Mawson Zoo is the organization for which the report has been developed. The zoo considers project management as one of the necessary disciplines and makes use of tools and technologies for efficient project management activities. Currently, the project management maturity of the organization is at the tactical level wherein the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) methodologies have been accepted. However, there are challenges that the zoo faces in terms of project control and management as the projects are implemented in an isolated fashion. It is required by the zoo to develop and implement an organization-wide Portfolio/Program/Project (PPP) framework for streamlined execution and management.
It has been assumed that the resources will be available for project management activities and the nominated land is not contaminated. The road improvements will be provided by the local council.
It is required that the adaptive methodologies are used and applied for the purpose of implementation, conduction, and control of the project management activities.
One of the widely used adaptive methodologies for project management is the agile methodology. It is a methodology that carries out the project management activities in a series of sprints. Following are key phases of Agile methodology:
- Envision- This phase defines the scope of the project, determines the product vision and responsibilities of the team.
- Speculate – In this phase, feature list will be prepared along with milestones and iterations on the basis of envision phase.
- Explore– In this phase, feature testing is done and constant efforts are made to reduce the risks.
- Adapt – In this phase, reviews are made to compare the current results, situation and performance of the team.
- Close– In this phase project is closed and learnings are documented.
The management requirements and specifications will be placed in a product backlog. Every sprint will include a sub-set of the product backlog and will target specific project area for its control and monitoring. There will be feedback processes executed at the end of every sprint. The members of the project team and the customers will be asked for the feedback for the improvement activities. There will not be a pre-defined sequence of steps involved in this project methodology (Juricek, 2014). The management guidelines will be presented on the basis of the project scenario.
The use of the methodology will allow the zoo to streamline all of its managerial functions and to complete the project on time. The processes will be followed to make sure that the adherence to the budget and other project estimates is also maintained during the entire lifecycle of the project.
One of the primary challenges that are witnessed with the process of project management at the zoo is the inability to implement improvements in the managerial practices. As a result, there are issues with the budget and schedule of the project that usually comes up. DMAIC is one of the methodologies followed for implementing Lean approach. It has following phases:
- Define – In this phase, issues of the project shall be defined.
- Measure – In this phase, current performance of the project shall be defined.
- Analyse – In this phase, factors affecting the cost shall be analysed.
- Improve – After identifying the issues, improvement ways are figured out.
- Control – Once issues are resolved, then measures should be taken to maintain the state of the project.
There are cost and resource limitations that are applied on the projects. Lean project management methods will be effective in the zoo for the resolution of the challenges. Lean Six Sigma and in-depth planning activities will be involved to make sure that the quality of the products is controlled and assured.
Kanban approach for project management is a part of the family of lean project management methodologies. Lean is somewhat abstract in nature and it may not be easy to apply the project management approaches in a standalone manner. The use of Kanban will make sure that the project management activities are effectively carried out by combining lean with Kanban approach of project management.
Agile Project Management
There are three basic elements that are involved in Kanban Project Management. These include Kanban Board, Kanban List, and Kanban Card. The board will comprise of the project that needs to be managed using the approach. The specific tasks to be carried out under the methodology will be included in the list. The specific activities to be covered for the items on the list will be specified on the cards. There are several significant features that will be involved in this methodology (Simmons, 2017). For instance, the movement of the cards will be done between the list and the board. There will be notes added to the Kanban cards and the discussions will be held. There will be increased flexibility, productivity, and scalability assured with the use of the methodology in the area of project management. The focus will be on the continuous delivery of the projects that will enhance the efficiency of the zoo.
Critical path is a method that is applied in the field of project management for the scheduling and estimation of the project tasks and activities. The critical path is the longest distance that is associated between the start and finish dates of the project comprising of all the tasks and their respective duration. There are scenarios and risks that usually occur in the project which have a negative impact on the schedule and budget of the project (Shata, 2012).
