Assessing Project Scope: Written Responses And Evidence Portfolio

Task 1 – Written responses

1. A stakeholder is defined as an individual or a group of people who has significant interest in a part or stake of an organization or a project. Some of the most common stakeholders involved in any project are project manager, finance manager, project supervisor and others.

There are several methods to identify the stakeholders in the product of which the most effective and commonly used is stakeholder engagement matrix. A stakeholder engagement matrix is developed keeping in consideration the requirements of the project. Based on the project requirements, the stakeholders are identified and their interests and influences in the project are determined. Finally, these stakeholders are arranged in order of influence and their roles and responsibilities in the project are defined accordingly.

2. One major challenge in communication faced during a project is the use of different languages by the team members due to separate backgrounds. This is often noted in projects when team members are appointed from different cultural backgrounds. This problem is generally solved when a common language like English is fixed and the team members are asked to interact with each other in the common language only.

Planning for communication is generally done when the project is of large scale and a large number of team members are involved. In these cases, if there is no suitable communication plan, the team members will not communicate with each other as much as required and hence, proper communication plan is being developed. In this communication plan, the roles of the stakeholders and team members are generally defined and their communication requirements and methods are specified accordingly. Information management plan is developed to ensure that the project team members pass on the right information to the other team members at the most appropriate times such that the project is executed in the right manner. Thus, communication management plan and information management significantly help in overcoming the challenges of communication in the project.

3. The closure phase of a project mainly refers to the final activities that are undertaken before the project is finally completed. Hence, this phase mainly involves review of the project and finalizing the activities like payment of wages, sign off and others before official closing of the project. In addition to tasks mentioned, there are also communication management and information management tasks that are conducted in the closure phase. During the review process, it is determined whether the communication process has been streamlined as per the plan developed earlier. If there is any gap in communication during the project, it will be evident in the project report as there will be several missing information and other relevant details. In addition to the communication, information management process is also a part of the project closure. In this phase, each and every detail mentioned in the project progress reports is collated into the final project report and then forwarded for the final analysis. The project manager analyzes these pieces of information, provides approval regarding the final output of the project and signs off the project.

Part A: Planning Information and Communication Processes

A1: Managing Communication Plan

a: Findings from the Project

This project is based on the design and installation of a modular kitchen as a part of the plan for renovating an existing kitchen. During this project, the existing equipments in the kitchen will be moved into a new space where a temporary kitchen will be set up for the convenience of the client. The kitchen will then be repaired and new cooking equipments and systems like modular chimney, oven, refrigerators, utensil holders and others will be set up. The key deliverables of the project are shown in the following table.

Task Name

Kitchen renovation plan

Planning and Designing phase

Developing preliminary design

Selecting contractor

Design package consideration

Risk and safety management plan

Architectural and MEP planning

Budget planning

Milestone 1: Completion of project Planning and Designing phase

Kitchen demolition phase

Kitchen site analysis

Secure all demolition equipments

Demolition team hiring

Structural preparation

Utilities turning off

Packing existing kitchen for reuse

Secure waste containers

Milestone 2: Completion of Kitchen demolition phase

kitchen construction phase

Material procurement

Quantity estimation

Mechanical installation

Electricity installation

Plumbing and painting

Cabinetry and counters

Flooring

Final interior decoration

Installing all electronic appliances (fridge, stove, dishwasher, microwave)

Milestone 3: Completion of kitchen construction phase

Testing and clean up phase

Appliance testing

Unused material removal

Trash removal

Stakeholder signoff

The major milestones of the project are also shown in the following table.

