Project Management Approaches - Term Paper Example

PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES Student’s name Code & Course Professor’s name University City Date Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Background and Environment of eCourier AIBA Complex IT project 4 Scope Management Actual Approach 5 Figure 1. Work Breakdown Structure 7 Figure 2. WBS Dixctionary/Tabulation 7 Scope Management Alternative Approach 7 Figure 3. The Communication Product Verification Process 9 Time Management Actual Approach 9 Figure 4. Gantt chart presentation. 11 Time Management Alternative Approach 11 Figure 5. Hubstaff tool 12 Figure 6: Hubstaff tool 13 Cost Management Actual Approach 14 Resource Allocation 14 Resource estimation 14 Cost Budgeting 15 Cost Control 15 Figure 7. Project Cost Management Approach 16 Cost Management Alternative Approach 16 Quality Management Actual Approach 17 Figure 8. Quality project Checklist 18 Quality Management Alternative Approach 19 Figure 9. Ishikawa Quality Diagram 20 Findings and Recommendations 20 References 22 Executive Summary This report gives a critical analysis of the project management approaches of AIBA complex IT project in eCourier company. Firstly, the report analyzes the scope management approaches by using the adopted approach thus Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the alternative approach thus communication scope for final product verification process from the project. Secondly, the report investigates the time management approaches to be adopted in AIBA project by using Gantt chart and the Hubstaff as an alternative approach. The strength and the weaknesses of the approach are assessed to determines which tool best suits the project. Thirdly, the report analyzes the cost management approaches by employing the Earned Value Management (EVE) as the adopted approach and the To Complete Performance Index (TCIP) as an alternative approach to EVE. The tools are assessed to foresee one that best suits the AIBA complex IT project. lastly, the report engages the quality management techniques to ensure that the project end product attains high quality to meet the consumer preferences. The adopted quality management strategy is by the use of quality checklist while the alternative tool is the use of Ishikawa diagram. The report further gives findings gathered from both the adopted and the alternative tools and recommendations are issues purposefully to improve of the effective project delivery. Introduction The core purpose of the report is to showcase the techniques and tools applied during project management. The eCourier company has been adopted for its AIBA complex IT project purposefully to create an environment for understanding the project management approaches tools, the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen tools. The essence of the analysis is to equip the managers with knowledge on how to select management tools so as to attain effective project delivery. The report employs a critical analysis by identifying each tool advantages and disadvantages then comment which tool is effective based on the project phase. The chosen tools are Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), communication scope for final product verification process, Gantt chart, Hubstaff tool, Earned Value Management (EVE), the To Complete Performance Index (TCIP), the quality checklists and the Ishikawa diagram. Lastly, the report gives findings and recommendation from the adopted management approaches and the chosen alternative approaches. Background and Environment of eCourier AIBA Complex IT project eCouier company focused its interest on implementing IT complex project known as the Advanced Information Based Allocation (AIBA). AIBA is basically a technological system that manages the company activities such as automation allocation of the employee’s activities, real time online responses, imperative performances when it comes to work efficiency, and enabling the company to attain exceptional customer service when effectively implemented (eCourier 2010). In eCourier company, the intended purpose of the project towards the business environment is for eCourier to attain real-time intelligence dispatch of the products and services for the daily logistics, assessing daily traffic conditions that are most likely to slow business and come up with a strategy, understanding the daily weather conditions, to get historical performance of each courier, and automation of the customer responses as per the courier performances (eCourier 2008). AIBA has been presumed to sit at the heart of the eCourier business because the tool has greatly organized the fleet performance strategy when it comes to product and service delivery strategies. Scope Management Actual Approach The eCourier AIBA scope management is under the responsibility of AIBA project leader. The scope of AIBA complex IT project is defined based on the statement purpose of the project, the WBS, and the WBD. In this context, project managers, the stakeholders and the available sponsors will have the mandate to design and approve the documentation for assessing the project scope thus on the project delivery standard checklist and the work performances for the involved parties. Consequently, in the possibility of the changes regarding the scope of the project, the project manager, stakeholders and sponsors are expected to collectively initiate the change. Upon the agreement or disagreement of the proposed project change, the project manager has the core responsibility of updating any necessary project management and communicate the scope to the project participant members. Consequently, are expected to accept the final project deliverable and the project scope. