Project Management unit 400, Essays (high school) of Computer science

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UNIT 400: PROJECT MANAGEMENT By Hammaad Hayat Contents Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2 Outcome One: Understand why organisations use project management.............................................3 1.1 Describe the principles of project management..........................................................................3 1.2 Explain the benefits of project management to organisations and individuals...........................4 Outcome Two:.......................................................................................................................................5 2.1 Explain the considerations when reviewing project proposals....................................................5 Financial viability of the project:....................................................................................................5 Budget:..........................................................................................................................................5 Contingencies:...............................................................................................................................5 Constraints:....................................................................................................................................6 Confidentiality:...............................................................................................................................7 Dependencies:................................................................................................................................8 2.2 Explain how to set clear goals for projects...................................................................................8 Identify stakeholders:....................................................................................................................8 Identify needs:.............................................................................................................................10 Use SMART principles:.................................................................................................................13 Record goals in project plans:......................................................................................................14 2.3 Analyse project resource requirements.....................................................................................22 2.4 Explain how roles and responsibilities are allocated within project teams................................27 2.5 Identify project communication needs......................................................................................32 2.6 Assess possible risks to successful completion of projects........................................................36 2.7 Explain how to mitigate for possible risks..................................................................................36 Outcome Three: Be able to use management tools to maintain, control and monitor projects.........39 3.1 Describe different management tools for monitoring and control of projects..........................39 3.2 Justify the use of management tools for monitoring and controlling projects..........................39 Microsoft Project:........................................................................................................................39 Monday.com................................................................................................................................39 PRINCE2:......................................................................................................................................40 3.3 Use management tools to monitor projects..............................................................................40 4.1 Explain reasons for reviewing projects after completion (Chipset)............................................45 4.2 Review projects against original proposals...............................................................................46 Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................47 1 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner management is being aware whats going on and overall being successful. Key part in project management is seamless. This would involve staff not panicking as they done something wrong as we plan through all the mistakes. Most projects succeed today as staff act professionally when task goes wrong as their reaction will be they knew it would happen. Now you can see why it is very important at the beginning of the project to consider all negatives or constraints around each task and subtask. For instances, deliveries of materials could go wrong or be delayed for the implementation phase. 1.2 Explain the benefits of project management to organisations and individuals If a company like Chipset successfully perform well in their project by achieving and following the principles of project management mentioned above then the following benefits below will be result of the project being an overall success. Firstly, improved risk assessment can be achieved as allows workers to recognise and control hazards much easier when planning for them at the start. From this, it can create awareness between staff and can be used as training as well. Having awareness, improves greater chance of incidents of not happening in the workplace. Appropriate staff hired helps to improve risk assessment as they can understand the sources of risk and learn from past mistakes and ensure they are never repeated. In addition, they have ability to describe risk appropriately which is part of effective risk assessment process. Furthermore, by regular monitoring we can improve risk assessment as we will be ready when to act when new risks are emerging. Chipset, who are offering new London site, can result into more flexibility and seek more profits by offering more services or products. For instance, if the company offer better online services or more electronic components, this would lead to improved customer satisfaction. For example, the IT Manager has built new element in the Chipset website where customers can have online chat to request support or guidance from Chipset staff to improve customer service. This may lead for the organisation to be more effective in delivering service and it can expand to different located sites as they are making more money. From this, Chipset can invest this money to improve in quality of service and better outputs, and increased efficiency between the two sites. For instance, efficiency can be increased within the project or the project has made Chipset more efficient as a company. Increased efficiency is achieved in the business as we already have plan set up. Lastly, this allows Chipset to invest development opportunities to expand services. For this scenario, this could be seeking into new customers worldwide by expanding more sites in the future to offer services to Hong Kong and having staff to commute and carry out work there. 4 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Outcome Two: 2.1 Explain the considerations when reviewing project proposals When reviewing the early project proposals of the Chipset London expansion, there are many considerations for the Project Manager to consider before its implementation. Financial viability of the project: In any company, financial viability is extremely vital as making financially viable decisions can determine whether your company is successful or not. This would mean if an equipment is financially viable simply means to guarantee it is profitable and you can afford it. As stated, (static1, N/D) “To be considered financially viable, the project should (during the preparation and implementation stages) be projected to and (during the operation stage) demonstrably generating sufficient cash flow to deliver an appropriate risk-adjusted return on the capital invested.” A project potential financial value can be calculated to gather prediction of income and profit involved. However, if the project total cost equals more than the potential value, we would consider the project proposal not financially workable and can lead the company to go into debt. An example in our company would be we purchased iPhone for the sales department team to use for work purposes only such as recording device or phoning customers. It will most likely cost around £300 each but has helped the sales staff complete hundreds of top-quality phone conversation over the past 12 months, which will have hopefully increased the amount of positive customer feedback we receive and from this our revenue will have increased. Overall, it means it was financially viable to invest in the iPhone even though it cost Chipset at the start. Beneficial way to approach this is record and research resource elements involved in the project. For instances such as their financial cost, including the equipment resources (physical and human resources), manpower and the materials needed to meet the project targets. Deliverables such as service or product that a project is set to deliver to its stakeholders, such as ongoing report files. Ongoing benefits are involved as that includes assessed prediction of any resulting income or company effects the completed project may have. Running costs of an organisation involves the amount of money that is regularly spend on things such as lighting, heating, salaries and rent. In addition, it can include its maintenance fees and its subsequent operation which are hard to predict at the planning stage. Cost for human resources involve hiring who make up the workforce of an organisation whereas the cost of physical resources include tools, production, office building, storage facilities and manufacturing equipment. A financial risk assessment would be involved as considers the likelihood and consequences of possible changes, failures or incidents that could affect the financial viability of the project. Budget: A suggested ongoing budget is achieved through the high stakeholders having decision on this. This would involve the overview of any following costs that the project proposal may suffer from. For instances, electricity cost and maintenance fees are selected examples of how project can collapse. On the other hand, it can be difficult to predict all of these costs so it would be easier to comprehend by summarising it in an Excel spreadsheet to help Chipset measure the ongoing effects. Having a contingency budget for unexpected cost is sensible approach for Chipset in case the project goes over the budget and lead the company to overall become bankrupt and make no profit at all. Contingencies: A contingency plan is basically a Plan B. A backup plan in place in case for when things go differently towards the project proposal expectations. In Project Management are component of risk management and they