Project Management Principles

This reflective writing discusses the project management principles and activities involved in a mobile application development project. It covers the project initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure phases. The report also highlights the challenges faced and the strategies used to overcome them.

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Project Management Principles
Reflective Writing
4/11/2019

Project Management Principles
Introduction
Project management is the practice that involves numerous managerial tasks to make sure
that the project is organized in such a manner that it achieves it intended goals and objectives.
There are numerous knowledge areas and process groups involved under the project
management methodologies. The five process groups defined under the methodologies
include project initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure.
There have been multiple projects that I have been a part of in different roles with different
set of responsibilities. The report is a reflective writing on one such project. The reflection is
done on the project management aspects and activities associated with the project.
Reflection on the Event
Reporting
The reflective writing is done on the project in which I was involved as a Project Leader. The
project included the development of a mobile application for a healthcare firm. In the project,
the mobile application was to be developed on the Android and iOS platforms. The project
was being carried out as the healthcare firm did not have a mobile app included in its
architecture. The existing website also did not allow the customers and the medical
professionals to interact with each other. The mobile app was to be developed as an
interacting tool for the medical professionals, nursing staff, and the patients. There were three
primary users that I and my team identified for the project. These included administrator,
patients, and medical professionals. The primary modules that we decided to design, develop,
and integrate in the application were login, medical reports, patient history, latest health
signs, contact us, and logout (Rose, 2013).
In the project, there were a total of seven members in the team. Project Manager was the
primary resource and I was the secondary managerial resource. I was involved as a Project
Leader. The other five resources were Business Analyst, Application Developer, UI Expert,
Test Analyst, and Healthcare Analyst. There were several stakeholders that were also
involved in the project at the internal and external level. The internal stakeholders included
our team and the project steering committee. The external stakeholders involved the project
sponsor, healthcare agencies, and the end-users.
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Project Management Principles
We decided to develop the app as per the agile methodology so that we could have the
flexibility and scalability of the application at all times. The project management
methodology that I and the PM decided to use and implement was PMBoK. As per this
methodology, we had the guidelines for managing different areas in the project. The
management guidelines were presented in the form of various processes groups. There were
five process groups included in the PMBoK guidelines as initiation, planning, execution,
control, and closure. We decided to use these guidelines so that the project was on track and
was conducted as per the expectations (Rooij, 2009).
We managed to carry out the initiation and planning activities as per the estimations.
However, there were issues of schedule overrun and requirements inflation observed in the
execution phase of the project. The project development activities were running 18 days
behind the schedule and the project sponsor had requested some massive changes that were
not included in the business case.
Responding
As a Project Leader, it was my responsibility to make sure that the risks and issues that
emerged in the project were resolved in a timely manner so that the business continuity was
maintained at all times.
I tried to investigate the reason behind the lag in the schedule and carried out the Earned
Value Analysis. There was significant variance detected and further investigation provided
me with the information on the reasons. These lags came up during the third sprint under
system development and the customer feedback at the end of the third sprint had to be
accommodated in the fourth sprint. The major modules were also to be developed in this
sprint along with the execution of the changes requested by the sponsor. The Project Manager
also accepted certain changes in the requirements without discussing them with me, BA,
developer, and other resources in the team (Brioso, 2015).
The Project Sponsor was not aware of these issues and developments in the project. The
Sponsor had mentioned in the earlier phases of the project that there will be no delays
tolerated during the project timeline. However, the changes put forward by the sponsor were
not in-line with the demands. I immediately prepared a formal report on the risks and the
associated impacts and submitted it to the PM. I also arranged a meeting with the Business
Analyst and the Project Manager to discuss the issues further. I came up with the
consequences of the risks that were detected and the need to control the changes requested by
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Project Management Principles
the Sponsor. I also explained the need to re-schedule the remaining project activities to make
sure that the overall project deliveries were made in the timely manner. I also had a one-on-
one discussion with the developer and the test analyst to understand the feasibility of re-
arranging the project activities as per the remaining schedule. There were options that were
put forward that could be utilized to control the situation from that point onwards (Tavan and
Hosseini, 2016).
Relating
There were PMBoK guidelines that I and the project members in the team utilized to deal
with the situation. The project knowledge areas that was involved and impacted by the
situation included project schedule management, risk management, change management, and
resource management. The stakeholders and costs could also be impacted with the alteration
in these areas.
Schedule was our primary concern and we made use of the bottom-up estimation technique
that had been successful in the projects in the past to re-develop the schedule for the activities
remaining. One of the primary strengths that we could utilize at this point was our
consideration of the project risks during the estimations. We had certain days that we could
utilize now to catch up with the pending processes (Jamali and Oveisi, 2016). I also wanted to
make sure that the project team members were aware of these updates at all times. I arranged
a meeting with the project resources to inform them about such developments and the
changes that will impact their work hours and processes.
The next step that I used was to streamline the changes. I along with the PM had a discussion
with the Project Sponsor on the changes that were requested. The Business Analyst
conducted an impact assessment to present the impact of the changes on the project schedule,