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is highly attributed for its capacity to structure all phases of project into core elements purposefully to implement an approach for efficient management of the project phases, scheduling, and the budgeting (Rajani 2012). In this concept, the WBS is import to the AIBA project regarding the project life cycle and the project timeline. Consequently, WBS will be an important tool to AIBA project through project planning, structuring of the hierarchy tasks, and the levels that helps in identifying how the project will flow smoothly until its completion. WBS is highly attributed for success delivery of any software project (Hans 2013). It is worth noting that AIBA project is a complex IT project hence WBS guarantees successful implementation of the AIBA. This is because the WBS approach defines and identifies in detail all the activities that are necessary and geared towards to accomplish the project delivery (Horine 2009). Consequently, the WBS comes in handy by showing the interim deliverable that are required core project deliverables structured in project scope definition (Horine 2009). Generally, the adopted approaches of the WBS in AIBA complex IT project in eCourier company is through hierarchical and the tabulation form. The project applies both approaches because in WBS, there is no best single approach to be applied, thus the need to apply varied approaches (Schwalbe 2011). These are showcased by the diagrams below. Level WBS code Element identification Work description Deliverables Budget Resources Figure 1. Work Breakdown Structure Figure 2. WBS Dixctionary/Tabulation Scope Management Alternative Approach Firstly, AIBA project scope management entails planning. Planning involves scope planning, scope planning, and creation of WBS. In scope planning, the output is based on project scope management plan. the core purpose of scope definition is to focus on the project scope statement, any possibility of the project changes, and inclusive of any updates regarding the project scope management plan. During the formulation of WBS, the project output is assessed through WBS dictionary, the scope baseline, and any changes made to the project inclusive of the project scope management plan. Secondly, the AIBA project management approach entails monitoring and controlling approaches. In this phase, one of the management sub-process entails scope of verification. The scope and verification outputs are geared towards AIBA project accepted deliverables, the agreed changes, and the existing recommended corrective actions. Another sub-process entails scope control. The outputs of scope control in AIBA project includes WBS, the WBS dictionary, the eCourier process assets, and the project management plan. Based on the strategy, it can be summarized that the AIBA scope management process entails scope planning, scope definition, designing the WBS, scope verification, and scope control. Theoretically, project managers having good and clear communication skills are presumed to have effective scope management across projects (Monnapa). This is because the project manager ensures that each member of the team understand the scope of the project hence a step forwards towards attaining the goals of the project. Consequently, effective scope management will enable AIBA project manager to inhibit possibility of bloating scope and unruly requirements list during the project life cycle. It is important to note that it is through scope management that the enables the project participants to address factors that may result into changes during the progression of the project (Helgason 2010). Contrarily, literature indicates that designing scope management comes with varied challenges. Some of the possible shortcomings likely to arise during scope management includes the ambiguity in scope, incomplete definition of scope, transience of scope and the un-collaborative scope (Monnapa 2012). As such, project scope managers are advised to be put much more time, patients and efforts hence delivering projects with minimal overruns (Monnapa 2012). The communication product verification process in a project is showcased by the below diagram Figure 3. The Communication Product Verification Process Time Management Actual Approach Statistically, findings indicate that delays are highly showcased when it comes to project delivery (Romel 2015). In a previous study, it has been showcased that at least 28% of the person participating in project work showcased frequent delays, 61% showcased frequent delays, while only 11% of the project workers showcased infrequent delays (Romel 2015). In this context, it can be argued that majority of the project workers fail to complete project in due time. In this retrospect, it is important to note that delays in project delivery tends to increase financial costs for the project such as costs overruns. In order to avoid delays in project delivery, the AIBA project officials need to come up with effective time management approach for the project. The time management approach