Project Management: Task 1 and Task 2 Analysis and Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of project management principles, focusing on two key tasks. Task 1 explores the characteristics of a project, the importance of stakeholder analysis, the purpose of project initiation documents and feasibility studies, the nine knowledge areas in project management, the characteristics of a project manager, and the benefits of network diagrams. Task 2 delves into the activities and project lifecycle stages required for successful project management, including initiation, planning, and execution. The report highlights the importance of effective planning, risk management, and communication in ensuring project success. A work breakdown structure is also included. The report also discusses controlling and other problems associated with managing a project's lifecycle and the professional actions a project manager should take.

Managing Projects

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION (125)..................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Characteristic of project.........................................................................................................1
Purpose and importance of stakeholder analysis....................................................................1
Purpose of project initiation document...................................................................................1
Purpose of feasibility and importance in management decision making...............................2
9 knowledge areas in project management along with importance of any 2..........................2
Characteristics of project manager along with importance to close projects properly...........2
Benefits of network diagram..................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Activities or project life cycle stages required for successful project management (1000)...3
Controlling and other problems associated with managing life cycle of project (360)..........6
Professional actions taken by Project Manager......................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Project management refers an application of some processes, skills and methods for achieving
project objectives (Meredith, Shafer and Mantel Jr, 2017). This present study is going to show
importance of managing project and analysing stakeholders in order to know their interest and
using strategies for soling their needs. Further, it will discuss some important life stages of
project management including initiation, planning, execution, controlling and others which
allows project manager in completing project in an effective and timely manner.
TASK 1
Characteristic of project
A project can be defined as a series of some tasks which vary as per the nature of the project
which is being performed mainly for creating unique product and service or meeting specific
outcomes (Batselier and Vanhoucke, 2017). So, overall it can be said that it refers set of inputs
which helps project manger in achieving particular goal. Projects have several features and
characteristics such as: Projects are temporary in the nature as it has a beginning as well as
ending date. They are unique in the nature as it is an ongoing operation which helps companies
and project manager in accomplishing their goals in a timely and effective manner.
Purpose and importance of stakeholder analysis
Project is being considered successful only when it accomplishes and satisfies needs of
stakeholders. In the context of stakeholder analysis it can be said that project manager requires
analysing them in order to identify their needs and for making a project successful they require
support of variety of people who posses’ different knowledge and skills. Stakeholders support
project manager in providing suggestions for better improvements. Project manager can easily
identify which stakeholders are highly interested, what are their needs and satisfying them (Elias,
2016).
Purpose of project initiation document
Project initiation document is being considered one of the most significant artifacts in
project management which helps project manager in providing foundation for business project. It
consists of detailed information’s which all are being gathered through starting up a project as
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well as initiating a project process. Quality, progress and business case are main 3 items in it.
There are several reasons of acquiring project initiation documents such as:
 It helps in defining project basis for management.
 It acts as a document against project board can access progress.
 Helps in making major commitment to project before starting them.
Purpose of feasibility and importance in management decision making
Project feasibility helps in business development to project manager as it allows them to
know ways and effective time to manage project and determining that how new product can
stress on their sales. It also helps them out in making better decision at the time of project
development. One of the main features of project feasibility is it increases focus or concentration
of team members which leads success and growth.
It uncovers all new ideas which can help team members and project manager in changing and
widening project scope and on the basis of scope making decision.
9 knowledge areas in project management along with importance of any 2
All important knowledge areas in project management include:
Project integration management: It includes activities required to identify and coordinate
different processes.
Scope management: It includes processes which are important and can lead success of project.
Time management: Include processes required in management of time.
Cost management: Processes involved in planning, budgeting and financing.
Quality management: Activities of satisfying needs related to quality.
HRM: Processes for organizing and leading project team.
Communication: Processes for interaction with stakeholders (Abyad, 2018).
Risk management: Risk management planning and controlling risks on project.
Stakeholder management: Processes for identifying people involved in the project.
Quality management plays an important role as it decides success of project and satisfaction of
stakeholders as well
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Completion of project on given time is also important otherwise it canaffect image of brand and
reputation.
Characteristics of project manager along with importance to close projects properly
Having effective communication skills of interacting and influencing stakeholders in the
main characteristic.
Ability to delegate all tasks and managing all areas of knowledge management is other
skill.
