Roles And Responsibilities Of The Project Manager Construction Essay

As defined by Field and Keller (2007) Project management is the discipline of planning, organising, securing, managing, leading and controlling resources to achieve a specific outcome or outcomes during a defined time period and given resource constraints. It is a temporary endeavour which has a defined beginning and end which is aimed at achieving a set of specific goals and objectives. Elenbass (2000) has showed that achieving the project goals and objectives within the given time, schedule and cost constraints are the primary challenge of the project management. Hence the project managers must attempt to utilise the resources efficiently and effectively to meet the pre-defined standards of performance and to optimise the productivity of the resources.

The aim of this assignment is to identify certain projects to achieve two main business objectives for the financial year of a large manufacturing organisation which has employed over 1250 employees including the office staff and factory workers; to reduce the movement of staff from the premises during the lunch break and to help the staff to develop a healthy life style as a part of the CSR of the entity and to reduce the absenteeism accordingly. Hence at the beginning of the paper several projects will be identified that are suggested to be feasible to implement to achieve these particular objectives. Then a specific project was selected and carried out the fundamental project management functions such as elaborated the and assess it for feasibility, cost and time management, select appropriate project methodology, establishing an appropriate management, administrative structure and etc.

Task 01: Identifying Specific Projects

There are two main objectives of that have to be achieved during the current financial year;

Reducing the movement of staff from the company’s premises during the ,lunch break which has created an issue overcrowding the local area

Assist the company’s staff to develop a healthy life style as a part of the policy of the organisation

In order to achieve these objectives following factors should be considered before determining suitable projects;

There are more than 1250 office staff and factory staff who have been employed in the company

The staffs has been assigned with the range of different roles

The offices and factory buildings are spread across an extensive area

The is no existing catering services for the office staff or the factory workers

Accordingly the company has been faced with the need for developing a proper plans and programs to reduce the matters relating to the movement of the employees during the lunch break and overcrowding the premises and closure area (Case Study). Hence author suggested that following alternative projects can be considered to address these issues and to achieve the above mentioned objectives;

Setting up a separate building to providing catering services for the employees of the company

Setting up a separate building to take the lunch and tea without providing the catering services at the premises

Setting up a separate building and buy-in the external catering service

Arrange lunch rooms in every separate building in the premises and setting small building to buy the meals from an external catering service

A Chosen Project

From the above mentioned alternative projects the first alternative (Setting up a separate building to providing catering services for the employees of the company) due to following reasons;

This alternative provides a long-term solution for the problem

The employees will be happy about the employer since they feel that the company care their needs

This solution can be built and develop healthy relationships among the various staff of the company

The objectives of CSR can be easily achieved

As a pre-requirement of planning the project has to be sub-divided into major divisions. Accordingly following sub-divisions can be identified with the high level estimates of time, resources and costs.

Project Sub-Division

Description

Time Estimates

Resources

Cost Estimates

Constructing the Building

This includes,

Planning the building

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

Calling for tenders from the suppliers

Selecting suppliers

Constructing the building

2 months

External Architectures

Engineering Division and Top Management involvements including Budgetary committee

Tender board

Construction people and material

Land

£5000

Arranging the Interior facilities

This includes,

Arranging the seating facilities

Arranging the canteen including fixed assets such as fridges, cashiers, delivery tables, etc

Project Methodology – PRINCE 2

Having identified the above fundamentals of the main project a suitable project methodology should be selected. There are several project methodologies can be identified in the Project Management literature such as the traditional approach, PRICE 2, Event Chain Methodology, Process Based Management, Critical Chain Project Management, etc. Among these the PRINCE 2 project management methodology is the best suit for the project under concern. As explained by Hutchings (2011) this method is a structured approach to project management which provides a clearly defined framework for project management. It describes how to coordinate people and activities of the project, how to design and supervise the project and what actions should be taken if the project reflects some deviations from the plan and planned outcomes. Accordingly each activity is structured with clear input and outputs allowing the automatic control of the project processes and efficiency of the resources. The following figure shows a typical PRINCE 2 methodology.

Figure 01: PRINCE 2 Methodology

[Source: http://www.projectmanagement.net.au/prince2]

Feasibility Assessment

Feasibility Criteria

Assessment

Weighing

Technical Feasibility

The technical expertise for several aspects of the project should be made available from the external sources. Accordingly following services are available for the project;

The project planning staff

100%The clerical staff

Engineering and designing

Budgetary committee

And following technical skills should be outsourced;

80%Building architecture

Construction engineering

Cooking staff

There are reliable sources to obtain these technical requirements for the project without greater difficulty.

90%

Schedule Feasibility

Schedule should be subjected to proper control (85%). 15% risk assessment is allowed.

