Question:
Discuss about the Critical Analysis for Project Management Plan.
The report carries out a critical analysis of a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a specific project based case study. For this purpose, the report focuses on the primary aspects and areas requiring adequate consideration for appropriately managing a project. The particular project chosen for making this report is ‘Conducting an Exhibition for A Company’. To be more precise, the report undertakes a detail evaluation, planning and analysis of the selected project. It includes identification of the key groups of stakeholders, how the individual groups of stakeholders are planning to use the PMP, what information is provided to each group of stakeholders as well as how they will utilize specific information regarding executing the project (Kerzner 2013). Apart from that, the report additionally focuses on performing a detail study on the individual theories provided by PMBOK and Prince 2, the two different Project Management System Methodologies. In addition, PMPs essentially need to be structured differently in accordance with the specific domain (e.g. construction, finance, information and communication technology and so on) that the project belongs to. However, the present project based case study is focusing on organizing an exhibition for a company, which essentially belongs to the domain of Business Management. Accordingly, the PMP plan needs to be structured keeping proper alignment with the most suitable and appropriate structure and theory.
Background and Environment of Project
This particular section thoroughly discusses about the background and detailed scope statement of the project ‘Conducting a Corporate Exhibition for A Company’.
Project Scope Statement
The exhibition planning involves deciding on the type and scale of exhibition, its primary objectives, basic deliverables, technical and operational requirements as well as the key stakeholders associated with the project (Schwalbe 2015).
Project Description
The Company has planned to organize a corporate exhibition, where the target audiences are the customers as well as the employees of the company. The exhibition will be a corporate event. For this purpose, executing this particular project essentially involves setting an appropriate project schedule, budget estimation and creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) in order to properly schedule individual activities and accomplish the project within a pre-estimated time and budget constraints (Verzuh 2015). The project is based on setting and development of an exhibition. It includes establishing the ideal theme, determining the financial resources, performing market research, arranging project sponsors/ funds, prepare advertising and promotion facilities and finally designing the entire event.
Project Objectives
The fundamental objective of the event is to facilitate an easy medium for communication and marketing through a well-planned event that provides an excellent opportunity for the employees to connect with prospective foreign customers and sell their products in a global scale (Turner 2014). In addition to that, the particular exhibition also provides an established platform that can effectively serve as a gathering place for the company members to meet with their foreign business partners. The project in turn is expected to raise funds for financing some new facilities and activities that the organization is planning to implement and actualize in the near future.
Deliverables
Below are the primary deliverables of the project:
The key stakeholders for conducting a formal exhibition for a Company are identified as follows:
|
Stakeholders |
Information |
Interests |
Timing/ Frequency |
Sender of Information |
Medium |
|
Project Sponsors |
Budget Estimates, Project status reports, updates on project activities |
Project earnings and the basic objectives of the project |
Weekly/ As required |
Project Manager |
Email, meetings, conference |
|
Project Manager |
Work requests, project status, documents (draft and approval), cost and budget estimates, project schedule plan, priority assignments, scope statement, issue log, sponsorship information |
Project deliverables, performance and progress of the project, objective and impact of the project |
Weekly/ As required/ On a periodic basis |
Email, Newsletters, conference, meetings |
|
|
Event Manager |
Exhibition concept, Financial Plan, Schedule plan, deliverables and technical requirements |
Nature of event, project benefits, attract visitors, company profile |
Weekly, as required |
Email, phone call, messages, meetings, |
|
|
Site Manager |
Site measurements, Site specifications, budget, technical requirements |
Project deliverables, nature, purpose and objectives |
As required |
Meeting, group discussion, bulletin boards |
|
|
Infrastructure Manager |
Exhibition concept, |
Size of project, budget, financial plan |
As required |
Meeting, group discussion, bulletin boards |
|
|
Marketing, Advertising and Publicity |
Marketing campaign, news coverage, social media, project agenda, scope of project, objectives and final outcome of the financial plan/ budget, target audience and methods of marketing to be incorporated |
List of Project outcomes, Time and Date, nature of event, target audience |
Weekly/ Periodic basis |
Meeting, group discussion, bulletin boards, emails |
|
|
Speakers/ Performers/ Client Participants |
