Project Management Plan And Techniques: An Overview

Mundaring Shire makes amalgamation submission

Discuss About The Project Management Plan Includes Extensive.

You have been provided with a press article reporting on a number of proposed council amalgamation projects (below) and a copy of the project management plan that was subsequently developed for the amalgamation project (Option 1, Local Government Reform). Drawing on these primary resources and other relevant commercial/industry references, you are required to:

Create and document a high-level project charter that would have captured the intent behind the proposed council amalgamation between the Shire of Mundaring and the City of Swan.

• Clearly the project management plan includes extensive information (30 pagesplus numerous attachments) that would not be found in a charter, so you will need to carefully deconstruct the plan to identify and extract the key pieces of information required in the charter.
• While a charter template has been provided, you may create your own format or amend the one provided.
• You have discretion as to the assumptions you need and the information you may ‘create and document’ where needed though this must be relevant to the project and documented appropriately.

“At its April 22 meeting, the council agreed to provide a recommendation to the LGAB on the proposed amalgamation, which had to include the name of the proposed new entity, the method of election of the mayor, the number of elected members and the ward structures.

The Shire of Mundaring submitted the first amalgamation proposal in October last year when it lodged a proposal to amalgamate the Shire with the City of Swan. A second joint proposal was put forward by the City of Swan and the Town of Bassendean to amalgamate all three councils. The Minister for Local Government submitted a third proposal, which would abolish the Shire of Mundaring and incorporate the entire area of the Shire of Mundaring into an expanded City of Swan.

At its meeting, the council agreed that should Mundaring and the City of Swan be amalgamated on July 1, 2015, the new entity be named the City of Swan-Mundaring for up to two years. A review would be held in that time with public consultation to decide upon a permanent name. Mundaring proposed the new council be divided into seven wards and include 15 councillors.

The Altone, Ballajura, Ellenbrook, Helena, Midland and North/Swan Valley wards would each have two councillors, with three councillors in the Hills Ward. The Shire said in its proposal that councillors would elect the mayor of the new entity. However, if Local Government Minister Tony Simpson’s proposal for the abolition of the Shire of Mundaring was to go ahead, the council agreed the entity would continue to be called the City of Swan. The council recommended that it be divided into seven wards, with 15 councillors covering the same wards as in the previous proposal, and the mayor would be elected by councillors. The proposal was carried 8-2 by the Shire of Mundaring.

Gabrielle, S 2014, ‘Mundaring Shire makes amalgamation submission’, Hills Gazette Community, 3 May, retrieved 4 May 2018, https://www.communitynews.com.au/hills-gazette/news/mundaring-shire-makes-amalgamation-submission/

Different project time (schedule) management techniques/tools

Part 2 Short answer questions

• Your written answers will demonstrate your understanding of project management theory.
• There is a 500-word limit for each of the two answers.
• Please include in-text citations in all answers.
• A single reference list compliant with the Harvard referencing guide.

1. What information would you expect to find in a project resource (team) charter that communicated team values, agreements and operating guidelines for the team and justify its inclusion in the project management plan.
2. Explain how quality control measures on projects can reduce the number of defects and inefficiencies along with improving project process, outputs and objectives.
3. Treating risk (in the risk register) is one of the PMBOK processes for managing project risk. What are the other risk processes and how do they enable risks to be managed proactively throughout the project lifecycle?  
4. Compare and contrast any two different project time (schedule) management techniques/tools that enable projects to be planned and managed throughout the lifecycle.
5. Recording the project scope creates both challenges and opportunities for project stakeholders. Discuss what these are and how you would ensure the scope was an accurate record of inclusions/exclusions, deliverables and the work breakdown structure.
6. With reference to PMBOK and any other project methodology, framework or process, explain how project management delivers visibility, accountability and shared ownership in how projects are conceived, planned, delivered and completed.
7. Identify six criteria suitable in assessing potential suppliers to a project and develop an evaluation matrix with appropriate weightings for each criteria. Explain the value behind using this matrix within the procurement process.
8. Managing project teams require project managers to optimise project performance often through different forms of power to encourage team members to perform. With reference to any four forms of power, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each and their overall effectiveness in encouraging performance.   
9. Discuss the different estimating techniques often used in estimating project costs and what estimating issues may need to be resolved for each technique.   
10. Stakeholders can be prioritised across any number of criteria including authority and concern (two examples only). What other criteria may be applicable and what benefits will this prioritisation process deliver to the project manager?

Compare and contrast any two different project time (schedule) management techniques/tools that enable projects to be planned and managed throughout the lifecycle.

The two different scheduling techniques that helps planning and managing of projects through lifecycle are PERT (Project Management and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method). Both the techniques are used for project management and are based on network which exhibits the flow as well as sequence of activities (Martinelli and Milosevic 2016). PERT is a technique for project management for managing the uncertain activities that are required to complete a project whereas CPM is a statistical technique for project management and it manages well defined activities required to complete a project.