should be included in the risk management plan as contingency planning 5 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner involves defining actions to be taken if a recognised risk event should happen. However, this type of plan cannot be created for unidentified risks as would be impossible to do contingency plan without knowing the risks. Project time window is always considered in the planning stage and can be often be recalculated in order to reach requirement of project stakeholders or to include extra time constraints found. We see projects split into phases and each phase has its task and targets. By splitting into phases its easier for organise the project step by step process and track any time constraints for project tasks which overall helps to calculation of the final time span of the project. However, it might not always go to plan so that is why it is good practice to add a contingency time period to the total as buffer for any unplanned events that may happen. In addition, there can be time-effecting precondition to consider at this stage which refers to requirements that need to be met before certain tasks can be accomplished. A great example for this would be tracking the arranged delivery for material or equipment supplies needed for the new London site. Having a team of “paid for each hour” workers ready to implement a network topology two weeks before the materials are due to arrive would be an obstacle to the financial viability and agreed time window. However, it be easier to absorb if an appropriate amount of contingency time and funding was included in the initial proposal. Companies involved in any project always plan more money than needed like a SafetyNet which can protect them when financial surprises hit. For instance, if the project is calculated to cost in total of £250,000. A contingency budget of extra 10% which is £25,000 is extra to help Chipset. For example, if Chipset discover problem constraints of running out of time and require more third-party workers to meet the handover date, then the company can use the extra 10% to help of handing in the project on time. Constraints: All considerations can be part of constraints to a projects life cycle if conditions are not met acceptably. Constraints state to limitations or boundaries set at the foundation of a project and can be detrimental to the completion of each project phase and to its final success. Its high priority to research the project many factors at the planning phase of a project. Costs Cost can be massive constraint in lots of ways during the full upgrade. Firstly, expensive investment could be involved in your new brand computer products which was has gone over the company estimated budget, leading them into debt if no contingency budget is planned. Secondly, you might have to hire more support such as third-party workers to help complete your deadline and requires to use more money for hiring staff than expected. Cost for the project does not only involve for materials, it includes the costs for labour, vendors, quality control. Hidden cost Hidden costs are unexpected costs added on to purchases. Normally hidden costs are paid for by the individuals who must live with the harm from toxics, not by the industries that create this harm. One common hidden costs company may face is delivered goods could be damaged or faulty from the suppliers when arrived at the site. This can cause chaos during your implementation phase, as you need this vital equipment to complete this phase and the whole project on time. Paying for the same equipment to replace it without ordering backup equipment at the beginning will overall cause downtime in the project. In addition, another issue you may face during the implementation at the London site is when you are decorating the wall and you discovered it needs plastering, making it hidden cost to pay extra for. Furthermore, whilst travelling from the Nottingham to London site, you may discover whilst travelling a hidden cost of fuel. This could be because there is roadworks on the normal route to the London site and requires the staff to take longer diversion route to reach the destination on time. 6 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner provides support on a daily basis. From this, results of achieving their goal of fulfilling its role positively as they are influencing employee’s satisfaction and being betrothed. Overall, this leads the business being more productive and possibly earn customer satisfaction.  Project Manager The Project Manager plans and is responsible to carry out the project management life cycle and make sure each phase is completed on time. These types of stakeholders are assigned by higher- ranking managers so they can manage a single project. In addition, their goal is to plan and direct the work of other employees and check if it is done or not and getting reliable suppliers. However, they cannot have the authority of promoting or make salary adjustments to them. Furthermore, project Managers goal would be being accountable for its project team, resources and the whole project scope (CIO, 2019). Their main goal is for their project to work successfully and not a failure so that would mean every decision they placed must bring a direct benefit to the project.  IT Manager IT Manager has their main goal focused on making sure all systems and devices are put into place for each department. IT Project Managers are involved to coordinate the work of technicians and administrative staff to produce a new network topology and operating system setup for the workstations in each of the site departments. Their goal is to managing, planning and leading computer-related activities in an organisation. Their goal for Chipset would be to determine the IT needs of the company and responsible for employing computer systems to fulfil the Chipset information systems requirements.  Technicians IT Technicians are given specific tasks including installation and testing systems in a given time from the IT Manager. They are responsible to report progress achieved so far and technical problems to the IT Manager. Given tasks for technicians meeting Chipset network requirements would be installing telecommunications systems, servers, printers, workstations and WAP (Wireless Access Point). So, technicians are responsible to install these technologies and devices mentioned above and test them to ensure they are working correctly. In addition, their goal could be educating the Chipset staff how to use and maintain their new network devices.  Staffs Staff members involved in Chipset are managed by the Line Manager and their goal is to carry out and achieve the assigned tasks given by the Line Managers in their day-to day operation of the firm. These are type of individuals who contribute effectively towards the successful operative of an organisation (MSG, N/D). The employees drive the company based on the specific strategies decided by the CEO. They have a clear interest in the company as they rely on its income for paying for their daily essentials and security for future too.  Government The Government have clear interest in any business succeeding as want more people employed which overall leads more workers paying tax and government pays less unemployment pay. Furthermore, the Government are major stakeholder that can affect companies like Chipset by making them pay more tax if Chipset is performing really well in the project. In addition, if the project is successful, then the government can benefit from the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that Chipset contribute to. Governments are also responsible to be used in a project to check and confirm the health and safety and environmental legislations involved in the project. For instances, the workplace would refer to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 within the Project. 9 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner  Customers Customers are the people or organisations who will approve and manage the project’s service or result. Customers want to see Chipset to continue in operation as they require on the company for daily needs such as their technical components for their workstation and have effective customer service in the future. Chipset goal would be to inform the customers that project is taking place and how their services or products may be affected over the next three months. In addition, to make customers convinced over this project proposal is informing how can bring positive outcomes from this such as improved online shopping website or ease of reaching out for customer service.  Suppliers Suppliers’ role is to supply goods e.g., products or service for the companies in given specific time delivery. They have to make sure the delivery of the product is in time and guarantee there will be getting success from the product if it works well. A supplier has responsibility in a business to act as an intermediary between manufacturer and retailer, making sure that communication is approaching and stock is of satisfactory quality (OBERLO, N/D). Suppliers clearly want attract businesses to grow so more supplies are required by Chipset and the suppliers can gain further money if this happens for the future. Our goal with suppliers is where we would obtain our resources or equipment that essential for the project. Identify needs:  Money: Firstly, Chipset would be required to spend money on interconnecting devices such as switches, routers, workstations, printers, servers, VOIP phones and WAP in order to meet their network implementation requirements. Direct costs are type of costs that can be directly credited to a specific project such as labour cost (wages), equipment rental costs and material cost. An example of equipment rental costs would be testing equipment required for the network such as cable tester or port checking tools. In a Chipset environment, direct costs would include: costs of diagnostic software licenses, costs of project related travel, salaries of the staff involved on the project and costs of staff training. Overall, direct costs directly benefit a specific project. Furthermore, funds would be essential on for the new London site environment such as suitable lighting, heating and table furniture. In addition, for having successful suppliers in our project, we need to spend our funds on wholesalers and distributors. They are type of suppliers are companies that buy in bulk from numerous manufacturers or vendors.  