WBS	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors
1.7	Milestone 1: Completion of project Planning and Designing phase	0 days	Fri 2/16/18	Fri 2/16/18	7
2.8	Milestone 2: Completion of Kitchen demolition phase	0 days	Mon 2/26/18	Mon 2/26/18	16
3.10	Milestone 3: Completion of kitchen construction phase	0 days	Mon 3/19/18	Mon 3/19/18	26,27
4.6	Milestone 4: Completion of Testing and clean up phase	0 days	Mon 3/26/18	Mon 3/26/18	34

 

Description of All Project Stakeholders

Stakeholders	Roles	Responsibilities	Need for Communication
House owner	Internal	To invest necessary capital for the successful renovation of the kitchen	Project progress update and funding requirements
Project manager	External	To complete the renovation plan within $50,000 and 5 weeks	Project progress update and change requirements
Labours	External	To keep themselves engage to the job roles for the successful completion of the renovation plan	Project milestones and requirements
Suppliers	External	Supply good quality materials and appliances to meet the expectation of the clients	Resource requirements

In this project, the main communication method between the client and the renovation company is face to face. During planning of the project, the client will meet with the contractor to discuss about the possible execution of the project along with feasibility testing and other major factors. However, when the project is ongoing, the project manager i.e. the contractor will not always be available on site but will remain connected through email and telephone. In any requirement, the contractor can be contacted by calling through the phone number or sending an email to the official email address of the contractor.

Task 2 – Portfolio of Evidence

Some of the major communication processes required in the project are described as follows.

Communication Process	Purpose
Written Status Report	Updating the status of the project to the project manager
Project Plan Update	Requesting changes in the project management plan
Project Team Meeting	Discuss the progress of the project
Exception Reports	Report the exceptions in the project
Milestone Reports	Updating the reaching of milestones in the project

Informal Project Communication

This type of communication is generally performed outside the project boundaries but the discussion is based on the project only. This is mainly done to provide idea to one or more of the team members in the project but these ideas are not officially registered within the project progress report.

Feedback Mechanisms

In case of communication issues, the related project team member must report to the project manager to look into the issue and take suitable actions.

Task b: Project Communications Plan

Target Audience	Communication Needs	Messenger	Vehicle	Frequency
House owner	Project progress update and funding requirements	Project Manager	Face to Face Communication	Daily
Project manager	Project progress update and change requirements	Labours	Project update document	Daily
Labours	Project milestones and requirements	Project Manager	Design blueprint	Before start of project
Suppliers	Resource requirements	Project Manager	List of resources	Before start of project
Consultant	Design of the modular kitchen	House Owner	Face to Face	During project planning

Communication Management Procedure is defined as a systematic path through which the communication between two relevant parties or stakeholders of a project is to be conducted. There are several communication management procedures that are discussed below.

Standards – Many large scale organizations follow standardized communication procure in order to ensure the communications that are done between the stakeholders remain are professional and up to the requirements. As the standards are already being developed by the company, it is important for the stakeholders to abide by the standards and also report to the project management authority in case the standards need to be changed or updated.

Escalation Processes – In some cases, during the project, any project member may detect any major issue or problem that can give significant negative impact on the project. Hence, the occurrence of such problems may be harmful and the relevant stakeholder or team leader must be informed about the issue. This is done through an escalation process in which the team members escalate an issue in the project to the project manager or any other relevant staff. The same process will be used in this particular chosen case project as well.

Version Control – Version control refers to the process in which the changes in the project report document are recorded for future review and reference.

Process to Update the Communications Management Plan – Often in projects, there are requirements to update the communications management plan due to various changes like change in personnel, project structure, project requirements and others. In this case, all the involved personnel in the project should be called for a face to face meeting. In this meeting, every team member and stakeholder should be acknowledged regarding the changes in the project and the communications management plan.

Flow Charts for Communications – A flow chart for communication for the selected case project is shown as follows.

Project Scope Management Plan

Communication Constraints and Policies – Communication constraints in a project mainly occur due to several reasons like language barrier, lack of remote communication device and others. For this kitchen renovation project, communication constraint may occur due to lack of direct involvement of the house owner in the project. There might be a case when the house owner wants the plan in a specific way but is unable to communicate directly with the labors as they work under the project contractor instead. Again, the project contractor and the supplier may not always be present at the site of the project and any communication need will be affected.

