Unit: 6 – Managing a Successful Business Project

MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario................................................3
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers, aim and deliverables, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources........................................................................................4
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion........................................................................................................................5
P4 Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate for
meeting project aims and objectives.......................................................................................6
P5 Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques....................................9
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of findings and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions...............................................................................13
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the project to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance...................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Employees in the organization are very important they have all the responsibilities to carry
out operations. They are known as manpower of company because their power in every
organization could not be matched with anything (Beltrán-Martín and Bou-Llusar, 2018). So,
they hold great place in the organization for this organizations have different that aims at
fulfilling needs and expectations of employees (Rayner and Morgan, 2018). It is essential for
companies to make their employees happy and fulfilled because if they fail to this then
employees leave the organization and it negatively impact the productivity of business. In the
current project Walmart is selected as organisation and the strategies used by this organization
are determined for retaining their talented workforce.
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
Aim of the project: To identify the roles of line managers and leaders in management,
development and retention of talent. A study on Walmart
Objectives of the project:
 To determine the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an
organization
 To highlight the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and
retaining talent in the workplace within Walmart
 To understand about the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining
talented employees and enhancing business performance within Walmart
Questions of the project:
 What is the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an
organization?
 What are the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and
retaining talent in the workplace within Walmart
 What are the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining talented
employees and enhancing business performance within Walmart

P2 Produce a project management plan that covers, aim and deliverables, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
Project management plan is one of the essential steps towards implementing and
executing the work of project. This plan helps researcher with resources that are required to
complete every activity in systematic and easy manner (de Place Hansen and Sørensen, 2020).
Some of the components of project management plan that assist in continuing the work of project
without any challenge and barrier are:
Time
Time is essential in doing every work so it also holds importance in the project. The main
aim of project management plan is to provide with right time for carrying out activities in respect
of achieving every activity, task and objective of project. The project manager has decided time
duration of 8 weeks.
Quality
The current project focuses on carrying out information that is present in the manner of
numbers.The data that is in form of statistical is more accurate, relevant and apt as per the topic
of project. This helps at every step, researcher aims at carrying out high-quality data to meet the
requirements of project (Lew, Yang and Harklau, 2018).
Resources
In order to conduct project investigator is always in need of variety of resources. So,
researcher takes help of sources like magazines, newspapers, articles, publications etc. with the
service of internet and transportation (Zaccaro and et. al., 2018).
Cost
Cost is defined as required money for carrying out every activity (Marshall, Coleman and
Reason, 2017). Project manager at the initial stages prepare budget in which required fund is
mentioned with activities to be taken out. In the current project, project manager requires £500
for taking out every resource towards completion of project.

P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion
Work breakdown structure
Work breakdown structure is defined as one of the effective tools for taking out activities
and operations of the project (Nouban, Sadeghi and Abazid, 2017). Generally this is a technique
to determine activities and breaking down them into smaller activities. It separates similar type
of activities in one group and the remaining in another. It is the simplified way of dividing
activities with the aim of achieving objectives.
Gantt chart
Gantt chart is defined as time framework for conducting activities of project. This
particular chart is very useful because it is broadly classified into two sections in one section all
the activities are mentioned and in another time is mentioned to complete each activity (Nurre
and Weir, 2017). Generally this is graphical representation of all the activities required to be
undertaken in order to attain objectives.

P4 Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate
for meeting project aims and objectives.
Research methodology
Research methodologies help in selecting right method for collecting and analyzing entire
information in respect of meeting objectives and aim. Some of the methodologies used in the
project are:
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is defined as first layer of research onion. In this foundation of
study is described as it clearly highlights the set of believes on which the research is based upon .
It is broadly classified into two kinds that are positivism and interpretivism philosophy
(McManners, 2016). Positivism is chosen by project manager because it focuses on collecting
and evaluating new statistical data.
Research approach
It is one of the significant methodologies because it helps in supporting philosophy and
data analysis of the project. Inductive and deductive approaches are the two kinds of approaches.
In the present research deductive approach is chosen as it focuses on analyzing statistical data in
order to attain goals (Patiar and Wang, 2016).
Research strategy
Research strategies are the methods available to investigator for the process of collecting
apt information as per the topic of the study. The different types of strategies that are easily
available are grounded theory, archival research, experimental research, case study, survey etc.
Survey is chosen by project manager because it helps in gathering first-hand information by
selecting questionnaire as an instrument (Preser, 2016).
Research choice
Research choice is known as the fourth layer of Saunder’s research onion. It is significant
as well as useful because it assists in selecting kind of data to be gathered in respect of attaining
predefined goals of project. Quantitative and qualitative are the two methods but current research
is dependent upon quantitative research choice because it supports positivism philosophy,
deductive approach and survey strategy (Sanders, 2016). Quantitative method is useful for
collecting entire numerical information according to the topic.
Data collection

