.
Jun, L., Qiuzhen, W. and Qingguo, M., 2011. The effects of project uncertainty and risk
management on IS development project performance: A vendor perspective. International
Journal of Project Management. 29(7). pp. 923-933.
Kerzner, H. R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Meredith, J. R. and Mantel Jr, S. J., 2011. Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley
& Sons.
Ojiako, U. and et.al., 2011. Learning and teaching challenges in project management. International
Journal of Project Management. 29(3). pp. 268-278.
Patanakul, P., Iewwongcharoen, B. and Milosevic, D., 2010. An empirical study on the use of
project management tools and techniques across project life-cycle and their impact on
project success. Journal of General Management. 35(3). pp. 41-65.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Teller, J. and et.al., 2012. Formalization of project portfolio management: The moderating role of
project portfolio complexity. International Journal of Project Management. 30(5). pp. 596-
607.
Walker, A., 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.
Wysocki, R. K., 2011. Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. John Wiley &
Sons.
Online
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