Project Management Analysis: Smart City OS Project Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Smart City OS project, focusing on the skills required for effective project management, including communication, leadership, decision-making, problem-solving, and management skills. It identifies key stakeholders, such as the Hull City Council, residents, and technology providers, and analyzes their influence through stakeholder mapping. The report examines the project triangle (scope, time, and cost) and their interdependencies, emphasizing the importance of managing these constraints. It also addresses financial management, risk assessment, conflict resolution, negotiation strategies, and team building within the project context. The report provides recommendations on how to develop project management skills, engage stakeholders, manage project constraints, and foster successful teamwork within the Smart City OS project.

Course Work

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 The project manager..........................................................................................................3
TASK 2 Problem solving and decision making..............................................................................5
TASK 3 The project triangle...........................................................................................................7
Task 4 – Managing Finances...........................................................................................................8
TASK 5 - Risk Management within the Project............................................................................10
TASK 6 - Conflicts and Negotiation.............................................................................................14
TASK 7 – Teamwork.....................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
The Smart City OS project is the project which is focused on the decision making and
data sharing for the whole development of the Smart City OS project.
The report will analyse the skills which project manager needs to imbibe for the Smart
City OS project. Identification of the stakeholders and stakeholders influence map will be framed
for project. Various project triangle parameters will be discussed that are to be managed for
Smart City OS project Advice is provided to project manager on what resources will be required
by project to be accomplished. Effective cost estimation technique for project will be explained.
Further risk register is made for analysis of risk for project and in this ten risks will be identified.
Six conflicts will be mentioned that may have risen during project formation and while covering
up sources and in this project manager’s actions which will be highlighted. Negotiation and
conflict management strategies will be framed for the project. How the team can be successfully
built by project manager will be analyzed and along with this, importance of diverse team for
Smart City OS project will be identified. Challenges working in diverse teams will be defined in
the team.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1 The project manager
It is necessary for manager to possess relevant skills and knowledge in order to work for
project. The skills are essential as it allows manager to perform task in effective way and achieve
goals of project. Besides that, if manager does not possess required skills to be worked in project
then it becomes difficult to manage and complete project (Gómez, 2018). Therefore, for Smart
city OS project as well there are different skills which project manager needs to develop. It will
enable manager to work in effective way within project. Thus, skills are mentioned as below :-
Communication skill – It is most essential skill that manager need to develop. In this it requires
manager to learn about what are different ways of communication that is verbal, non verbal, etc.
This skill will help manager to share info with stakeholders, staff, etc. and to prepare reports on
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basis of that. Along with that, manager will be able to interact in effective way with others and
share info easily.
Leadership skills –It is also a crucial skill that is required for project manager to develop. Here,
the manager should be able to led project in right direction. Apart from it, manager must act like
a leader and complete project in time. The skill will help to motivate team members as well.
Besides, various leadership style can be applied in order to do tasks in creative way.
Decision making skill- this skill must also be developed by manager so that he is able to take
effective decisions. It is important skill as in project there are many types of decisions to be
taken. So, manager must know how to examine problems and take decisions. In addition, project
manager must be aware of certain criteria on basis of which decision are taken (Gray, and
Ulbrich,, 2017). With this skill it will be easy for manager to take effective decisions within
project.
Problem solving skills – this is also important skill that needs to be developed. There can occurs
various types of problems during project. Thus, it requires project manager to solve those
problems in effective way. If problem are not solved then it may impact on project progress in
negative way. So, manager must be capable enough to find root cause of problem, examine it and
then solve it. This skill enables project manager to solve issues quickly.
Management skills – the Smart city OS project must be managed and organized in proper way.
For that it requires project manager to develop management skill. By that it will be easy to
manage all activities and tasks within project.
There is need to take relevant and proper actions to develop skills because without taking
actions skills can not be developed.In order to developed these skills there are various ways by
which the project manager can opt for. In this first of all the manager can attend training sessions
and seminars that are based on developing these skills (Meredith, andZwikael, 2020).
