Key Characteristics, Scope Statement, Work Breakdown Structure And Risk Management In Project Management

Project Management Key Characteristics

Every project is unique in their own way however, there are certain key characteristics that is true to every project. The key characteristics of any project are as follows (Papke-Shields and Boyer-Wright 2017)-

1. A project should have a defined scope
2. A project should be customer oriented
3. A project should be completed within a scheduled time
4. A project should maintain the set quality
5. The project should be executed with the resources available for the project
6. Change is another key characteristic of a project as project are a way to introduce change.
7. Projects or parts of projects are unique that brings certain uncertainty as well. Uncertainty is therefore another key characteristic of a project.

For a project, evaluation of scope statement is an integral tool that outlines the a particular project deliverables and identifies the associated constraints, assumptions and the key success factors associated with a project. Work breakdown structure has a major role in the scope statement of the project as it helps in scheduling the different tasks of the project (Team 2014). Work breakdown structure helps in defining the project scope considering the scope statement and dividing the different project deliverables in smaller and manageable project activities. A work break down structure is generally built around a hierarchy of deliverables that are associated with a project. 

The project Gantt Chart is represented below. The Critical path of the project is marked in red (Larson and Gray 2013).

The work activities marked in red in the Gantt chart above depict the critical path of the project

It is estimated that the project will take 19 days for its completion if we consider 5 working days per week. If all the 7 days of a week are considered as working days, the project will take 11 days for completion.

There are different approaches that can be used for calculating the project cost. The different cost estimation techniques that can be used for preparation of the budget are as follows-

1. Top Down approach- In this budgeting approach the budgeting if the project is done based on the cost estimate of similar or identical parts of certain previous projects.
2. Bottom up approach, where the estimates are created with the people who are going to work on the project. It provides more accurate cost estimation by scheduling the estimates by running a number of test cases on the project.
3. Expert Judgment: It is one common way for people to estimate the budget of a project.
4. Analogous Estimates:  Data from previously performed project are used to estimate the budget of the current project.
5. Parametric model estimating: It is more scientific method of budget estimation as it auto calculates the estimates by making use of the detailed data from evious activities.

Implementation of a project is subjected to a number of risks that may arise due to the issues with the project schedule, budget, resources and in process of project implementation. Accessing the risk of the project is necessary in order to implement the project within the set schedule. Risk management process ensures successful deliver of a project. After identification of the risks, it is essential to understand the risk responses that can be taken within the project management (Cagliano, Grimaldi and Rafele 2015). There are mainly four responses to the risks, which are avoid, transfer, mitigate or accept. Selection of a suitable risk response for a project will depend on the type of the risk that is identified for the project. Risk can be avoided by the executing the project in a controlled environment. Risk can be mitigated by ensuring proper actions are taken to reduce the risk. Risk can be transferred by insuring certain processes of a project and risk can be accepted when it is not possible to mitigate the risk. 

Scope Statement and Work Breakdown Structure

Project monitoring and control can be introduced for ensuring the project is completed successfully. Monitoring and control is an essential quality method as it ensures that the project is implemented according to the project plan. It further evaluates the project progress on daily basis which is another important criterion for ensuring project success (Haz?r 2015). Project evaluation is generally done at the beginning of the project and therefore, it may not always ensure successful completion of the project.

ABC PLC is a retailer of foods and drinks and is based on UK. ABC heads a number of foods and drinks and is a controller of a number of well known UK brands. ABC is considering the overtaking of DEF, which is a well known as well as a high street frozen food retailer. The acquisition is expected to be a friendly deal since the board of ABC has made a good offer to the boards of DEF. The stakeholders of DEF are expected to agree with the deal as well. The report outlines the activities that ensure successful management of the project, which will in turn ensure that the project is delivered within the set time and budget. The analysis of the project is done in project management perspectives and includes analysis of the skills and competencies that a project manager requires for successful completion of the project (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). The report covers the different project life cycle stages, processes, leadership and control problems that a project manager might face while execution of a project.