needs to be aligned with the planning and controlling process based on time, cost, and quality of the project. For effective time management of AIBA project, the project officials need to focus on activity definition of the project, activity sequencing of AIBA, functional resource estimation, activity time estimation, plan designing, and time-plan control. Essentially, the AIBA project management officials need to come up with project management techniques. This implies creating an effective supporting environment for the project, structuring goals for the project, and lastly establishing the core priorities for the project by using ABC analysis, pareto principle, and Eisenhower process. A Gantt chart easily fuse with the AIBA complex IT project. Gantt chart is attributed for its capacity to showcase the project activities, project tasks, and the project events against the project time. The below figure is a presentation of Gantt chart that can easily be adopted in AIBA complex IT project. Figure 4. Gantt chart presentation. Gantt chart is highly attributed for its simplicity (Nepal 2014). As such, the project officials and team members can easily design Gantt chart, easy to read and understand, and it communicates effectively even to persons not familiar with project schedules (Nepal 2014). Due to technological development, Gantt chart can easily be computed and updated regularly as the project progresses (Nepal 2014). Consequently, Gantt comes in hands especially when project officials needs to identify the resource needs and assigning the collected resource to project tasks (Nepal 2014). One shortcoming of Gantt chart is that it cannot be applied in project triple constraint (Bowen 2013). This includes the time, scope and cost of the project. Contrarily, it is important to note that Gantt chart main focus is on time management purpose only. Time Management Alternative Approach eCourier AIBA complex IT project can alternatively the Hubstaff technique purposefully to manage time during the project-cycle. Hubstaff tool has greatly been attributed as a unique time-tracking tool on how project members can carefully balance the assigned tasks based on the project duration. The system is technologically based through cloud-based whereby project workers give feedback daily as per what have been accomplished and if it is in compliance with Gantt chart among other tools (Nevogt 2016). Consequently, the project managers are able to monitor and report on how project workers spend time regarding the assigned tasks during the project cycle. In this retrospect, the Hubbstaff technique through time tracking, periodic screenshotting of project cycle, applying activity levels through dashboards, and advance reporting progress through PDF and CSV format (Novegt 2016). Below is a Hubstaff tool that can be adopted by AIBA project team in eCourier. Figure 5. Hubstaff tool Figure 6: Hubstaff tool Hubstaff tool is not recommended for start-up companies with financial shortcomings. The software is priced and purchased based on the number of participants in different projects. An increase in number of project participants implies that the Hubstaff will be priced highly for the project officials (Julia 2016). Consequently, the tool requires monthly pay. In this context, if the project intends to run for a long duration possibilities are that the company will have to pay a lot for the Hubstaff tool (Julia 2016). Additionally, Hubstaff is only suitable for the organizations that have endorsed use of technology either in regular working environment or during project commencement (Julia 2016). In this retrospect, it can be argued that Hubstaff tool easily fuses with eCourier AIBA complex IT project. Lastly, Hubstaff implementation in an organization project require in-depth training of the employees based on the designed structure. As such, training might incur more costs during project-cycle especially if higher turnover rate is recorded hence the need to employ new project members for further trainings. Generally, Hubstaff tool can be applied as an alternative approach or as a back-up tool for time management in Gantt chart fails. Consequently, both tools can be applied concurrently to ascertain the effective time management process. Cost Management Actual Approach Project cost management basically implies advocating for processes to adhere to the project budget towards project completion. For effective cost management, project officials need to come up with resource allocation, resource estimations, financial budgeting, and resource management. Resource Allocation Project resource allocation basically entails the assessment of the needed tangible resources and the expected quantity resource needed for completion of project phases. The resource planning need to be aligned with the cost estimations of the project. Resource planning requires inputs, tools and technique, and outputs. Resource estimation Cost estimation basically involves approximation of the resource costs needed to complete the entire activities of the project. In this context, eCourier needs to develop an assessment of the expected qualitative results-how much it will cost to produce the AIBA tool. Project inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs determine the cost estimation of AIBA complex IT project. Cost Budgeting In this phase, the cost budgeting entails the allocation of the overall