Moreover, the manager can develop a PDP through which these skills can be developed. The
PDP provide a framework by which in systematic way skills are developed. In addition to it,
manager can watch videos, read books, solve case studies, etc. to develop skills. These all
provide several ways and techniques that manager can adopt to develop skills.Furthermore,
project manager can also take suggestions from expert, relatives, etc. to develop skills. By that it
will be easy to gain knowledge about these skills and also how it can be developed.
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Hence, these all are some actions that can be undertaken by project manager to develop
required skills for Smart city OS project.
TASK 2 Problem solving and decision making
In every project there are different types of stakeholders which are engaged with it. So, it is
necessary to find out stakeholders so that their needs are identified and on basis of that changes
are made into project. Apart from it, any change in needs of stakeholder highly influence entire
project. In addition to it, there is also need to regularly engage with them and give report
regarding project progress. Similarly, in Smart city OS project as well there are various
stakeholders that is engaged with project. For that stakeholder influence mapping is done
(Pollack, Helm, and Adler, 2018). It is a derivative of the standard influence map. It is a simple
tool for capturing the potential stakeholders of a system and the influences that exist between
them.There is great influence of stakeholder on project as their interest can relate to environment,
technology, quality, financial, etc. Thus, it is required to understand in depth about interest of
stakeholder in Smart city OS. The size of project is large so it is difficult to manage stakeholders.
They are explained as below :
High
Influence
Hull city council
Residents
Connexin and Cisco
Suppliers
UK government
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University of Hull
Suppliers
Public and private businesses
Low Interest high
Hull city council – the council is main stakeholder as they are responsible and accountable for
completion of overall project. The council interest and power is high. It is because council have
set goals and developed roadmap for project.
University of Hull- it is an organisation and stakeholder in this project. The power and interest is
low. Moreover, they are not crucial stakeholder as it is only a part of hull city council.
Public and private businesses- they are crucial stakeholder as well. This is because it requires
businesses support to develop smart city. The interest is high but power is low. However,
businesses need to work council to complete Smart city OS project. It requires to engage them in
decision making (Radujković, and Sjekavica, 2017).
Residents- the residents are public who live in Hull city. Thus, they are stakeholder whose power
and interest is high in project. It is because any change in their needs impact on entire smart city
project.
Connexin and Cisco- these are the companies who are working with Hull city council. They are
responsible for delivering technology, installing software, etc. and also invested in Smart city
OS. Along with that, their interest and power is high in project thus they are crucial stakeholders.
Suppliers- these stakeholders are not directly connected with project but they provide relevant
devices, asset, wires, etc. for installing of technology in city. The supplier work with Connexin
and Cisco and also with hull city council. The power and interest is low in project.
UK government – it is crucial stakeholder as they monitor overall progress of Smart city OS.
Under their supervision hull city council is working. They have given permission for undertaking
this project.
It is important to engage with stakeholders so that project progress is maintained. Also, it
helps in finding out their needs and accordingly making changes in goals and objectives.
Besides, stakeholder provide data and info as well that can be used to take decisions. However,
there are various ways to engage with stakeholder identified in Smart city OS. But it depends on
project manager that how he or she engage with them (Rogo, Rarasati, . and Gumuruh, 2020).
For present project, manager will engage with stakeholder through stakeholder engagement plan.
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In that all strategies and actions are included through which stakeholder are involved. Besides,
their needs will be listened and then meeting is conducted to engage. Also, regular e mail is sent
to them regarding project progress. There will be monthly meetings conducted to engage with
them. Alongside by working with project team as well it will be easy to engage with stakeholder
of Smart city OS.
TASK 3 The project triangle
In every project there are 3 constraints that need to be identified. This enable manager to work
with them in effective way. The three constraints project managers work within are budget,
scope and schedule. Schedule is at the top of the model. Scope is on the left of the triangle and
budget is on the right. Depending on the project or who is involved, each of these constraints
could be the most important to the end user (Tabish, and Jha, 2018). Quality is in the middle of
the triangle and effective project managers must balance the ebb and flow of tradeoffs within
these three elements in order to achieve success. The iron triangle is a give and take balance
manager is required to master by manipulating variables that can change in order to allow for
those that cannot. Together, balancing these three constraints can help determine the quality of
the overall project.
