Bucks Student Union Music Festival: Project Management Methodologies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Bucks Student's Union Music Festival through the lens of project management. It begins by comparing and contrasting project management methodologies like Kanban, Waterfall, and Agile, ultimately recommending Agile for its adaptability and continuous feedback mechanisms. The report then develops a network diagram, illustrating the workflow of the project and identifying the critical path, crucial for timely completion. Furthermore, a stakeholder analysis identifies key internal and external stakeholders, assessing their power and interest to inform communication strategies. Finally, the report conducts a risk analysis, pinpointing potential risks such as financial and reputational issues, and proposes mitigation strategies. The report concludes that effective project management, including stakeholder engagement and risk mitigation, is crucial for the successful execution of the Bucks Student's Union Music Festival.

Project Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Comparison and analysis of project management methodologies of knowledge........................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Network diagram addition to critical path...................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
Stakeholder analysis for this project............................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
Analysis of risks for the project...................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Project management includes activities of leading work of group of people so that they
can attain their goals in time. It comprises application of various process, measures, skills,
knowledge and expertise to fulfil project objectives. It is considered as an art of combining
together all the variables related to specific project (Ansah and Sorooshian, 2018). For this
report, the selected project is Bucks Student's Union Music Festival which is organised by Bucks
Students Union to make sure that students view wide range of topics and issues related to that are
expressed.
This report covers project management methodologies of knowledge and analysis its
advantages as well as disadvantages. It develops manually network diagram which shows
relationship between all activities and their dependencies on each other. It highlights stakeholder
analysis and identify internal as well as external stakeholder as per interest and power.
TASK 1
Comparison and analysis of project management methodologies of knowledge
A collection of principles and measures that leads group of people to organise their
project effectively so they can achieve maximum performance is called as project management
methodologies. It helps group to determine which work to should be prioritised and how whole
project will finish in time (Crawford, 2021). Within project of Bucks Student's Union Music
Festival, project management methodologies have great influence as it provides it structure to
organise work and finish it as a team. Comparison and analysis of three project methodologies
which can be utilised in Bucks Student's Union Music Festival are explained below:
Basis of Analysis Kanban Waterfall Agile
Meaning Cyclical process is the
main focus of this
methodology. Its main
aim is to optimised the
activities of workflow in
project.
Waterfall methodology
highlights all stages of
project including its time,
scope and cost. It
requires significant time
to plan the initial stages
of project in order to
Agile methodology
allows managers of
project to work in
short bursts and at
end deliver the
expected results. This
allows to make
1

minimise issues which
can arise later in project
management.
changes in project as
per demand or ideas
change. It is used to
manage complex
process effectively.
Benefits It allows managers of
project to enhances flow
of work activities by
visualising it which
benefits in making
continuous
improvements. It
prevents over lapping of
work in team which
maximises productivity.
Kanban methodology
represents status of each
task which aids project
manager to track
progress of project.
Waterfall methodology is
easy to use for managers
of projects. It allows
managers to divide
project in stages so that
members can easily
grasp them. It assists in
effectively organising,
managing and dividing
work of project.
This benefits project
managers to enjoy
flexibility and
freedom in actions
which results in more
creative project.
Managers can get
continuous feedback
of each task which
minimises risk of
failure.
Drawbacks Kanban methodology is
not created for dynamic
environment projects as
it provides pre arranged
structure. It is a
challenge for projects
where creativity and
innovate ideas are
required.
Major drawback of this
methodology is that it
can become rigid in some
cases. If manager faces
any issue in project that
they fails to find at initial
stages, then they have to
start the project from
beginning which results
in wasting time and
Agile methodology
focus more on
addressing changes
the time they happen
which leads to no
fixed plan or
schedule of tasks.
This also requires
that every member of
group work closely
2

efforts of team member. together which
sometimes became a
creates problem.
From the above analysis, it has been assessed that Agile methodology is best suited for
Bucks Student's Union Music Festival project. As it provides continuous feedback of tasks which
allows managers to oversee progress and credibility of performance (Galli, 2018). It does not
work on structured plan which facilitates project managers to make quick changes if needed.
TASK 2
Network diagram addition to critical path
Within a project, network diagram describes sequence of activities graphically in which
milestones or terminal events are completed. Within project of musical event of Bucks Students’
Union, network diagram represents workflow of project. Below is prepared network diagram for
musical event of Bucks Students’ Union:
Figure 1: Self-Created. 2022
(Source: Self-Created. 2022)
3

Figure 2: Self-Created. 2022
(Source: Self- Created. 2022)
Early Start Activity Number Early finish
Slack
time
ACTIVITY NAME
Late Start Duration Late Finish
4

Critical path figures out activities or tasks that can run equivalent to each other in a
project. Use of critical path in project of musical event that is organised by Bucks Students’
Union assist managers to determine most significant and crucial elements that provides
disciplined base to reach end deliverables (Kaim, Härting and Reichstein, 2019). Figure 1 shows
that network diagram involves tasks that are arrowed in orange and blue colour. While Figure 2
reflects earliest latest start time, earliest finish time and late finish time for each activity. Critical
path for the project of Bucks Students’ Union is 1→2→4→5→9→10→21→22 that needs 116
days for completion of entire working.
5