The expertise of the external constructors and technical services is assured 100% by the top management

92.5%

Human Resource Feasibility

The members of the corporate project staff are newly appointed. Therefore they should be subjected to proper guidance, controlling and monitoring procedures in order to get their full potential for the project work.

In the catering services field and building construction their knowledge and experience are significantly lack and therefore effective consultation is required.

Required labour for the project should be externally fulfilled since there are no idle labours that can be allocated for the project.

20%

Financial Feasibility

The financial for the project can be sourced in following ways;

Welfare fund: 12.5%

CSR Budget allocations: 25%

Company Bank Accounts: 50%

Employee Contribution: 12.5%

100%

Operational Feasibility

Since the project is to be carried out utilising the external labour is can be operated without disrupting the normal manufacturing and business operations.

90%

Sharing best practices

The project team is prepared to utilise the lessons in the past and to obtain information further from the external sources personally to make the project a success.

90%

Table 02: Feasibility Assessment

Nicholas (2009); Warner (2010); Borow (2010)

Administrative Structure

Based on the PRINCE 2 Project Methodology following structure can be developed for the management and administration of the project (Hartl, 2006).

Project Planning Committee

Site 01

Site 02

Site 03

Catering Service Arrangement

Interior Facilitation

Building Construction

Construction

Purchasing

Arrangement

Purchasing

Recruiting Staff

HR Division

Purchasing

Corporate Project Manager

Budgeting

CEO/ Director Board

Steering Committee

Figure 02: Administrative Breakdown structure

Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager

Haughey (2011) has pointed that the role of the project manager is to plan, approval, implementation, control, monitor and execution of the project. The execution involves the accumulating resources and coordinating the people and physical resources in order to perform the tasks effectively and efficiently to the standards of performance. Accordingly followings are the responsibilities of the project manager;

Team leadership

Documentation

Developing schedules

Activity planning and scheduling

Planning and define scope

Risk analysis

Monitoring and reporting the progress

Manage the risk issues

Control the quality

Realise the benefits

Project Plan

Based on the PRINCE 2 project methodology adopted the project plan should be prepared. Accordingly each process should be clearly defined with inputs and outputs and necessary performance standards and controls. Methodology should be inclusive of remedies for the potential deviations from the planned process. Accordingly following project plan is outlined for the project under consider (Frese, 2003).

Order

Task Name

Start Date

Duration

End Date

Resources

1 Building Construction

9/1/2012

60 10/31/2012

Planning the building

9/1/2012

9/8/2012

Architecture

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

9/9/2012

9/16/2012

Budgetary committee

Calling for tenders from the suppliers

9/17/2012

9/29/2012

Purchasing Dept

Selecting suppliers

9/30/2012

10/10/2012

Purchasing Dept

Purchasing procedure

10/11/2012

10/18/2012

Purchasing Dept

Constructing the building

10/19/2012

11/5/2012

Contractors

8 Preparing Interior facilities

11/6/2012

30 12/6/2012

Planning the interior arrangement (following the plan of the building)

11/6/2012

11/8/2012

Project planning team

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

11/9/2012

11/11/2012

Project planning team

Calling for tenders from the suppliers

11/12/2012

11/19/2012

Purchasing Dept

Selecting suppliers

11/20/2012

11/27/2012

Purchasing Dept

Purchasing procedure

11/28/2012

12/5/2012

Purchasing Dept

Arrangement

12/6/2012

12/11/2012

Labors, Project planning team

15 Establishing the catering service

12/12/2012

30 1/11/2013

Planning the Human Resource requirements

12/12/2012

12/19/2012

HR Division and Project Planning Team

Recruitment procedures

12/20/2012

12/27/2012

HR Division

Recruitment and Selection

12/28/2012

12/30/2012

HR Division

Estimating the costs and purchasing requirements

12/31/2012

1/7/2013

Project planning team

Purchasing procedure

1/8/2013

1/15/2013

Purchasing Dept

21 Closure of the project

1/16/2013

7 1/23/2013

Post project evaluation

1/16/2013

1/19/2013

Steering committee, Project manager and the team

Reporting

1/20/2013

1/22/2013

Project manager

Hand over the documents and project to the management

1/23/2013

1/24/2013

Project manager

Opening for employees

1/25/2013

1/26/2013

Project planning team, management and employees

Table 03: Project Plan

Task 02

Alternative Project Team Structures

Team Structure

Assessment

Pure Project

The project manager has the full authority over the project

Every member reports to a one boss

Line of communication is shortened

Decisions are made quickly

Motivation, team spirit and commitment are high

The teams have not a sustainability after the project is completed due to ignorance of the organisational goals and objectives (Baguley, 2003)

Functional

One team member may be working on several projects

The projects have been established within a certain functional division

Motivation, team spirit and commitment are weak

Project manger’s role may not be defined clearly

The aspects of the project that are not directly related with the functional area may be ineffectively achieved

Matrix Project

Project team composed of people from different functional areas so that all aspects of the project are equally fulfilled and considered

Project manager has defined roles and responsibilities

Communication among the functional divisions is improved and enhanced

There would have two bosses; project manager and the functional manager

There is a high risk for failure of the project unless the project manager possesses strong negotiating skills (Mullins, 2007)

Table 04: Alternative Project Team Structure

Interpersonal Skills for Project Manager

According to Yeong (2011) following interpersonal skills are crucially important for the project managers in order to successfully manage the progress and people of the project.