cost estimates to individual activities purposefully to determine a cost baseline for analyzing the project performance. As such, AIBA complex IT project cost baseline will be determined by the project cumulative value against the project time. The technique will enable the project to come up expected cash flow and the cost performance baseline. Cost Control Lastly, the approach needs to put into consideration the cost control process. Cost control will focus on factors that create changes to the baseline, of which the factors need to be beneficial to the project. In this phase, cost control will focus on cost performance against the project plan, appropriate changes are aligned to project cost baseline, and informing the project stakeholders if any changes arise. Below figure gives an overview of the project cost management approach that can be adopted in AIBA IT complex. Figure 7. Project Cost Management Approach From the above process, Earned Value analysis management is a suitable tool for AIBA IT complex project when it comes to cost management. The Earned Value Management (EVM) tool has the capacity to integrate the cost, time, and the technical performances (Ngshicia 2015). As such, the tool will have the capacity to calculate the and schedule variances as per the above cost management structure while forecasting the project cost and schedule duration (Ngshicia 2015). Cost Management Alternative Approach Alternatively, AIBA project officials can conduct cost management approach by the use of the To Complete Performance Index (TCIP). TCIP tool basically showcases the future cost performance index that the project team need to follow purposefully to complete the project activities as per the given budget (Usmani 2017). For effective cost management, TCIP involves the calculation of the cost performance value that is attained by assessing the remaining phases of project to be delivered (Usmani 2017). In this retrospect, TCIP comes in handy especially when EVM encounter shortcoming after the start of the project. TCIP is calculated by dividing the remaining phases of the project by the available financial resources. The uncompleted project phases are attained by subtracting the gained project value from the entire funds of the project. Essentially, TCIP is of importance when EVM showcases that the project cycle is encountering under budget or the over budget situation. As such, it can be argued that the TCIP tool showcases its importance by evolving project outcome to effect a project recovery. By employing TCIP, AIBA project managers will be able to foresee cost overrun during the project cycle, thus TCIP is applied for recovery purposes. To attain the recovery, the project officials need to calculate the independent estimate at the completion which will forecast the final cost of the project hence making imperative decision regarding the project recovery. Contrarily, applying TCIP in project cost management requires officials with diverse technical skills especially in mathematics field (Lipke 2009). Any miscalculations regarding cost management of project will result to wrongly use of financial resource hence poor delivery of the project. In this concept, the alternative use of TCIP will require AIBA to recruit individuals specialized in TCIP activities. Though the process of recruitment will incur some costs, effective use of TCIP will guarantee AIBA project completion based on the budget. Quality Management Actual Approach Project quality checklist is essential for the AIBA complex IT project purposefully to assist the team members in ensuring aspects that spearhead project to be of quality. The main aspect of ensuring that the project is of quality, is to purposefully to ensure that the end product of AIBA attains high quality by meeting the customers eCourier preferences and demand. To achieve the product quality standard, eCourier needs to ascertain that all the core priorities of the project have been attained from the project planning, progression, and monitoring, and controlling of the project cycle is evaluated by employing project quality checklists. Though there exists different type of project quality checklists, it is recommended that project officials need to use the standard checklist purposefully to achieve consistency of the project (Piscopo 2017). During the quality planning process, the project manager designs the quality checklists the project team will use. The Project team members apply quality checklists as part of the process and product quality assessments. Below figure is a checklist tool that can be applied by eCourier company in assessing the quality expected outcome of AIBA project. Project quality checklist Project Name Date Assesments Elements No N/A Date Comment Figure 8. Quality project Checklist The use of project quality checklist has been commended for enabling project officials and team members to stay organized in each phase of project so as not to skip any process (Singer 2014). Based on productivity, project members can complete repetitive tasks more quickly and efficiently with minimal mistakes (Singer 2014). Lastly, the use of checklist is being attributed for project excellence through effectivity of the project members at taking care of the customer expectations (Singer 2014). In this context, the AIBA project officials and team leaders need to deliver superior customer services by being effective in