The criteria for successful project completion include completion of the project within the schedule time and within the budget allocated for the project. The schedule time and budget for the project is generally prepared at the beginning of the project (Burke 2013). There are different activities associated with a successful management of the project. The different activities that is required for successful management of the project are as follows (Bredillet, Tywoniak and Dwivedula 2015)-

1. Identification and the management of the project scope are essential for successful execution of the project. It is essential to evaluate the scope of the project since it generally refers to the detailed deliverables of a project. The project scope therefore refers to the work that is needed to be accomplished in order to deliver a specified product within a scheduled time. Therefore, it is a major activity that is needed to be performed in order to ensure completion of the project within the scheduled time. Scope management is a related activity with project scope identification, which ensures that the scope of the project is accurately defined and mapped (Harrison and Lock 2017). Proper scope identification furthermore enables the project managers in allocating proper labor and materials needed for a project. In this project, the scope of the project is acquisition of DEF by ABC PLC. Since the acquisition is not forceful, the scope of the project is clear. It is now necessary to evaluate the number of days that will be required for completion of the project acquisition.
2. Assumptions, identification and the management of risk associated with the project are other major project activities that are essential for the successful completion of a project. Every project is subjected to certain risks which must be addressed in the project initiation stage or during the execution of a project (Edwards and Bowen 2013). Although there is no major risk associated with the acquisition project, the stakeholders’ unrest in DEF can be a major risk associated with the project. Apart from this there are certain other risks associated with the acquisition project, which includes insufficient resources, improper scheduling and so on (McNeil, Frey and Embrechts 2015). Therefore, risk management is a significant  activity that is needed to be completed in order to ensure that the project is delivered within a scheduled time and the set budget.
3. Proper planning and scheduling of the project is further essential for successful project implementation and delivery of the project on time (Papke-Shields and Boyer-Wright 2017). The project planning is done at the initial stages of the project and defines all the stages the project will have to undergo in its successful completion (Lock 2017). The acquisition project will be complex as DEF is a known retailer of street and frozen food and has outlets in most of the cities and the towns around UK. In the meeting that is due next month, the schedule of the project will be discussed. Timely delivery of the project indicates the project is needed to be completed within the schedule discussed and finalized in the board meeting with the team members. The project manager is responsible for setting the schedule of the project and is responsible to ensure successful completion of the same.
4. After proper scheduling, it is essential to keep a track of the progress of a project, for ensuring the project is delivered on time. Regular monitoring of the project progress is important in order to understand whether a project is executed according to the project plan and therefore, it is an important activity as well.                       

Apart from these major activities, there are certain other criteria that ensure timely delivery of the project. Success of a project largely depends on the management style of project manager and his leadership capabilities (Alsudiri, Al-Karaghouli and Eldabi 2013). It is the responsibility of a project manager to make surethat the projects team members are performing their role accordingly. The skills required by the project manager for successful project implementation is discussed in the next section.

Gantt Chart and Project Schedule Time

Project manager, is an integral part of any project and has an important role in project execution. The different roles of project manager includes, collection of information, deciding the process of project execution, organizing the associated works of a project, organizing the schedule of the project and assembling the team (Sunindijo 2015). In order to perform these tasks, the project manager needs to posses certain project management skills that will help in managing the team. The essential skills that the project manager should posses are as follows (Barry 2015)-

1. Since this is an acquisition project, the project manager should possess an excellent communication skills as majority of the time of the project manager is expected to spend on communication (Verburg,  Bosch-Sijtsema and Vartiainen 2013).
2. Proper leadership skill is essential for project management as well. Leading a project towards its successful implementation requires the project manager to get the project team members to work effectively and efficiently (Müller, Geraldi and Turner 2012). The project manager needs to have a clear vision and clarity in reason in order to schedule the task accordingly. There are different styles of leadership depending on the way the project manager is managing the team. In this project, the project manager would show a transformational leadership style in managing the entire project as the project. In this leadership style the project manager ensures proper communication flow is maintained within the team member. In this project as well, communication is an important criteria for making the team members work effectively (Hartmann 2012). Furthermore, the style of leadership style will be democratic as well, that ensures that the entire project team participates in the decision making process.
3. The project manager should have negotiation skills. Particularly in this project, since the stakeholders of DEF is yet to accept the proposal, the negotiation skills of the project manager will help in making the stakeholders understand the profit in the deal. .
4. Team management is another essential skill, project manager should possess in order to effectively manage the project works. Since this project is an acquisition project, the project manager will have a responsibility in managing an ever bigger team. Therefore, skill of team management is essential for a project manager to possess.
5. It is further required for the project manager to understand the risk management process in order to identify and eliminate the different risks associated with a project. Risk estimation and risk management will be done at the initiation of the project and therefore, it is majorly the project manager’s responsibilitys in initiating the risk management process. 