Roles and Responsibilities – The roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the kitchen renovation project regarding communication management are shown in the following table.

Stakeholders	Role in for Communication
House owner	Explain the modifications and renovation requirements
Project manager	Design and work instructions
Labours	Report project progress
Suppliers	Supply confirmation and billing

Communication Review – The communication will be done by the project manager (contractor) for this project to ensure the communication standards and guidelines have been met.

Timelines – The milestone timeline for the project is shown as follows.

WBS	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
1.7	Milestone 1: Completion of project Planning and Designing phase	0 days	Fri 2/16/18	Fri 2/16/18
2.8	Milestone 2: Completion of Kitchen demolition phase	0 days	Mon 2/26/18	Mon 2/26/18
3.10	Milestone 3: Completion of kitchen construction phase	0 days	Mon 3/19/18	Mon 3/19/18
4.6	Milestone 4: Completion of Testing and clean up phase	0 days	Mon 3/26/18	Mon 3/26/18

Software and Technology Used – For the purpose of communication in this project, in addition to face to face communication, email and mobile phones will be used for remote communication.

For project management information system, cloud computing is an efficient approach for storing, searching and retrieval of information related to the project. Cloud provides virtual storage interface through which any data management process is very easy and efficient. With certain amount of implementation cost, there is no maintenance requirements and this cloud computing is very much suitable for both medium and large scale projects. For small scale projects like kitchen renovation, information can be recorded and stored in simple paper documents only.

B1: Portfolio of Information

Information Type	Application to the Project	Feedback Received
Modular kitchen design	Design of the project output	Design is satisfactory and as per the requirement
Funding requirement	Funds for purchasing resources	Funds provided accordingly
Project completion	Completion of the modular kitchen	The modular kitchen is as expected

Project Status Report

Project Attribute	Status
Scope	The project is within the scope only
Time	The project is delayed by 2 days margin
Cost	The cost has not exceeded the budget of the project
Quality	Expected quality has been achieved
Risk Performance	All risks have been duly mitigated during the project

At the end of each week, the project manager conducted a team meeting in which the project progress had been discussed by all the tem members.

Validation process can be executed using a checklist of various milestones in the project. Once a milestone is successfully completed, each data entry in that phase is checked and validated before entered in the final project report.

C1: Question Answer

1. Finalizing of records require in depth review of the project report to ensure each detail mentioned in it contains true and relevant information. After finalization of the records, it is required to archive the records. In case of paper documents, the records can be archived in paper folders and stored for future reference. In case of online documents, the records can be collected within one folder and stored in cloud for future reference. This process reflects that the owner of the information has the right to store the information and use it in future based on his requirements. The control requirement refers to the need to control the flow, documentation and storage of the information.

Communication Management Plan

For this kitchen renovation project, records will be developed in paper documents. This paper documents will be stored by the house owner for future reference and a photocopy of the record will be kept by the project manager i.e. the contractor for kitchen renovation.

2. In the kitchen renovation project, information and communication management have been executed according to plan within the limitations set by the initial roadmap.

The information and communication management procedures in this project can be called as effective because there has been no communication gap or issue during the entire course of the project. All the stakeholders had clearly understood the requirements of the project and hence, they worked effectively as well as communicated with each other throughout the course of the project.

Date	Description of Problem / Opportunity	Recommended Action for Next Time	Lesson Learnt Raised By
PLEASE FILL	Language Barrier	Ensure one personnel knows multiple languages and can talk to all the team members and stakeholders of the project	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Remote Communication	Ensure the stakeholders have each other’s phone numbers and email addresses	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Incomplete Data Records	Complete and review weekly progress report on regular basis	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Inaccurate Data	Verify data before entry	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Paper Document Destroyed	Prepare online copy of report and store in cloud	PLEASE FILL

 

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