6

TASK 3
Stakeholder analysis for this project
Stakeholder are the agencies, groups or people who are interested in project and who
brings in various resources to create some impact in project. Measures that helps in determining
requirements and expectations of major personnels of project is known as stakeholder analysis.
In context to Bucks Student's Union Music Festival, stakeholder analysis is mentioned below:
(Source: Self Generated 2022)
Stakeholders Internal or
External
Power or
Interest
stakeholder
Influence on
project
Strategy of
communication
Employees Internal Low power and
high interest
Employees of
Bucks Student's
Union Music
Festival have high
Communication
has been done via
internal mailing
system where
7
Illustration 1: Self-Generated. 2022

influence on
project as assign
roles and duties to
members.
information
regarding tasks of
projects are
exchanges
between members
and organisers.
Sponsors External High power and
high interest
Sponsors have
high influence on
Bucks Student's
Union Music
Festival as they
provide some of
required budget to
carry out
activities
effectively.
Communication
between sponsors
and project
manager do not
take place
frequently. They
review the
progress of task
in regular
intervals.
Media External Less power and
low interest.
Media plays great
role in promoting
Bucks Student's
Union Music
Festival project.
They will take out
the word about
the project which
will increase its
popularity.
The source of
communication is
providing media
channels
information about
the project by
managers.
Government External High power and
low interest.
Government
impacts is high on
Bucks Student's
Union Music
Communication
strategy used by
project managers
with government
8

Festival as it put
extra burden on
project manager
by interfering.
is done through
sending details
regarding project
and information
about results of
each task.
TASK 4
Analysis of risks for the project
In a project, risk analysis is key as it is proven approach to determine as well as assess
factors which have ability to hamper or influence success criteria of company or project
(Sreedharan and Sunder 2018). With effective risk analysis, project managers of the musical
festival organised by Bucks Students’ Union are able to examine risks and devise rational
decisions for further practices. In association to Music Festival of Bucks Students’ Union, risks
analysis is prepared underneath:
Risk Responsible
professional
body
Impacts Likelihood Mitigation strategy or action
Financial risk Finance
department
High High To mitigate financial risk, finance
manager of Bucks Students’ Union
can evaluate operations for
efficiency, nurture outsource
wherein it makes sense, makes
usage of metrics for each type of
decision and arranges funds from
variant sources.
Reputational
risk
Marketing
manager
High High For mitigating reputational risk,
project manager involved in Bucks
Students’ Union music festival
needs tio protect the project against
data breaches, being vigilant for
9

customer service mishaps and
perform ethical conduct (Tonchia,
Tonchia and Mahagaonkar, 2018).
Operational
risk
Operational
department
High Medium Operational risk in project of
Bucks Students’ Union can be
mitigated through management of
equipment failure, keeping strong
relationships in B2C and B2B as
well as carry out practices with
effective knowledge of regulations.
Competition
risk
Project
manager
High Low Competition risk in project
organised by Bucks Students’
Union can be mitigated by making
huge investment in R&D activities,
knowing competition, step up
marketing, updating image and
ensure that branding reinforces
messaging (Zhou, Irizarry and Guo,
2021).
Security
along with
fraud risk
Project
Manager
High Low In the project of Bucks Students’
Union festival, security and fraud
risks can be mitigated with creating
proactive communication with
human capital around fraud,
establishing whistle blower hotline
and implementing policies about
nondisclosure addition to
confidentiality.
10

CONCLUSION
As per the information presented above, it has been concluded that organising and
managing a project is a crucial task which involves undertaking many methodologies. Creating
network diagram helps project managers to provide a structure to project and lead efforts of
every member in one direction. Stakeholder analysis provides insights in understanding who has
high or low power in project and how their communication strategy works.
11

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Ansah, R. H. and Sorooshian, S., 2018. 4P delays in project management. Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management.
Crawford, J. K., 2021. Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.
Galli, B. J., 2018. Risks related to lean six sigma deployment and sustainment risks: How project
management can help. International Journal of Service Science, Management,
Engineering, and Technology (IJSSMET). 9(3). pp.82-105.
Kaim, R., Härting, R.C. and Reichstein, C., 2019. Benefits of agile project management in an
environment of increasing complexity—a transaction cost analysis. In Intelligent
Decision Technologies 2019 (pp. 195-204). Springer, Singapore.
Sreedharan V, R. and Sunder M, V., 2018. A novel approach to lean six sigma project
management: a conceptual framework and empirical application. Production Planning
& Control. 29(11), pp.895-907.
Tonchia, S., Tonchia and Mahagaonkar, 2018. Industrial project management. Berlin: Springer.
Zhou, Z., Irizarry, J. and Guo, W., 2021. A network-based approach to modeling safety accidents
and causations within the context of subway construction project management. Safety
science. 139. p.105261.
12