Abilities of understanding human behaviours and needs of stakeholders by maintaining
integrity.
Rather these project manager has an effective time management skill which plays an important
role in completion of project in the given time as it avoids unfavourable scenarios and improve
image.
Benefits of network diagram
1. A detailed network diagram helps project manager in keeping track of network’s physical
set up.
2. It strengths business connection.
3. Boosts confidences among team members.
4. It helps in improving inter relationship between activities involved in the project.
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A critical path network in project management plays an important role as it consists of sequences
of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration.
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TASK 2
Activities or project life cycle stages required for successful project management
In the context of above case it can be said that as a project manager I need to help Hughes
Communications Ltd in successful construction of conference centre name with Euro centre with
having al facilities like activity halls, IT facilities and all within 16 months. Construction of
conference centre by adding all features and making sure infrastructure is effective and attractive
is not an easy task as it will require performing several functions starting from project planning.
By applying appropriate and effective processes, using skills, experience are important for
helping HCL in accomplishing their goals and successful constriction by adding IT infrastructure
of conference centre. As a project manager it is important to perform some activities or main 5
phases for project management which include:
Initiation: It is one of the main and starting step in which project manager defines project at a
broad level as for this it requires business case. This is a project of adding all IT infrastructures
in construction of conference centre. In this step, project manager focuses on research in order to
know that whether project has feasibility. Project stakeholders also play an important role as by
analysing feasibility and effectiveness they give green signal to project manager for further steps
and accordingly project manager can create a project initiation document. This creation of PID
outlines purpose as well as requirements of project which is important for stakeholders to know
for taking participation is success of project. It will require 2 months for completing all steps
(Conforto and Amaral, 2016).
Definition and planning: This step is considered the main key of the success of project
because in this step, project manager focuses on developing a road map which everyone needs to
follow. It starts with setting effective goals which can allow project manager in knowing who,
when, what, where and why they require completing project. It is also important to set goals
which can be measured, realistic and attainable in a timely manner for knowing effectiveness and
actual position. In this planning phase project manager also requires identifying estimated cost,
required resources, availability of finance, quality measurement tools, people and sources of
resources. Planning of all these can help project manager in competing construction of
conference centre by adding all features and IT infrastructure required by HCL and given time
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like 16 months and in £200,000. It will require around 3-4 months as it is a complex and main
step.
In addition, it can also be said that stakeholders and all team members have clear defined
roles in this stage in order to know that what they are being expected to do for completion and
making project successful. Project manager create some documents in this stage in order to make
sure that project will stay on track or it can measure effectiveness whenever required for
knowing whether it is going on the right track or not.
Scope statement: In this document, project manager defines needs of business as for this
project, HCL wants to construct an effective conference centre by providing effective IT
infrastructure facilities in order to make conference attractive. It also includes benefits of project,
deliverables and objectives such as by developing project for HCL, project manager can retain
employees and also attract hospitality sector to the great extent for buying infrastructure facilities
from HCL as it wants to increase sales of IT facilities for hospitality sector. For knowing scope
and completing relevant functions, it will require around 2 months.
Work breakdown schedule: It is a visual representation in which project manager breaks
down scope of project into manageable sections for making easier for team members of working
on it.
