Project Management Report: Mobile Application Plan for Talent Plus UK

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of a project management plan designed for the launch of a mobile application by Talent Plus, a UK-based consultancy. It begins with an introduction to project management, defining key concepts and the role of a project manager, emphasizing planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and closing. The report then delves into the application of theoretical frameworks and methodologies, specifically the Gantt chart and Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), to the mobile application project, explaining their benefits in terms of project monitoring and resource allocation. Furthermore, the report critically evaluates the composition and management of project teams, highlighting the importance of skilled team members and effective communication. Finally, the report includes a project management plan, detailing the project's scope, resources, and objectives, to enhance customer base and gain competitive advantage.

PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK...............................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Project management plan is considered as a formal document which outlines main
components. It includes subsidiary management plan, planning documents, baselines, strategies
and more. In addition to this, it also describes how a project is executed, controlled and
monitored by managers of a company (Too and Weaver, 2014). The present report is made a
critical discussion on importance of project management plan and how it helps in reducing
probability of failure as well. A justification is made on some applications of theoretical
frameworks and methodologies within environment of project. Further, a project management
plan is formulated for Talent Plus organisation, which deals in small consultancy sector of UK.
An evaluation on success and failure of project as well as disseminate the key learning points
from project delivery is also highlighted in this assignment.
TASK
1. Define project, its characteristic and role of project manager
Project is considered as main aspect in a company, which gives opportunity to business
owners in achieving set goals by implementing some changes. Management plan in this regard,
help managers in making desired modifications within organisation in systematic and organised
manner. It can also described as a document which defines approaches or measures taken by
team for delivering the scope of project. Talent Plus is a leading organisation of UK which
maximises human potential in other companies by improving their organisational culture. By
identifying more talents, this firm helps business clients in introducing best employees at their
workplace. This will prove outcomes in terms of profitability, retention, job satisfaction,
employee engagement and more. In order to increase sales performance at vast area of
marketplace, this company is going to launch mobile applications.
Project Title: “Mobile Application”
Background and purpose of project: Since in consultancy sector, there is an intense
competition present at UK environment. Therefore, to gain competitive advantage, Talent Plus
seeks to launch mobile application. This would help in developing connection with new business
clients and make interaction for long purpose. By installing this application, customers can
describes what type of business solutions they want for improving their performances (Why
mobile app is important, 2018). For this purpose, its managers have made a project management
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plan which constitutes roles and responsibilities of each team-members, resource required for
execution and more.
Objectives:
 To evaluate the concept of mobile app in consultancy sector.
 To examine overall benefits provided by mobile app to Talent Plus Inc.
 To ascertain the strategies and techniques used for implementation of mobile apps in
business.
Characteristics of Project:
Project of present company has include following main key characteristics which have to
be managed by planners:-
 A project is made as per demand and desires of customers.
 It should be temporary in nature as well as highlighted main purpose as well.
 It also include a unique set of rules and requirements which are required to be delivered
within set boundary of project.
 It should define objectives, strategies and activities which are going to be done by
project-team in set period of time.
Role of project managers:
Managers of a company like Talent Plus, play a vital role in planning the project
management plan and executing set activities in organised manner. They spend a significant
amount of time to ensure achievement of baselines. Along with this, they also concern if project
sponsors and organization have got full benefits or not after execution (Zahra and et. al., 2014)
(Turner, 2016). Therefore, besides proper planning, abilities and role of a project manager also
lie in controlling and monitoring the project efficiently. With this assistance, they also give
assurance about deliverables of project are on time as well as it is completed as per set
management plan. Some major roles performed by managers of Talent Plus in completing a
project successfully are:- Planning: In this process, managers develop whole planning procedure which entails
how certain activities will be going on. They also concern on developing policies and
strategies, resource planning, execution process, cost, time and set of proper rules for
team.
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 Organising: This is another major role of project manager which emphasizes on
organising team structure within organisation as per availability of limited resources.
Further, assign duties to team mates in delegated manner by providing complete
information about objectives and goals of project. This would help finishing the project
before deadline with higher efficiencies. Leading: This role of managers describes the way they lead a team in specific direction
for completing a project in given time-frame. For this purpose, project manager of Talent
Plus adopts different-different style of leadership and managerial skills to lead time. They
have also opted clear communication strategy to convey messages related to execution of
project with team members. Along with this, by involving participation of each member
in decision-making activities, help in reducing chances of conflict and gain high
cooperation of them as well.
 Controlling and closing: This role of project manager highlights the control mechanism
for monitoring, measuring, observing and improving entire process of project. This would
help in reducing probability of failure and wastage of minimum resources.
2 Justify the application of the theoretical frameworks and methodologies within a project
environment
In relation to Talent plus, the company provides consultancy services to other company's
which helps them to recruit talented candidates according to their requirement. The company has
started new project which is based on developing mobile application (Williams, 2014). This
application is beneficial for business and other candidates who are connected with the same
company. As through mobile application related person can fill their final details which is
required for final procedure. For introducing same project, it is important for project manager to
finalise proper methodology and framework for its success.
