PPMP2009 Assessment 1: Lean Project Management Implementation

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PPMP2009 Assessment 1

Memo
To: Staff of PM consultancy
From: Director In charge of Implementing LPM approach
Subject: In order to provide the information regarding the decision as well as the proposed
implementation process for Lean Project Management.
Date: 25/04/2019
The memo is written in order to provide the information about the lean project management
approach to be implemented within the business of project management consultancy. Such
consultancy is required to undertake government work. It has been identified that to undertake
the government work, there is a requirement of showing the use of the Lean Project management
principles in the project management processes used by the consultancy. This is the initial reason
for the managers of the company to implement the lean project management principles within
their project management processes. The companies generally work on several kinds of projects
such as developing the products as well as services and processes. The lean project management
utilizes the data-driven methods in order to manage the projects by mainly focusing on the
continuous improvement within the processes. The lean management importantly emphasizes on
the quality, empowered cross-functional teams for the work, data analysis, the increment in the
customer value as well as eliminating the wastage through the effective use of the time of
employees, financial resources and the materials of the organization (Thorhallsdottir, 2016). The
lean project management methodologies are mainly focused on the in-depth planning, ongoing
analysis, visual documentation tools as well as the process improvements in order to make
elimination in the wastage. The main reason identified behind the implementation of the LPM
approaches in business is to get the government tenders for the businesses as there is need of
showing the use of lean project management principles in project management in the business.

Benefits to various stakeholders in the project from implementing lean project
management
There are several numbers of the benefits arising from using lean project management in the
project management consultancy. The stakeholders to the project management can be the project
team, the project manager, client of the company, the company itself as well as the community.
These are the people who are going to get affected by such implementation of the lean project
management in a positive manner. The lean project management principles are implemented by
the businesses in order to eliminate the wastage and make improvement in the efficiency of
project management. Following are provided some of these benefits:
Reduction in the wastage: In the lean project management, proper lean techniques are being
used by the businesses which are helpful in the reduction of the overall wastage within any
project. Such wastage can be reduced which will ultimately save the cost of the project and the
organization will be benefitted.
Better Efficiency: The efficiency of the types of equipment and the tools used for the project as
well as other resources will be improved by using the lean project management methodologies
and the principles. This is not a push technique and proper utilization of the resources can be
made without any wastage in excess.
Reduction in completion time: The project is checked and scrutinized at each and every phase
of its lifetime. It helps the project team in the completion of any task at a particular time at once.
The commitment towards the work is the key to the implementation of lean project management
within a business.
Lead time reduction: There is an improvement is this factor as well. The response comes
quickly to the project requirements with fewer delays. Each and every activity related to the
project management accomplishes at the right time.
Improved management of inventory: Through implementing the lea project management
techniques in the business, there can be made the improvement in the management of the
inventory as there is no need of keeping a large amount of stock in the stores.

Added Value: The stakeholders of the project can be benefitted by using lean project
management techniques. These are the techniques which are helpful in reducing the wastage and
it can help in adding the value in the project or the product, process or services to be developed.
The waste-free, neat, as well as clean products, will also increase the value of the organization.
Increment in the productivity: There can be an improvement in the productivity of the
organization as the types of equipment of the organization are not working as the push. There
will be getting a proper time in order to get the maintenance of the types of equipment which will
reduce the chances of the breakdown of the tools. Ultimately it will help in making the
improvements in the efficiency of the products and the productivity of the company (Gaudenzi &
Christopher, 2015).
Innovation: The projects can be improved and the innovation can also be implemented in the
project through the brainstorming techniques and other creative ideas. The stakeholders of the
project such as project manager and project team get benefitted through using such lean project
management techniques.
Effective utilization of human and other resources: Through using the lean project
management methodologies in the project management within the businesses, the proper
utilization of human resources and the financial resources can be made without any further
wastage (Sertyesilisik Begum, 2016).
Critical success factors required to be in place for successful implementation of Lean
Project Management
There are several numbers of the critical success factors of successful implementation of the lean
project management within the project management consultancy. Following are some of the
critical success factors which are required to be in place for the successful implementation of the
lean project management:
Policy, management, and leadership
It has been identified that, within a consultancy, the sound strategy, as well as the strong
leadership, are very important as without them the lean improvement initiatives cannot be made