Task
Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Manually Initiation 50 days Tue 6/2/20 Thu 7/28/20
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Scheduled
Auto
Scheduled team development 25 days Tue 6/2/20 Tue 6/27/20
Auto
Scheduled
identification of different
roles and responsibilities 15 days Wed 6/28/20 Tue 7/12/20 2
Auto
Scheduled
assigning of the different
roles and responsibilities 15 days Wed 7/13/20 Tue 7/28/20 3
Auto
Scheduled planning 90 days Wed 7/29/20 Wed
10/30/20
Auto
Scheduled
determination of project
requirement 27 days Wed 7/29/20 Mon 8/25/20 4
Auto
Scheduled budget formulation 20 days Tue 8/26/20 Wed 9/15/20 6
Auto
Scheduled
project preparation of
charter 18 days Thu 9/16/20 Mon 10/4/20 7
Auto
Scheduled
identification of critical
factor 25 days Tue 10/5/20 Wed
10/30/20 8
Auto
Scheduled execution 110 days Thu
10/31/20 Tue 2/19/21
Auto
Scheduled training to employees 15 days Thu 10/31/20 Mon
11/14/20 9
Auto
Scheduled resource allotment 45 days Tue 11/15/20 Wed
112/30/20 11,9
Auto
Scheduled management of performance 25 days Thu 12/31/20 Wed 1/24/21 12
Auto
Scheduled
management of performance
quality 25 days Thu 1/25/21 Tue 2/19/21 13
Auto
Scheduled monitoring 40 days Wed 2/20/21 Tue 4/05/21
Auto
Scheduled conducting the test 9 days Wed 2/20/21 Wed 03/1/21 14
Auto
Scheduled bugs identification 10 days Thu 03/02/21 Mon
12/12/21 16
Auto
Scheduled risk management 9 days Tue 03/13/21 Tue 03/22/21 17
Auto
Scheduled
monitoring tool selection for
the project 12 days Wed 1/23/21 Tue 4/05/21 18
Auto
Scheduled closure 28 days Wed
04/06/21 Fri 4/11/21
Auto
Scheduled
identification of
compatibility 15 days Wed
04/06/21 Tue 04/21/21 19
Auto review of project 8 days Wed 4/22/21 Tue 4/30/21 21
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Scheduled
Auto
Scheduled
suggesting improvement for
the project 5 days Wed 5/05/21 Fri 4/11/21 22
Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure
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Milestone: In this step, project manager identifies high-level goals which needs to be
competed and for which they are performing functions and developing project such as making
conference centre attracting and making people aware about importance of IT infrastructure
facilities like usage of CCTV, TV, activity halls and others.
Communication plan: For interacting with outside stakeholders like manager of hospitality
sectors and others to whom HCL wants to attract, project manager makes communication plan.
In this document and planning it includes all modes from which they can interact with
stakeholders, E-mail and telephone is one of the best mode which will be used for this project
(Kerzner, 2017).
Risk management plan: Mitigating risks before arising them help project manager in
reducing stress and making project successful. For this, project manager makes a plan by adding
risks which may occur along with ways of mitigating them. For this project. Lack of availability
of HR, finance, changes in climate and external environmental factors are some estimated risks.
It will require 2.5 months.
Project execution: In this phase deliverables are being completed. Status reports, meeting,
performance reports happens in this phase as project manager requires reviewing all of these
reports for executing project. There are several functions required to be done by project manager
for executing project given by HCL such as: developing team by training and increasing skills,
assigning resources to each member, procurement management if required, setting up tracking
system for knowing actual position, updating project schedule and making changes in project
plan if required. It will require around 4 months.
Project performance and control: In this stage, performance and project progression is
being measured in order to know whether all functions are being done as planning or in the right
track or not. By making use of appropriate key performance indicators, project manager will
track effectiveness. By making use of stakeholder satisfaction analysis, quality measurement
tools efforts and cost tracking tools, project manager will see if budget is on the track and in how
many days they will complete project successfully. It will require 1.5 months.
Project close: This stage of project management represents project completion. Project
manager recognize valuable team members and for thanking all people who have taken active
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participation in project and helped out to manager in completion of project by thanking them.
After completion of project, project manager will help a meeting in order to identify project
failures and elements which went well. It is one of the effective step by which project manager
learned so many things as where they could have put extra efforts and requirements of
improvement for developing projects in the future. After completion of project and in this phase,
project manager will require creating a project punch list of all things which remained untouched
and did not accomplished in order to make them complete before final submission. After all of
these, they will collect all project documents and also will store them in a single place. For
successful closure it will require 1 month.
Budget: It is important to prepare budget and making planning before spending on
something. For this project we are required making conference centre attracting by making use
of all IT infrastructure facilities and services in order to make this place more interesting of
grabbing attention of employees and increasing concentration level. For this the given budget is
provide £200,000 to complete each task under this amount. It includes several sub activities
which required money and these are as follow:
Activities Amount (£ million)
Raw material 0.50
Salary 0.25
Advertisements & Marketing 0.50
Labour 0.65
Training expenses 0.10
Total 2
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All of these steps cover all 9 main areas of knowledge management but for success of
constructing attractive conference centre it is important to evaluate and consider some areas of
knowledge management such as:
Project Time management: For managing time and completing project in a timely manner like
for 16 months project manager will require adding all those processes which can help them out in
managing time and completing each activity according to the set plan.