scope, and costs. This resulted in the approval of only those changes that we could actually
carry out. The feasibility of the changes provided the resources with the motivation to carry
on with the project activities.
There were other risks that could also emerge due to changing profiles in the project. I had
always made sure that the risk management was a dynamic process. I carried out the
assessment of the risks involved and there were mitigation strategies that were identified. The
implementation of these strategies made sure that the risks could not occur.
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Project Management Principles
Communication to the project stakeholders was also done along with the determination of
cost variance. These processes were conducted so that further damage was not done.
Reasoning
PMBoK is a project management theory that states that all of the project knowledge areas are
relevant. The guidelines of the methodology were utilized to handle the project situations.
The schedule management procedure that we had carried out was done in a series of steps. In
the initiation step, we identified the lag in the schedule and carried out analysis to determine
the root cause of the same. In the planning phase, we made sure that the re-developed
schedule was feasible and did not impact the other areas as costs or scope (Zwikael, 2009).
We also communicated the re-developed schedule to the resources and the stakeholders. We
then conducted and implemented the new schedule in the execution phase and monitored it
all throughout the project till the project closure.
The risk management process was also conducted as per the guidelines that are given in the
PMBoK methodology. We identified the risks in the first phase in which the risks associated
with schedule management, resource handling, and overall project were identified. The
assessment of these risks was done in a dynamic manner to determine the probability and
impact levels. A final risk score was then evaluated to prioritize these risks. The treatment
strategies were mapped with these risks for ensuring business continuity at all times.
The same guidelines were used in the change management processes as well. We also used
the internal and external communication guidelines that were set up so that there were no
further gaps.
These theories and guidelines assisted me and my team to handle the situation and we could
successful carry out the project towards it completion. The project deliverables were not
impacted at any instance which made sure that the client satisfaction level and rating was
high at the end of the project.
We also made use of different leadership styles and theories, such as cross-cultural leadership
and transformational leadership. It allowed us to keep the collaboration levels of the team
members enhanced at all times. Also, the project goals and objectives could be achieved
(Gomes, 2013).
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Project Management Principles
Reconstructing
The situations that came up in the project allowed to me to gain an understanding of the
utilization of the guidelines defined under the PMBoK methodology. For example, I had
always read about the schedule management guidelines but I did not experience any situation
prior to this project to apply these skills. In this project, I could apply the schedule
management guidelines and processes. I made use of the earned value analysis to determine
the schedule variance. Under this method, I utilized the actual value of the project schedule
and the estimated value to find out the gaps that were involved. I then communicated these
gaps to the PM and the project board to take the necessary actions.
Similarly, the risks that were identified in the project were done on the basis of the
information sets that were involved. There were numerous sources of information that were
involved in the project. It provided me with the ability to execute the data gathering and
analysis techniques to determine the risks and take necessary steps.
The change management and communication guidelines also allowed me to enhance my
understanding of these areas. I also got the opportunity to integrate all of these areas with
each other. The syncing of the knowledge areas provided me with the significance of each of
these areas. It also provided me with the ability to ensure that the resources and stakeholders
were also aware of the project developments at all times (Langston, 2013).
There are effective communication channels that I used to enhance the transparency levels
and ensured that the handling of the information was done correctly. The experience that I
had on this project led to the enhancement of my professional skills and abilities. I will be
able to apply these skills and knowledge in the future projects as well to make sure that the
streamlining of all the project areas is done.
Conclusion
There are various project management methodologies defined and there are management
guidelines defined under these methodologies. It is necessary that the Project Manager and
leaders have the knowledge of these methodologies and guidelines to utilize them on the
projects. It is also necessary that the training and professional development sessions are
attended by all the members to enhance their skills. There are various risks and problems that
may emerge in the projects. The project management guidelines are useful in such situations
to make sure that the impact of these issues on the project areas is minimal. It is also
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Project Management Principles
necessary that the project leaders communicate the details of the project issues and the
mechanisms to handle them to all the project resources. This leads to the increase in the level
of involvement of the resources in the project and there may also be certain new ideas and
concepts that may be utilized by the project leaders for the betterment of the project.
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Project Management Principles
References
Brioso, X. (2015). Integrating ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management, Lean
Construction and PMBOK. Procedia Engineering, 123, pp.76-84.
Gomes, R. (2013). Contributions of the PMBok to the Project Management of an ERP
System Implementation. Revista de Gestão e Projetos, 4(2), pp.153-162.
Jamali, G. and Oveisi, M. (2016). A Study on Project Management Based on PMBOK and
PRINCE2. Modern Applied Science, 10(6), p.142.
Langston, C. (2013). Development of generic key performance indicators for PMBOK using
a 3D project integration model. Construction Economics and Building, 13(4), pp.78-91.
Rooij, S. (2009). Scaffolding project-based learning with the project management body of
knowledge (PMBOK). Computers & Education, 52(1), pp.210-219.
Rose, K. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)-
Fifth Edition. Project Management Journal, 44(3), pp.e1-e1.
Tavan, F. and Hosseini, M. (2016). Comparison and analysis of PMBOK 2013 and ISO
21500. Journal of Project Management, (10), pp.27-34.
Zwikael, O. (2009). The Relative Importance of the PMBOK Guide's Nine Knowledge Areas
during Project Planning. Project Management Journal, 40(4), pp.94-103.
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