Data collection is the method of gathering information to meet each and every objective
of the project. It provides assistance to project manager for gathering information appropriate to
topic of the research. The two important kinds of data collection are secondary and primary data
collection. Primary data collection includes data that is carried out for the first time and it is
totally raw. For this researcher has selected questionnaire because it helps in getting primary data
from chosen representatives. Secondary data collection is used because it helps in answering
questions of the project (Schneider, Oliveira and de Souza, 2017). For this sources are used such
as business sites, books, articles, journals, publications etc. Hence, primary and secondary both
are important for the present project in order to achieve objectives.
Sampling
Sampling is defined as process to select respondents from large number of population.
Respondents are selected for gathering information required to meet goals and objectives of
project (Singh and Major, 2017). It has been classified into two types that are probability and
non-probability sampling. Probability sampling is selected by project manager because it allows
selecting respondents without any particular criteria. 40 managers are selected from Walmart as
they have clear knowledge about the strategies to retain employees in the organization.
Secondary Data
What is the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an organization?
According Bos-Nehles and Meijerink (2018), to every organization’s leaders and line
managers are very significant in the workplace because they are the people who are continuously
in contact with all the employees working in the organization. Leaders and managers make good
relationship with their employees so that they could get all the activities done by workforce.
They are the people in the organization who help in improving the productivity because
managers and leaders always support employees in their operations and work. Line managers
and leaders also provide different benefits to the employees for increasing their motivation level
towards work. The leaders are important because they provide support to employees in every
stage of their work and they are the people who have great knowledge about every operation. It
ultimately boosts up the morale of employees to work hard in attaining pre-defined goals of
company. Leaders and managers listen to their employees about their ideas and suggestions
while making decisions regarding different tasks and activities. This generates feeling among
employees that their suggestions are significant to managers and leaders for achieving goals.

This also leads to innovation in the workplace because employees use their creative mind to do
their work.
What are the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and retaining talent
in the workplace within Walmart?
According to Pflügler and et. al., (2018), there are various rules that are performed by
leaders and line managers of Walmart in order to retain develop and manage talent in the
workplace:
Connects role of employees with team goals
Leaders and line managers play an important role to retain employees of Walmart. For
this they identify the role of employees so that it could be connected with the goals of team.
They focus on providing activities and tasks to employees according to their knowledge and
skills so employees do not get pressure of doing things they are not capable of. It motivates em-
ployees that their skills and knowledge are being used at right place and at right work.
Promoting Open communication
Leaders and line managers always stay in touch with every employee regarding their per-
formance or issues they are facing. This constant communication between employees and man-
agers helps in improving relationship among employees and organization. Employees could eas-
ily share their issues or any other matter they are facing in the organization. Leaders take feed-
back from employees regarding their work, environment of the organization, salary, benefits etc.
What are the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining talented employees and
enhancing business performance within Walmart?
According to Thomas, Uitzinger and Chrysler-Fox (2018), there are various strategies
used by leaders and line managers in retaining talented employees in the workplace within
Walmart because they are the source of completing every activity in the organization.
Offering appropriate benefits
Line managers and leaders of Walmart provide benefits to employees so that they could
be motivated and encouraged to stay in the company and work for the same. Managers provide
appropriate benefits as per the performance of employees so that each employee could improve
in their performance to gain higher benefits. They provide different types of benefits in which
they give leaves with pay, flexible timings, free lunch and snacks, day care services etc.