Theme of the exhibition, objective, target audience |
Personal interests |
As required |
Emails, messages |
|
|
Finance and Operations Director |
details of financial operations and development and estimation of the financial plan |
Budget PMP, detail financial resources, project scope |
Weekly, as required |
Meeting, group discussion, bulletin boards, emails |
|
|
CEO of the Company |
brief or overview of the plan along with a total estimation of budget and cost, number of people invited, target audience of the event and purpose |
Purpose of exhibition, benefits and outcomes from the project, required efforts and costs and time |
As required |
Email, meetings, conference |
Audience and Structure of the PMP
The audiences of the project management plan are:
According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK), there are twelve individual knowledge areas of project management. Based on the specific domain of our selected project (organizing an exhibition for a company), the applicable areas of project management are discussed underneath:
Project integration management: This method undertakes an integration management of the developed project plan; execution plan as well as implementing required change control strategies (Bennett and Ho 2014). This phase mainly associates with the development of project plan including strategic decision-making.
Project scope management: This section includes the detail description and discussion of the scope of the project. The processes and activities required to be performed for successfully conducting the exhibition are included in the scope management process. Scope management deals with properly coordinating the project works with the budget and time estimated and planned execution (Gido and Clements 2014).
Project time management: Time management is essential in order to ensure that the project is completed successfully i.e. in a timely manner within the estimated duration/ schedule. In order to properly manage time, firstly, the specific activities are required to be identified (Pemsel and Wiewiora 2013). These activities are performed for producing the key deliverables of the project.
Project cost management: The cost management for the project includes resource planning, cost estimation, cost budgeting and controlling costs (Hill 2013). The cost management activities involve producing accurate cost baseline and estimates using cost budgeting tools and techniques.
Project quality management: Project quality management is also necessary for implementing quality management plan. To be more specific, the tasks and activities associated with the particular project need to be appropriately satisfy the requirements and objectives. For this purpose, the project manager needs to carry out a systematic quality management plan (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). Firstly, it is important to identify the quality standards required par the project’s case. After that, quality assurance process is performed in which it is necessary for evaluating the overall performance of the project on a regular basis. Finally, quality control techniques are to be implemented using checklists in order to execute necessary process adjustments in order to make quality improvements.
Project human resource management: Human resource management is another important aspect for organizing the exhibition. Most specifically, in order to appropriately assign the project activities, it is essential identify, document and assign the project roles, responsibilities and report relationships among the team members (Mir and Pinnington 2014). Moreover, several requirements associated with the project, such as staff acquisition, development of the project team are met by proper implementation and utilization of human resource planning using different tools, techniques and team building activities.
Project communication management: For successfully managing an exhibition event for a company, it is essential to ensure timely and accurate manner. For ensuring adequate links among people directly and indirectly associated with the project so as to convey relevant ideas and information in order to successfully accomplish the project outcomes (Larson and Gray 2014). The communication management process should start with communication planning
Project risk management: Planning and organizing an event or exhibition essentially involves a number of significant risks. These risks are to be appropriately addressed and treated in order to successfully execute and conduct the exhibition. Risk management is therefore, necessary to ensure that the final exhibition takes place in a smooth and successful manner. For doing this, the project manager and event planner are engaged in risk management planning (Kendrick 2013). It essentially includes identifying the potential risks and thereby performing a qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning and risk monitoring and control. To be more precise, this process determines the strategies and contingency plans to be adopted in case of each of the different types of risks identified related to the project.
Project procurement management: PMBoK states that there should be another separate area focused on procurement management for the project (Rose 2013). This section entirely concentrates on the procurement and solicitation planning, contract administration and finally closeout of contracts.