each phase of the project. Contrarily to the advantages of use of project quality checklist in quality management of the project, shortcomings of the checklist are showcased. It is argued that the simplicity of the checklist fails to equip project members with information regarding some of the problems existing in the project, and what is the best approach to solve the existing problems (Catchpole 2015). Quality Management Alternative Approach Ishikawa, cause-of-effect diagram proves to be an alternative approach for quality management of AIBA project. The cause and effect diagram is effectively design for project managers by having the capacity to explore all problems associated with the project quality before engaging into solution approaches (American Society for Quality 2017). To achieve positive quality results, the tool uses brainstorming with s type of map for the project managers to consider all causing problems associated with the quality of the project. it is important to note that the Ishikawa diagram is applied when identifying the possible cause of the problem regarding quality, and when the project team ideas tend to fall into ruts as the project progresses () Four core processes are structured for effective use of Ishikawa tool. Firstly, the project officials need to identify problems regarding the quality of the project. Secondly, the tool instructs the project managers to work out on the major factors associated with the problems. These might include project members, external forces, the applied equipment, and the materials being used in the project. Thirdly, the tool instructs the project managers to identify the possible causes associated with poor quality of the project. lastly, the Ishikawa diagram advocates for analyzing the diagram regarding the problems affecting the quality of project. Below is a figure showcasing the Ishikawa diagram Figure 9. Ishikawa Quality Diagram The Ishikawa diagram has been commended due vast advantages when it comes to IT complex projects. Basically, the Ishikawa diagram is designed through a PPT format or by EDDX across the computer software, thus the tool is technologically embedded (Edrawsoft 2017). In this retrospect, the tool is of benefit in showcases clear and logical relationships of aspects affecting the quality of the project. As such, the project manager has the capacity to categorize logically the associated problems, while the correlation of the problems are understood at a glance. The tool is of importance when it comes to maintaining the team focus while stimulating problem solving during the project-cycle. Contrarily, the Ishikawa diagram is only applicable after problems have already occurred in a project setting. The project could have already succumbed into poor quality of product, thus affecting the quality of product delivery. Solving the problems will incur more costs, resource and work-force to solve the problem. Though at the end, the tool does improve of the quality of the project product. Findings and Recommendations From the report it can be argued that the adopted approaches and the alternative regarding project management pose some benefits and shortcomings towards the AIBA complex IT project. Essentially, it can be argued that the alternative approaches will be of benefit to the project especially if the Adopted main approaches are most likely to fail or pose some weaknesses. A good example is regarding the project quality management tool. The adopted checklist tool fails to showcase the possibility of quality problems arising within the project cycles. If quality problems arise during the project cycle, the use of Ishikawa diagram will be of importance to analyze the problem. Contrarily, the Ishikawa diagram is only applicable after project quality problem has occurred. Regarding project management, it can be argued that both the adopted checklist and Ishikawa tool need to be in place for effective project quality delivery. This imply that the tools need to run concurrently so that the project managers can attain quality results. Each phases of the project cycle require different tools to ensure that project is effectively delivered based on the project plan. From the report, it is important for the project managers to effectively analyze the tools to be applied based on the tools strengths and the weaknesses. Consequently, the project officials need to consider if the available labor has the equipped skills and experience needed to effectively interpret the tools. A good example is that the use of Gantt chart can easily be interpreted by the project team in comparison to the Hubstaff tool. Consequently, Hubstaff tool requires monthly payments for the project members to continuously enjoy the services of the tool. As such, it can be recommended that the project managers need to be considerate on the selective choice of the tool based on the type of project, the funds available and the skill labor in place. References American Society for Quality 2017, ‘Fishbone(Ishikawa) Diagram.’ Available at http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/cause-analysis-tools/overview/fishbone.html. [Retrieved on 13th/April/2017]. Bowen, R 2013, ‘When Gantt Charts Aren’t the Answer.’ Available at http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/52723-disadvantages-of-gantt-charts/. [Retrieved on 10th/April/2017]. 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