Methodology: Methodologies are considered as an approach of performing business
related task in systematic manner by following rules, methods, processes, testing activities and
deliverables in order to resolve particular problem. In relation to the new mobile application of
Talent plus, the project manager of this company have to finalise each and every so that they can
perform the work effectively for finishing targeted work. In this regard, project manager of the
company have opted Gantt chart as a tools for monitoring overall processing of project.
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Gantt chart: Gantt chart is considered as the method which is itself taken as combination
of different activities such as documentation (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). This chart also displays
life cycle of whole project that is initiating, preparing(planning), implementation, evaluation,
controlling and winding it up. It can be said that Gantt chart is beneficial for the launching of
mobile application project as it shows actual status of project which minimises the chances of
project failure. Along with this, it also tells the project manager to change their project route as if
it is done in wrong direction.
Framework: Frame work refers to the simple structure of whole project in order to
understand all the consequences of project in real life scenario. There are numerous of
framework which are available for project manager within their same business stream. Types of
framework stated as Prince 2, Critical Chain Project Management, Lean, Extreme Project
Management, Scrum, Waterfall etc. Among all of types, project manager of Talent Plus have
opted Critical Chain Project Management. As it is best suitable with the project scenario.
Critical Chain Project Management: This type of framework has been designed in
order to deal with uncertain situation which might took place in future. CCPM framework
emphasis on allocation of resources which are considered as main part of the whole project.
Resource allocation involves different things such as skills, management of manpower, capacity
of whole project, usage of allotted money etc. It can be said that, it is the responsibility of project
manager of Talent plus to allocate all available resources effectively without wasting any of
resource in non required place. This not only saves the resources but the saves resource can be
used in future for enhancing the same project. It is also beneficial in saving the time of overall
completion deadline of the project.
In context to project of mobile application, CCPM is best suitable type of frame work as
it guides the project manager to perform its each and every work according to the plan
(Mastrogiacomo, Missonier and Bonazzi, 2014). And also suggest different ways through which
same project can be finished in less time with more effective result. CCPM is considered as the
successful framework which contributes in meeting the goal by involving all of resources. This
framework structure not only uses saves resources of project but also supports and guide
manpower to use it in effective manner as they are precious. Overall, it can be said that CCPM is
helpful for project of mobile application of Talent Plus.
3. Critically evaluate the composition and management of teams in project environment
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The most important element of project management is human resource. A project is
ultimately developed and implemented by a group of individuals working together. With
reference to Talent Plus, for launching the mobile app, there are various responsibilities that the
project manager has to fulfil. He has to select a potential group of individuals who are committed
towards the project. They will conceive the idea of the project. This group will include managers,
stakeholders, researchers and other key implementers (Marchewka, 2014). In addition to
determining the members of team, it is also of significance to decide how these members will
work together. The project manager needs leadership skills as he will be responsible for
managing overall performance of team members. The implementation of project needs to be
thoroughly planned. For this, project manager of Talent Plus need effective communication skills
so that he can communicate with the team members and develop a plan where the roles of every
member of team will be clearly defined. The timeline for each activity under the project needs to
be specified before the initiation of project. Another important responsibility of project manager
is to ascertain the resources required for the effective execution of plan. A rough sketch of plan
needs to be designed providing total information about the project. After this, a structural
framework has to be developed that will be adopted for the execution of the project. The project
is then put into force.
Management and monitoring of project is also necessary so that potential hurdles can be
identified within time and corrective action can be taken as necessary. Monitoring procedures
include critically analysing the ongoing project activities and project variables like cost, efforts
etc. against pre-decided plan and performance baseline (Khalid, Zahra and Khan, 2014). The
project team consists of a number of individuals having different behavioural and working
patterns. These individuals selected to form the project team are skilled, competent and having
full knowledge of the project. Having a project team members with different skills, knowledge,
and experience will result in a more creative and resilient project as the project manager of
Talent Plus can take ideas and feedbacks from team members. These feedbacks will help him in
designing and monitoring strategies that will result in effective execution of plan. Also when a
group of skilled and committed individuals come together to work as a team, it ensures that
project is successfully executed within the decided timeline. Working in a team can also have
some negative effects. The power of acquiring knowledge may not be same in every individual
and thus the execution process of project may become time consuming at times.
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Project Management Plan:
Scope: By launching mobile applications, Talent Plus can provide solutions related to
business to its clients in short period of time. Here, customers can fill detail about business
related problems and time duration within they want solution. Through this application,
managers of Talent Plus can determine demand of particular client and give respond in given
period. Thus, by launching mobile apps, this company will get opportunity to enhance its
customer base and gain competitive advantage.
Resource: In order to develop a unique mobile app, Talent Plus required five main
resources that are- Coding system; Libraries; Designing Latest Application; Java Code and
Finance. In this regard, using different coding style like Java, it will easier for present company
to read code as per standard set of rules. By using libraries, managers of this company will find
suitable tools and apps for creating a new technology. Along with this, they are also need to
design an eye-catching mobile application, through which users can judge quality of products or
services within 30 seconds. Beside these resources, the most essential one is capital in terms of
labour and finance. Since Talent Plus deals in small sector therefore, to implement mobile apps,
it needs to introduce adequate amount of finance. Furthermore, company also require to give
employment to high skilled workforce who are expert in executing present project successfully.