For the present project case, the domain is essentially ‘Business Management’. In this domain, the knowledge areas discussed above is adequately applicable. The human resource management is essentially considered for managing the project team members and the individual key roles and responsibilities (Marchewka 2014). Apart from that, it is important to involve the areas of time, cost, scope and quality management. In addition, organizing an event essentially involves identifying the potential risks and thereby planning the risk treatment strategies for ensuring smooth execution and arrangement of the exhibition. Procurement planning is also important in the selected project in order to appropriately manage and coordinate with contractors, support service providers and the suppliers of required equipments, for example, lighting filings, furniture, artifacts and so on.
In this project, the major PMP sections that need to be incorporated for successfully managing the project essentially conforms to the project management theoretical frameworks such as PMBoK or Project management body of knowledge. The major sections are discussed below:
Scope management: It involves the following phases:
Initiation: the project is authorized
Scope planning: A documented scope statement is required to be developed for future decision making purposes.
Scope definition: The major project deliverables are to be decomposed or subdivided into smaller sections or components in order to make the individual activities more manageable (Karaman and Kurt 2015).
Scope verification: The project scope statement is formally and officially approved and accepted.
Scope change control: It is important to incorporate scope change control techniques in order to ensure possible changes to the scope of the project as and when required
Time management: This section has the following basic components:
Activity definition: The project activities are defined using work breakdown structure with the help of scope statement, expert judgment and assumptions.
Activity sequencing: The activities identified in the work breakdown structure is analyzed and assessed to identify valid interdependencies and thereby documenting them using precedence diagramming method (Snyder 2013).
Activity duration estimation: The duration of each task is estimated including the accurate number of work periods that will be required in order to carry out and finish each of the individual activities (Chia 2013).
Schedule development: The activity sequences, durations as well as resource requirements and analyzed, documented for developing the project schedule.
Schedule control: Required if it is necessary to control changes to the schedule estimated.
Cost management: the components of cost management sections are described below:
Resource planning: consideration of the vital resources including equipment, materials, technicalities, and people along with the exact quantities or number of resources used for individual project activities.
Cost estimating: The cost required for the resources is estimated and developed.
Cost budgeting: It deals with allocating costs to each of the individual activities in the work breakdown structure of the project.
Cost control: deals with handling necessary changes in the project budget.
Quality management: the components of quality management are described as follows:
Quality planning: Identify the standards of quality required
Quality assurance: evaluation of the overall project performance on a regular basis
Quality control: Deals with monitoring the outcomes of the project with respect to the quality standards.
Human resource management: the basic components of this section are as follows:
Organizational planning: the roles, relationships, duties and responsibilities required for project execution are identified and documented.
Staff acquisition: The human resources required for the project is assigned
Team development: It deals with developing the individual team or group competencies such as site managing, infrastructure, lights and furniture equipment, advertising and sponsorship department
Communication management: The basic stages of communication management are described as follows:
Communication planning: It is required to determine the communications and information needs and requirements for each individual stakeholder (Heldman 2013). It includes considering who needs what information, when they need the information and the method or medium adopted to send and receive information.
Information distribution: The information is to be made available to the project stakeholders in a timely manner.
Performance reporting: It deals with acquiring relevant information regarding the project’s performance measures, which includes forecasting, progress measurements and status reports
Administrative closure: It deals with formalizing the phase of project closure by generating, collecting as well as disseminating information.
Risk management: The major stages of risk management to be followed are discussed below:
Risk management planning: Deals with deciding the techniques and strategies to be followed for planning the activities of risk management (Heagney 2012).
Risk identification: The risks that are potentially harmful are documented and thereby required to be properly addressed knowing the characteristics of these risks.
Qualitative risk analysis: A qualitative risk analysis is carried out in order to prioritize the consequences, impacts and probability of each individual risk from occurring.
Quantitative risk analysis: It is important to measure the identified risks based on their consequences and severity of impacts, estimating the effect on project objectives.