or implemented successfully. This is completely true for the consultancy organizations as there is
need of the exercise of leadership in order to set up a good and sound policy along with long
term important decisions to support the lean efforts to be made (Sohi, et. al., 2016).
Funding, techniques, and communication
Most of the consultancy services companies are facing the technical as well as the financial
issues which are having an adverse impact on the improvement initiatives through the lean
project management. The financial capacity is considered as an important factor for the
determination of the success of any project within an organization. This is so because of the fact
that the finance covers the avenues through which several other provisions can be made within
the organization such as the consultancy as well as training (Sousa, et. al., 2018). The financial
inadequacy is the major problem in the adoption as well as the subsequent implementation of the
lean project management techniques. The application of lean management must require financial
consultants in order to provide training to the employees. The training of the employees may
require the techniques which need a great amount of investment. The production within the firm
may also be stopped due to the lack of the adequate financial resources hence this is one of the
most critical success factors in the implementation of lean project management within a
consultancy firm.
Skills and expertise: This is also one of the critical success factors in making the use of lean
project management methodologies within the business. It is very important for the employees of
a consultancy to use their intellectual capital as well as the ability to do innovation and
differentiation. The employees must possess the knowledge as well as the skills to be able to use
the lean project management methodologies to manage the projects within the organization.
Moreover, communication is also a key among all the team members to any project and it is
required that all of them communicate with each other in an appropriate manner. These are the
critical success factors within an organization which is required to be in their place in order to
implement the lean project management methodologies (Sunder, 2016).
Culture, Humans, and Competencies: The human component is also valued within an
organization to a great extent. It is a strong driving factor within the implementation of lean
projects. The financial constraints within the consultancies can be overcome by the involved as

well as highly motivated employees. For successful implementation of lean management, the
motivation, as well as the guidance to the employees, is necessary and key to success. The
empowerment, as well as the participation of all the employees, is highly recommended in order
to successfully implement the lean project management methodologies.
Market, suppliers, and customers: The external market and the environment also have a
special impact on efficiency as well as the sustainability of lean project management approaches.
The consultancy is required to make the close cooperation with the customers as well as all the
partners associated with the organization. This can be helpful in bringing the continuous
improvements initiatives within the processes of project management in the project management
consultancy.
Lean tools and the methods: The application of the lean tools as well as the methods within the
process of project management is necessary and crucial. The main tools, as well as the methods
which can be frequently used, are waste reduction, problem-solving, visualization, continuous
improvement, team concept, value stream mapping, and daily management. These all are the
well-known methods derived from the lean production philosophy. These tools and methods are
important and effective for success by using lean project management methodologies.
Steps to ensure the CSF in place and achieve the LPM mindset within consultancy staff
There are several numbers of the steps that can be taken in order to identify that all the critical
success factors are at their place within the consultancy organization. In order to ensure that the
leadership, as well as the management, is sound at the workplace, there is a requirement of
assessing the performance of the employees and the feedback of the staff is required to be taken.
It can be helpful in ensuring that such a critical success factor is at its place.
The other critical factor is financial capability as well as communication. It can be ensured
within the consultancy organization through making the assessment on the basic requirements of
the funds required by the organization to implement the lean project management. If there is no
need of further funds to be collected for the company then it can be ensured that there are
appropriate financial resources with the organization and the Lean Project Management can be
successful (Anholon & Sano, 2016).

The skills, as well as expertise of the employees within an organization, can be ensured through
providing them the training regarding the lean project management methodologies. This can
ensure the success of the lean project management implementation within the organization.
The culture of the organization can be established by making a better environment at the
workplace by keeping employees motivated as well as satisfied with their work. This can be
helpful in implementing the new improvement initiatives within the business through Lean
project management. The lean tools, as well as methods, can also be ensured at the workplace
through making the physical verification and assessment that whether the staffs of the
consultancy is using such tools in an appropriate manner or not.
The consultancy staff can be motivated to work with the lean project management methodologies
through educating them regarding the benefits of the LPM approaches. There are several
numbers of benefits for the stakeholders of the organization as there can be an improvement in
the quality, improvement in the profit margins, and reduction in inventory as well as elimination
of the wastage. The mindset of the staff can be set through providing them all the relevant
information regarding the benefits of LPM.
Training requirements for the individual staff
There are several numbers of the skills that already exist among the staff members and there is
the further requirement of providing them training to learn other necessary skills. The staff
members within the project management are good at communication. They have great
communication skills which are required to be there in the members of the project team to
implement the lean project management methodologies. They have a little knowledge regarding
the use of lean project management principles and for such purpose, they are required to be given
appropriate training. The staff members have problem-solving skills along with decision-making
skills. There is only a requirement of the training to them regarding the technical specification
associated with the lean project management. It is the responsibility of the senior management of
the organization to make their staff trained regarding all the terms or lean project management as
well as the lean project methodologies (Brioso, 2015).