Time: To execute project based on launching mobile application, near about 4 to 5
months are required. For this purpose, managers of Talent Plus should monitor the overall
process and ensure all activities must carry out in given period of time (Kerzner and Kerzner,
2017). Along with this, they should also assign roles and responsibilities to each team-member
according to their skills and abilities.
Quality: It is the most essential component of a project which assist managers to check
progress of each stage. They should ensure that each activity is carried out in systematic manner
so that occurrence of risk can reduce. It would help in maintaining the quality of project and
reduce the wastage of finance and other resources as well.
Deliverables: Before developing project on mobile application, it is essential for
managers of Talent Plus to carry out a proper research first. For this research, they should assign
duties to team members by giving clear instruction about how an activity should be conducted.
This would help in determining whether launching an app will prove beneficial or not. In this
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regard, some major activities and time required to complete each one, is shown by following
Gantt Chart:-
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Constraints:
Since behind developing, planning and executing a project, managers of a company play
an important role. Therefore, to carry out such activities, they have various problems as well. In
context with Talent Plus, the main issue faced by its managers is optimisation of minimum
resource. As this company conduct business on small scale, therefore, there is a shortage of
availability of finance, equipments, human resource and more. Thus, in this regard, to utilise
limited amount of resources in efficient manner. Another issue arise in front of them is to assign
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roles and responsibilities according to skills and abilities of team-members. Therefore, any
mistake in giving duties will directly impact on quality of project. Along with this, to resolve
conflicts between team-members, engage them in group activities and gain high support of them
in achievement of mentioned objectives, etc. are considered as constraints in a project.
Assumptions:
By developing and launching mobile apps, Talent Plus seeks to get increase in customer
base. For this purpose, it is assume that activities set for completing the project will be executed
as per planned by managers. Furthermore, by giving entire information in clear and concise
manner, project-team will get cooperation of each in completing each activity in set period of
time. Along with this, through developing a risk log and action plan, team-mates and
stakeholders of present company also prepare themselves to overcome from any discrepancies.
Thus, it would lead to increase chance of success of project which is made on launching mobile
app at marketplace.
Costs & Cost Budget: It is considered as main step in creation and development of
mobile app, under which a company needs to make proper budget plan. In this regard, managers
of Talent Plus are required to choose best technology which will prove beneficial for developing
mobile application without creating much issue (Francese and et. al., 2015). Currently in UK
marketplace, three main technologies are available, which includes Web, Native and App
builder. A firm can use native coding system for building mobile app which helps in catering the
need of smartphones with Android and iOS system. Apart from this, web technology help in
developing a hybrid app, where a company can find out various tools and techniques to design
their plan in attractive manner. In addition to this, through app builder like UNIX and JAVE, a
firm can create mobile app with zero effort. These software help in designing an eye-catching
app which gives various option to customers to use services of a company. Therefore, with this
assistance, project managers of Talent Plus Inc. opt App builder technology to create mobile app.
This app include various features like list of services company will provide to business clients,
time-duration to resolve problems of customers and more. Apart from introduction of
technology, other aspects where company needs to make investment are Operational Activities;
Maintenance; R&D Department; IT and more. Thus, in this regard, approximate cost require to
implement entire project will be 20k Pound, which can be distributed in following manner:-
Particular Amount
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Initial Investment 100000
Expenses:
Operational Activities
R&D Activities
Cost to IT Experts
Licensing Fee
Maintenance
22000
28000
16000
6000
8000
Closing Value 20000
5. Measures to control and monitor project risk, quality, change and configuration
Any new project will never be executed in set manner due to occurrence of interruptions.
The reason behind this is process of execution which is not done as per set rules and policies. In
launching mobile app, probability of getting failure and success seems to be equal (Flora, Wang
and Chande, 2014). Therefore, by during planning process, managers of Talent Plus is essential
to develop a risk log including an action plan. This would provide information to team members
about type of risks which may occur during execution of a project. By giving details to
stakeholders about complexities which may arise while launching a project, they can take instant
actions to resolving the same. This would help in raising confidence level of all team-members
and investors by increasing the probability of project success. Developing risk log and action
plan, will aid project managers in controlling and monitoring the risk, quality and any
configuration setting in project.
6. Factors which lead to success or failure of a project
Behind success of a project, there are some main factors which leads it in specific
directions. It includes contribution of team-members, smart planning, open communication,
careful risk management and strong project closure (Burbank and et. al., 2015). If a company get
achievement in building a high skilled team-members then chance of success behind a project
will definitely increase. For this purpose, its managers required to provide an open
communication at workplace where each member get chance to share their views and opinion in
completion of project. Similarly, by careful planning the risk management plan, managers can
reduce the probability of failure as well. But if a project will not have a strong closure then it
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