Skilled staff: Within this project, we need to interview suitable skilled staff such as technicians, third party workers or external employees for achieving Chipset project proposal. Interviewing reliable suppliers too might be involved to see how trustworthy or understand how vital this project is for Chipset. For the interviewing technique, you would use this once you meet and employ a new worker who has idea of your company profile and you would question them how their role would be suitable in upgrading systems and their experience of working in a team or IT industry. In addition, during the interview, you may question their qualification and skills they have received in education such as problem solving and quality of their work rate and see if it is appropriate requirements for the project to be due in on time. For instance, risk management, task management, basic analytics, collaboration and scheduling are vital skills required for the Chipset project. Interviewing is a formal meeting at where someone is asking questions in order to find out if they are suitable for a job or have right interest for role you giving out to the employees. Types of interviewing are eye contact, online e.g., Skype, one to one or one to many. The benefits of this technique are building a rapport (process of improving a connection with someone else). Skills such as communication e.g., active 10 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner listener. They will also get to view your personality too. In addition, a communication cycle process can happen as it benefits when it is complete in a face-to-face technique. It is a process of the sender, who is try to communicate and needs to form of idea and use a channel such as group presentation or lecturer. From that, the receiver then has to code it back and give the sender feedback.  Time: In the project, we required to give specific time for carrying out each phase and set up signoff date for each of the five phases. In addition, you have to make sure the suppliers deliver the resources on specific date given of the production so can staff members can continue on the next stage of phase (implementation). Furthermore, you have to plan and allocate different tasks for technicians and staff to complete in specific timing date slot. You also have to make sure that the two technicians are not doing same tasks as each other and doing their exact same work hours as each other.  Suppliers: It is vital to finding good suppliers and maintaining sold relationships with them can be an invaluable tool in the quest for Chipset success and expansion. Suppliers are essential to have in a project as they provide materials a company uses to produce its own goods or services. In addition, it is vital to have suppliers in order to provide transportation of the required materials or equipment for the project. Furthermore, without having suppliers, then the company cannot benefit from their services it uses in providing goods and service to its customers. So, this is why it is very significant to build solid relationship with suppliers, so Chipset can offer its own customers a consistently high quality product or service.  Transport: Transport is required so we need to hire delivery vans to move the supplies, materials, furniture and tools from the Nottingham site to the new London site. Funds would need to be spend on delivery vans to hire for the day. However, we may require faster modes of transportation, but cost more than slower mode. For instances, shipping order overseas by airplane is much faster than transporting by ship, it can cost as much as 10 times more. Therefore, the Project Manager must consider carefully the cost of transporting goods when determine whether to move equipment and how to move equipment in the most economical manner. In addition, we require to have good transport links to the London site so it can widen people’s job-search area and help them find employment. Chipset may provide private transport access for its staff workers through a bus so they can complete their tasks at the London and Nottingham site. Without having reliable transportation, low-income workers risk losing their jobs and limiting their earning potential. This is a major barrier to financial stability.  Planning: Most importantly, we require to have a planning phase in order for the project to begin successfully with a direction planned towards the handover stage. First, during the planning stage, you would need to plan layout of the working area and where will all the network devices be place around each department room. It is IT requirement for them where will all the network devices will be place around all of the department rooms in the London site. This requires during this phase the technicians to do a site visit and do a risk assessment of the area too to see any possible major hazards that can happen to them during the installation. In addition, they are able to plan working area as type of research. Furthermore, for this project to have positive outcome, we require a communication plan which indicates how our project will be communicated to various audiences. It is vital to outline how issues will be communicated and resolved within the project team and how 11 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner stakeholder’s advice and setting a suitable budget can provide vital resources for the project to be successful.  Realistic: Realistic goal indicates if the goal is realistic or can be done in the time given. Having this type of goal focuses on results not actions. In addition, we can consider the value-added impact to customers, department or key stakeholders in achieving this goal. We have to keep goal relevant for the whole project team, as when they realise that a goal is important, they will put in more effort when compared to unimportant goals. Realistic goal example for Chipset would be adding new features which will be continually used and offers improved best quality of service (QoS) which overall leads for support for future expansion.  Time-Bound: Having a time-bound goal indicates that goals are feasible in terms of the given time frame. It is about realising some of our goals will longer to complete than others and may require to set aside other goals because time does not permit its completion with the resources that we have now have access to. When creating this type of goal, we need to make due dates clear to everyone involved and realise if there is enough time to accomplish the goal by specifying the timeframe. Good time- bound goal example for Chipset would be: reasonably this project designed within a 13-week timeframe. Record goals in project plans: In the table below we are recording against the Chipset proposal project plan. From this, we are able measure and monitor the progress as we can make sure our tasks or sub tasks are completed when they should be. As you can see below, we have put our goals into phases, tasks and sub tasks and considered them in SMART principle. By using SMART principles, each goal of each subtask can be more clearly defined and provide an instinctive benefit to the project members. Any benefit passed to its team members then effects the success of the project. When we set a SMART principle in our table, we thought of how each stakeholder is going to use one of the SMART acronyms in order for the project to succeed. In addition, easier to comprehend the tasks to complete and overall put less strain on the project environment. As you can see below SMART goals can be set for each project stakeholder easier in table. Defining each objective with its stakeholder provides a platform to identify their responsibilities and needs which is shown also in table too. If something goes wrong, we can resolve as the whole point of management is being fluent and making the project stable. We can avoid reactive management which is considered one of the worse types of management as you face with problems every other day. Identify stakeholders Identify needs of the project SMART principles How to record goals in project plans CEO Overall achievement for a CEO is making money so they would require to be updated with costs and if there is going to be profit gain or not from this project. In addition, legally they are responsible for health and safety check so they require to from their technicians’ records of maintenance checks, examinations, testing and servicing. For instance, we require PAT Steer their project proposal to the Line and Project Manager and the Government in order to be convinced. Example of achievable goal set here could be setting overall budget and how much money would be used in the project and if will be realistic budget Record key information through online agreement review meetings at the end of each phase. Monitoring over project status by communications with the Line Manager through Email and telephone. The CEO could also monitor if 14 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner test records to follow the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 to avoid the company being fined up to £5,000. Furthermore, we require our technicians to carry out risk assessment of the London site to ensure the installation will be safe for the workers. All information of the project is required. This would be achieved through relying on the Line Manager informing the CEO about the overall project status through meeting reviews or weekly written report. CEO is relying all lower hierarchy staff members skilled and performing their job expectations so their company can succeed with profit gain from this project. Staff members relying on Project Manager, as they go back to higher hierarchy stakeholders such as the CEO to discuss issues that may involve them such as money constraints involved in the project. Furthermore, CEO requires access to all resources that is used in the project. For instance, all the sensitive data of their workers being used, access to London building and have full detail background of the project. Timescale would be essential as CEO needs to monitor so they are able to identify when the project is expected to finish. Lastly, CEO will entail good communication such as communicating to the Line Mangers in the most efficient and effective ways. or not. This would be discussed through the Project and Line Manager. Another use of achievable goal could include: when is building going to be finish so can be ready for reconstruction? Is it achievable set to do painting, installing new flooring, and switching out items like cabinet knobs and faucets for the Chipset project? Time bound principle used by CEO would be: reasonably this project designed within a 13- week timeframe. the company is achieving their goal through regular written reports and sign offs taking place at the end of each phase. Dependencies (project is completed on time) relying on all key stakeholders involved. Use of resources such as people – getting lot of waste in organisations so need make sure there is no waste. For instances, CEO needs to monitor and make sure the Line Manager are actually fulfilling their role instead of doing nothing. Line Managers Information is required by the hired Project Manager and IT manager as they rely on those stakeholders to inform them regularly about the performance feedback on the project. This information would need to be obtained through