Executive Summary
A project management plan titled “Developing a Local Area Network” is the focus of the critique of this report. Typically, the project management plan details the approach used to creat a local area network (LAN) by starting with the project management plan fundamentals as the project management plan benchmark framework for the critique.
An analytical critique of the above mentioned project management plan is detailed in this document culminating in recommendations to address the issues raised in the critique. Typically, it is important to apply the use of modern software project management tools to provide advance simulations before a full pronged commitment of resources in project implementation.
Introduction
A project management plan is a critical document that provides a framework for starting and implementing any project. Typical of the current PMP to be critiqued, the details of the project scope, project sponsors, and other basic component details of the project are anaysed with accompanying criticism.
The document starts with the project name as an outstanding element of the project, proceeds to detail other components of the project management plan before culminating with a detailed recommendation addressing inherent weaknesses Schwalbe (2007).
Name
The name of the project is a critical element that provides instant and descriptive information about the project. A keen evaluation of the title of the project “Developing a Local Area Network” does not reflect the actual designation of the project leaving one to conjure up a picture of a project either in progress or just a description of the concept detailing method of implementing a LAN project.
Intersstingly, an appropriate title should have read “Warrens Superamrket Local Area NetworK (LAN) Project Implimentation Framework”. The tiltle not only provides actual information about the project, but also details the why and how the project is to be implemented and seems to explain the purpose of the porejct.
Description
The description is the “why” and the “how” of the project but falls short of measuring up to the project management plan benchmark against which the critique is done. The project lacks the project timeline and milestones specific to each project management plan document. No project budget estimates are provided despite the use of simple and clear descriptive language having been used to write the project report.
Sponsor’s Details
A project spsonsor is one of the most important project stakeholders. Therefore, details of the project sponsor should be contained in the project management document (PMBOK, 2008). A close scrutiny of the document reveals it to contain the project sponsor’s contact telephone number, email address, and name. However, no alternative emergency contacts are provided for reaching the project sponsor in the event the normal contacts fail (Product Information, Microsoft Project, 2010).
Project manager and team details
Any project team should reflect a hierarchical setting associated with the roles and respsonsibilities of project team members. However, the current document under investigatin does not imply such a hierarchy, but provides detailed contacts and names of team members making it difficulty to identify how roles and resposnsibilities are assigned in relation to each team members’ skills.
Deliverables
The document under criticism classifies deliverables to be in terms of the milestones on project imlimentation strategies. Each phase of the project that is successfully achieved forms a deliverable for project implementation. However, the document, though keen in identifying and documenting the deliverables does not provide a framework for such documentation and appropriate resource requirements to achieve the deliverables.
Documentation
One of the critical components of a project management plan is documentation. Contrary to expectations, the documentation of the project management plan indicates a deficiency in detailed project configuration data and source code and the necessary copyright laws and permission to use or alter the source code as per the business objectives and other legal requirements and protection of the source code (PMBOK, 2008). No information should be left out with regard to client relationship with the product vendors.
Reference details
As a best practice in project implementation, a detailed guide should characterize a keenly thoughtout project management plan. Each of the accompanying details should come with a reference section that allows the project team to accurately and appropriately implement a project with identifiable maintainance frameworks.
Definitions
Definitions should clearly indicate the detailed meaning or implied name. The document under investigation seriously lacks the details and need to be updated to measure up to that requirement. In addition to that, technical terms used in the document should be accompanied with appropriate explanations making the document clear and unambiguous.
Organization
The organization for which the LAN is to be implemented does not detail the organization’s strategic objectives and their implications on the organization’s operational environment in line with its mission statement.
Organizational charts
It is important for the organizational hierarchy specific to the client’s settings to be provided in the project management plan. However, such an important detail is lacking in the plan. No roles and responsibilities are identified and detailed in the organizational chart. Further still, it is important to understand the roles and resposnsibilities are assigned in relation to team experience and appropriate skills. However, the document does not contain such details.
Project Responsibilities
Schwalbe (2007) details the fact that a management project plan should contain details about how roles and responsibilities are assigned to team members in a Responsibility Assignement Matrix (RAM). It is a standard requirement to consider the effect of reviews as a tool to provide information about project implementation progress.
Typical of the document being critiqued, a lot of confusion is bound to be experienced in the implementation process besides failures by the management to audit the project progress against the established benchmark. In addtiotn to that, efficient allocation of resources can be effected if the project management framework clealy details the assigned roles and responsibilities.
Management and Technical Processes
Technical processes are critical to the implementation of a project. These details form the basis of a successful project implemented with appropriate personnel. A critical thought on this issues demsontrstes the fact that the project can only be successful if issues related to management of implementation risks, issues related to hardware and software procurements, and other related components should be integrated. Total quality management and scope management form part of the technical processes that should be keenly considered.
Management Objectives
Successful project teams under a project team leader and a keen management know well that objectives define what to be done and how to do what is to be done and expected results. That allows project team members to evaluate their activities, project progress, and deviations from the set objectives to take corrective measures to ensure any deviations are corrected at the earliest.
Typical of the document under criticism, no project progress objectives have been developed and spelt out to guide project progress. Therefore, the possibility of confusion and loss of project track are bound to invest the project. It is important to address this issue by incorporating a business requirements plan that spells out key areas demanding immediate attention.