Float or slack is a term which is associated with the maximum duration to which a specific task in a project can be delayed without having an impact on the planned schedule and budget. Crash duration is also a term that is associated with the critical path method in project management. It is the shortest duration that includes the minimum time that will be taken to accomplish the project tasks and activities. The use of critical path methodology in the area of project management will make sure that the issues associated with project delays and non-adherence to project estimations is avoided.
Extreme Project Management is another adaptive methodology that is used in the area of project management and is recommended to be applied for Mawson Zoo.
The changes and uncertainties in the project can be managed with the aid of the methodology. There is no defined approach or sequence of steps included in the methodology and it allows the management activities to be ad-hoc in nature. The focus of the methodology is on the effectiveness of the project management activities (Rose, 2010).
The use of the above project management methodologies will make sure that the processes are adaptable and scalable in nature. The existing challenges that Mawson Zoo faces in terms of project delays, budget overrun, mismanagement of the project resources, and increased disengagement among the stakeholders will be avoided with the use of these methodologies(Rasnacis&Berzisa, 2015). The implementation of the above methods along with the PMBoK methodology for project management will make sure that the management is effective and the activities are streamlined. Also, the use of lean project management will lead to the resolution of the existing issues and challenges. The methodology will make use of the data-driven methods for the management of the products on the basis of the continuous improvement processes. Quality of the activities, cross-functional project teams, enhanced customer values, and elimination of the wastes will be involved in the conduction of the project tasks and activities for effective management of the project (Gabriel, 2004).
It is required that the adaptive methodologies are used and applied for the purpose of implementation, conduction, and control of the project management activities. The use of adaptive methodologies, such as agile, lean, Kanban, and Extreme Programming will allow the zoo to streamline all of its managerial functions and to complete the project on time. The processes will be followed to make sure that the adherence to the budget and other project estimates is also maintained during the entire lifecycle of the project. Among the adaptive technologies, lean should be recommended for zoo case because it helps in identifying he wastes and then improvise the existing condition of the project.
Conclusion
There are challenges that the zoo faces in terms of project control and management as the projects are implemented in an isolated fashion. Various methodologies have been discussed like agile, lean, Kanban, etc. All the methodologies have their own pros and cons, Lean is a methodology which has been selected because of its expertise in identifying waste elements of the project. It also helps in maintaining the improvised condition of the project.
References
Balve, P., Krüger, V., & Tolstrup Sorensen, L. (2017). Applying the Kanban method in problem-based project work: a case study in a manufacturing engineering bachelor’s programme at Aalborg University Copenhagen. European Journal Of Engineering Education, 42(6), 1512-1530. doi: 10.1080/03043797.2017.1350143
Chakraborty, B., & Kumar, A. (2016). Application of critical path analysis in clinical trials. Journal Of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology And Research, 7(1), 17. doi: 10.4103/2231-4040.173263
Gabriel, E. (2004). Building a Project-Driven Enterprise: How to Slash Waste and Boost Profits Through Lean Project Management. International Journal Of Project Management, 22(3), 268-269. doi: 10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00075-3
Leybourne, S. (2009). Improvisation and agile project management: a comparative consideration. International Journal Of Managing Projects In Business, 2(4), 519-535. doi: 10.1108/17538370910991124
Rasnacis, A., & Berzisa, S. (2015). Adaptation of Agile Project Management Methodology for Project Team. Information Technology And Management Science, 18(1). 122-128 doi: 10.1515/itms-2015-0019
Rose, K. (2010). Book Review: Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme. Project Management Journal, 41(2), 84-84. doi: 10.1002/pmj.20170
Simmons, R. (2017). Kaizen Kanban: A Visual Approach to Create Prioritized Project Pipelines. Quality Management Journal, 24(3), 54-55. doi: 10.1080/10686967.2017.11918518
Stare, A. (2014). Agile Project Management in Product Development Projects. Procedia – Social And Behavioral Sciences, 119, 295-304. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.034
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