review meetings at the end of each phase or regular written reports indicating how much progress was completed on each day. Information such costs are required to be updated often so they can inform the CEO if the intended project budget is going above, it or not. In addition, Line Managers rely on the Project and IT manager who were hired by them to show and effectively carry out their assigned role task in the project. For instances, we require them to have leadership skills. From this, it shows how Line Manager requires them to their jobs professionally which shows their decision making is correct of hiring them. Additionally, effective communication is required by the Project and IT Manager. Steer the project through the Project Manager. Record information and track progress of the project through online meetings for reviews at the end of each phase on Microsoft Teams with Project and IT Managers. Dependencies: relying on the hired managers to aid us to give direction and hand in the project on time. For instance, relying them to organise its team. Relying on the IT Manager and Project Manager to produce written reports and lead to make sure each phase is handed in time for each phase deadline. Monitoring over updates by regular Communications from the departments such as VOIP and Email. A project dashboard can be used as visually displays metrics 15 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Open-mindedness, active listening and straight talking are selected ways of having effective communication skills. Line Manager requires a formal interview process provided so they are able to hire talent to fill project team positions. Being prepared and having suitable environment is required for the interview process to influence employee’s satisfaction and result them working for Chipset. Furthermore, they must require for the Project Manager to understand overall business aim of the project. Training or support sessions are required so they are able to train new hires so they can understand correctly the work principles of Chipset and be prepared for their demands as the project progresses. Timescale would be essential as Line Manager needs to be updated regularly from the Project Manager so they are able to identify when the project is expected to finish and inform the CEO the progress status. for a projects overall performance or highlight particular problems that require to be questioned further by the Project or IT Manager. Project Manager Project Manager heavily relies on regular information by the staffs, Suppliers and IT Manager so they can be informed on updates over each of the phase stage and if finalised on time or not. Regular review meetings are required at the end of each phase (milestone) in order to see how successful this phase was and signoff is involved too. The project team/staff are relied on to arise any risks to Project Manager that can likely affect delivery of project objectives such as hidden costs. In addition, Project Manager requires from its project staff members to have suitable skills and be reliable to help them make sure project is done well and handed in on time. Hardworking, problem solving, teamwork, adaptability and effective decision making are examples skills that is relied on from project staff members in order to help assist and deliver project objectives. Furthermore, Project managers need the hired IT Manager and technicians to be skilful with their technical experience and skills to complete their project objective of upgrading the network and system for the Chipset sites. May require Cost Wholesalers and Distributors – These suppliers are companies that buy in bulk from several Steer the Project through the IT Manager, Suppliers and Chipset Staff. To measure the progress of the project and its phases, the sub tasks will be broken down so we can track how we are doing month to month basis. Do we have necessary tools, information and other resources available to enable the project team to meet this objective? Do the new workers require new skills or knowledge from experienced experts? Time Bound Criteria: Will the objective be completed within allotted timeframe? Use of Microsoft Project application to organise their tasks and workforce. In addition, we produce reports and charts in software packages in order to able schedule and plan projects. GanttProject application would be required to be installed in order to allow us create Gann charts. From this, we have the ability to create an organised schedule and keep updating it regularly. In addition, Project Manager can visually measure the timelines of the tasks and deadlines to keep track and work collaboratively with its project team. Regular quality review meetings with the project team would take place at the site to discuss if they are meeting the standards set in your quality plans. PERT chart may be used as helps to break down individual tasks of a project for analysis. In addition, gives us the ability evaluate the time and resources required to manage a project. 16 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner can build and maintain positive relationship with staff, which is very vital in order for project to be successful. So, they require to build and maintain positive relationship with the staff. Money would be desired to use to order parts for repairs if needed on systems unexpectedly. Require to be informed and assigned a specific time or date for the testing phase. This phase is essential as allows them would to identify the vulnerabilities in the new systems and fix these issues quickly so they will not happen during the handover stage. Communication with staff would be achieve through online communication such as Microsoft Teams so require the company pay for licence on Office 365. Staffs Information from Line and Project Manager is mandatory so staff are able to carry out the assigned tasks in their day-to-day operation of the firm and also assist the project main objectives. Require access to project proposal documentation from Project Manager to overall comprehend Chipset expectations for their project. The staff also depend on an appropriate CEO who has ability to make a specific effective strategy so they are able to drive the Chipset successfully now and the future. Regular review meetings and written reports would happen with the Project Manager as we heavily rely on them to plan, monitor and provide vision of the project. Most importantly, staff workers must have a Project Manager who makes every decision a benefit in the project. Rely on helpful technical support from the technical department if the issue occurs with their new system and speedy communication methods need to be available if unexpected difficulties occurred whilst working such as E-mail or VOIP system. Training would need to be provided from technicians how to use and maintain the new systems and network devices being placed in their departments. Require private transport such as hiring delivery van to aid moving resources and materials or use coach bus to travel and work at the new London site. So, money would be required for them to pay for hiring and the fuel of delivery van and bus Achievable goal example would be staff having appropriate knowledge, skill and expertise to achieve the overall aim for the Chipset project. What is the value-added impact to Chipset customers, Chipset London and Nottingham and other key stakeholders in achieving this objective? Daily written report produced and sent over email to the Project Manager to discuss how productive they done each day with their assigned tasks. From this, we can measure the amount of work done for each day. Monitor the work rate of Chipset staff at end of each phase through signoffs such as agreements at review meetings with the Project Manager. Through discussion, they can agree verbally if had the ability or skills to do the tasks or if not and required training. 19 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner coach. Government Information is critically needed from the CEO of Chipset to be informed about the project and if was a success or fail. In addition, regular updates between Government and CEO would be based on the costs involved in the project and if company overall gains profit or not from the agreed budget at the planning phase. Overall, main information required if Chipset performance level is high so they can pay more tax towards the Government. Review meeting or written persuasive reports is essential to be provided from the CEO so they can be informed if the CEO is succeeding with its company as they require the business to succeed in order for more people to be employed so the government pays less unemployment fees. Local government would rely on CEO to have information provided in their written communication such as a report on how it is going affect the community in a positive or negative way? For instance, might pollute the community or even provide jobs in the future. Require skills from a CEO who has effective communication skills, who is concise, decisive and ability to conflict management. Furthermore, it is vital that they reported with evidence of inspection of health and safety in the company. This would mean the government Requires and permission access to sensitive resources from the project such as inspection reports, plan working area, site visit risk assessment details from the technicians. Relying on the CEO to make sure the company follows the following legislation Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Relying on the CEO to make sure its employers follow Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 Customers Information- Staff are relied on to be inform about the project and updates whilst five phases are carried out. Relying on clear communication and active listener Chipset staff to understand communication from the Chipset staff to inform how their deliveries of their components and good services will be affected during the project stage. Regular updates would be required so they can track the stage the project is at so they Customers are informed about the project is taking place. Through videotelephony such as Zoom or telephone are selected verbal communication methods that Chipset would regularly inform and update the customer progress of the project so far. In order for customers to visually see and monitor the success the company is having with the project is providing up- 20 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner can know the company is continue in operation and not going to have a delay in their daily orders of components they require. to date project dashboard onto Chipset website. Suppliers Information is relied on from the Project and IT Manager as they have to communicate with the suppliers verbally over what source of goods are required in a given specific time delivery which is dependent on the implementation phase. Require plenty of notice over delivery orders