Cost - This is the financial constraint of a project, also referred to as the budget.Costs on a
project can comprise of a variety of elements, including resources both materials and people as
well as any external costs that influence a project
Scope- This includes the tasks necessary to achieve the project’s goals.
Time- This is the project scheduled completion.Managing time is closely related to managing
tasks, as the overall timeline is broken down by individual tasks and their anticipated timing. To
manage this, project managers should identify tasks that must be done in sequential order and
which are interdependent
It is important for project manager to consider parameters so that project is not affected. All
parameters need to be managed so that there is no negative impact. It will enable manager to
complete project on time and within specified budget and scope. If these are not managed
properly than it might have adverse effect (Tereso, Ribeiro,. and Ferreira, 2019).
Similarly, in present project as well there are 3 parameters which needs to be considered. In this
cost of project need to be maintained along with time. It is stated that any change in one of the
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factors highly affect the another. This is because they are all interrelated to each other. It means
of there is change in budget than it will affect on scope and time. The overall scope might be
high or low. Similarly, there can be increase in time of completion of Smart city OS. In similar
way, if there is change in time then it affect on budget and scope. Any delay in project
completion results in increase in budget. Also, the scope of project might be affected in negative
way. Likewise, any change in scope of Smart city OS lead to affect on time and budget. It means
the project might not be completed within time and also budget required can be more.
Impact of possible change in project
There can occur certain change in project due to which there might be impact on Smart city OS.
For instance- the quality of technology and equipment installed is of poor quality. Thus, this
might impact of project as all equipment have to be installed again. Thus, it will led to delay in
completion. Besides that, another change is there might be lack of finance in project. So, hull city
council need to work with specified budget. It might affect on quality of raw material and scope
of project. Another possible change can be change in need of stakeholders. It will highly impact
of project in negative way (Tereso,, Ribeiro, and Ferreira, 2019). Due to it, goals and objectives
and project planning needs to be modified. However, there can occur conflict between council
and companies working with them or between council and other stakeholders. It will also affect
on project to a great extent. Due to it, project goals might have to be changed. There can be delay
in its completion.
Task 4 – Managing Finances
Management of finance is very important to ensure that work is completed within
allocated time and in addition to this, cost of the project can be managed effectively. Finance
management also involve management of resources required for carrying out and completion of
the project. Resources required for Smart city OS project are-
Capital Resources- This is one of the very important resources that are required for project in
which capital investment creates basis for completion of the project. Capital resources involve all
those resources through which raw material and input is converted into final products.
Material Resources- This is a resource that is concerned with all those material and input that
enables to create project for the purpose of creating Smart city OS project (Villafáñez and et.al.,
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2020). This means that all the material required for developing infrastructure for Smart City OS
project is included in this resource.
Operations resources- This involves tools, equipments, supplies that are required for operations
of project. These are used for developing project and for Smart City OS project software is also
an important requirement for operations of project.
Human Resources- Human resource is a resource that is required for functioning of all other
resources and without human resource there is no sense of any other resource being owned by
the project.
Financial Resources- Financial resource is most important resource for the project and this
enables project to get all other resources required for the project.
Collectively these resources enable to effectively and timely complete project of Smart
City OS and lack and unavailability of any of these can cause difficulty in completion of the
project for Smart City (Dociu, 2018).
Cost Estimation Technique
This is concerned with estimation of the cost that is involved in project. This enables to
develop a budget for the project and also enables to calculate return and return on investment.
