Project Initiation Phase
This project depicts all the necessary steps those are required to be undertaken by the project development team for opening a university. The project needs proper commitment from the human and material also. Though the resources should be selected and deployed properly. In order to prepare this project different university projects are required to be encountered by the project manager. The backgrounds of the case project, the different phases those are considered for the development of the project are also elaborated in this paper. Different kinds of project development life are here however based on the project type proper development life cycle must be selected by the project manager.
In order to minimize the workload from the project team members, activity segmentation are required to be implemented in terms of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Not only this but also the activities are required to be served by the project team members properly for evaluating the project accurately within estimated budget and time a well. A project network diagram (PERT chart) and a project schedule should be developed by the project manager. In addition to this, a project earned value of the project will be analyzed including the cost benefit analysis. After preparing the comprehensive summary, the other project management practices are also implemented in this paper.
Considering the subject on demands the course details are to be selected by the management authority of the college. However, for opening a university in is very much necessary to select the building location first. In order to serve the purpose, at the very initial phase the project manager is required to took authentication rather permission from the government and then based on the granted permission the project manager is required to select the project sponsors. After getting project sponsors, the authority should sign contract with the building contractors. Based on the number of courses and departments the building will be segmented properly. Not only this but also a university hostel should also constructed just beside it so that outsiders students could also take admission in the university.
In order to develop the university opening project, the project manager is required to select an accurate project development life cycle. The steps included in this project are as follows:
In the project initiation phase, the project manager is required to define the project goal at a broad level. With a business case this particular phase initiates. In this phase the project manager should make a project feasibility test to determine that whether the project is feasible or not. If the project is found to be not feasible then the project manager should introduce all the necessary changes in this phase only. Whether, the project will meet the requirement of the consumers and project manager or not, can be determined with the help of due diligence of the project stakeholders. The project manager will make Project Initiation Document (PID) in the initiation phase. In order to grab more number of students from all over the world, the project manager should select an appropriate location for constructing the university. Even the project charter should also be developed in this phase. The university need, stakeholders and the project case are included in the project documentation.
Project Planning Phase
The project planning phase of “University opening “, is consists of different activities such as scope and budget preparation, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Gantt chart, communication planning and risk management plan as well. With the help of accurate open communication plan the project team members will be able to communicate with the higher authority of the project. For successful completion of the project, a project roadmap should be implemented and based on that focus should be developed. In addition to this, the other components those are required to be considered include specification, measurement, attainability, realistic and time management as well. For this project the SMART and CLEAR goals should be developed. The scope statement developed for this phase include project objectives, project need, deliverable and key milestones also. In order to visualize the project, proper project timeline and tasks of the “University opening project” is required to be developed. For identifying the cost, quality and other resources flexible and refine goals should be considered by the project manager. However, the project scope statement might change with the changing requirement and project ongoing phase. The scope statement of the project is segmented with the help of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Throughout the project, high level project goals should be identified. The essential baselines for this project are as follows:
Scope management: In order to define the project need, profit of the project, goals, key milestones in terms of documentation should be prepared by the project manager. Though, without the project manager’s approval the scope statement cannot be changed and during the project ongoing phase the scope might be changed also.
Work Breakdown structure: For developing a visual representation and segment the work in parts WBS is helpful.
Communication plan: Open communication approach is considered for this project
Risk management: Risks should be identified and analyzed and based on that strategies ought to be developed to mitigate the risks from the core project management area.
After making the project documentation and all the deliverables properly the project will be professionally executed in this particular phase. For meeting the requirement of the students all the basic resources must be analyzed in a well organized manner in this particular phase. The team members involved n the project teams are advised to take the following responsibilities accurately in terms of team development, resource assignment, project management plan execution, as per the requirement procure management etc. Not only this but also the project manager is one of the most responsible person who should take care of all the necessary things for developing a project professionally. For this particular project, the project manager should adopt cloud based solution so that the purpose of opening a university could complete and execute successfully. The cloud based project management software will help to manage the information regarding the students and employee of the university automatically and much easily.
Project Execution Phase
In order to measure the project progress and performance of the stakeholders it is necessary to monitor the project professionally. The project Key Performance Indicator (KPI) should be considered to determine that whether the project is mentoring on a correct track or not. However, if the project is found to be not moving on right track then the progress approach should be changed accordingly. There are different kinds of project Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are present, however for serving the purpose of opening a university only the relevant KPI should be nominated by the project managers. For this project the selected KPI are as follows:
Project objectives: whether the project is completed within the estimated budget and allotted time or not can be determined with the help of the project objective KPI.
Quality deliverable: Whether the specified task deliverables are meeting the consumer’s requirement or not will be defined with the help of quality deliverable.
Cost and effort tracking: The project sponsors and the project managers are responsible to rack that whether the project is running on the correct track within the estimated time allotted or not. Based on the current performance and project progress report, whether the project will be complete within time or not could be determined.
This is the last phase of project management life cycle for this particular project. This phase represents that the project is successfully completed and if it requires additional changes then, in the post project review phase, different changes could be brought. However, the project manager and the sponsors of this project are responsible to develop a punchlist to remind the parts those are not yet completed on the project ongoing phase. Though, at the end of the project the documentation and deliverables should be rearranged in a single phase.
Conclusion
From the overall discussion it can be concluded that the project is required to be completed within estimated time and budget as well to gain measurable benefit. The components are different for business project and “University Opening” project. For “Opening a University“, a huge set of commitment are required from the owners end. In order to get the philanthropic commercial assistance, the entrepreneurs have formed implementation and development grants. The operational expense could be accomplished with the help of the fund. The project development sub phases those are considered for this particular project include research, increment of awareness among the stakeholders, getting help from the external stakeholders, community planning team development, expert consultation, gathering proper information and project implementation. The other phases considered include governance, review process and social media marketing.
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