Project Management Report: QA University Launch Event Analysis

This project management report details the planning and execution of a launch event for QA Higher Education, focusing on the refurbishment and promotion of the university. The report includes a project initiation document outlining the event's objectives, budget, and timeline. It further analyzes stakeholders, identifying their interests and concerns regarding the event. A risk register is provided, detailing potential risks such as over budget, schedule delays, and resource shortages, along with mitigation strategies. The report also presents a work breakdown structure to organize and manage the project's tasks. Finally, a short report is included, potentially for sponsors, summarizing the event's value proposition and potential for investment. The report emphasizes the importance of project management principles in achieving the event's goals of attracting more students and enhancing the university's competitiveness.

PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
a) Project initiation document.....................................................................................................1
b) Stakeholder analysis...............................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Risk Register...............................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Work break down structure.........................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
Short report:................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Project management relates to the discipline of identifying, planning, executive and
controlling processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the objectives of
task (Conforto and et.al., 2016). In general, it helps in meeting organisational goals by fulfilling
pre defined success criteria. The particular project based on an event which is conduct by QA
higher education for completed refurbishment and launch event for publicise to university for
attract more students and make the university more competitive. The below report focused on
Project initiation document and stake holder analysis, risk register, work break down structure.
There is present short report about the event to sponsors for invest in event.
TASK 1
a) Project initiation document
Project initiation document is simply a short summary document which are produced at
the beginning of the project that can be circulated to any one who wants to know about over all
concepts and major parameters. In PID is including budgetary information, timescales,
objectives, approach, key staff and stakeholder analysis (Spalek, 2013). There is develop the
following 4 items of project planning documentation they are -
Title of project Launch event
Estimated budget For the launch event to publicise refurbishment of teaching
rooms and computing labs. Managing director provided
approximately £50000 for launching.
Brief break down about money
will be spent
 Venue - £20000
 Catering - £10000
 Decoration & lighting - £5000
 Entertainment - £5000
 Equipment purchase and repair & maintenance -
£10000
Start date September, 1
Finish date September, 8
1

Project Sponsor Managing director of the university
Project manager
Main objectives (essentially a
short list of key business reasons
why this project is being
undertaken)
 To promote university to attract more students
 Make university more competitive
 Publicise between all students like London,
Birmingham and Manchester
 Success of launch event
Overall suggested approach
(some major points describing
about how achieving the above
objectives)
 Prepare effective strategy
 Update on website
 launch event
Reference(s)
b) Stakeholder analysis
Name of the
Stakeholders
Why they are interested in this project or not
Students University's students are interested because they are the part of this
event and students are excited for the refurbishment which held after
many years. It provides good atmosphere for study and all facilities
which are helping to gain good marks in exams (Gauthier and Ika,
2012). It provides best labs and class room which are comfortable
for their studies.
Alumni Even alumni also very excited for this event because they also get
chance to come their university and meet with their old friends and
teachers. This event gives the students a memorable day which is not
easily avoid by them. This launch event all facilities to new students
which they were not getting.
Supplier and Vendors This project required lots of stuff related to event, which is delivered
2

by the various suppliers and vendors. That's why they are interested
in this event because they get the chance to supply material and this
project also required vendors. Because of this reason supplier and
vendors are interested for launch event.
Sponsors These kind of events is very important for the sponsors because they
get the chance to promote their new product or any item. That's why
sponsors are very interested in the launch event. It is a good
opportunity to promote their products because there are lots of
students take part in this event (Stellingwerf and Zandhuis, 2013) .
So there is high chances of interested in sponsored product by the
people who join this event.
Staff or Faculty College staff and faculty members also interested in launch event.
Because it's increase the interest or participation of the students
which help to improve the personality through out this event.
Faculty members also try to encourage every student to take part in
this event which help them to be confident or be motivated always
(Sharp, Peters and Howard, 2017).
TASK 2
Risk Register
Identification of risk – when organise a event that time face many problems these are
know as risk. There is identified different risks related to project, these are as following -
S.
No.
Risk
Description
Likelih
ood
Impact Owner Mitigation Continge
ncy
Pre
action
weightin
g score
Post
action
weightin
g Score
1 There is over
cost risk
which is
High High Managi
ng
director
keep more
options,
low facility,
Create
back up
plan to
8/10 6/10
3