required for the project and not last- minute order unexpectedly as they work for lots other companies as well. Verbal communication agreement in the planning is required with the managers over the ability guaranteeing sufficient quality of stock required in the project. Demand payment to be paid on time from Chipset it can spend on reliable manufacturer to get raw materials or components for the implementation phase. Online research is required in order to get reliable manufacturers suitable for the company. Require daily report and review meetings with the Project and IT manager to discuss latest updates over delivery, if resources or materials required are going above Chipset intended budget for this project. Clear and verbally discussion with Project Manager over the contingency plan and how much extra money would be included in the plan such as adding 10% extra onto the proposed budget in case we run out of money. Supplier can be aware of contingency plan if product is vital and might need to go over the budget if higher price than it was expected. Regular verbal communication required with manufactures and PM through regular reports and meeting review to ensure both parties are satisfied. Timescale-monitoring would be involved to keep regular track over delivery updates from the manufacturer to be aware in advance if they come on time or not for the dependent implementation stage. Require good relationship with Project Manager with skills of clear open communication, leadership and ability to reduce availability and delay or quality issues. Require private transport such as hiring delivery van to aid moving resources or Supplier’s specific main goal would be to attract companies and be efficient with their deliveries on specific time given by the Project Manager. Suppliers clearly want attract businesses to grow so more supplies are needed and the suppliers can gain more profit from the company if this happens for the future projects. The goal with suppliers would be obtain where we going to get our goods from. Monitor through reports and sign offs such as agreements at reviews at end of each phase. Agreement spoken site visit meeting with the Project Manager at the planning phase signoff to discuss final agreement the delivery orders and supplies required. Video conferencing applications such as Skype would be essential for suppliers to communicate with manufacturers around the world. We have ability to do quality review session. This would involve visually look at the equipment or product to confirm of meets the standards set by Chipset quality plans. From this, we can best find out during the online call before the project goes too far, as it might be too late to do anything about it then. 21 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner During this phase, you choose what tools the technicians or staff might require before putting the plan into effect. In addition, you would require to use low fidelity design, which is a design is a creative quick way to first way to designing and can be changed simply if needed to. Example for this would be logic topology of network created by the IT Manager which was for technicians to easily process this visual communication image immediately and have understanding how Chipset want their network to be laid out. On the other hand, high fidelity is based on computer designs based on simulation software such as GNS3. This is commonly useful for technical individuals as the design can be broken down into physical topology. This is extremely beneficial for IT manager and technicians as they are able to measure of how many workstations, WAP, VOIP phones or servers required in each of the departments. The IT requirements in this phase would use simulation or design software such as Cisco Packet Tracer or GNS3 which is more industry type of simulation. Training may be involved from external advice before using tools such as safety supplies and construction equipment. At the end of the phase, the Project and IT Manager would have verbally reviewed meeting with the Line Manager and CEO of how much progress was achieve on the design stage and if it was successful completed or not. This could be shown through presentation, demonstrations or through a report what was done on the design phase stage. The time constraint here would be we only have two weeks to hand in this phase. If was successful by completing on the deadline date, then the Project Manager will continue following the schedule for the implementation to start and IT manager will have agreement meeting with the technicians to come at specific time allocated for them to do their jobs. It is important to keep contacting them daily such as instant messaging or phone calls with the suppliers as you might discover a problem with damaged goods inside the package and might see broken security seals when unpacking equipment, which shows the product is not original and been exchanged by others if they are broken. Implementation The planning and designs come finally into effect in the implementation phase. Suppliers will be involved and communicating regularly on the phone with the Project and IT Manager over updates on delivering the materials required which technicians depend on for building and setting up the IT Infrastructure at the Chipset sites. Shipping vehicles such as hired van will be required to move the supplies and office furniture to the London and Nottingham site. The time constraint here would be 24 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner we only have to 2 weeks to reach to the “Milestone 3” deadline date. In this phase, it will involve decorating the room such as plastering the walls, adding network jack to a wall and install office furniture e.g., desks and chairs. Furthermore, it requires the technicians and or third-party workers requiring have their own temporary swipe key to access the site to install cables, workstations, monitors, VOIP phones, servers and printers in each Chipset department. Design and inspection reports will be required by the technicians to confirm and visually how the high- fidelity design is supposed to be implemented. The IT and Project Manager will be communicating face to face with the technicians mainly involved to keep regularly checking if they are doing working in professionally manner and sticking to this phase deadline.Technicians would need to work efficiently with each other as a team with constant verbal feedback so they can make sure they have all have the network devices set up and configured correctly for the all of the staff departments to their needs. Towards end of the phase, they will be a review video conference with the project, IT and Line Manager and CEO how much of the implementation phase was completed and it reaches the deadline on the day set for it or not. Staff may require training needs from the design team to ensure each room of the site is displayed promising as expected. Training may be required from the IT Manager to the technicians to coordinate their positions to ensure they all have different assigned tasks to complete and work effectively towards Chipset expectations. Testing During the testing phase, first the technicians would need to identify the vulnerabilities in the new network devices and fix these issues quickly so they will not be a problem during the handover stage. This shows how vital clear feedback communication is required here. For instance, the accounts and sales staff would be in video conference call using Skype for Business application whilst sharing their screens with the technicians to make sure the network testing is successful. Through clear instructions in the online training provided by the technicians, the Chipset staff will be guided to go into command prompt on their PCs and test if they communicate to each through the network devices and the configurations are strongly set up securely. Training also might be provided by the IT individuals for the rest of the department staff so they can be familiarised with the new operating system installed onto their computers (Windows 10 Pro). Training could be provided through an online session through using Microsoft Teams application. In addition, technicians would require measuring 25 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner devices such “Incutex Ethernet Network tester LAN CAT5E RJ45 RJ11 network cable tester patch cable tester” to ensure the cables and joints are in good condition. From this, it allows technicians to locate cable faults rapidly to avoid hidden costs and creating disruption for the project and Chipset. Furthermore, workstations would be required to be tested and benchmark to measure how successful the implementation of upgrading of the system performance with its new components. For this to be achievable, the IT department will need to have access to a hardware monitoring program such as HWMonitor so it can be installed on all of the workstations so the program can display the systems main health sensors. During benchmark, you might do stress testing which involves taking systems to its limits as tests its stability and reliability of the whole computer. In addition, it includes tests how the system would react and handle under extreme conditions. However, from this you damage the components such as the graphics card if stress test goes over limit, which can cause overheating. One main difficulty with this method is it is lack of informative as it focuses on score number only and it is not cautious over environment having an effect during the testing. The time constraint considered here was we only have two weeks to complete this phase and sub tasks included. Handover The Handover, the final phase, is when the project has finished and the technicians, department staffs, suppliers and managers have completed everything that were assigned to do for Chipset project proposal. These stakeholders will have one last review face to face meeting with the main stakeholders such as the CEO, IT, Line and Project Manager to confirm everything has been achieved to full expectations and everyone is happy with the outcome of the project and provide feedback to the individuals hired for the project such as how they appreciate their service. One way to determine if everyone is happy is referring back to the estimate budget dashboard. From this we can visually see how we gain profit in this project by not using the 10% bonus cash in the contingency plan. A written communication method is used here by the CEO and Line Manager using a confirmation report sheet of the jobs the hired technicians, Project Manager, suppliers and staff have completed and how much money out of the CEO budget that was needed to pay for them. The time constraint here the handover phase only lasts for two weeks. 