Risk response planning: It deals with identifying and developing techniques and procedures adopted for the purpose of treating the risks and enhance opportunities, lessen threats (Turner 2014).
Risk monitoring and control: It is important to monitor residual risks, plan contingencies, and identify new risks as well as executing risk treatment strategies.
Conclusion
The report critically analyzed and evaluated the PMP plan for the project ‘Conducting an exhibition project for a Company’. The report includes a detailed description of the project along with a clear statement of the primary objectives of the project. In addition to that, the key stakeholders for this particular project have been identified for the purpose of categorizing the type of information to be provided to each of the individual group of stakeholders. Apart from that, the report additionally focuses on comparing and contrasting the project management theories and methodologies based on the specific domain chosen for this purpose, which is Business Management. The PMP for this project-based case study thoroughly identifies the most suitable knowledge areas for the implementation of the exhibition.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the project organizing an exhibition essentially follows a proper PMP plan that conforms to the relevant knowledge areas described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge. The individual knowledge areas are thoroughly discussed with respect to the application in the selected domain for this particular project. This case project essentially belongs to the business management domain where it is necessary to follow the major characteristics and components of PMP such as project time and cost management, quality management and risk management. Each of these factors need to be adequately focused when carrying out this project in actualization.
Based on the objectives and corresponding PMP plan for the project, the paper suggests some recommendations that will essentially help taking the project development process in a effective direction and achieve desired outcomes. The following factors and strategies can be incorporated in the PMP plan for organizing a corporate exhibition event.
Manage work plan, monitor and review budget and schedule: It is essential to review the work plan on a regular basis for getting a clear overview of the current progress and status of the project in terms of the budget and schedule estimates (Phillips 2013). The work plan needs to be accordingly updated to distinguish those activities that have already been completed. Furthermore, managing and monitoring the work plan on a regular interval effectively helps in determining the actual effort, duration and cost required for accomplishing the project deliverables. Similarly, a regular monitoring of the budget plan is important in order to adequately keep track of the exact amount of money consumed by the overall project’s development and execution process.
Guard against risks: Organizing an entire exhibition for a specific company involves a number of significant risks. The project and event management team should focus on identifying the known risk types (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2013). Then again, they should consider determining the probability of each individual risk events as well as the possible consequences and severity of impact of the identified risks on the project.
Ensure approval of scope change requests by sponsors: For ensuring success in organizing an effective exhibition for the company, it is significantly important to focus a great deal on managing scope (Burke 2013). The major deliverables of the project are to be decided. When the project sponsors funds the project, it is made sure that scope creep is avoided. Therefore, it is overcome by updating the appropriate business requirements, in which a proper approval is needed upon any change requests brought about the stakeholder.
References
Bennett, J.M. and Ho, D.S., 2014. Human resource management. In Project Management for Engineers (pp. 231-249).
Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio management and its impact on success.International Journal of Project Management, 31(6), pp.830-846.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Chia, R., 2013. Paradigms and perspectives in organizational project management research: implications for knowledge creation. Novel Approaches to Organizational Project Management Research: Translational and Transformational. Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen, pp.33-55.
Fitzsimmons, J. and Fitzsimmons, M., 2013. Service management: Operations, strategy, information technology. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Gido, J. and Clements, J., 2014. Successful project management. Nelson Education.
Heagney, J., 2012. Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
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Hill, G.M., 2013. The complete project management office handbook. CRC Press.
Karaman, E. and Kurt, M., 2015. Comparison of project management methodologies: prince 2 versus PMBOK for it projects.
Koong, R. (2000). ORGANISING AN EXHIBITION A Manual for Chambers & Trade Associations. 1st ed. [ebook] Singapore: Richard Koong. Available at: https://www.nucleus-international.net/Nuc_English/E10_Download/E04_Special_Activities/E04-01_Trade_Fair/ZdH_Exhibition_manual.pdf [Accessed 30 May 2016].
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Kerzner, H.R., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
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