Accurate Estimation and Utilization of Time, Cost Management - Coursework Example

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLAN By, Student’s Name Code + Course Name Professor’s Name University/College Name State/State Date Introduction In the course of my education in the past few years and throughout my course, I have learned a lot of new and salient aspects of both personal and professional development that I was not aware of previously. My participation in a project management as the Assistant Project Manager allowed me to practice and implement my theoretical concepts in the practical environment. Since learning is a continuous incessant process, each step throughout my course and professional experience has exposed and empowered me with new ideas. Development knowledge is an ingredient for any successful sail throughout one’s professional and personal life, and I am confident that my practice in project management was vital for me to establish competence in my field of study and practice. My professional experience has groomed me on personal development planning, which has helped me to become more motivated, to get more interested in development, to develop a better learning capacity, to increase self-awareness, to identify and successfully pursue my potential, and to increase my competence. Competency Assessment Integration Management One of the primary areas of competencies that was of significance during my experience in project management is the integration of the major functions of the organization towards meeting the organizational objectives. The central functions of the organization revolve around the triple constraint, which includes the project scope, time, and cost (Kerzner 2010, p. 26). The three functions are interrelated, and any adjustments to one of the items has an impact on the rest of the items. At some point, I was aloof to accepting a cost cut on the project under my management without considering the repercussions, an aspect that led to problems in the course of the implementation. However, I managed to ensure the success of the project through aligning the budget with the time and scope expectations of the project. Besides recognizing the functionality of the triple constraint, it is meaningful for any manager to convey information involving the triple constraint to the stakeholders of the project. Through ensuring that all the stakeholders understand the constraint’s importance, the manager would allow easier discussions in relation to the cost, scope, and time (Kerzner 2010, p. 27). It is worth noting that in most projects, the stakeholders are the major reasons for budget adjustments and scope creep. Creating awareness of the ramifications that accompany mandates or requests for change allows for easier dialog during the follow-up meetings in the course of the project, and promotes proper scrutiny of change requests thus mitigating assumptions that any changes do not affect the release cycle of the project. As the project manager, I ensured that I was always on top of the major requirements of the triple constraint, an aspect that facilitated the success of my project. To ensure that I was always at par in terms of adherence to scope, time, and budget, I established a monitoring framework that allowed me to be always cognizant of the fluctuations within the key attributes of the constraint, including the requested and unexpected fluctuations. Time Management Accurate estimation and utilization of time is a highly important skill in project management. Case in point, time estimates lay a basis for setting deadlines for planning and delivery of projects, and thus it is a determinant of one’s competence and reliability as a project manager. In addition, estimates of time are a key determinant for contract pricing and thus the general profitability of the project (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin 2011, p. 88). During my practice as a leader of a project team, I developed an understanding of the negative impact of underestimating the time required to complete the project. We had a problem with the project timing due to an imperfect estimate of the time required to complete some of the tasks, especially the tasks that we were outsourcing. I developed an understanding of the importance of having an insight of the time required to complete sufficiently all the tasks. In ensuring proper management of the time constraint in projects, it is salient to develop a project time plan that will ensure that tasks are well broken down and allocated. In addition, it is important to take into account any high priority work that has not been scheduled and unexpected events that may arise in the course of the time frame (Schwalbe 2014, p. 227). As a project manager, it is also necessary to take into consideration the occurrence of potential errors and the full complexity of a project. Estimates of time are vital inputs within other techniques that may be used in the structuring and organization of all projects. As such, with proper estimation of time, large projects may be reduced to several smaller projects. Scope Management Management of project scope involves all the processes critical in ensuring that all the work required for successful completion of the project is included in the project. During my involvement in project management, I was involved in various processes that make up the project scope management, which include planning the scope management, collecting the requirements, defining the scope through "the scope statement, creating the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)", validating the scope through ensuring that all the variables are acceptable, and controlling the scope in order to respond to change requests (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin 2011, p. 80). As such, scope management involves taking control of both what has