Project Cost management: In this project manager include all processes which can help them
out in managing cost like planning, budgeting and financing (Andongma and et.al., 2019).
Project Quality management: It is one of the important areas because it helps project manager
in improving their image and also taking several opportunities. For managing quality project
manager will include all activities which can help them out in satisfying needs of stakeholders
and improving quality like using quality measurement tools, using resources in an effective
manner etc.
Project Communication: For interacting with internal and external stakeholders and making
them know about objectives, vision and effectiveness of project, manager will make use of
telephone, E-mail.
Controlling and other problems associated with managing life cycle of project
Completing all main phases of project life cycle is not an easy task as project manager has
to face several problems. Completing all functions as per planning, estimated cost, budget is a
complex as sometimes due to changes in external environmental factors and needs of
stakeholders, project manager has to face some problems. Some controlling and other problems
which may occur and faced while developing project include:
Operational risk: Due to lack of strategies project manager have to face problems in
operating functions in an effective manner. Initially project manager faced problems but with the
help of experienced team members and cooperation of stakeholders this problem will be resolved
in an effective manner.
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Time management risks: Completing project in the given deadline as in 16 months is also
a critical task. It can be done in the given deadline if stakeholders do not change their
requirements and all external factors remain unchanged. But by having a backup plan and using
all strategies which are being added by project manager while making risk management plan¸
this problem can be solved out and project can be made successful in a timely or given deadline.
Regulatory risks: Following some regulations related to managing quality, following
ethics, satisfying needs of all stakeholders, not discriminating anyone is also other risk. For
following all regulations and for making people of importance of following all regulations¸
project manager will require providing training which can consume time. But by holding meeting
according to the available time it can be solved out and project can be made effective and ethical
(Galli, 2018).
Financial risks: It is important for project manager of completing project in the given
budget as for this project the given budget is £200,000 and project is complex and will require
performing several functions and using resources to great extent. Reducing budget for some steps
can hamper quality of project as for hiring skilled team members for cooperating in this project
was the main problem. For this project manager was required budget but for maintaining cost
they hired workforce at minimal cost.
So, from the above discussed all risks it can be said that managing project is not an easy
task at all but by using effective strategies all problems can be solved out and it can happen when
plan is being made effectively.
Professional actions taken by Project Manager
Managing risks and making project successful is important for project manager and for this
it plays an important role. In this context it can be said that project manager mainly focuses on
hiring leader who can guide team members at every stage. It is one of the best ways of solving
problems as an effective leader by making use of transformational style help members in
reducing errors and maintaining quality in each function or activity. Project leader is being
selected by project manager as per the experience and skills of communication, active listening,
empathy, ability to guide people with rewards and motivating others and themselves as well.
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CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarized that project manager played an important role
in completing as well as making project successful in a timely manner. It has also discussed
importance of stakeholder analysis and roles played by stakeholders in managing project like
cooperating project manager by telling them ways and strategies for improvement of some areas
etc/ There are some knowledge management areas whose consideration allows project manager
in completing project in the given budget, time by maintaining higher quality along with
satisfying needs of stakeholders and mitigating all risks.
In addition, it has discussed all main life stages of project management like planning,
execution, closure and others which help project manager in improving image by following each
stage in a systematic manner.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Abyad, A., 2018. Project management, motivation theories and process management. Middle
East Journal of Business, 13(4), pp.18-22.
Andongma, A.A. and et.al., 2019. Assessment of the Bacteria community structure across life
stages of the Chinese Citrus Fly, Bactrocera minax (Diptera: Tephritidae). BMC
microbiology, 19(1), p.285.
Batselier, J. and Vanhoucke, M., 2017. Project regularity: Development and evaluation of a new
project characteristic. Journal of systems science and systems engineering, 26(1),
pp.100-120.
Conforto, E.C. and Amaral, D.C., 2016. Agile project management and stage-gate model—A
hybrid framework for technology-based companies. Journal of Engineering and
Technology Management, 40, pp.1-14.
Elias, A.A., 2016. Stakeholder analysis for Lean Six Sigma project management. International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma.
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.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Meredith, J.R., Shafer, S.M. and Mantel Jr, S.J., 2017. Project Management: A Strategic
Managerial Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
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