Critical Analysis of a Project Management Plan - MGT8022 <University>

This document presents a detailed project management plan (PMP) analysis, focusing on the ACIC company's project. It includes a critical evaluation of the PMP's effectiveness in relation to the PMBOK, a project description outlining the company, project purpose, and context. The analysis covers various sections of the ACIC firm's PMP, highlighting strengths and weaknesses in areas like project overview, planning, tracking, and team structure. Recommendations are provided to address identified shortcomings and improve the overall quality and effectiveness of the PMP. The report uses real world example for analysis and provides useful suggestions for improvement.

Project Management Plan
<University>
<Project Management>
by
<Your Name>
<Date>
<Lecturer’s Name and Course Number>
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Project Management Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Project Management Plan (PMP) plays vital role in project management process as it
leads to effective development of the project. For the present file, PMP of ACIC Company is
taken into consideration. In context to this, the study has included proper critical analysis and
evaluation of the PMP for identifying its effectiveness with respect to the PMBOK. Project
description has added to the study which included information about the project, company,
purpose of the project and many more. Along with this, project context has been described in the
research. This section consists of critical analysis of the different sections of PMP of ACIC firm.
In the end, recommendations have been suggested for handling the drawbacks and improving the
PMP.
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Project Management Plan
Table of contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
PROJECT BACKGROUND...........................................................................................................4
CONCEPTS OF PMP......................................................................................................................5
Project Overview:........................................................................................................................5
Project Planning:..........................................................................................................................6
Project Tracking:.......................................................................................................................10
Project Team:.............................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................18
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Project Management Plan
INTRODUCTION
Project management plan (PMP) refers to the formal, approved document which explains the
way in which project is executed, reviewed and controlled. PMP is a detailed document having
baselines, subsidiary management plan, risk management plan, quality management plan and
other planning documents. Project management is the process of initiating, planning, executing,
controlling and closing the entire work performed by the team members of an organisation for
accomplishing some specific goals and objectives in the decided period. It is necessary to have
different technical skills and management strategies for achieving the aim of the project. One of
the significant challenges regarding the project management is to meet all the project objectives
within the decided constraints. It is necessary that PMP should be available for all the project
members for providing them essential information regarding the project (Chauhan and
SRIVASTAVA, 2015).
For the current study, Project Management Plan for ACIC Project is taken into consideration.
This project includes two elements: Brokerage Account Opening application on the company’s
website and account opening and maintenance of the application. With respect to this, the file
consists of proper analysis and evaluation of the taken Project Management Plan. The study
consists of project background which explains the project, its aim, purpose, different
components, etc. Along with this, contents of the PMP critically analyse each significant section
of the project and provides the theoretical framework. This section of the file informs about the
quality and accuracy of the PMP. In the end, recommendations are added to the file for
improving the loopholes and enhancing the quality of the PMP.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Project Management Plan for ACIC project is a real life project which is executed by the
commercial firm. All Canadian investment corporation (ACIC) is a USA based Investment
Company which needs to develop Brokerage Account. The PMP is based on the development of
the application with two components. The first component of the application includes Brokerage
Account Opening application on the website of the company for allowing any user to open
Brokerage Account with ACIC (Chauhan and SRIVASTAVA, 2015). On the other hand, the
second component is account opening and maintenance application which is for the
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Project Management Plan
representatives of the ACIC for opening accounts for the applications received in the paper
format. Along with this, the project of developing an application is based on the intranet. Apart
from this, the application of the company includes features like account history, viewing and
account balance, status and activity information and many more. With respect to the Project
management plan, the document regarding application development includes project planning,
change management process, resources required, risk management plan, quality management
plan and many more. This represents that entire plan is developed effectively with the help of
proper analysis and evaluation (KARAMAN and Murat, 2015).
The application development allows the company to change its way of serving and handling
customers with the help of the application. The project plan is developed according to the need
and requirement of the project and by considering all the relevant criteria. This project is an
enhancement of the present application which was produced by Infosys. This project is also done
by the Infosys which will result to enhance and strengthen the relationship between both the
companies (Jeon, Park and Jung, 2015).
CONCEPTS OF PMP
The project plan management of ACIC Company is developed for enhancing its present
application by including the features of account history viewing, status and activity information,
viewing account balance and opening Brokerage account. This project will make firm to serve its
customers more effectively and efficiently. Facility of the opening account via the internet will
increase the number of users for the firm and provide them with a better way to manage their
account and communicate with the company from anywhere at any time (Bhuiyan, 2015).
