Controlled Progress and Controlled Close - Assignment Example

1. a (i) Controlled start This process assesses and authorizes initiation of the project. The project management board is mandated to determine the frequency of highlight reports to keep the stakeholders up to date with the progress of the project. At this stage, the project management board closely monitors the initial project plan to ascertain the work needed in project initiation. The project guidelines should contain the objectives of the project, expectations, the project approach, customer quality among other things. Prince2 should approve the project mandate and add any missing information changing the project mandate into the project brief. It is of importance that the project management board closely examines the project documentation and confirm that it is to their satisfaction before they accept to initiate the project. The internal contract for the project is the Project Initiation Document (PID) that contains what the project is suppose to do, the project case (Why the project should be done), responsibility of every stakeholder and how and when the products are to be delivered. The supplier and the customer must come to an agreement before the project board get committed to the project. Without a viable business case, the project management board should terminate the project. (ii) Controlled Progress After the controlled start, the project management board continues to monitor the viability of the project at the end of each process with reference to the project documentation; if all is to their satisfaction then the board authorizes the project manager to continue with the next stage. It is the mandate of the project management board to define the maximum deviations allowed with reference to the project initiation plan; the project manager has no say on the decision or action to be taken. This is very vital for management by exception. The project management Board must focus on management aspect generally and must avoid technical or irrelevant discussions to be able to determine whether to proceed with the project or not. As a thumb rule, an end stage assessment should not last for more than two hours being that a qualified manager will have communicated with the project management board either through highlight reports or verbally, knowing that members know what is coming. The project manager uses the progress information given by the team members, analysed at the checkpoints to prepare the highlight reports. The highlight reports should contain the products completed during the current reporting period, the products to be completed in the next period, any potential or real problem and any other necessary narrative information for example; risk status, and the budget though should be as precise as possible. Changes request approval Having approved the requirements and objectives in the project, what the project management board may have changed should be contained in the project request approval. The board has to make estimates in terms of cost, effort required, and availability of funds to effect the changes, the impact of the changes on the project plan, the risk situation and the Business case. Exception report view If the project manager foresees that the budget allocation for the plan is likely to be lower than the real project cost, the project manger must rend the exception report immediately with detailed problem, option and recommendation to the project management board. Authorize an exception plan. In case the project management board admit the recommendation to proceed with the modified plan, then the project manager will be asked to produce an exception plan and present it to the project management board at an exception assessment for approval after which it will replace the remainder of the plan. There may be no meeting after that but the project manager still need to take his plan of remedial action for approval by the project management board. (iii) Controlled Close The project management board receives an End Project Report from the project manager summing up the post project reviews. The project management board use this report as part of its decision on wether to close the project or not. After the project has been accepted, any corrective post project review would be done during the use and maintenance, some problems may not need correction but training for example the organizational problems depending on the nature of the product. Project documentation that contains all the controls should be handed over to the Board before the project closure. The customer acceptance information should be handed over to the project management board by the project manager to ascertain that the project meets the targeted specifications to allow the project to close. Then lastly commissioning of the project, making follow–on and reviews (b) Being that product based planning in PRINCE2 projects is very comprehensive it simplifies the project making it easier to understand. It offers the project team, project manager and the organization consistent processes, language and tools for the project management Due to its flexible approach it can be for management of nay business project as it can fit in any project development environment, do not depend on how experience you are in the IT field or in project development field, any one anywhere in the organization can learn how to use it sequentially in a logical manner to manage any project. Its success entirely depends on how your organization chooses to apply it. This method can be easily integrated to align with existing business processes, tools, workflows, language, and more so very effective tool for management of stakeholders and their interests. (c) The management, Controls the link between the project manager and the team manager by placing format requirement for accepting, executing and delivering project work. Makes sure that team managers, members and suppliers are clear on what to be produced, cost of production, efforts required, and the timescale within which the project should be completed. It helps to manage the different stages and dictates what to be done before the end of each stage, also what to be done for a stage that has gone beyond its tolerance levels. Generally, it helps in planning a stage, updating a business project case, updating project plan, reporting stage end and updating the risk log. Ensures that project mangers receive accurate progress information at agreed frequency to meet the management expectations. Control Projects should be divided into stages and sub-processes that dictate how each stage would be managed; it specifies how the monitoring procedures and highlights of the progress should be reported to the project board. This includes ways though which work packages are received and authenticated. It specifies ways through which methods that