been included and what is not within the scope. Through the process of collecting requirements, we were able to document all the needs required for stakeholders to achieve the project's aims. A project's success also requires the management to adequately define the project's scope that entails a detailed description of the major deliverables of the project. The project scope statement is also developed. Through the work breakdown structure (WBS), the project deliverables were divided into smaller components allowing for specific approaches from all the individuals involved in the project and simultaneous completion of project activities. Only the activities that included in the WBS were considered to be part of the project. The WBS is a valuable input towards cost budgeting, activity definition, scope control and plan acquisitions and purchases (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin 2011, p. 83). Scope validation should be conducted at the end of every phase, which involves acceptance of the deliverables of the project by the project customer. This is important in quality control as it allows the correction of identified low-quality work. Cost Management Cost estimation has always been a critical part of my project cost management practices. This involves calculating costs of each of the identified resources required to ensure that the project progresses to fruition (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin 2011, p. 97). It is paramount that anyone involved in the estimation of costs should significantly consider any possibilities of change of conditions, fluctuations, and any other variances that have an influence on the estimated cost. A significant cost management aspect I learned during my involvement in project management is the importance of recognition of the difference between cost estimation and pricing. As such, the estimated cost is the precise cost of a given resource necessary for the completion of a project. On the contrary, pricing incorporates a profit margin. Therefore, during my practice, I engaged in cost estimation in order to determine the total cost of the project. With such information on cost, we would introduce a profit into the project. Cost estimation comprises both the capital cost, which is the initial cost of the project, and the operation cost, which is the subsequent cost of maintenance (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin 2011, p. 98). In project management, while estimating cost, I established that as much as most of the cost of the project falls under the capital cost, some of the components of the project may appear to be small but are not insignificant, and thus should be covered in the operation cost. Some of the inputs I applied in cost estimation as a project manager included the Work-Breakdown Structure, resource requirements, and resource rates. However, being part of the triple constraint, project cost is profoundly influenced by the changes in scope and duration of the project. Human Resources An individual’s competence is not only measured by how perfectly they carry out the tasks they are allocated in their field of practice, but also by how much they foster effective team contribution within their area of practice, to collectively ensure success of the project. The overall leadership, environment, strategy, reward system and culture of a given team are very vital to its effectiveness. The composition, structure and type of a given team, are also instrumental aspects that affect its performance (Daft & Marcic, 2011, p. 563). My practice as a project manager coupled with my study module on project management have not only revealed to me the importance of teamwork as compared to individual work, but have also imparted in me an understanding of the need to recognize and manage the various stages of team development, its norms, cohesiveness, and conflict, factors of which will help me throughout my practice to build effective teams. In addition, through this experience, I have been able to identify various roles of a leader in a team including creating a compelling purpose and rallying people towards it, sharing power among team members to enable each member to perform a given role, and admitting ignorance and seeking for help in cases where they do not know as much as their teammates know (Keen, 2003, p. 29). Therefore, I am up to the task of bringing desirable results if granted a role as a team leader towards a given purpose. Communication Management Like any other components of a project, right communication between the stakeholders is an important component that would ensure the success of a project. There is need for project managers and project teams to learn how to communicate in the business language. My experience has revealed to me the importance of helping every individual involved in a project to communicate the right thing only to the right people through proper channels in order to close the communication gap. To facilitate proper communication, through my participation in project management, I have acknowledged the importance of developing a communication plan in the early stages of the project. This plan spells out the responsibilities and roles of all the individuals involved in a project towards the review, dissemination, and even approval of information concerning key processes, documents, events, and milestones within a project (Schwalbe, 2014, p. 405). The communication plan is important in the management of any expectations set in regards to the project and to ensure that the applied communication methods are highly efficient. It is important to note that communication within a project is not limited to internal stakeholders but also involves external stakeholders. The plan also ensures that an appropriate level of communication is achieved with both the external and internal stakeholders. Through the promotion