With respect to the PMP of ACIC Company, it includes all the necessary and significant sections
which helped in completing a project accurately on decided time and by using decided
constraints and resources. The PMP of the organisation is created by proper analysis of every
sector such as objectives and scope of the project, resources required, team formation, change
control plan, risk plan, communication plan, quality plan and many more (Ertl, 2014).
Project Overview: According to the Gasik, (2015), “The project overview of PMP provides a
summary of the overall project which helps in offering a small overview of the project at the
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beginning”. In context to this, project summary section of the considered PMP includes brief
information about the project, its aim and objectives. Along with this Deantonio Monroy,
Bermúdez and Alexander, (2017), have stated that “It is necessary to have some information
regarding the company for understanding its work, market status and many more within the
project overview”. However, the information regarding company ACIC is not given correctly.
The overview keeps unaware of the functioning of the firm, its products and services, locality
and performance in the market. Apart from this, the detail of project, i.e. enhancement of the
existing application by adding some features is appropriately given. The information helps in
understanding the aims and objectives of the project.
Apart from this, the overview also includes project start and end date, i.e. 3rd April 2000 and 3rd
November 2000. In addition to this, type of project, platform required and some phases of
completion lead to provide all the necessary details of the project plan. Udhayakumar and
Karthikeyan, (2016), have demonstrated that “Project Overview provides highlight of project
objectives and related information adequately with the help of Project Management Plan”. In
context to this, the manager or leader of ACIC can understand the overall project, its
requirements and needs with the help of project summary given in the plan. On the other hand,
project scope like allow the user to access the information, enhance the intelligence of the update
process, ability to close and reopen the account and many more be described correctly.
In addition to it, the value-add to the customer and objective of Infosys are also added to the plan
which provides a better view of the project. The commitments made to the customer provide
information regarding the milestone date, milestones and deliverables. Thus, all the information
contained in the project summary is accurate and represents the overall view of the ACIC’s
project. Apart from this, before starting the planning of the project, it is necessary to make some
assumptions; these are made by ACIC as well. The premises of the project plan provide the main
points on which the firm conducts overall planning (Roudias, 2015).
Project Planning: As per the view of Arcos-Medina, Oñate-Andino and Pástor, (2018), “Project
Planning is one of the crucial phases of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).
Without proper planning, it is not possible to develop and implement a project effectively”. With
respect to the considered PMP, Project process is adequately described as it helps in
understanding which Infosys will use method for enhancing the application. Along with this,
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Project Management Plan
there are some areas which need to be modified as per the requirement of the project and its
objectives. In context to this, tailoring notes of the PMP gives all the information about the areas
in which company will modify the process. Appropriate reasons for alteration are also provided
in the tailoring notes. This helps in better understanding of the project and its requirements.
Change Management Process is also discussed in the project planning for avoiding any delay or
failure within the process. On the other hand, there is no proper information given about the
requirements traceability. The area only includes the name of the tool, i.e. Requisite Tool. Some
information concerning the apparatus needed to be added for providing better information to the
senior.
Apart from this Hosseini, (2016), has discussed that “Project planning needs a stable and well
analysed plan for guiding the team and keeping the project on time and budget”. With respect to
this, the planning stage includes estimated size, efforts, use case, phase wise efforts, schedule,
and people with skills, experience and role. All these sub sections of the stage provide
information about the project. All the information is represented in the tabular form which makes
understanding easier and consumes less time. In contrast to it Cruz, (2017). has argued that,
“Theoretical information in the plan need to be added for providing precise and in-depth details
on the project plan to the senior authorities”. With respect to this,sometimes tabular
representation keeps individual confuse and less aware of the requirements. Every information
about the resources, development environment, tools and techniques are provided in the tabular
form without any description which can result in misunderstanding. This format of the PMP is
also not much creative and attractive. It looks like the plan is developed roughly and presented as
it is in front of the manager without any formatting, creativity and editing.
The phase-wise effort estimation informs seniors about the number of phases, required person-
days and percentage of the total efforts. Similarly, people by role and skill represent the needed
talent, i.e. expertise in Java and DB2 for implementing the project. Along with this, the
experience is also added to the table which needs to be minimum of 2 and maximum of 7 years.
This information will help top management of ACIC to select the team members accordingly.
Cardona-Meza and Olivar-Tost, (2017), have suggested that “Role and responsibility play a
significant role in the project plan as it provides a clear overview of the work and related duties
to the project team members” The role of employees like Project leader, module leader,
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Project Management Plan
developers, onsite co-ordinator, etc. represents the designation of the workers. However, the
responsibility of the workers is not defined within the project plan.