related to
improper
budget
arrangements.
cheap
resources,
keep safe
fund
reduce
this type
of risk
and
arrange
all
resources
2 There is a risk
that over run
schedule risk
because of
lack of
management
policy. If this
occurs it will
create time
slot problem.
High Minimal Project
manager
Create
another
plan,
Engage
with
coordinator
s,
Set
schedule
according
to time
limit and
adjust
according
to time
limitation
9/10 7/10
3 There is a risk
technology
risk due to old
equipments
and it will
shows bad
image of
university
High Medium Director
of
operatio
ns
Repair all
equipment
on time and
check
before
event
Purchase
extra
equipmen
t,
modified
to
technolog
y for
event
10/10 7/10
4 There is also
resource risk
because of
lack of budget
High High Managi
ng
director
Arrange
extra
resources,
contact with
Prepare
strategy
for
arrange
9/10 5/10
4

funding and
allocation.
supplier,
keep safe
fund
and
allocate
all
resources
,
5 In this project
register of risk
Operational
risk which are
reflect on
operation
activities
which are
related to
event.
Mediu
m
Low Technic
al team
Systematic
set
operational
activities,
contact to
every
person who
connect
with the
event in
direct and
indirect
way
Note
down all
strategies
before
impleme
ntation,
Apply
one by
one in
effective
manner
8/10 4/10
6 There is
consider
Governance
risk due to
changes
policies
during to
planning or
launch of
event.
Low Minimal Project
manager
Aware for
government
policies and
contact to
government
person.
Apply all
effective
strategies
and
prepare
plan
according
to
governm
ent rules
and
policies.
6/10 4/10
5

7 There is
Supplier risk
due to late
supply
resources and
does not fulfil
of demands
according to
requirements.
High medium Managi
ng
director
Provide low
quality
products,
they does
not fulfil of
demand,
work not
done
according
to
requirement
Contact
to known
supplier
who
provides
all
resources
on time
and
arrange
things
according
to budget
policy
9/10 5/10
8 There is
consider of
Safety risk
which are
affected to
image of
university and
create
problem for
all of them.
Mediu
m
high Project
manager
Check all
security
issues
which are
relate to
past
activities
and other
events
Arrange
security
guards
and call
to police
of
emergenc
y and for
any other
things
9/10 6/10
9 There is a risk
that Low
conversion
rate due to
difficult UI. If
this occurs it
High High Project
manager
Invite
people with
cards and
provide
facility to
come easily
If people
are not
interested
so
students
are take
8/10 3/10
6

will shows as
failure of
project
according to
estimation.
university initiative
and invite
to people
again for
their
event
make
successfu
l
10 There is exist
Performance
risk due to
diversion
from pre
defined KPIs.
It will show
impact on
reputation of
an university.
Low Medium M.P.
Scott
There is
following
all
Strategies
which are
pre planned
and arrange
all system
according
to do list.
Prepare
extra plan
and
deliver to
responsib
ilities
according
to their
skills
who
arrange
all things
in
systemati
c manner.
7/10 1/10
TASK 3
Work break down structure
It is a method for getting complex, multi step project done and it is a way of categorise
larger projects in short projects for easily and faster done in effective manner. Work break down
structure is a hierarchical tree structure that outlines of project and break these in smaller and
7

manager all parts in effective manner (Glukhov, Ilin and Levina, 2015). The goal of this structure
to make a large project more manageable and breaking it down into smaller work that can be
done at the same time by different team members. It helps to leader for leading in productive
way and make easier for whole project management.
The full life cycle of the launch event will span over 7 days of Fresher's Week in
September. The summary tasks that would be focused majorly over the period of seven days are
as follows:
 Marketing: Since the launch event is being held for attracting more students to the
university, Marketing is the most important subtask to focus on.
 Quality: Quality is a leading decider for the success or failure of any project. Thus,
quality and performance of launch event should be up-to-mark for its success.
 Financing: Finance provides a limit that should be adhered to for the launch event so that
the university does not incur over-cost.
 Research: Pre-event surveys and planned promotional strategies will help in targeting
the audience in the right manner (Seymour and Hussein, 2014).
The aforementioned summary tasks can be completed by carrying out the following subtasks:
 Marketing: A University's foundation is based on the number of students admitted to its
curriculum annually. On the other hand, students are attracted to a college that has wide
variety of facilities or amenities on its campus premises. Therefore, to ensure success of
the launch event it is important for the project manager to adopt precise Marketing
Strategies. This can be done by creating an experiential environment for the students that
would include Demo classes and tours. Through Demo Classes the prospective students
as well as current students can understand how the computing labs operate. Apart from
this, promotional strategies such as Website Up-gradation regarding the information
related to new facilities and amenities provided by the University can ensure that both
current and prospective students are aware of University's infrastructure capabilities.
Also, handing out brochures and pamphlets to visiting dignitaries, students and alumni as
well as adopting newspaper advertising methodologies can help the University in gaining
a competitive advantage as far as state-of-the-art facilities are concerned (Greiman, 2013)
.
8