Choice of a proper project management process is further essential for successful execution of the project. Although the scope of this project is quite clear, it is essential to align the different phases with the project management process in order to achieve a successful result. The basic project management process has five phases, which are project initiation, project planning, execution, project control and closure of the project.  

In this project, the project initiation phase will consist of signing the deal between ABC and DEF has a approval for the acquisition project. Followed by the initiation phase, project planning phase comes into play. It is one significant stages of project management and the project manager is responsible for the project plan. The detailed processes of Project planning phase is discussed below-

Project planning is the second phase of the project life cycle or project management process. In this phase, the project manager will be seen making use of the scheduling tools such as Gantt chart in planning and subsequently reporting the project progress within the project environment. 

Furthermore, the scope of the project is evaluated in this phase. The scope of this project is quite clear and the project manager will create a set of plan to guide the team in execution and the closing phases of the project (Young 2013). The project plan that is prepared will further help the project team in delivering the project on time. It is mandatory for the project plan to have a clear focus and well defined objectives. Since it is the responsibility and work of the project manager to plan the project, proper project management skills are necessary for developing a successful plan (Heagney 2016). In this project, the project plan will be made on basis of the strategic growth objectives associated with a project.

After successful planning, the project manager is obliged for executing the project. The process of project execution is discussed below-

Project Cost Estimation Techniques

Project execution phase is the most significant phase of project life cycle or the project management process. In this stage the acquisition of the DEF by ABC will be executed. This is a complex process and therefore, it must be divided into a smaller and deliverables. The main output of the project execution stage will be the successful delivery of the deliverables that were identified at the planning stage of the project. The project implementation stage is therefore critical as success of a project largely depends on the success of this phase. Therefore, the project manager needs to identify different factors that will help in successful execution of the project. Since this is an acquisition project, the project manager needs to identify the critical aspects of the acquisition deal, which in turn will help in managing the employees and the stakeholders of DEF. Proper management of the human resources associated with DEF is integral since the project can be successfully implemented only if the stakeholders of DEF cooperates with the acquisition (Patanakul and Shenhar 2012). In this scenario the communication skill of the project manager is expected to work in favor of the project.

One of the main aspects of project implementation phase is proper monitoring of the project. Monitoring the project progress is equally important since it is essential to evaluate whether a project is being implemented according to the project plan. Particularly in this acquisition project, it is necessary to monitor the project as the size of the project is particularly large and complex as well. A separate team of members are appointed who will keep a track of project progress and report it to the project manager and the stakeholders of the project. The project manager will evaluate the daily progress reports in order to track the execution of the project (McLeod, Doolin and MacDonell 2012). Successful completion of the implementation phase will result in movement of project to the next step that is project closure or termination of a project.

 The project termination process and the responsibilities of the project manager in project termination are discussed in the following section.

The project manager has an integral role is project closure or termination of the project. In this project, before project termination, it will be checked whether the project is implemented according to the project plan. The termination of the project will occur only when the goals of the project are met (Parker, et al. 2013). The project termination in this case will occur when the DEF will be successfully acquired by ABC.

Risk Management Process

There are certain control issues associated with this project which includes the estimation problems, cost control problems, unrealistic scheduling, inadequate work break down structure, poor corporate and project management governance. Since the project manager has little experience of managing this type of project, the control problem if project management governance may arise. Apart from this, the project is subjected to contractual discrepancies and inconsistencies since the stakeholders of DEF have not approved the project till now. Control problem might arise with the improper risk management process as well.

Conclusion 

The report discusses the different aspects of the acquisition project. The acquisition project involves the different project management activities, successful completion of which ensures proper project delivery. The report gives a brief overview of the detailed project management process and activities. The skills that the project manager should posses in successful implementation of the project are further discussed along with the different activities that the project needs to undergo. The role of the project manager in project planning, implementation and termination is discussed as well. The importance of each stage in this acquisition project is discussed as well. The acquisition project is expected to occur according to plan since the DEF Ltd. is getting a profitable deal from ABC. 

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