26 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner In the implementation phase, the IT Manager are shadowing the technicians and may provide training to them over specific network topology required for each Chipset department. In the testing phase, they manage and receive feedback from technicians over the technical issues discovered in the network. They response and allocate to the Project and Line Manager in handover phase to discuss the project work effort and task completed overall. Line Manager As stated, (the balance careers, 2020) “A line manager is responsible for managing employees and resources to achieve specific functional or organizational goals.” For instances, this would include employing and hiring workers that have talent to fill project team positions. Line Managers job is to ensure programs are implemented effectively in a department to help the organization meet its goals. Responsible to be actively involved with their team associates, offers encouragement and provides support on a daily basis. In addition, providing performance feedback and training to all team members In the planning phase responsibility is to define the project vision and its tasks and activities required by the CEO to its hired project and IT Manager. Main job for Chipset is to provide feedback to the project team throughout the five phases and process the plans and decisions made. Their main responsibility is to manage the work taken by other Chipset employees and operations involved in the project whilst reporting to higher-ranking manager. Furthermore, a direct manager (Line Manager) has to be constantly responsible of keeping track of project team staff by participate in their written reports to ensure they are doing their jobs effectively. Line Manager manages the work taken by the project team and operations involved in the project whilst allocating to higher- ranking stakeholders (CEO) over the cost’s updates. In addition, Project and IT Manager decisions are approved from the Line Manager as they provide input of authority for their tasks in each of the phases. They allocated by the CEO as will have to a review meeting of each of five phases to discuss the overall progress of the project. Line Manager act as a liaison between employees and upper management. Project Manager In the planning phase responsibility is to define the project vision and its tasks and activities required to its hired team. In addition, Project Manager plans and is responsible to carry out the project management life cycle and make sure each phase is completed on time. Their main job is making sure Chipset project proposal comes into effect successfully and not a failure so that To overall end this phase is by the project manager having verbal review meeting or produces a report which can be allocated to the CEO and Line Manager to 29 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner would mean every decision they placed must bring a direct benefit to the project. Another key part of their jobs involves planning and directing the work of other Chipset employees and monitor their progress if it is done or not and getting reliable suppliers. Most importantly, the Project Manager is responsible to establish a qualified project team which requires interviewing face to face several of new skilled staff for the project such as suppliers, staff and third-party workers. In addition, accountable to hire suitable amount of hired workers to complete the project on the handover deadline. Administer procurement – if your project requires products and services from outside your organisation, the Project Manager is accountable to manage these contracts and controls the terms of these contracts. Require to do their job positively by providing the motivation team members need to help bring a project to successful completion. discuss the whole stage of the planning to convince the CEO to agree for the project to start. Project Manager steer the project through the IT Manager, Suppliers and Staff. They manage these stakeholders as they will assist and coordinate them throughout the project to ensure completion of the tasks set. However, they are allocated by the Line Manager as they require review at the end of each phase to have confirmation to progress onto next phase as the Line Manager has a final input over decisions you have done with your project team so far. IT Technicians IT Technicians have role to develop components of technical design specification under IT Manager direction. Their jobs regularly include diagnose, repair and maintain software and hardware components to ensure the smooth running of computer systems. Responsible to fill out detailed reports and keep updated records on services that have been performed at each Chipset site. Furthermore, responsible to educate Chipset staff how to use and maintain the network devices installed at their department. Key responsibility for technicians for Chipset is to carry out in the assign tasks installation and testing systems in a given time. Examples of given tasks to fulfil the Chipset information systems requirements are installing telecommunications systems, servers, printers, workstations and WAP. In the testing phase, they are accountable to diagnose problems and come up with solutions efficiently to repair the devices such as ordering parts for repairs if needed. Accountable to carry out a site visit so they can do a risk assessment of the area too to see any possible major hazards that can happen to them during the implementation phase. Technicians have to report to the IT Manager about latest updates over technical upgrade from review meetings at the end of implementation phase. IT technicians are managed by the IT Manager as they discuss technical problems or allocate any questions to them. The IT Manager will approve and have input and participate in completion of your tasks in the implementation, testing and design phase. In the planning phase, they require to be assigned and informed by the IT Manager about the specific tasks involved to meet technical requirements for Chipset. In the implementation phase, technicians allocate to IT Manager if require resources or tools in 30 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner order to able install or fix systems at the London site. In the testing phase, the technicians are in control over the Chipset staff. They manage the staff as they teach and direct them how to maintain and make the most use out of their brand-new workstations. Staff Their duty is to carry out and achieve the assigned tasks given by the Project or Line Managers in their day-to day operation of the firm. The Chipset staff are responsible for carrying out the work detailed in the project plan. In addition, responsible to report or provide information of project programme to its customers. Furthermore, main job they were hired for is to assist the Project Manager to deliver project objectives. Chipset staff are accountable for advising the Project Manager if any risks arise that will likely affect project objectives and to be part of the risk reduction process. Most importantly, we require on Chipset Staff have overall understanding on Chipset aim of the project and how their expertise contributes to that aim. The staff job is to drive the company based on the specific strategies decided by the CEO. Chipset staff allocate to the IT Manager and technicians as their primary point of contact for IT support during the implementation and testing phase. This would involve asking technical question to them and seeking different services such as diagnosing problems and making repairs on their systems. The project staff are managed throughout the phases by the Project Manager as they rely on staff to arise any risks that can likely affect delivery of project objectives such as hidden costs. Review meeting at end of each phase with the Project Manager to confirm the tasks completed and how productive they done each phase. The staff have management role over its customer and has responsibility to keep regular communicating with them the project status and how their components delivery will be affected. Government Responsible to communicate with CEO and seek updates over costs the project is taking and if the company overall will gain more profit or not. Accountable to regular gain information from the Chipset, for instance, if the company performance level is high so Chipset has to pay more tax. Local government are accountable to ask for written Overall meeting reviews would need to happen with the CEO at the planning and handover phase to know if CEO is succeeding with its company as they require 31 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner performance when upgraded. needed. Mostly technicians would speak in technical language or use key IT words that are educated from having second- or third- line support experience. Staff- Sales and HR Staff in Sales and HR department would use range of written communication channels such as Email, Instant messages, memos and telephone. Reasons why the staffs would use these types of channels is benefits them to clearly know the goals, identify problems and arrive at solutions back to the project manager. Memos are commonly communicated between a Project Manager and staffs to give instructions how perform a task assigned to them. Instant messaging will be usually used as it very efficient way of gaining information or seeking help from large number of other HR and Sales staff or even escalating the concern with the systems to the technical technicians. Mostly, this type of communication would be non-technical for HR as it would involve being informal in order for process to be fast and concise and clear over the current progress you have completed to the manager. You most likely know the manager so you would use more casual language. However, the Sales staff would require have to be technical when dealing with a customer and have better understanding than them such as able to give first line support so makes the customer feel that you know what you are talking about. Project Manager Channel types that are useful for Project Managers today so they can succeed and keep track of the project participants are reports, letters, emails or video conference meetings. Reports or letters for managers might be used to include vital information to its lower- ranked stakeholders about the deadline dates, procedures and company policies. The manager is responsible for checking everyone they are completing their sections of the project and staying on the budget. Email is effective way of sending important communication or to ensure clarity to staff quickly, especially when parts of different teams are in different locations. Any channel used by the manager would be technical as they must have a clear idea and be prepared with the expert knowledge told by the CEO for you to lead and direct this information and tasks to rest of the other key stakeholders. However, you may use non- technical in the email as involves getting to the point and having precise instructions instead of