There are several methods through which the training can be provided to the staff members of
project management consultancy. Following are these methods discussed:
On the job training: In this method of the training, the employees or the staffs are being
provided the training to learn the skills within the real business environment. There are two
objectives for applying this method of training. One of these is that the employees are getting
developed professionally to learn about the concept of lean project management and on the other
hand, there is another objective that the employees are working within the real business
environment only. The on the job training can be provided to the staff of project management
consultancy in order to improve their knowledge and skills regarding the lean project
management methodologies (Elias, 2016).
Off the job training: This is the other way of providing the training to the staff members. In this
method, the training to the employees is being provided through theoretical knowledge through
providing off the job training. The classes, as well as the workshop, are conducted outside the
organization for the skill development of the employees or the staff members regarding the lean
project management methodologies. These workshops are helpful for the employees to achieve
the theoretical knowledge regarding the tools as well as the techniques to be used in the lean
project management to eliminate the wastage within the organization. This is also considered as
an effective way to teach the skills to the employees of the project management consultancy
(Sreedharan & Sunder, 2018).
Schedule of the training
Activity Starting date End date Time Duration
Assessment of the
skills required
1st May 2019 10th May 2019 10 days
Training plan
preparation
11th May 2019 15th May 2019 15 days

On the job training 16th May 2019 20th May 2019 5 days
Off the job training 21st May 2019 30th May 2019 10 days
Employees
reassessment
31st May 2019 5th June 2019 6 days
Assessing the Applicability of Lean Project Management
Before implementing and assessing the lean management approaches in managing project, it is
important to understand the principles of Lean project management. These principles assists in
creating a new process for managing a project. Any organisation who follows LPM approach
surely be following any of those principles as they form the foundation for the lean management
ideology. Anyone who want to assess the LPM should make a note that such philosophy are
focused on long-term financial goals instead of short-term. People in such organisation have an
idea of such practices being followed in order to achieve the goals of the project. In addition to
this, motivation level and efficiency of people in such organisation are very high in comparison
to those that do not have LPM approach. The overall productivity of such organisations is very
low and they have poor ROI as well. In addition to this, a firm armed with LPM can be able to
highlight issue areas by developing a continuous process flow. Focus on enhancing the complete
project management process is given time to time and such organisation have a culture of
promoting innovation and creativity.
Another way to assess the LMP is to assess the teams’ working style. Usually, organisation with
the LPM divide the workload equally among the team members. This help them in minimising
the waste as it discard any chances of overburdening stakeholders in the project. It is important
to note that each stakeholder in the project has a set role to play. In case they get exhausted, they
won’t be able to add quality. In such organisation, the project manager assigns workload to the
employees as per their potential and capacity. In addition to this, it is important for the project
manager to create a culture of solving problems in order to maintain the best quality and high
standards. Organisation with LPM has the high quality products and operations are efficient with

less waste generated. In addition to this, the operating cost of such organisation are quite low in
comparison to the organisation that do not follow any lean management principles. All the
stakeholders in the organisation with LPM has a defined powers in the hands of stakeholders. In
fact, they have the power to pin point any issue related to quality and their feedbacks are taken
seriously by the management in order to improve their services. This helps them to maintain their
consistency for longer duration.
Before ending this memo on a high note, it is important to outline the key findings of this
discussion. The first and foremost reason for implementing the LPM is to reduce the waste and
improve the efficiency along with the consistency. In addition to this, it was also determined that
LPM has many benefits. For instance, it adds more value to the business by increasing the
competitiveness of the company. In addition to this, the lean management importantly
emphasizes on the quality, empowered cross-functional teams for the work. It was also
highlighted that the financial capacity is considered as an important factor for the determination
of the success of any project within an organization. It was also highlighted in the memo that the
culture of the organization can be established by making a better environment at the workplace
by keeping employees motivated as well as satisfied with their work.

References
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