Project Plan Report: Graduation Ceremony at University of Cambridge

This report presents a comprehensive project plan for organizing a graduation ceremony at the University of Cambridge. It meticulously outlines the project's scope, objectives, and team structure, defining roles and responsibilities within a responsibility matrix. The report delves into time management, establishing a detailed activity schedule with durations and dependencies. Cost management is addressed through a budget breakdown and a project cost baseline, ensuring financial control. Risk management is thoroughly explored, including risk identification, analysis, and mitigation strategies presented in a risk matrix. Furthermore, the report details a communication management plan, identifying stakeholders and outlining communication strategies. The project aims to organize a successful graduation ceremony within a three-month timeframe and a budget of £7000, highlighting the practical application of project management principles. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and the importance of effective planning in project execution.

Project plan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1: Scope management plan...................................................................................................3
Project description..................................................................................................................3
Project objectives....................................................................................................................3
Project scope...........................................................................................................................4
Project team............................................................................................................................4
Assumptions...........................................................................................................................4
Constraints..............................................................................................................................4
Project roles and responsibilities............................................................................................4
Responsibility Project Matrix.................................................................................................6
Project Work-breakdown Structure (WBS)...........................................................................6
TASK 2 Time Management Plan.....................................................................................................7
Project Activity/Time/Dependency base table......................................................................7
TASK 3 : Cost management Plan....................................................................................................8
Cost Break-down and budget.................................................................................................8
Project Cost Baseline..............................................................................................................9
TASK 4 : Risk Management Plan..................................................................................................10
Risk Identification, analysis and action plan........................................................................10
Project risk matrix................................................................................................................11
TASK 5 : Communication management plan................................................................................11
Project stakeholders..............................................................................................................11
Stakeholder communication plan.........................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
This report focuses on project planning and help in understanding project management and
its importance in different phases of project. Project management is a wide concept which
includes different points such as cost, risk, communication etc. and project manager of every
organisation focuses on these aspects in order to complete the project effectively and efficiently.
This report focuses on the project of organising a graduation ceremony in University of
Cambridge situated in UK and this report help in understanding different aspects which are
included in managing project and how cost, time, risk and communication play vital role in
completion of project.
TASK 1: Scope management plan
Project description
This project includes planning and organising a graduation ceremony of University of
Cambridge and this report focuses on planning of graduation ceremony which is scheduled for
November 2021. Project should be planned in not more than three months and budget allocated
for this ceremony is £7000. This ceremony is jointly organised by efforts of teachers and
students of institute (Aramesh and et. al., 2021).
Project objectives
In every project manager or whoever is planning the project focuses on developing objectives
which are SMART (Balfe and et. al., 2017). SMART is explained as objectives should be
specific, measurable, achievable, relatable and time-bound. SMART objective for this project is
mentioned below: To organise graduation ceremony of institute in 3 months and budget for this
ceremony is £7000. Effective planning of resources for organising graduation ceremony Allocation of work to members according to their skills and knowledge
 To set small objectives which help in achieving final objectives

Project scope
Project scope is explained as goals towards which team is aiming to achieve and focus on
aiming towards achieving goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. Goals which are aimed
by team are mentioned below:
 Team have to focus on choosing and finalizing the appropriate place to organize
graduation ceremony
 Focusing on activities such as environment of place, ambience. Food etc.
 Deciding guests for the ceremony and inviting them for ceremony.
 Inviting parents for ceremony and making arrangement of furniture for ceremony
(Csordas, 2017).
Project team
Project team is explained as individuals which are responsible for organising this ceremony
and inviting parents and guests for the graduation ceremony. Team is responsible for project
planning and focus on organising graduation ceremony effectively and efficiently.
Assumptions
Project team have to made its arrangements according to situation as graduation ceremony
is organized in month of November and project team have to make sure that it should have
organised effectively and efficiently.
Constraints
Constraints is explained as implications or difficulties which can be faced by project team
during organizing graduation ceremony and factors such as budget, resources etc. which can
come during organizing graduation ceremony.
 Budget constraint – This constraint is related with budget for the ceremony as there are
several activities related with graduation ceremony and which needs budget and time. It
might be possible that project team may face some issues regarding budget for project.
 Resource constraint- Project team have to focus on using the resources effectively and
efficiently as poor utilisation of resources may create problem for project team and may
affect planning about graduation ceremony (Dlouhy and et. al., 2018).
Project roles and responsibilities