overwhelming with irrelevant document to the Sales and HR staff. Suppliers Suppliers that companies heavily rely on them for materials for project to be Project Managers are responsible to communicate with the suppliers of ordering Technical would be used in this case as the suppliers would need to know awareness and 34 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner complete so they communicate with each through: Reports, email, phone or through ERP software system. equipment needed for upgrading their systems and network such as port checking tools. Common way companies communicate with them is through an (ERP) Enterprise resource planning system as provides real-time information and data. From this it improves collaboration and allows for increased productivity as the system keeps track of all moving equipment of manufacturing and distribution so the Project Manager can focus better on other areas on the project that needs improvement. knowledge over range of IT equipment the project manager might order such as new FTP servers or managed/unmanaged switches. They would require knowing the difference types of servers, switches and client systems in order to avoid the supplier selecting the wrong one when on a call with the manager or even give recommendations to what network servers the ones best suited for your department. Finance Finance involves sensitive information shared with high-ranked stakeholders of chipset. It is mostly common for arranging a meeting face to face in a bank branch, sending letters or through the telephone. Finance stakeholders would need to have a private and clarity communication with the Project Manager or CEO. The reasons why it has to be this way because you cannot afford to make any misinterpretations involving delicate information especially with cash. Meetings is great way to reduce chance of confusion and from there you can decide the budget you planning to spend and see how much it will cost in total for the project. Important classified information and cash involved that needs to be dealt with and protected from other outside parties. The stakeholder would require having basic technical knowledge to have strong understanding over different types of network topologies and devices used in today’s world. The Finance people would have technical knowledge over profits and investment with products company interesting in buying. From this it is built into effective communication with Chipset as you can be aware instantly what type of network, they are willing to invest in their budget. 35 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner 2.6 Assess possible risks to successful completion of projects 2.7 Explain how to mitigate for possible risks The table displayed below indicates the possible risks and risks examples to a successful completion of the Chipset project. The second column of the table presents the strength of the possible but each risk category can vary between low, medium and high. Lastly, by doing noticing the likely risks early can provide opportunities of making easier decisions and prepare the best way to mitigate for all of the jeopardies that can happen in the Chipset project. Possible risks Level of risk: Mitigate Cabling: CAT5 cable condition can be affectedly badly over some time when they are exposed to ultraviolet rays of the sun. This could cause data packets to be lost and fail to send network devices whilst different department staff are trying to communicate with each other. Low/medium Technicians should regularly and test the cabling condition by using port checking tools. For example, using the following product “Incutex Ethernet Network tester LAN CAT5E RJ45 RJ11 network cable tester patch cable tester” to ensure the cables and joints are in good condition. Project Team health risks: Firstly, one way the workers’ health can be at risk is the site environment has trailing power cords or loose carpet which could cause you to fall and result in to be physically injured in the workplace. Secondly, all workers who are looking at monitor screen can be risk to eye strain if they been staring at the screen for long time, especially if working in an environment with bad lighting. Thirdly, a common health risks when workers are working with their body movements such as wrists and fingers repeatedly for long period of time is repetitive strain injury (RSI). Lastly, the project team whilst working in the implementation phase can have risk to breathing problems. For instance, health specialists have recommended that ozone is emitted from doing laser printing which overall leads to breathing problems. High A site visit would be required so technicians can do a risk assessment of the area to see any possible and avoid major hazards that can happen to the project team during the implementation phase. For workers and especially the IT workers to avoid eye strain is have screen filters installed on the monitors as can remove high proportion. To reduce bad lighting in the site rooms is having suitable lighting installed and blinds fitted onto the windows to reduce glare. To prevent staff having RSI is applying wrist rests at each office station and provide training how to keep your posture correctly. In addition, a ten-minute break from typing every hour. Furthermore, having a full adjustable chair can dramatically reduce chance of workers having poor posture. Having the laser printer positioned at least one metre away from people are standing and the room has good ventilation is the safest way to having breathing problems. Funding: There can be hidden cost did not expect which causes estimated budget that was planned and cause disruption to the project deadline. For example, when decorating the wall in implementation phase and you discovered it needs plastering, making it Medium/ High Have the project manager in the planning phase to start having contingencies planning report such as budget going above than expected and hidden costs in equipment needed during the project. Project dashboard would 36 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Outcome Three: Be able to use management tools to maintain, control and monitor projects 3.1 Describe different management tools for monitoring and control of projects 3.2 Justify the use of management tools for monitoring and controlling projects Microsoft Project: Microsoft (MS) project is a project management software which is similar to PRINCE2, however, it is Microsoft product. Project Managers use this product control their small or medium sized projects. It is only commonly used by those people who are skilled but not deeply skilled. Purpose of MS project to aid Project Managers in planning development, tracking progress and distributing resources. The software is basically a database with quite simple automation. Efficient organisation of work, complete and coinvent tracking of all changes and project developments are all possible to achieve through Microsoft project. Through a created visual Gantt chart helps us monitor the tasks and sub tasks as it states duration of completion and identify task relationships called dependencies. In this program, we have the ability to state how much progress we have done for each sub phase by going into its properties and stating percentage such as 50% completed for gathering background information on the company. For instance, if there was issue with the carpenters cannot install the windows at the site until the builders have finished walls around the windows. If the installation took extra day and not completed on the planned date, it will have cascading effect on the rest of the sub tasks as they all dependent on each other. Overall, it will lead to project move forward and might make the company past the project deadline they have set. On the other hand, Project Managers will still benefit from this as it allows to anticipate potential delays and prepare a realistic time-table for a project with several dependencies. Monday.com Monday.com combines a visually appealing interface and valuable project visualizing tools into intuitive, simple project management software. It is intuitive tool that enables people to manage work, meet deadlines and offers transparent way to organise our work. It is great type of project management software as has features for managing projects such as time tracking, collaboration and reporting features. For instance, staff can upload and attach files to cards, inset comments and mention co-workers. Commonly popular used today to monitor people or worldwide teams of completion of tasks as it offers great project reporting dashboard that can collect data from several boards, resulting better tracking abilities of progress. Useful to monitor project teams located in different countries as Monday.com allows us to track hours, invoices and timelines. Furthermore, Monday.com allows to seamlessly integrate of all staff favourite tools that are used in a project such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Google Calendar. From this, it allows all project teams to easily locate all files into one place. Project Manager really benefit of using Monday.com in their project as helped streamline visibility into their project as they do not have to worry if a task is missed or the site is not ready as real time updates are provided. Without having this template, the Project Manager would have to email each team member individually. If or she had a question that the manager could not help with, then manager would have to email everyone in the group and forward their reply back to the person who needed help. Furthermore, the Project Manager will be unable to check upon each team member's work and their progress. In Monday.com, in the company directory, you can add local time for each employee. Added location column is available also to see and track the stakeholders are located on worldwide map view. Automation is provided when 39 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner construction design drawings are released, it will be notified to all the team members to go and get started on your task on Monday.com. Overall, Project Managers feel confident knowing Chipset is not wasting time or money and provides lot clarity into single place as can collaborate easier. Executives involved in the project are able to plan for work ahead as they have complete visibility into bandwidth of the team ahead. PRINCE2: PRINCE2 stands for Projects IN Controlled Environments and well-known industry project management process tool, (PRINCE2, N/D). It is widely recognised professional type of tool as widely recognised and practised in private sectors in the United Kingdom and internationally. We see PRINCE2 process used on big projects such as construction state of houses. PRINCE2 holds its own qualification and has two qualification levels- Foundation and Practitioner. Having these qualifications help most Project Manager become successful as teaches how to consistently deliver projects on time and within budget. PRINCE2 is completely scalable and have the most recent update to the framework resulting into being more popular qualification as can be easily tailored to each project you undertake. In PRINCE2 we have the ability to monitor resources and their usage through a resource chart. This could include the costs of equipment, supplies and manpower. In the specific sub-task properties, we are able to look at the resource section to measure how much it will cost to carry it out. In addition, have the ability if the task cost is overtime. For instance, in the task cost, we can set explicitly 1.5 or 2. Overall, Project Managers can monitor use of resources and keep sure we are not over using it. For this case, tracking costs for each task so it does not go over the estimated company budget. 