Time is used as a variable in PERT for representing the application of planned resource along with specification of performance. This technique firstly divides a project into various activities or events. Then, a proper sequencing of the activities is being prepared and it is followed by development of a network (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). Whereas, in CPM, a list of required activities is being compiled for completion of the project which is followed by computing the time required for completion of determined activities. Then, dependency between the required activities are being determined for the project.

PERT is an appropriate method for projects in which the required time for completion of activities are unknown while CPM is suitable to carry out the projects that have a recurring nature. A common approach for network design and ascertainment of critical path is being used by both the techniques for schedule management. The techniques are used for successful accomplishment of project and that is the reason both are used in combination with each other.

In PERT, the project management concepts such as planning, schedule management, organization, coordination and control is being carried out uncertain activities whereas in CPM, those are carried out on well-defined activities. PERT is mainly used for planning and controlling of time in projects but CPM relates to controlling of cost as well as time. PERT considers events for completion of project while activities are aligned in CPM (Heldman 2018). PERT makes use of probabilistic model while CPM uses deterministic model for management of project. In PERT, there are three methods used for time estimation that is optimistic time, most likely time and pessimistic time while in CPM, there is only one method for estimation. CPM is suitable for estimating reasonable time whereas PERT is suitable for estimating high precision time. PERT is utilized for dealing with unpredictable activities whereas CPM is used for predictable activities.  

Estimating project costs

 In CPM, there is segregation of critical from non-critical activities whereas in PERT, there is no such condition for critical or non-critical activities. PERT is best suited for projects of research and development while CPM is suitable for construction projects (Agyei 2015). In CPM, crashing which is a compression technique is used for shortening the duration of a project with minimum additional cost while in PERT, no such technique can be applied.

The major point that PERT differs from CPM is that PERT focuses mostly on time as when time is reduced then cost will be also minimized while CPM considers cost as the most basic and essential element for a project.

Discuss the different estimating techniques often used in estimating project costs and what estimating issues may need to be resolved for each technique.

In the beginning of a project, evaluating expenses can be troublesome especially if there is practically zero recorded information from past tasks of a comparable sort. There are different apparatuses and strategies that can help with this yet there is not a viable replacement for encounter. As the task advances, more data ends up accessible and the level of vulnerability normally falls.

One fundamental suspicion that should be made while assessing project costs is whether the evaluations will be restricted to coordinate extend costs just or whether the appraisals will likewise incorporate circuitous expenses. Aberrant expenses are those costs that cannot be straightforwardly followed to a particular undertaking and in this manner will be gathered and apportioned impartially finished numerous tasks by some endorsed and recorded estimating technique (Harrison and Lock 2017). Cost gauges are impacted by various factors, for example, work rates, material costs, expansion, chance elements, and different factors. Master judgment, guided by recorded data, gives important understanding about the earth and data from earlier comparable projects. Master judgment can likewise be utilized to decide if to join techniques for evaluating and how to accommodate contrasts between them.

Analogous estimation utilizes the estimations of scope, cost, spending plan, and term or measures of scale, for example, size, weight, and intricacy, from a past, comparable task as the reason for assessing a similar parameter for this undertaking. It is frequently utilized as a part of the beginning times of a project when there is little else to construct the cost gauges with respect to. It is a moderately brisk and direct technique yet is less exact than base up estimation (Lock 2017). The precision of the gauge relies on how comparative the exercises are and whether the colleague who will play out the action has an indistinguishable level of aptitude and experience from the colleague from the past task. Practically equivalent to assessing is commonly a type of master judgment that is most dependable when the past exercises are like the present action and when the colleagues setting up the appraisals have the essential experience.

Another method that can be utilized is parametric estimation, this is utilized to figure the cost when the efficiency rate of the asset playing out the action is accessible. The following formula can be used for this estimating technique: Activity cost = Units of work in the action/Productivity rate of the assets.

For instance, if a contractual worker charges $5000 to assemble 100 yards of security fence, the cost computation can be executed as follows:

Activity Cost ($17,500) = Units of work in activity (350 yards fence) / Productivity rate of resources (100 yards / $5000)

This strategy depends on the factual relationship that exists between a progression of recorded information and the factors being referred to. At the point when this information is being drawn from a vast group of authentic information taken from comparative undertakings, at that point it can yield exact evaluations. This strategy enables appraisals to be set up in significantly less time than required by more definite systems (Ahiaga-Dagbui and Smith 2014). Enhanced innovation or working practices may make the chronicled information old. Moreover, expanded registering power this could incorporate things like new plant and hardware or a totally better approach for doing the activity.

References

Agyei, W., 2015. Project planning and scheduling using PERT and CPM techniques with linear programming: case study. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 4(8), pp.222-227.

Ahiaga-Dagbui, D.D. and Smith, S.D., 2014. Rethinking construction cost overruns: cognition, learning and estimation. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 19(1), pp.38-54.

Dursun, O. and Stoy, C., 2016. Conceptual estimation of construction costs using the multistep ahead approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(9), p.04016038.

Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.

Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Lock, D., 2017. The essentials of project management. Routledge.

Martinelli, R.J. and Milosevic, D.Z., 2016. Project management toolbox: tools and techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.