Providing opportunities of career advancement
Leaders and line managers of Walmart always focus on creating new opportunities for
employees so that they could develop in their professional career when employees are provided
with opportunity they enjoy their work because they know they would get high salary and remu-
neration with utilizing such opportunities.
P5 Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques.
Frequency distribution analysis table is used for analyzing statistical data and MS-
EXCEL is used to make graph and show data in tabular format.
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Do you think that you have proper knowledge regarding the talent
management and its strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 38
b) No 2
Q2) According to you what is the significance of line managers and
leaders in the workplace of an organization?
Frequency
a) Improving productivity 16
b) Boosting morale of employees 10
c) Supporting team objectives 12
d) Encouraging innovation 4
Q3) What are the roles performed by line managers and managers in
retaining, developing and managing talent in the workplace within
Walmart?
Frequency
a) Connecting roles of employees with team goals 10
b) Promoting open communication 12
c) Form policies and schemes of benefits and incentives 10
d) Supporting employees 9
Q4) What are the strategies used by line managers and leaders in
retaining talent employees in the workplace within Walmart?
Frequency
a) Offering right benefit 12

b) Providing opportunities for career advancement 10
c) Competitive benefits and salaries 9
d) Reducing pressure in employees 9
Q5) Do you think that these strategies used by leaders of Walmart are
helping in retaining and developing workforce in the workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 32
b) No 8
Q6) Do you feel that there are chances of improvement in retaining
strategies of Walmart?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 25
Question 1: Proper knowledge regarding the talent management and its strategies
Q1) Do you think that you have proper knowledge regarding the talent
management and its strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 0

Interpretation: By the shown data it is interpreted that 40 respondents have said yes that they
have great knowledge about the talent management and its strategies because through employees
are being developed and retained in the organization.
Question 2: Significance of line managers and leaders in the workplace of an organization
Q2) According to you what is the significance of line managers and
leaders in the workplace of an organization?
Frequency
a) Improving productivity 16
b) Boosting morale of employees 10
c) Supporting team objectives 12
d) Encouraging innovation 4
Interpretation: From the above tabular data it is interpreted that 16 respondents have answered
they help in improving productivity, other 10 respondents said that they boost up the morale of
employees, other 12 respondents said that they support objectives of team and the remaining 4
said that they encourage innovation.
Question 3: Roles performed by line managers and managers in retaining, developing and
managing talent in the workplace within Walmart
Q3) What are the roles performed by line managers and managers in
retaining, developing and managing talent in the workplace within
Frequency

Walmart?
a) Connecting roles of employees with team goals 10
b) Promoting open communication 12
c) Form policies and schemes of benefits and incentives 10
d) Supporting employees 9
Interpretation: With the gathered data it is observed that 10 participants said that managers
connect employees with the team goals, other 12 participants have said that they promote open
communication, another 10 participants answered that they form policies and the remaining 9
participants answered that they support employees.
Question 4: Strategies used by line managers and leaders in retaining talent employees in the
workplace within Walmart
Q4) What are the strategies used by line managers and leaders in
retaining talent employees in the workplace within Walmart?
Frequency
a) Offering right benefit 12
b) Providing opportunities for career advancement 10
c) Competitive benefits and salaries 9
d) Reducing pressure in employees 9

Interpretation: By the shown data it is understood that 12 respondents said that offering right
benefits is one of the strategies used by line managers, 10 respondents said providing
opportunities for career advancement. Other 9 respondents said competitive salaries and benefits
is the strategy and the rest 9 participants said that reducing pressure in employees.
Question 5: Strategies used by leaders of Walmart are helping in retaining and developing
workforce in the workplace
Q5) Do you think that these strategies used by leaders of Walmart are
helping in retaining and developing workforce in the workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 32
b) No 8

Interpretation: By the above pie chart it is understood that 32 respondents have answered yes
that strategies used by leaders of Walmart are assisting in developing and retaining workforce in
the workplace and the remaining 8 respondents have said no that these strategies are not helping
in development and retention of employees.
Question 6: Chances of improvement in retaining strategies of Walmart
Q6) Do you feel that there are chances of improvement in retaining
strategies of Walmart?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 25

Interpretation: From the above information it is analyzed that 15 respondents have said yes that
there could be improvement in strategies of line managers and leaders for retaining employees in
the organization. The remaining 25 respondents have said that no there is no requirement of any
improvement or change.
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of findings and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions.
From the above information it is being recommended that organizations should make pro-
grams for increasing the knowledge of managers and leaders so that they can guide their subordi-
nates according to that. Organizations should also develop its talent strategies and ways accord-
ing to the time so that they could easily encourage, attract and motivate employees to stay in the
same company and work for the objectives of organization. While formation of strategies leaders
and line managers should always make development of employees at priority because this devel-
opment helps employees to grow and get success. This increases the feeling of being valued in
the organization as they are provided with opportunities so they make decision to remain in the
company and leaving the decision of switching.
In an organization managers and leaders should always convey their superiors and super-
visors about need of updating software and hardware in the organization because no employee
wants to work with outdated technology. So, time to time updating in technology according to

the changing time enhances the motivation level of employees as they get excited to work on
new technology.
With the above mentioned findings and data analysis it could be concluded that re-
searcher has taken help of questionnaire to collect primary data by selecting respondents from
Walmart. It is being recorded that majority of respondents have said that the strategies used by
leaders and line managers in the organization for retaining and developing employees are helpful
because it is improving the productivity and performance of employees. It is also believed that
before all the strategies successful implementation there was high employee turnover in the
workplace but with the introduction of new strategies, employees are not switching from one
company to another.