Leadership and influencing skills

Team building

Motivation

Communication

Decision making

Negotiating

Political and cultural awareness

Quality Management Process

According to Borow, (2010) the quality management process for the project under concern is as follows;

Quality planning:

The goal of the project: To establish a canteen for the employees of the company including office staff and factory workers in order to reduce the overcrowding in the local area and to promote healthy foods

Expected deliverables:

The building: spacious sufficiently to gather employees, clean, proper waste and water disposal methods,

Catering service: established within the company premises, clean and healthy foods, affordable prices for all staff, availability of choices

Measuring the success: Post project evaluation, questionnaire survey among the employees, physical performance of the building, water and waste disposal systems

Quality Assurance

In order to assure the quality of the deliverables, following steps will be followed;

Building: utilise the best materials, get the services of the well-known constructors, utilise the service of the recognised and assured architectures and designers

Catering service: employ most skilled and well-experienced cooking staff, set the conditions for service relating to quality, clean and healthy foods, ensure tidy environment

Quality control

In order to control the quality of the deliverables, evaluations and suggestions of the following persons will be considered.

The physical tests of the engineering heads

Assurance of the HR division relating to the competency of the canteen staff

Physical verification by the project team and the management of the waste disposal systems

The employees of the company

Managing Project Change Proposals

Changes are possible in course of the projects due to various implications of the project management and stakeholder influences. Following typical change management procedure will be followed to ensure the changes are properly managed during the project ensuring the success.

Figure 03: Change Management during the Course of the Project

[Source: http://product-ivity.com/project-change-management/]

Possible Issues and Risks

As shown by Viney (2004) following project risks and issues should be encountered.

Risk / Issue

Description

Business/ Inherent Risk

Culture and politics that are prevailing within the organisation may affect the project execution, monitoring and controlling.

Project specific risk

The skills of the project team, as discussed earlier are considerably insufficient for this project. Hence there is a high need for proper control, execution and supervision of the project leadership during the work

Stage risk

Risk associated with the each sub-division of the project

Table 05: Possible Risks

Monitoring and Evaluation

In order to monitor and control the project work successfully the stakeholder analysis can be adopted. As claimed by Kerzner, (2004, pp 358). The stakeholder analysis helps to identify the persons or the groups that should be involved in the decision making process of the project and to whom, what and how to disseminate the information about the project. Additionally the stakeholders would affect and involve in the change management and control procedures. By identifying and defining their needs the project manager can effectively determine how should the project be monitored and on what bases or criteria the project should be evaluated. Accordingly following analysis can be used for the monitoring and evaluation purposes of the project.

Stakeholder type

Parties may included

Requirements

Critically affect the success of the project

Budgetary committee

Top management

External services

Project team

Comply with the organizational policies, practices and system procedures

Effective Reporting

Proper coordination and availability of resources

Legally required to participate

The local government officers

To ensure the construction of a building in the local area

Have specific expertise on project

The project planning team

Steering committee

Project team including the project manager

Building constructors and designers

Engineering

HR Division

The right quality and standards of performance of the relevant deliverables

Beneficiaries

The employees

The company

The improved and quality environment

Healthy and clean foods

Affordable prices

Continuous maintenance

System to detect and manage issues

As Frese, (2003) explained, the project charter can be used as a source document in order to detect and manage issues of the project. This document includes all of the following details;

Deliverables

Constraints

Risks

Resources

Acceptance criteria

Cost and man-hour estimations

Risk management policy

Resources requirement

Benefits and impacts

Link to the corporate business and CSR strategy

Conclusion

Project management is dealt with managing projects effectively within the given triple constraints of cost, time and schedule. In order to manage a project successfully the project managers and team members should possess a range of skills, experience and competencies. If the project team armed with necessary skills and competencies or has the quick access to reliable sources, the project can be achieved successfully. Further interpersonal skills are highly important for the project managers. Since, especially in the matrix team structure the project manager plays a significant role by effectively negotiating with the functional managers and the employees assigned from various functional areas to discharge the project tasks. There are main three types of team structures that can be used to organise the project team. The project must be subjected to properly established quality control processes and the outcomes should be benchmarked in order to ensure the expected deliverables. Stakeholder analysis can be used to monitor and evaluate the project based on the nature and purpose.

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