The plan also includes required resources which will help in meeting the objectives of the
project. Both hardware and software resources are described within the PMP of ACIC. This table
contains the item description, number of resources required and date. Apart from this, no tool is
used by the project team for developing the application for the company. Generally, the training
plan is not defined within the PMP but this PMP of ACIC posseses effective training plan with
training area, duration and waiver criteria. Gasik, (2015), has said that “It is essential to provide
necessary training to the team members for developing and enhancing skills, knowledge and
information with respect to the subject”. According to the plan, the project team will get training
in technical, business and process field. Detailed information about the practice and its period
represent the proper analysis of the project and its requirements. The overall plan shows the
effort and adequate performance of the team members of ACIC in developing PMP for the
development of the application. The proper training plan will also lead to decrease the chances of
occurring risks or issues during the development of the project.
Vargas, (2014), has stated that “Quality management refers to the act of reviewing all the
activities and tasks which required maintaining a desired level of superiority”. Project planning
also includes effective quality management and risk assessment plan for maintaining the high
quality of the product by handling the risks accurately. This section of the PMP includes
identification of the quality policy, development and implementation of the quality planning and
assurance and strategies for quality control and improvement. With respect to this, the quality
plan of the Project Management Plan of ACIC includes goals and objectives which it wants to
accomplish by maintaining and managing the quality of the resources and project processes. The
Project Quality Goals include objectives, value, the base for setting goals and organisational
norms. The goals include productivity, schedule, cost of quality, the total number of defects
injected and quality.
Kim, Jeon and Kim, (2015) have discussed that “Selection of right strategy results to achieve the
desired goals of the project otherwise lead to failure or a big loss to the company. Risk
management is one of the effective strategies which managers use while developing PMP”. The
plan includes estimates for the defects to be detected. This table represents the analysis of risks
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which can be occurred at the time of project development and implementation. This review of
the flaws will keep the team aware and make them follow the solutions ready from the beginning
for avoiding delay and occurrence of risks. The plan not only explains the estimated defects but
also represents the strategies for meeting the quality goals. In context to this, policies need to be
decided effectively by discussing with the project leader and other team members.. Expected
benefits represent the success of the suggested strategies.
On the other hand Spudeit and Ferenhof, (2017), have found that “Review of processes results to
evaluate their quality and improvement. Project team members need to review their procedures
of the project development for avoiding any mistake to the project and its outcome”. In context
to this, the reviews are added to the PMP of ACIC which consists of Review Point, Review Item
and type of analysis. This plan will help project team members in monitoring their processes on
the decided point with the help of suggested methods.
Risk management plays a vital role in project management plan as it helps in handling hazards
and also in decreasing them with the help of appropriate strategies. According to the. Tavan and
Hosseini, (2016), “Effectual risk management plan leads to provide a better way to manage
mistake or risk efficiently within the project. This also leads to preventing wastage of time,
money and resources”. With respect to this, the risk management plan of the PMP of ACIC
includes a table with columns of risk, probability, the impact of risks, risk exposure and
mitigation plan. The probability, incidence and risk exposure are represented in the form of a
number. In contrast to it, no detail about the number and their meaning is provided in the plan
which can lead to creating misunderstanding and confusion among the senior authorities. All the
information needs to be adequately described within the program for providing a clear and actual
picture of the project. Thus, lack of information regarding the numbers used by the team within
risk management plan keeps the info unclear. Similarly, the responsible person within the
method is also not described by the team. Thus, from this, it is clear that risk management plan
of the PMP is not developed correctly and possess mistakes (Luiz, Souza and Luiz, 2017).
Thus, the project planning section of the Project Management Plan of ACIC with respect to
development and expansion of the application possess all the necessary information about the
project, its requirements, scope, objectives and many more. A well written and adequately
presented plan guides collecting the resources, acquiring financing and procuring the required
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materials But in the present scenario, the information is not displayed in the appropriate manner
which leads to developing misunderstandings. At some points like risk management plan, there
is lack of necessary information. However, the tabular presentation of the entire sub sections
make easy to understand the policy, but some detailed description is also needed for better
realisation. Apart from this, overall budget of the project, which plays an essential role, is also
not described in the project plan. Lack of budget evaluation can keep the top management of the
firm confused. It is necessary for the plan to evaluate the overall budget of the project, i.e.
development of the application (Snyder and Dionisio, 2017).
Project Tracking: As per the view of Richter, (2015), “Project Tracking includes project
monitoring and control factor. Monitoring and control stage of the PMBOK sometimes link with
the execution stage due to their occurrence at the same time”. With respect to this, the project
tracking section of the PMP of ACIC includes different sub areas which need to be focused on
completing the project on time.