certain project problems should be reported to the project management board. The general activities performed at this stage are; authorising initiation, authorising a project authorising work package, assessing progress, capturing and examining project issues, receiving stage status, reporting highlights, taking corrective actions and receiving completed work package. Organisation of a project Organization is a very important role that if not well taken care of can stop all the processes there after in causing delays in the project where many agreements have to be obtained to get anything move foreword. Conflicting cultures can bring projects into stand still and lead to waste of large sums of money. How you handle communication and decision, making process determines a lot with respect to organization, as the same information must be sent to the organizations especially the sponsoring organizations of which will enhance completion of the project or lead to the termination of the project hence heavy loss to the stakeholders. In case there is a lead organization, then the organizations should agree that in case of disagreement then it is the led organization that should give the final verdict. In other words, the lead organization should produce the executive for the project board. 2. (a) This is a complete long term integrated strategic development pan and up to date improvement targets to enhance your company’s integrity, flexibility and readiness for tomorrow’s challenges. It consolidates all your improved systems into a single process that reaches beyond negligible waste. (b) Use of the right management technique or tool, especially in the planning stage can be of great help. Project management tools usually aids in formulation and implementation of varied tasks especially when it comes to complex tasks. Any task requires preparation to achieve a successful outcome; this can probably be done better by using a few project management tools and techniques in the process Brainstorming- This is an important stage in any project since it lays down requirements of the project and with the help of brainstorming, everyone must be able to see what's happening both inside and outside of project management. Compared to other skills and methods that are associated with project management, the starting stages of brainstorming are usually random and freethinking. This means that brainstorming can be under-utilized or overlooked since it is not common approach for those individuals who aim at the strengths of processes and systems. On the other hand, this stage is usually important for those groups that are organized and it exists conducive team-playing environment, and hence provides a foundation that helps the team members to think creatively and randomly Fish bone diagrams- This diagram is commonly utilised n those areas that requires quality control, improvement, fault detection, task management and project management planning. This technique is important for early planning and bringing together ideas. It can be applied in deliberating on resource areas, splitting of large activities and determining process parts. Critical path analysis- This is an effective method and logical means for managing and planning for complex projects. Critical path analysis which is in a form of flow diagram is commonly used in determination of related activities and it is common in simple projects and in circumstances of large projects it requires the help of PERT to ensure that optimal benefits are achieved; PERT diagrams are important in those circumstances that interdependency and timings issues are important. Gantt Charts – These important project management tools are appropriate for budgeting, scheduling, reporting and presentation if completed project plans. The Gantt Charts are in line form in which each row contains specific details and usually points such as schedule review and break areas are indicated by a different colour. Generally, Gantt diagrams are used to maintain progress, and to determine the areas in which corrections are required. The timings can be manipulated and moved around to create new updates or to change based on changing requirements of the project. On the other hand, cost columns can be used to indicate actual, plan or variables that are associated with the project. Question 3 (7 tools of quality) Check sheet Check sheets- These are the most common method that used to collect data. It allows for collection of data in a simple, organized manner. Moreover, data obtained from this method can be utilized for other methods such as Pareto diagrams Control (Run) Charts- These are diagrams that have both pre-defined upper and lower limits in which any information is inputted and determined whether it is in the pre-defined condition. It is commonly used to measure change, and determine whether the change is appropriate or it is outside the pre-determined conditions. Moreover, this method is used to analyse data for long term and thus it is easy to identify variations. The data that is obtained is collected and then plotted, and then the average is obtained. Cause and Effect Diagrams- This diagram is commonly utilized in those circumstances that cause or effects are required to be indentified. Introduced by Ishikawa in 1940s, the structured nature that is associated with the technique ensures easiness in finding cause(s) of a given problem. The method combines both graphical analysis and brainstorming into unravelling convoluted relationships, and hence helps in ensuring the problem is solved. Scatter Plots- This is a mathematical or graphical method that is used to identify relationships between factors that determine performance, and to determine the factors that drives it. This method is simple to understand and to communicate to other since interpretation of data is easy. The data that is obtained is not only for observation of quality factors but also determination of other factors that can drive an issue. Flow Charts- It usually helps in understanding a process. Its visual illustrations define the sequence that should be followed in completing a specific task. Generally, it means that it provides a visual illustration that helps on completing a given task. The entire process of flow charts is based on the fact that input(s) are required so that output(s) can be obtained as the finished part. Pareto Charts- This technique is used to determine which problems to be solved and in which approach is appropriate. It is used to determine frequency distribution of population characteristics. This technique is commonly utilized in manufacturing process since there is a factor of rules known as 20-80 rules. Histograms- This is used to determine the variation in graphical data. Histograms are commonly utilized in determination of variations and provide means in identification and interpretation of these variations. Read More