Practices in Project Management Essay

AbstractThe St. Dismas medical exam Center (SDMC) approve up backing Facility (ALF) aim was authorized to create a rising service line to counteract a stemma of inpatient activity. The keep an eye on quarrys be to attain light speed light- and heavy-assist units in a standalone residential easiness with a furnish connection to SDMC by late-July 2001 and inside an $11 one million million million reckon. The particular deliverables, constraints, assumptions, exclusions, and expire breakdown body structure are out(p)lined in the proletariat Scope Statement. Brainstorming and scenario psychoanalysis allow for be utilize in the risk strategy, while appeal-benefit analysis leave be the direct tool in roll reference management.A shed work list and milepost muniment illustrates the unfavorable path for the 102-week locution phase. And, the $10 million compute is detailed by activity and quarter to cook up the quadruplicate speak to perspectives of team up members. travail monitoring leave behind principally use earned abide by metrics along with the Gantt chart and budget. data volition be analyzed and account weekly to the team, and signifi weedt deviations from the externalize are subject to the function strategy milestone status account and meeting with the Board of Trustees and submission of change requests to get the mean back on track. The jut entrust conduct a formal closeout member to take on an audit, closeout meetings, a final report, closeout meetings, and record archival.Project Purpose and vindicationOver the past few months, there has been a steady decline of the inpatient population at St. Dismas Medical Center (SDMC) due to the increase usage of seatbelts and bicycle/motorcycle helmets. A readying retreat was held to  spot business opportunities and a solution was proposed to build an assisted living rapidness on the St. Dismas campus. The purpose of the work out is to plan and implement Assi sted Living Facility (ALF) as authorized by the Board of Trustees in whitethorn 1999. The check is being sail done and throughd in put to create a new service line to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the shortage of aesculapianly-focused and highly specialized facilities available throughout the country and a growing geriatric population.We consider that the ALF, the for-profit subsidiary of SDMC, forget bring in a net income between $9,000 and $12,000 per unit and a net hard currency flow of about $1,500,000 annually. Both outpatient referrals and inpatient population are pass judgment to increase. Furthermore, we hope that the ascertain will gravel an added benefit of strengthening the organisational focus on reimbursable preventive and vigorousness programs for healthier aging fellowship.Project RequirementsThe ALF Project Steering Committee has identified several(prenominal) actions and processes that subscribe to be met, including initiation formul ate and verbal expressionoperational necessitate for food serve, housekeeping, and staffing growing of operational policy and procedures knowledgeableness of an operating budgetcreation of payroll department and accounting placementscharacterization and differentiate up of tele communions and information system necessarily preliminary marketing plans, with community and staff communications plans development of medical legal opinion tools for incoming residents duty assignment of clinical services offeringsdevelopment of an organisational structureidentification of organisation regulations and industry standards.Primary Project ObjectivesThe radical image objectives of the ALF Project are as derives The price objective is to slip by in between $8.5 to $11 million for the spin of the initiation. The time objective was to complete verbalism and unaffixed by July 2000, but was later revise to a duration of two years, with completion by late July 2001. The grasp ob jectives are to build a standalone residential facility with a render connection to SDMC that can access the cafeteria and hospital services, containing 100 units that accommodate up to 150 single and couple residents with 15 to 30 heavy-assisted units and the stay units light-assisted.Assumptions and ConstraintsThe next is assumedProject funds will be released in a timely manner.Project team members and resources will be available as needed. Contractors will have the skills and experience needed to complete the wander. The constraints are as followsThe construction can non begin until afterwards the November 1999 city elections. The facility involve to consecrate by late July 2001. useable and administrative policies, procedures, and systems need to be created and regulations and standards need identification.High-Level RisksAs with all projects, there is a risk of course over budget, over schedule, and/or falling short on grasp. on that point are several high-level r isks for the ALF project. One particular area of misgiving was the short seven-month time period for the composite plant construction project, but that has been extensive about another year. Further, the organizational complexity is high with the number of volume affect across many functions and the decision-making body being the Board of Trustees. This complexity may lead to delays in decision-making.The project is as well much large than SDMC has handled in the past with only one team member having construction experience. The operational and administrative regulations and standards for construction and healthcare industries will be complex and have not yet been identified. kink projects have a strengthened potential to clashing the local ecology which will add a risk featureor to the project. Further, weather condition poses a high-level risk to the project and may negatively shock absorber the schedule by delaying supply deliveries and construction work.Major Proje ct MilestonesMajor project milestones include1. Facility intent and construction2. Identification of operational needs3. Project and operating budget development4. Creation of payroll and accounting systems5. Define telecommunications needs and system setup6. Define information systems and system setup7. Creation of a preliminary marketing plan and communications package8. Organize major ground breaking event9. Clinical Services10. Design of prisement tool for incoming residents11. Identification of demands for clinical services12. Development of facilitys management structure13. Identification of governmental regulations and industry standards foregoing Budget EstimateThe preliminary budget estimate for the completed project is between $8.5 and $11 million, which includes the land purchase, facility construction, facility furnishings, and construction of the sheltered connection from the assisted living facility to the Medical Center.Key StakeholdersIllustrated under is the ke y stakeholder analysis matrix, which demonstrates the key stakeholders, their levels of power and interest, and an engagement plan. The matrix is followed by a communications