Along with this Gonçalves and et.al., (2015), have found that “Proper monitoring and control
results to maintain the quality of the project and also reduces the associated risks. It is the
responsibility of the team members to monitor each task adequately for preventing any scope
creep”. The measurement plan comprises a unit of measurement, tools used for measuring the
performance and monitoring the process and metric which needs to be gathered. Along with this,
task tracking consists of the activities and their procedures to track. The task tracking table is not
created correctly as it lacks information about the time duration and appropriate strategies for
monitoring the different tasks.
On the other hand Simonette, Magalhães and Spina, (2016), have suggested that “Review of all
the processes results to measure the key performance indicators and track the variations from the
decided cost and time. This steady action tends to keep the project moving forward without any
delay and other issues”. The issue tracking is described correctly by including the type of
problem, where logged, who can register, who will review and when and when escalated. It
provides all the necessary detail on the kind of problem and how it will handle and by whom.
This information will help team members in monitoring the processes closely and managing the
issues properly if occurs any.
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Apart from this Yates, (2017), has said that “Customer feedback matters a lot for the growth and
development of a firm. By collecting the reviews of the clients, organisations can improve and
enhance the quality of their products and services”. With respect to this, it is also essential for
ACIC to take customer feedback for their application. For tracking the success of the project, i.e.
application, ACIC will seek input from its clients. The company will also provide a feature for
filling complaints if customers have any with the new application. Both the features, i.e.
customer feedback and criticisms will help in monitoring the progress of the application. This
will also lead to improving the quality of the project by making necessary and demanded
changes.
Brioso, (2015), has demonstrated that “Quality of the project also needs to be monitored for
maintaining it until the end”. In context to this, quality tracking plan is mentioned by the team
members. This quality tracking includes quality activity and relevant actions for handling them.
This information will help project team to maintain all the needed quality at every stage of the
project development process. However, more information can be provided by the team members
like time duration, the result of handling quality, etc. for presenting better and clear picture to the
top management of the organisation. Apart from this, review from the senior management is also
included within the PMP for better monitoring and control. The sub section of review by senior
management comprises items for review and frequency of inspection. This subject explains the
role and responsibility of the top management in reviewing the project progress and processes.
The principal function of the senior authorities is to examine the schedule, project plan, and
budget and milestone report. In contrast to it, the budget is not added by the team in the respected
PMP which can affect the progress, performance and quality of the project management plan.
Lack of budget evaluation is one of the major mistakes of this PMP of the ACIC (Richter, 2015).
Nasir and et.al., (2015), have identified that “Team members should be aware of their reporting
time for representing the status of the project to the senior members”. With reference to this, the
plan includes status reporting feature which consists of the report and frequency factors.
According to this, the team will report to the business manager and customers within the given
period. Apart from this, the tracking and controlling section of the plan also includes deviation
limits at the milestone, reporting to the customer and senior management and procedure for
escalation.
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Thus, from the above, it is clear that team members of ACIC have taken all fields which need to
be monitored and control for accomplishing the objectives of the project. The primary issue is
the information not presented in the appropriate manner. Along with this, there is no format
followed by the team for the tracking section. Lack of proper detail makes the plan incomplete
and unclear. Along with this, different tables are used by the team for representing the various
functions which took more time and space. Instead of this, representation of the tracking plan
with all the factors in one table like activities to be tracked, methods, impact, time duration,
responsible person, results, etc. will provide better understanding and presentation.
Project Team: According to the Bayona, Bustamante and Saboya, (2018), “Project Team
section of the project management describes role and responsibilities of the team members”. In
context to this, the PMP of ACIC includes organisation of the team members which also
represents the flow of information. The plan consists of the project team, responsible person,
starting date and expected end date. Initials of the employees are used within the program for
better understanding. Along with this, responsibilities of the employees are also explained within
the program..
Similarly Eastham and et.al., (2014), have found that “Project team helps team members in
understanding their work, function and duty with respect to the project”. The team includes the
developer, module leader, defect prevention team, configuration controller, software quality,
onsite co-ordinator, software quality advisor, project manager, account manager and business
manager. In contrast to it, the company can represent the project team more effectively by
describing the role and responsibility of each member individually. This will provide a better
understanding of the task and duty of the employee. Along with this, the name of the team
members can also be added for removing confusion and adequate representation. Apart from
this, the team can also add project team management to the plan for explaining the importance of
cooperation, coordination and communication among the team members. It will also provide
information about reporting status, assigning work and many more.
From the above, it is clear that project team section includes all the information regarding the
work, role and responsibilities of each team member. However, project management team needs
to be added for explaining the project team management effectively. On the other hand, the plan
does not include communication plan which can affect the interaction among the team members.
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