Project Controls
When project progress is not carefully tracked, loss of project progress track, poor allocation of resources, failure to meet deadlines, and failure to deliver on critical milestones resulting in overall poor project implimentaion and sometimes failure are the likely to occur.
The document under scrutiny lacks such crtical components as roles and responsibilities and hierarchical delagtion of responsibilities to drive the project to success (Robert, 2009). The document lacks in the strategic approaches that can be employed to address the problem of quality assurance and control, quality management, and iterative process of periodical reviews.
Another area of interest is the failure of the document to strategise on how the project is to be handed over to the client, short term and long term benefits and how these benefits are to be realized. Additionally, the project document should at this point indicate the benefits projected to be realized from the project for the client (Robert, 2009).
Risk Management
Proejcts are susceptible to risks before implementation begins. Each phase of the project lifecycle is susceptible to specific risks that should be managed as project implimentation progresses (Creveling, 2007). The project management plan should enable keen managers to identify, assess, plan, and implement measures and strategies for mitigating upon the risks.
The current project management plan lacks the essential details about how risk management should be effected and how risks are to be shared between project stakeholders. Moreover, the risk management plan should detail how risk due to uncertainties of a project stakeholder deserting the project should be addressed.
Contigency plans are not in place to address the risk. In addtiotn to that, the document does not detail the various risks likely to be experienced during project development lifecycle (Creveling, 2007). Typical risks that should be addressed include technical risks, financial risks, skills risks in case a skilled project team member falls sick or deserts duty for some reason, and system functionality risks in case the implemented project does not meet operational performance benchmarks (Creveling, 2007).
Project Staffing
The project staff is the most important backbone in the implimentation of any project. Various tools are used in project staffing to assign roles and responsibilities to project team members (Doll, 2002). The project manager’s human resource role is to ensure staffing is done according to specified procedures.
Project staffing should reflect typical job description and task specifications to be assigned each employee. The staffing approach that includes the recruitment of employees, selecting appropriately skilled workers, hiring them on specified terms and conditions, and training them before engaging in project work should be critical of the management process. These critical human resource responsibilities are not detailed in the document (Robert, 2009).
In addition to that, employees need to be motivated based on different motivational theories to enagnce their on job performance. The document under investigation does not detail any approaches that the management will use to motivate employees and assure them of a job security. Employees who feel protected by their employeer feel more motivated than employees who work in unsecure environments (Robert, 2009).
Work to be done
A work break down strucuture that details tasks and related activities for each employee is an important tool that project managers use ti track project progress, project resource allaoctions and demands, and project milestones. However, the document does not appropriately provide means for project managers to identify project milestones.
It is important to incorporate details about the work breakdown strucuture to indicate how tasks are assigned and deliverables to allow tracking to be done appropriately. In addition to that, the work breakdown structure (WBS) should use graphical tools to indicate the approach used in detailing project activities. On the other hand, project dependancies should be clearly indicated on the graphical representation of tasks and dependancies (Product Information, Microsoft Project, 2010).
Schedule
The project management plan under investigation does not detail approaches used to assign project resources, the number of available resources, the time dependent activities, how activities will be organized to run, who should be responsible for what activity.
In addition to that, the project under question does not show overlapping activities and critical activities will be addressed through all the stages of project development lifecycle. It is important to use appropriate software tools to prepaire project tools such as a project Ghantt chart to provide accurate project scheduling of resources and accurate designation of tasks (Product Information, Microsoft Project, 2010).
Budget
The project budget suffers from a very important shortfall. There is a stark failure to link between the project allocation of resources and typical project tasks and costs.
However, the document details appropriately allocation of resources (Doll, 2002). These include employee salaries, hardware and software tools, and appropriate compensation for each employee (Doll, 2002).
On the other hand, the current project document under investigation does not detail how Return on Investment (ROI) on the the LAN infrastructure can be recouped. It is important tp use modern software tools in project management planning to provide a simulation of a project before planning on implementing the project (Schwalbe, 2007).
Conclusion
A criticsism of the project named “Developing a Local Area Network” starts with a critical analysis of the name and a typical opti on that could appropriately address the naming as “Warrens Superamrket Local Area NetworK (LAN) Project Implimentation Framework”.
Typically, the project does under invatigation identifiably lack various elements critical of a successful project management plan. These deficiencies are critical components ensuring project success. Among the most important elements lacking in the peoject plan is a charter that shows the roles and responsibilities of each project team. In addition to that, the project team members have a work breakdown structure that does not clearly indicate duties and responsibilities assigned to each team member.
Recommendation
It is important to identify a project title that clearly provides information about the actual project to be implemented, various tools to use, an appropriate work breakdown structure, project risks, and skilled project team to effectively implement a project. In addtiton to that, resources should be identified beforehand and an efficiently planned allocation done to ensure project success.
References
Creveling, C.M (2007), Scorecards for Risk Management in Technical Processes, Retrieved from http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=680844
Doll, S (2002). Creating your project budget: Where to begin?. Web.
PMBOK Guide.(2008). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: 4th Edition, Project Management Institute.
Product Information, Microsoft Project. (2010). Retrieved from https://products.office.com/en-us/home?rtc=1
Robert, B. (2009). The Project Workout: 4th edition. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0273723899.
Schwalbe, K.( 2007), Intro to Project Management, Cengage Learning.