P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the project to meet stated objectives and own
learning and performance.
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
● What was the project supposed to accomplish?
The present project was based on “To identify the roles of line managers and leaders in
management, development and retention of talent.” A study on Walmart
Yes the current project is completed because all the tasks and activities are achieved
properly and systematically.
● Did the project succeed in its aims?
Yes the project had reached and attained its pre-defined aim.
How do you know? Specifically, please outline any evaluation and assessment
undertaken.
I know this because I was the responsible person completing the whole project and I have
performed all the steps to complete every activity and task of the project.
The project is accomplished because all the established objectives have been achieved by
gathering information from relevant sources like secondary and primary method.
● What things do you think worked well and why? Evaluate all aspects of the project (e.g.
initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of perspectives.
The very first thing that has completed according to my plan is project management plan
because in this I have made budget and need of resource to accomplish the proposed
project. I had taken help from colleague for making budget so that I do not waste funds.
Another thing was Work break down structure that has helped me throughout the project
because I divided the activities into smaller one and helped me in performing every

activity in a very easy manner.
The other thing that has gone well was determining research methodology for gathering
and analyzing data. I easily understood about the methodologies that could work with
requirements of my project.
● What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there timely
identification of issues and resolution during the project process?
Yes there were problems that have come in my way as barriers while conducting the
project.
I did not have knowledge about the secondary sources for collecting data to answer the
questions of project.
I was not at all efficient in time management and I had faced difficulty in doing every
activity on time. This has consumed a lot of time in initial period.
Another one was I was not confident enough in interacting with people because I had
developed feeling that other person has great knowledge that I do not have.
Time management was tackled by strictly following Gantt Chart and doing every activity
by personally setting time limit.
Interaction issues were resolved by increasing my communication level with people and I
had also attended seminars and webinars on communication.
● What did you learn from undertaking the project?
I have learnt about strategies that Walmart is using to develop and retain employees in
the organization.
● How would you rate your performance as project manager?
I will rate 8 out of 10 for my performance as I have tried my best for achieving every
objective in successful manner.
● What strengths and weaknesses of your performance did you identify?

I have identified some of my strengths are:
Hard working
Ability to work smartly
Resolve problems effectively and efficiently
I have determined some of my weaknesses that are:
Lack of confidence in interacting
Lack of skill to manage time
● How will this inform and support your continuous professional development?
This would assist when I have to retain workers in the organization when I would
professionally.
● The success of the project and its usefulness in supporting your chosen organisation’s
organisational performance;
In this project I have recommended about various strategies and ways to improve
retention strategies of employees in the organization.
These new strategies and improvement in existing help in increasing the performance of
organization.
● Your own performance.
I feel that I performed very well in this specific project.

