PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Project Management

Q1.a Discuss the following: what is a project, what is project management, and the main phases of a project life cycle?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as any work that intended to create a unique product or knowledge. It targets to achieve any particular objective of the company that may assist the company in future either in terms of expansion or improvement in its services.

Project management can be defined as a planned effort to accomplish a certain project. It includes planning, organizing and managing resources which leads to success in achieving the project. Project management includes the planning a project, identifying tasks and goals which are to be achieved. A well executed project leads to the success of the business. Project management is associated with 5 types of processes which include: initiation, planning, executing, controlling and closing. A successful project can be evaluated on the basis of these steps. Professionally, project management should be carried on the basis of different projects and the goals which are set up in order to achieve it (Besner, Hobbs, 2008, pp. 16-33).

Q1.b What is a Responsibility Matrix and how would it be used in project management?

Responsibility matrix is developed by the companies during the course of the project to assign different task to different team members, with specific deadline. It helps companies to get their work done on time with proper task allocation.

Q2. Identify real life examples of a project that would fit each of the following priority scenarios, support your answer with some explanation:

Time-constrain, Scope-enhance, Cost-accept

Time-accept, Scope-constrain, Cost-accept

Time-constrain, Scope-accept, Cost-enhance

The project management is an essential part of an organization. The organization has to upgrade the staff computers from Windows XP to Windows 7. It would significantly improve the scope of the organization, with increased efficiency. The company has limited time to implement the change. It will initially cost the company, but company's cost will decline with time.

The upgrade is to be carried out by a number of the technicians from the in house technical support unit. For this purpose, the organization needs to have a properly designed project management plan. There is a need to ensure that the other activities of the technical support unit are not adversely affected by upgrade and to ensure consistency in technical support. The approximately 400 machines to be upgraded include desktop and laptops of varying ages and specifications. The machines are mainly located in approximately 30 centers which are situated round England. Approximately 10% of the machines are used by staff members who work from home. The staff member whose machine is being upgraded will need to be present during the upgrade. This is to ensure no relevant data is lost and to give the technicians the chance to deal with any technical queries. It is important that the upgrade has minimal effect on the work activities of the staff members (Barcroft & Myskja, 2003, pp. 233-243).

The staff members, outside the technical support unit, are not ...