3.3 Use management tools to monitor projects The table below shows process of creating Gantt chart in GanttProject application and how we able to monitor it through tools and features available once setup. Screenshot Describe Right click or click Control + T to create a new task. We going to have phases each time we create a task. Planning stage is the first task created shown on the left. 40 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Within the planning phase task, we going to have sub tasks or sub phases in there. Example of sub phase created in the planning phase is displayed on left. Each sub task is dependent on each other (dependencies) In left screenshot the resource and finance task rely on the site visit and research to happen first to confirm which resources are needed and how much they will cost? At the end each phase we need to add milestone as last sub task as it is signoff and is dependent on everything all other sub tasks completed in that phase. Milestone means we reach something and should be displayed on Gantt chart like diamond picture on the left. Sub task for Implementation phase is created as shown on the left. 41 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Here below is final completion of the Gantt chart created in the GanttProject program. 44 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner 4.1 Explain reasons for reviewing projects after completion (Chipset) It is very vital to review a project after completion, not just after completion, but completion in stages. For instance, in the planning stage we review it and in design, implementation, testing and handover stage, we review it throughout to get signoff/agreement. When the key stakeholders have a meeting at the end of the project, they want to improve it for future projects and able to use the same information documentation and learn any mistakes they had in the past projects and get rid of all mistakes that occurred and learn from past experience and identify key resources required for future projects. One of main reason for reviewing projects after they are done, it ensures comparison against achievements to original objectives. This is achieved through review and monitoring to confirm if it was completed on time or early than expected and was successful. In a review meeting, discussions can take place over how the project could be improved even further or methods should be used next time to make it receive better outcome such as how to hand in a project even more early before its deadline. When we identify objectives, then we have ability to identify key resources for future projects. For instance, what was used or not which became waste. Organisations do not like or expect staff in their site. This could be no waste in time or resources (people). For instance, Project leaders do not want their money being wasted on hired staff who are sitting in the office and doing nothing at all. Another example could be to save money next time by not having extra cabling such as 15m Ethernet cable instead of 20m. Whilst monitoring the project which leads us to highlight any issues, we had during the project through a review meeting process. This could be health and safety issues such as some workstations were not safe to install as they were had no PAT. Another example could be training needs in future such as hiring past project staff to give direction of new staff of carrying out same objective projects. In a review meeting, Project Manager has the occasion to realise the project with current workers took to long than expected or had lack of suitable human resources to hand in the project on time. From this, they are able to learn from this issue and have to seek out new employees such as third-party workers as our current staff had lack of training to cope with Chipset demands or some of them had covid unexpectedly. Shortage of resources can be highlighted issue as the company run out of resources or materials which caused downtime as had to wait for deliveries of the extra orders. Major issue that can noticed is increase in costs as prices always go up and down on products/resources after many years. For instance, CAT5 ethernet cabling becomes cheaper as years go on. However, rent and electricity and living wages are always to increase so that is why it is important to consider and review past projects as there will be increase of costs for future projects. In project completion review meetings, it is very vital to carefully focus on whats predict in the future such as how much this material/resource is going to cost. Most importantly, we can improve future Chipset projects by learning from the good methods done and remove the bad methods from past projects which gives ability to learn from experience. For instance, if the London site was successfully constructed and installed to Chipset network requirements then gives opportunity to improve future projects by expanding similar sites like London around the UK to offer their services or products to more customers. For example, learning from bad issues that occur such as star topology was not suitable network design for Chipset and realise next time that having mesh topology installed at Chipset sites can reach to its expectations as it can handle failures well in a network. An overall summary is reviewing projects after completion allows us for the ability to revise and update plans. In addition, if we follow each stage review correctly, it allows completion of an end of project report. At the handover phase, final end of project report, it is given to the key stakeholders at the meeting to show evidence and confirm the completed Chipset. 45 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner Information in the final report will include all details all from the planning all the way up to the testing phase. The report can become useful as it can be reused again like an organised booklet or produced into a digital report for Chipset stakeholders to visually see how successful this specific project was. For instance, the project outcome might be under or over Chipset expectations and helps Managers to realise there should be in cuts or change of budget limit in the next project. Having ability to learn from experience is key for success in project management. 4.2 Review projects against original proposals Following the original proposal implementation of Chipset network infrastructure based on the logical view design, there was a problem first with the cabling. The VGA (Video Graphics Array) cable failed to work at first as the pins were mostly bent and needed fixing. However, this did not make any changes to the original proposal as it only caused minor change of five minutes to change the cable. When reviewing the original proposal, we could implement better by using and ordering an improved durable cabling to our workstations such as using HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable. Secondly, when following the original proposal, there was power issue during the implementation phase as one of the workstations had low-graded power supply and needed replacing which was determined through doing a POST (Power-On Self-test). We realise whilst reviewing the original proposal, to avoid downtime like this in our future implementation, we should have carried out a PAT test on all of the workstations to make sure there are no health and safety issues will occur. Thirdly, whilst trying to download Windows Server 2012 onto my PC based on the original project proposal of Chipset, there was installation issues as I selected the wrong boot up device in the BIOS setting whilst trying to boot up from the installation CD. After that, I learned how to physically install Windows 7 and 2012 R2 successfully onto the workstations. In addition, hardware issues occurred with equipment such as the Cisco switch that are already pre-configured and do not know the password for it. In the future, I should have checked the password or erase the switch memory before using it. Furthermore, whilst following the original proposal, account creation issues occurred as we had similar username conventions which needed to be changed to avoid confusion and conflict in Chipset. Additionally, whilst following the original proposal, Active Directory installation had a problem installing the domain controller as the time was not synchronize with the workstation. When reviewing the original proposal, once I installed the Windows OS, I should first access the date and time settings and choose” synchronise your clock now” option. Whilst trying to log in as the Administrator, I forgot the strong password that I set before and was required to reset to a strong password I can easily remember. When reviewing on this, I should have wrote down the password into my notepad to avoid downtime like this in the future. Likewise, I try to sign in with the Hayat user but failed to log in as forgot to go into the “Member Of” tab to make this Hayat user an administrator. Most importantly, without remembering and should be done at the start before installing AD, configure a static IP address for server system through the OS settings. Following the original proposal, the following implementation of the routing protocol BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) took place and result of this went well as the routers were able learn its neighbours quickly. However, when reviewing on this, I discover an issue when troubleshooting one of the routers interfaces as did not work straight away when trying to assign static address. Later, I realised the specific interface port was forced shutdown and should have avoided this by entering no shutdown on all router interfaces at the beginning. When reviewing the original proposal of the performance or patterns in Chipset network, we set up baseline and check if the network is performing against the baseline. Once we have configured the baseline, we spent seven days checking the performance of the system and make sure it is staying there as expected. The traffic 46 Student Name: Hammaad Hayat 166610 Tutor: Ben Turner