of consistent, relevant, and accurate information flow within the project, the plan enhances sustainable support and enthusiasm among the project participants (Schwalbe, 2014, p. 407). Quality Management Development of a quality management plan during project planning is vital in ensuring that the stated requirements for project deliverables are met, and the management process for the project is followed appropriately. Crucial areas of consideration in quality management during my project management practice within the project lifecycle included quality planning, quality control, and quality assurance (Kerzner 2010, p. 252). Development of a quality plan ensures that such significant areas are well covered towards delivery of high-quality outcomes. In this case, quality refers to the degree of requirements’ fulfilment. The quality plan identifies the procedures and policies significant for the project in reference to both the processes and the deliverables. In addition, the plan defines the responsibilities of each of the stakeholders towards the achievement of quality outcomes, and documents issues related to compliance with the quality requirements (Kerzner 2010, p. 253). My experience in project management revealed to me the importance of consideration of both the client expectations and stakeholder expectations in quality management concerning the predetermined process and deliverable standards of quality. Project Risk Management The process of risk management includes both the assessment and mitigation of risks within a project. Risk assessment entails identification of possible risks and determination of the possible impact of the risk (Kerzner, 2010, p. 258). My module in risk project management coupled with my practice in project management has been important in helping me understand the importance of a risk elimination plan in reducing the effects of risk events within a project. One of the creative processes that we used during my participation in project management involved brainstorming sessions that allowed members of the project team to develop a list of possible risks. All the ideas were taken in and evaluated at a later stage in order to sort them out with reference to their impact. After possible risks have been identified, the risk management plan allows for mitigation of the risk either through avoidance, reduction, sharing or transfer. Nevertheless, I noted through my practice that the risk management plan is more important in balancing of investment directed towards risk mitigation and the benefits that such mitigation would offer the project. As such, in order to ensure cost-efficiency in dealing with risks, it is crucial for the project management team to develop contingency plans, which would provide alternative methods that can be pursued in accomplishing a goal within the project, upon identification of a risk (Kerzner 2010, p. 260). Procurement Management The procurement cycle covers the activities under procurement right from the decision-making on whether to purchase certain services or products from outside sources, to the procurement contracts closure upon payment of bills (Schwalbe 2014, p. 479). In practice, I realized that the time taken in the procurement process has a significant influence on the scheduling of major activities, such as decisions on whether to outsource the activities or to handle them internally. As such, it is important to fully incorporate the procurement process time in the time estimate for the project, including an allowance for delays in order to ensure that the project is carried out within the set time frame. The project procurement plan includes various components, one of which is the selection of the appropriate contract approaches and relationships for all the outsourced services and purchased goods. The plan also allows for the preparation of the RFPs and RFQs and the evaluation of the opportunities for partnership (Schwalbe 2014, p. 483). In addition, the plan allows for not only awarding of contracts, but also management of the quality of the provided goods and services, and timely performance. Any changes to the contracts are also managed through the procurement plan. Lastly, the plan defines the procedure and requirements of closing contracts. Conclusion It is evident that my experience in practice has exposed me to various aspects that are very vital and highly applicable in my professional life as much as they are applicable in my personal life. The have experience acquired in my practice tenure have transformed my personality in terms of professionalism such that I have developed a progressive mindset and a friendlier way of linking with the environment around me to ensure success. My experience has also presented me with various professional techniques that have improved my productivity in terms of professionalism. Due to the constantly changing business environment, I will always need to develop various strategies that would promote the development of my competence. I will meet competence requirements through setting SMART goals that will be applicable in my professionalism and establishing good leadership skills that will enable me to efficiently and effectively coordinate the people I work with towards ensuring the success of any project I am involved in. Reference Daft, RL & Marcic, D 2011, Understanding Management, 8th Edition ed., South-Western, Cengage Learning, Boulevard. Dinsmore, PC & Cabanis-Brewin, J 2011, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, 3rd ed. Amacom Books, New York. Keen, TR. 2003, Creating Effective and Successful Teams, 1st ed, Purdue University Press, West Lafayette. Kerzner, HR 2010, Project Management - Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence, International Institute for Learning, Inc, New York. Schwalbe, K 2014, Information Technology Project Management, Cengage Learning, Boston. Read More