Analogous Estimating
This is an appropriate cost estimation technique for estimation of cost at Hull Smart City
OS project. This is technique of cost estimation in which cost for the project is estimated on the
basis of cost associated with similar projects in past. This method for estimation of project cost is
based upon historical data as well as expert judgement of the project manager. This requires that
manager of the project have effective understanding of cost analysis about different elements and
phases of the project. Along with use and availability of historical data is also play important role
in effective determination of cost of the project.
Regarding Hull Smart City OS project, project like this have not taken place in Hull
before this and this is why project managers are required to consider historical data and cost
estimates of similar projects that took place in other cities with similar projects. This is
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appropriate for Hull Smart City OS project because without historical data there is no basis for
estimation of cost for the project (Benala and Mall, 2018). Projects of Bristol and Manchester are
examples where similar projects are taking place and cost associated with those projects can be
considered for basis of Hull Smart City OS projects.
However, there are limitations of using this technique for cost estimation in which no two
or more projects can be completely similar. Hull Smart City Project is also different from all
other smart city project being implemented across cities in UK. This is why it is important to
consider elements that are similar and different and how differences in elements differentiate
cost of the projects. Expertise of project manager along with this project can help in estimation
of effective and nearly accurate estimation of cost for the project.
TASK 5 - Risk Management within the Project
Every project has certain types of risks involved that can restrain project to complete or
might create adverse situation for project occurring additional cost. Hull Smart City Project also
involves several types of risk in different context of the project that can affect completion and
success of the projects (O'Har, Senesi and Molenaar, 2017). Following risk register outlines
risks, their probability, impact, severity and how these risks can be mitigated.
Risk Register for Hull Smart City Project
No
.
Risk Description Likeliho
od of
occurre
nce
Impact
of risk
occurs
Severity Owner Mitigation action
1. Operational risk Smart city project
might get affected
because of
operations not
taking place as
planned and decided
in advance and can
create delays in
High Medium High Project Head
and project
manager
Operations are
clarified before
starting of project
and everyone
involved from top to
lower level is aware
of their role in
project.
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completion and can
occur additional
cost
Giving adequate
knowledge to how
everyone can
complete their tasks
2. Financial risk More cost occurred
in project than what
was planned earlier
and lack of
availability of
finance for the
project
Low Medium Mediu
m
Finance head in
the project and
also Hull
Council
Developing budget
that involves all
elements and
keeping aside an
contingency budget
for unexpected
situation (Hiscock
and Jones, 2017).
Considering
financial planning of
similar projects
3. Strategic risk Strategies developed
are not appropriate
and have not been
successful in
achieving desired
results for project at
different phases
Medium High High Project head and
manager
Developing
strategies
considering similar
projects and
considering all
factors affecting
strategy while
developing strategies
for project.
Developing other
plans and strategies
in case one doesn’t
work
4. Compliances risk Regulatory elements
did not paid
attention earlier
causing difficulty
during project in
process
Low Low Low Project head and
legal personnel
in project and
Hull city
council
Considering all
compliances and
their impact on
project
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5. Reputational risk This means that
reputation of project
can get negatively
affected and in this
as other project have
been considered
elements and risk
like copying can
negatively affect
reputation of project
(Rees, Ashley and
Cameron, 2019).
High Low Mediu
m
Hull City
Council and
project head
Ensuring that
elements like
copying are not there
and also having
proof and
justification for new
elements of the
project
6. Environmental
risk
Technical
developments are
likely to cause
negative effect on
environment and for
Smart City project
this is an important
risk
High Medium Mediu
m
Hull City
Council and
project head
Developing plans
according to
environmental
consideration.
Following standards
of environmental
sustainability
7. Time risk Project requiring
and including
additional time and
activities within
project take
additional time than
planned
Low Medium Low Project head and
activity
personnel
involved in
completion of
task that is
getting delayed
Considering extra
time for activities in
advance so that it
does not affect
project during its
working and
operations
(Ghenţulescu and
Grigore-Miclea,
2017).
8. Resource risk Resources required
for project are
insufficient and
required resources
Low Low Low Project head and
manager
Unavailability of
resources can bring
project to end
without completion
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