Project Team Designation of team member Roles and Responsibilities
Project Manager Head of the department Manager have to handle
budget of ceremony and
focus on effectively utilising
these resources.
Treasurer Faculty Focuses on handling finance
for graduation ceremony and
execution of plan for
ceremony (Naeem and et. al.,
2018).
Treasury group Students Focuses on preparing
breakdown of budget for
ceremony and analysing cost
for ceremony.
Head of guests Faculty Focuses on accommodation
of guests and make sure that
guest feel comfortable.
Guests team Student s Handling work related to
invitation for guest and
parents.
Professional head Faculty Focuses on hiring
professional which will help
in organizing graduation
ceremony effectively.
Professional team Students Focuses on handling
professional and make sure
that they should feel
comfortable (Papke-Shields
and Boyer-Wright, 2017).
Volunteers Students Focus on assisting team

members in several
operations related to
graduation ceremony.
Responsibility Project Matrix
Below mentioned is the responsibility matrix for the project:
R – Responsible
A – Accountable
C- Consulted
I - Informed
Tasks Project Manager Faculty Member Students Volunteer
Budgetary decisions R/A C/A I I
Budgetary allocation C/I R C/A I
Guests selection C R A I
Guests invitation and
accommodation
I C R/A I
Food and catering C R A I
Light and sound C R A I
Security C R A I
Cleaning C R A I
Medals, certificates and caps C R A I
Activities rehearsals I R A I

Project Work-breakdown Structure (WBS)
TASK 2 Time Management Plan
Project Activity/Time/Dependency base table
Number Activities Duration required to
complete
Predecessor
1 Budget allocation for ceremony 8 days
2 Formation and selection of team 5 days 1
3 Choosing appropriate venue 8 days 2
4 Contract of catering 10 days 3
5 Appropriate light and sound for ceremony 4 days 4
6 Placing order of certificates, medals and
graduation caps & robs
7 days 4,5
7 Preparing guest list and sending invitation to
guests
9 days 6

8 Security of guests and other tasks 6 days 7
9 Giving final touch to ceremony by doing
rehearsals
2 days 8
10 Graduation ceremony 3 days 9

TASK 3 : Cost management Plan
Cost Break-down and budget
Budget which is allocated for organising event is £7000 and this part focuses on cost
break-down for the event and it help in allocating budget according to need of activities. Cost
break-down table is mentioned below:
Cost Break-down
Particulars Amount (in £)
Catering services 1000
Lighting and sound system 650
Photographers team 600
Budget for venue rent 600
Medals, certificates, graduation caps and robs 650
Accommodation services for guests and
parents
1400
Security handling 600
Need of staff in maintaining cleanliness on
venue
500
Other expenses 1000
Total expected expenses/budgetary allocation 7000

Project Cost Baseline
This part focuses on expenses related with every month and focuses on analysing expenditure on
the basis of activities.
Activities September
Payments (in £)
October
Payments (in £)
November
Payments (in £)
Total
budgetary
Allocation
Activities related to
catering
300 300 400 1000
Light and sound 250 150 200 600
Photographers and
videographer
200 200 200 600
Budget for venue rent 150 150 300 600
Medals, certificates,
graduation caps and
robs
150 250 250 650
Accommodation
services for guests and
parents
400 400 600 1400
Security handling 200 200 200 600
Cleaning facilities 100 150 250 500
Other expenses 400 300 300 1000

TASK 4 : Risk Management Plan
Risk Identification, analysis and action plan
Risk register help in identification of risk and preparing appropriate plan to resolve any
type of issues and risk register for this project is mentioned below:
Risk Likelihood Person Responsible Mitigation
Strategy
Contingency Plan
Project delay Moderate Project Manager Focusing on
achieving goals
and objectives on
timely basis.
Focusing on
taking alternatives
to achieve goals
and objectives
with effective and
efficient use of
resources.
Increase in cost of
project
Likely Project Manager Focusing on
achieving goals
and objectives on
timely basis.
Focusing on using
cost break-down
structure to
analyse the
difficult situation
and achieve goals
and objectives
(Velayudhan and
Thomas, 2018).
Theft Unlikely Security head Monitoring venue
premises by using
CCTV cameras.
Help of higher
authorities can be
taken in case of
major theft.