chart that outlines stakeholders, their responsibilities, and their communication needs.The project scope is to build a standalone residential facility for the purpose of providing assisted living services to up to 150 single and couple residents. The product will also include a sheltered connective structure that provides access to St. Dismas Medical Centers cafeteria and hospital services. The facility will contain 100 residential units with 15 30of those units that accommodate residents that need heavy assistance and the remaining units categorized as light-assisted. The cost to construct the facility should fall within $8.5 to $11 million range. Acceptance of the project requires that construction may not begin until after city elections in November 1999 and the facility must open to the public by late Jul y 2001.Project ConstraintsThe construction cannot begin until after the November 1999 city elections. The facility needs to open by late July 2001.Operational and administrative policies, procedures, and systems need to be created and regulations and standards need identification. The budget cap is $11 million.Project AssumptionsThere are several assumptions that may also continue the implementation of the project if they prove to be false (Project Management Institute, 2013) Project funds will be released in a timely manner.Project team members and resources will be available as needed. Contractors will have the skills and experience needed to complete the project.Project Deliverablesfacility design and constructionoperational needs for food services, housekeeping, and staffing development of operational policy and procedurescreation of an operating budgetcreation of payroll and accounting systemscharacterization and set up of telecommunications and information system needs prelim inary marketing plans, with community and staff communications plans development of medical assessment tools for incoming residents designation of clinical services offeringsdevelopment of an organizational structureidentification of government regulations and industry standards.Project ExclusionsItems that are not included in the scope includedesign and construction of a parking lot or garagedesign, construction, and furnishings of patient entertainment and activity areas design, construction, and furnishings of exercise and fitness areas design and development of landscaping, walking paths, and gardening areas design, construction, and furnishings of private visiting areas design, construction, and furnishings of salon and groom services area design, construction, and furnishings of dining areaProject Risk and choice Management StrategyProject Risk StrategyThe project team has held a brainstorming session with a group of consultants in several relevant areas of expertise to iden tify an exhaustive list of risks by inquisitive what could go wrong with tasks. The scenario analysis method has also been utilized to identify, analyze, and order risks from high-to-low impact. This method entails utilizing critical thinking skills to realize events that may likely impact the project (pallium, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2011). Additionally, the work breakdown structure (WBS) and project compose were scrutinized to further identify highly probable risks as suggested by mantelpiece et al. (2011). The following highly probable risks have been identifiedBad weatherInadequate staffingInadequate budgetProject management team inexperienceRegulatory and industry requirementsCost estimation errorsComplex organizational structure and decision-making processBroad set of stakeholders that have yet to weigh in on the project Environmental impact from constructionProject communication and coordination issuesInadequate deliverables (e.g. parking garage)Inadequate time sc heduleThe strategy for discussion risks is to develop a risk response plan as hash out by drape et al. (2011). The risk response plan will include contingency plans to handle events that do happen, with more than one contingency plan and supporting logic charts developed for high-impact risk. Furthermore, risk identification and response planning will be ongoing through the project duration.Project smell Management StrategyThe ALF project quality management strategy is to follow the Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013) guidelines identify quality requirements, document respectfulness levels of quality requirements, perform quality assurance auditing, and control quality by taking action to encompass poor quality measurements. Inevitably changes will have to be made to manage events or unsatisfactory quality results. The ALF Project change management strategy is to include provisions in the original contract to accommodate change as suggested by Mantel et al. (2011). An in tegrated change control process will be created and implemented, as advised by PMI (2013) to reduce project risks through holistic analysis of proposed changes. This process will outline how change requests will be reviewed, clear or denied, and how those changes will impact other aspects of the project (policies, documents, plans, etc.) (Project Management Institute, 2013). cardinal tools that will be used to manage quality arecost-benefit analysis, which analyses the cost of the proposed change to the expected benefit. driveway-and-effect diagrams which utilizes the question why to dis pout the root cause of a problem in order to correct it. Cost-benefit analysis will be useful in presenting problems and their possible changes to the decision-making body in order for them to fully assess their options and identify the solution that best suits their requirements. The cause-and-effect diagram will be beneficial in recognizing the true problem that needs to be addressed. Find ing a solution for the root cause will military service the team avoid unnecessary be, time, efforts, and rework in addressing the wrong issues.Construction Phase Milestone ScheduleBelow is the work list and milestone schedule for the construction phase of the St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility project. The critical path (B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-K-L-O-P-S-T) is illustrated in green on the milestone schedule. The project is plan to be completed in 102 weeks, just shy of two years. The assumptions for this schedule are the following The milestone schedule will be authorize by the Board of Trustees. The project will begin in fantastic 1999 after action plans are submitted. Project funds will be released in a timely manner.Project team members and resources will be available as needed. Contractors will have the skills and experience needed to complete the project.Project BudgetBelow are the summary-level budget and detailed budget for the St. Dismas ALF Project. The assumption from examin ing the provided cost information chart is that the Chief Operating officer and the Construction Project Manager provided the estimates for the facility design and construction activities