CONCLUSION
From the above information it is concluded that talent strategies are very important for
retaining employees in the workplace because they help in achieving every objective of the
research. Primary and secondary are great source for gathering information related to the topic.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beltrán-Martín, I. and Bou-Llusar, J. C., 2018. Examining the intermediate role of employee
abilities, motivation and opportunities to participate in the relationship between HR
bundles and employee performance. BRQ Business Research Quarterly. 21(2). pp.99-
110.
Bos-Nehles, A. C. and Meijerink, J.G., 2018. HRM implementation by multiple HRM actors: A
social exchange perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management. 29(22). pp.3068-3092.
de Place Hansen, E. J. and Sørensen, N. L., 2020. Data Management Plan.
Lew, S., Yang, A. H. and Harklau, L., 2018. Qualitative methodology. In The Palgrave
handbook of applied linguistics research methodology (pp. 79-101). Palgrave Macmillan,
London.
Marshall, J., Coleman, G. and Reason, P., 2017. Leadership for sustainability: An action
research approach. Routledge.
McManners, P., 2016. The action research case study approach: A methodology for complex
challenges such as sustainability in aviation. Action Research. 14(2). pp.201-216.
Nouban, F., Sadeghi, K. and Abazid, M., 2017. An overall guidance and proposition of a WBS
template for construction planning of the template (jacket) platforms. Academic research
international. 8(4). pp.37-56.
Nurre, S. G. and Weir, J. D., 2017. Interactive Excel-based Gantt chart schedule
builder. INFORMS Transactions on Education. 17(2). pp.49-57.
Patiar, A. and Wang, Y., 2016. The effects of transformational leadership and organizational
commitment on hotel departmental performance. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management.
Pflügler and et. al., 2018. Strategies for Retaining Key IT Professionals. MIS Quarterly
Executive. 17(4).
Preser, R., 2016. A methodology of damage. International Journal of Social Research
Methodology, 19(1), pp.17-30.
Rayner, J. and Morgan, D., 2018. An empirical study of ‘green’workplace behaviours: ability,
motivation and opportunity. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. 56(1). pp.56-78.
Sanders, S., 2016. Lesson Plan. Quality Progress. 49(7). p.5.
Schneider, D., Oliveira, L. F. and de Souza, J., 2017. Designing, building and evaluating a social
news curation environment using the action design research methodology. Cluster
Computing. 20(2). pp.1731-1748.
Singh, M. and Major, J., 2017. Conducting Indigenous research in Western knowledge spaces:
aligning theory and methodology. The Australian Educational Researcher. 44(1). pp.5-
19.
Thomas, A., Uitzinger, D. and Chrysler-Fox, P., 2018. Perceptions of human resource
professionals of challenges to and strategies for retaining managers. Acta
Commercii. 18(1). pp.1-10.
Zaccaro, S. J and et. al., 2018. Leader individual differences, situational parameters, and
leadership outcomes: A comprehensive review and integration. The Leadership
Quarterly. 29(1). pp.2-43.

APPENDICES
Project Logbook
Project logbook
Name:
Project title: To identify the roles of line managers and leaders in management, development and retention of
talent. A study on Walmart
Date:
Update on period of development Points to consider:
● What have you completed in this period?
I had accomplished project on retention strategies of Walmart.
● Did you complete the work that you had planned?
Yes
● Are you on track and within deadlines set?
Yes
● Did you need to make any changes to your project plan?
No
Risks and/or issues identified Points to consider:
● Did you identify risks/issues related to a lack of knowledge or skill required to undertake the work you
had planned?
Not good enough in managing time and interacting with people
● Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on your project plan?
No
Problems encountered Points to consider:
● What challenges did you face?
Gathering accurate information to the topic.
● How did you overcome them?
Learning about the different sources to gather data.
What have you learned about yourself through your work? Points to consider:
● What are the most important things that your work has revealed to you? How might this learning
apply in the future?
Time management skill and communication skill
This would help in my professional as well as personal life.
● How did you feel when you had to deal with challenges/problems?
I reacted calmly.
● How well do you feel you have performed?
My performance was great as per my expectations.
● What can you improve?
Interaction skill

Next steps for your work Points to consider:
● What aspects of your work should you prioritise?
Data analysis
Project management plan
● Have you allowed sufficient time for completion?
Yes
Project plan status to date Points to consider:
● Do you feel you are on track to complete your work on time? If not, how will you address this?
Yes
● Do you feel your work shows your achievement of the Learning Outcomes? If not, what do you
need to do?
Yes
Tutor Feedback
Questionnaire
Q1) Do you think that you have proper knowledge regarding the talent management and its
strategies?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) According to you what is the significance of line managers and leaders in the workplace of
an organization?
a) Improving productivity
b) Boosting morale of employees
c) Supporting team objectives
d) Encouraging innovation
Q3) What are the roles performed by line managers and managers in retaining, developing and
managing talent in the workplace within Walmart?
a) Connecting roles of employees with team goals
b) Promoting open communication
c) Form policies and schemes of benefits and incentives
d) Supporting employees

Q4) What are the strategies used by line managers and leaders in retaining talent employees in
the workplace within Walmart?
a) Offering right benefit
b) Providing opportunities for career advancement
c) Competitive benefits and salaries
d) Reducing pressure in employees
Q5) Do you think that these strategies used by leaders of Walmart are helping in retaining and
developing workforce in the workplace?
a) Yes
b) No
Q6) Do you feel that there are chances of improvement in retaining strategies of Walmart?
a) Yes
b) No