Project risk matrix
Likelihood Consequences
No effect Minor Moderate High
Certain High High Extreme Extreme
Likely Moderate High High Extreme
Moderate Low Moderate High Extreme
Unlikely Low Low Moderate High
Rare Low Low Moderate High
TASK 5 : Communication management plan
Project stakeholders
Stakeholders groups are explained as those which get affected by planning of project and
focuses on development of project and directly affect management of project (Pellerin and
Perrier, 2019). It is further divided into two parts internal team and external team which are
mentioned below:
 Internal stakeholder – It is explained as the people of the project management team
which are faculty members, students, volunteers etc.
 External stakeholder – It is explained as people which doesn't belong to project
management team and it includes parents, guests, hired professionals etc.
Stakeholder group table which are mentioned below help in understanding capabilities and
influencing the project.
Stakeholder group Interest in the project Influence level
College Authorities Authorities have to make sure that event
should be effective as it can affect their
High

reputation.
Faculty members – head of
department
Faculties have are responsible for planning
of project and faculties have to make sure
that planning should be effective.
High
Students – team members Students are responsible for completing the
activities which is given by faculty
members.
High
Students – volunteers Volunteer students have low influence on
this project as volunteers have to only
follow the instructions from team members.
Low
Guests' Guests are only invited for the ceremony
and it doesn't have much influence on the
project or ceremony (Sperano and et. al.,
2018).
Low
Parents Parents are also invited for the ceremony
and they doesn't have any influence on the
ceremony.
Low
Professionals hired Professional are hired to make the process
of ceremony smooth and effective.
Professionals ineffective planning may
affect the effectiveness of ceremony.
Medium
Suppliers Suppliers which are hired to deliver
necessary products have to do their work
effectively and supplier do have affect on
the project (Taghipour and et. al., 2020).
Medium
Stakeholder communication plan

Stakeholder group Communication
mode
Time
College Authorities Written email,
message or call
Every day till project date
Faculty members
included in team
Written email,
message or call
Every day till project date
Students in team Written email,
message or call
Every day till project date
Students – volunteers Written email,
message or call
When help of volunteers are
needed
Guests' Written email,
message or call
Before ceremony invitation to
guests
Parents Written email,
message or call
Before ceremony invitation to
parents
Professionals hired Written email,
message or call
When project is started and
signing the agreement
Suppliers Written email,
message or call
Ordering product and resources
Receipt and payment of products
CONCLUSION
This report help in concluding about importance of project management and this report
focuses on planning of graduation ceremony for Y institute. This report concludes about different
factors which can affect project and how to understand and analyse different factors in order to
complete the project. This report also concludes about importance of planning in project
management and how effective and efficient strategies contributes in completing project.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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planning and control in real-world applications with interval data. Applied Soft
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Balfe, N., and et. al., 2017. Total project planning: Integration of task analysis, safety analysis
and optimisation techniques. Safety science. 100. pp.216-224.
Csordas, H., 2017. An overview of the time-cost trade-off problems of project planning.
Procedia engineering. 196. pp.323-326.

Dlouhy, J., and et. al., 2018, July. Using takt planning and takt control in production projects—
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Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Chennai, India (pp. 16-
22).
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of Risk Management and Moderating Role of Organizational Culture.International
Journal of Business and Social Science. 9(1). pp.88-98.
Papke-Shields, K. E. and Boyer-Wright, K. M., 2017. Strategic planning characteristics applied
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Pellerin, R. and Perrier, N., 2019. A review of methods, techniques and tools for project planning
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Sperano, I., and et. al., 2018, August. Exploring new usages of journey maps: Introducing the
pedagogical and the project planning journey maps. In Congress of the International
Ergonomics Association (pp. 964-982). Springer, Cham.
Taghipour, and et. al., 2020. Evaluating Project Planning and Control System in Multi-project
Organizations under Fuzzy Data Approach Considering Resource Constraints (Case
Study: Wind Tunnel Construction Project). Management. 3(1). pp.29-46.
Velayudhan, D. P. and Thomas, S., 2018. Role of technological uncertainty, technical
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10(1). pp.82-92.