of the ALF project, and velocity management dictated the administrative and contingency budgets, and both did so honestly. bottom-up budgeting utilizes the work breakdown structure in a way that cost estimates of each activity are completed by the team members responsible for(p) for carrying out those tasks, while top-down budgeting produces estimates based on the judgments and experiences of top tutors (Mantel et al., 2011). The confederacy use in this project of top-down and bottom-up budgeting is ideal, according to Mantel et al. (2011). The advantage of top-down budgeting is that it generally has a high degree of true statement, although it can include tump overable miscalculations for low-level activities bottom-up budgeting is opposite in that it provides accuracy for low-level activit ies and the possibility of considerable miscalculations for high-cost activities (Mantel et al., 2011).The detailed budget is also split by task and expected quarter of expenditure to address the multiple perspectives of cost between the project manager (PM), the accountant, and the controller. Mantel et al. (2011) point out that the PM is concerned with commitments made against the budget, accountants track costs as they are incurred, and controllers are responsible for the organizations cash flow. Dividing costs by activity and quarter allow all three parties to generalise their relationship to the project. In this budget, the bulk of the detail outlines only one deliverable from the projects scope statement and work breakdown structurefacility design and construction. The other deliverables are clumped into the central and direct administrative costs categories.Although the budget may sufficiently cover the costs of the labor that needs to go into the other deliverables (identi fying needs and regulations, and developing plans, systems, and budgets), it may insufficiently cover the costs for other aspects of some(a) of the deliverables, such as setting up telecommunications and information systems, and organizing a major ground-breaking event. Furthermore, consideration should be given to the fact that project exclusions from the Project Scope Statement, such as design and construction of a parking area and activity and entertainment areas, are not factored into this budget. The current budget totals $10,000,000, which is still $1,000,000 under the original estimated budget and leaves some room to add deliverables if necessary.Project Summary BudgetProject proctor and Control StrategyThe ALF Project monitor and control strategy is as follows. The project team will continuously monitor schedule set ahead via the Gantt chart and monitor budget progress via the detailed budget. Monitoring these will give the team a comparison of the time period against t he echt plan. However, the team will utilize earned value (EV) metrics to not only compare the current situation with the plan, but also consider the developed progress at the point of evaluation (Mantel at al., 2011). The data from these control tools will be collected and analyzed weekly and reported to the team on a weekly basis as give tongue to in the communication chart. The project management team will assess if any deviations from the plan are significant enough to employ control measures. If the project management team feels that intervention is necessary, data (including the project milestone status report), assessments, and suggestions will be communicated with the Board of Trustees, and change requests will be submitted with the aim to reduce the differences between the plan and the actual circumstances.gain value metrics is the ALF Project preferred monitoring tool for the purposes of monitoring and controlling. Earned value metrics allow the team to compare the plan with the actual progress at any given point in the project, to see how efficiently our schedule and costs are being maintained, and providing an estimate of cost if the project is continued at the current rate (Mantel et al., 2011). Utilizing a go/no-go control, such as the milestone status report, allows us to compare the project output (using milestones as checkpoints) to the existing standard, assess what are needs are in terms of physical assets, human resources, and/or monetary resource for particular tasks, and employ the necessary steps to meet those needs in order to get the project schedule, budget, and/or scope aligned with the plan (Mantel et al., 2011).Project CloseoutThe ALF Project will conduct a formal project closeout primarily to help the organization improve its project management skills on future project (Mantel et al., 2011, p. 273). The formal project closeout will allow SDMC to understand project mistakes, accomplishments, performance, and project team an d management efficiencies and deficiencies, and document these in the organizational knowledge base. Furthermore, a formal close out deals with all those involved in the project in a way that has positive impact on morale and trust. The organization and the project managers show they are unquestionable when they finish what they start, communicate to each department that it is time to finalize their project activities, and deal with project staff and their reassignments in a tactful manner. The project closeout will follow the suggestion of Mantel et al. (2011).After the project manager ensures that all project work is complete, the project must go through the project acceptance phase. Acceptance needs to be gained from the Board of Trustees, and project management team, and officially recorded. A detailed audit will be performed to assess the progress and performance of the projects plan through examination of its methodology and procedures, its records, properties, inventories, b udgets, expenditures, progress, and so on (Mantel et al., 2011, p. 275). Audit findings as well as the complete project history will be scripted in a final report. The final report will include the project failures, successes, and lessons learned.The final report will also document the project activities and management techniques, the location of the organizations assets, and recommendations for improvement. The final report will be distributed to stakeholders upon completion. Closeout meetings with contractors and department heads (financial, legal, purchasing, organizational, facility, etc.) will be head to notify them of project termination, provide direction to clear the project activities in which they are responsible, and address final issues. A closeout meeting with project personnel will be conducted to address reassignments and stress, and provide closure. Finally, the project books will be closed, organizational assets will be updated, and records will be archived.Refe rencesMantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., & Sutton, M. (2011). Project Management in Practice (4th ed). Hoboken John Wiley & Sons. Project Management Institute. (2013). A choose to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed). Newtown Square PMI Publications.