 Quality: Since the launch event will be a large-scale affair, it is important that the
quality of such meet is maintained with the reputation and brand image of the University.
Since this event will have participation of local and national dignitaries, staff as well
students, it is important that a constant monitoring of social media activity is carried out
for comparing key performance indicators (KPI) with the actual performance thus
ensuring no diversion from planned strategy occurs. Sponsor Recognition and measuring
revenue-overhead cost will help in ascertaining areas where the quality of event is
degrading and where the performance is up-to-mark (Vanhoucke, 2014).
 Financing: QAHE has provided a budget of approximately £50,000. Apart from this,
sponsorships can help in providing external sources of funds for the project team which
can act as a save fund for the team in case of any contingency (Madter, Bower and
Aritua, 2012).
 Research: Before the launch event, a proper research should be carried out to understand
the behavioural patterns of the target audience. Conducting Pre-event Surveys can help in
creating a promotional plan based on their needs and preferences. Ascertaining minimum
conversion rate of event can help in deciding the minimum amount of catering, venue
size that would be required to host the event. Thus, it will help in developing a pre-launch
promotional strategy to create a buzz among the participants regarding the same.
Milestone
A project milestone is a management tool that is used to delineate a point in a project
schedule. These points can note the start and finish of a project after then mark the completion of
a major phase of work. So it is helping in a starting of project with the help of immensely with
scheduling (Hällgren, 2012). For the related Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the milestones
that are required to be achieved are experiential awareness and promotion since the objective of
the launch event is to publicize the newly added facilities and amenity up-gradations
implemented by QAHE in its London campus premises.
TASK 4
Short report:
A short report addressed to the Director of Operations has been provided below:
PROJECT REPORT
9

QA Higher Education (QAHE) has successfully finished completing refurbishing of its teaching
rooms and computing labs for London, Birmingham and Manchester premises. The University
has decided to hold a major launch event to publicize these changes and celebrate the success of
the project. This report aims to point out the importance of strong leadership as well as provide
analysis, recommendations of methodologies that can best manage and develop the project as
Importance of Strong Leadership:
Quality leadership is of immense importance for success of any given project. Since the
university aims to publicise the new changes through this project, a need of quality leadership
arises. A successful project manager needs to be agile and capable in micromanaging
dependencies, milestones and deliverables at each level before and after the hosting of launch
event. This event will be held on a large-scale for its London Campus, hence, it is important that
leadership of such project is undertaken with those who are representative of the brand image
and reputation that the University emotes among its competitors. For instance, the marketing
department of the events team shall be assigned a team leader that will direct roles and
responsibilities for the team. This would ensure that there will be proper delegation of authority.
Methodologies:
To implement the launch event successfully, methodologies such as agile, waterfall and prince2
are some of the popular project management techniques adopted to execute any undertaking.
Agile methodology is mostly operational in projects where one cannot estimate the full life
cycle and scope of requirements relating to a project. Hence, it is most viable where uncertainty
rules. Under this method, documentation tends to get sidetracked and measurement of progress
is difficult. On the contrary, waterfall methodology has each phase of project life cycle mapped
out to ensure progress flows steadily through every phase. Certainty and easy identification of
alternate solutions through proper documentation are its core strength, however, prediction of
contingencies and changes to requirements cannot be incorporated easily in this technique.
Lastly, Projects IN Controlled Environments or Prince2 methodology is a customized project
management technique that can be tailored to the needs of any organisation or role involved in
managing a project or event. However, it is inappropriate for small projects or where changes
are made on a regular basis (Klein, Biesenthal and Dehlin, 2015).
10