Project management assignment
The purpose of this essay is to explore and examine the role and functions of Project Management. Such examination focuses primarily on the processes of effective project management of the basis of two separate projects; Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and St Pancreas station in London. These two projects are assessed and analysed in relation to the nine primary elements of the Project Management Body of Knowledge, however, in order to achieve detailed analysis, three elements will form the majority of discussion. However, before detailed assessment of the two case studies is provided, it is first prudent to offer a brief general discussion on Project Management which outlines the definitional parameters of the subject and thus provides a firm theoretical basis for practical assessment.
Firstly, Project Management should be distinguished from its opposite; operations management. The latter presupposes the administration of normal business operations on a repetitive and continual or semi continual basis (Heerkens; 2001). However, the former denotes a temporary operation which has set targets and goals and thus is heavily directed by variables such as funding, time management and deliverable expectations (Heerkens; 2001). As such, Project Management is an endeavour which aims to bring a specific project to fruition through effective planning of resources and organisation. Invariably Project Management aims to initiate change in a particular project setting for the general benefit of the site and those who use it. Thus, beneficial change and increased value are essential conceptions of an effective Project Management process (Lewis; 2007).
Although Project Management procedures exhibit similar characteristics to other project forms, it is nonetheless possible to outline a number of features which are common to all Project Management endeavours. As suggested above, Project Management undertakings generally represent a process of change. However, Project Management is usually unique in its undertakings and lacks concrete routine procedures. As such, Project Management processes are invariably carried out by people who do not usually work together and usually on the basis of a number of inter reliant activities which eventually unite to form one coherent project (Kelly and Nokes; 2007). Moreover, given the relative ad hoc nature of Project Management procedures and outcomes, such processes often carry a significant element of risk and uncertainty. Thus, as Lock (2007; p. 1) explains, “the purpose of project management is to foresee or predict as many of the dangers and problems as possible to the plan”.
Contained within the above outline are a number of essential key roles which any Project Management process must adopt. Central among these are time management, cost analysis and effective performance ratio. The combination of these three theoretical concepts is essential for practical success, especially given the varied and diverse nature of Project Management procedures. In addition, methodology is equally pivotal to effective practical application (Lewis; 2007). There are number of variable methodological approaches which can be adopted to any Project Management process. Which methodology is the most applicable largely depends on the individual characteristics of the project in question, however, for public projects the PRINCE2 approach is invariably used as the theoretical basis on which active practical application is based (Lewis; 2007). PRINCE2 provides a clearly structured approach to Project Management and is particularly effective in projects where a clear framework of development is possible. Naturally, this approach is not applicable to all project scenarios especially those where protracted alterations need to be made to initial planning. However, PRINCE2 does effectively account for varied inputs and outputs which allows for a measure of deviation from central plans which largely accounts for its popularity as a methodological approach (Lewis; 2007).
Let us then turn to assessing the relative successes of our two project case studies. Such assessment will be carried out on the basis of theoretical understandings found in the nine skills and managerial functions of the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Moreover, in order to achieve analytical effectiveness and thoroughness of examination, three of the nine skills and functions will be utilised. These are; managing the scope of the project in terms of aims, goals and objectives; managing time planning in the project through the use of recognised methodologies and effective management of cost through the use of data analysing and performance information through formalised methods and structures (Project Management Institute; 2008).
Firstly, given the diverse and unique form Project Management can often take, effective partnership between the various stakeholder actors is essential (Haynes; 2002). In this respect it is possible to see the active role of partnership at work in the construction of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. Indeed, the initial aims and objectives of the project were clearly laid out by the Project Management team of Mowlem on the basis of architectural outlines provided by Scott Wilson (Mott MacDonald; 2009). In addition, Portsmouth City Council played an active role in setting the aims and objectives in a clear and comprehensive fashion. Initially, the effectiveness with regards managing the scope of the project was successful. However, initial planning failed to take effective account of wider issues of concern at the site. These included inadequate assessment of the constraining nature of the site. Also, although the initial project outlines did account of the operational shopping centre nearby, effective inclusion of this potential effect was not undertaken (Strategic Director of for Corporate Resources and Services; 2005). As such, although the projects goals and objectives were defined in terms of managerial needs, such aims failed to appreciate wider mitigating factors at the site. Thus, the essential need for effective understanding of aims and the forces which can impact upon them is obvious. Moreover, when these wider effects were realised the Project Management team failed to adapt to the changing situation. In this regard, the project organisers failed to comply with Lock’s assessment provided above. Thus, the use of effective methodological approaches was not adopted in the fashion it should have been. Had an adaptive methodology such as PRINCE2 been used as the theoretical foundation for the management of the project then it is likely that greater effective adaption to changing circumstances would have been possible.
The combination of the above deficiencies in the setting out of aims and a clear methodological approach in the construction of the Spinnaker Tower had a consequent impact upon effective cost management. Given that initial estimates failed to account for the possible problems caused by the issues discussed above then naturally the project went significantly over budget (Strategic Director of for Corporate Resources and Services; 2005). Of course, difficulty in managing unforeseen costs is a common issue found in Project Management processes, however, the situation with regards the Spinnaker Tower was compounded because of a lack of communication structures between the Project Managers Mowlem and the local council. Although communication and inter agency approaches had been relatively effective during the planning stages of the tower, when costing and timescale problems emerged these structures were shown to be ineffective for the required task. As such, the example of the Spinnaker Tower provides clear verification of the need to ensure cost management procedures are clearly set out in the early stages of the project development and formed on the basis of effective methodology instilling cooperative effort between stakeholders in the project.
The inherent problems and difficulties outlined above with regards to the Spinnaker Tower represent a failing in the application of Project Management techniques and methodologies. The development of our second case study, the St Pancras train station provides further example of how Project Management techniques require detailed and effective planning from the outset. Moreover, although the project at St Pancras suffered from a number of administrative and practical difficulties, the process was nevertheless successful in carrying out stated aims.
As we saw with the Spinnaker Tower, setting out clear aims and objectives is an essential prerequisite for effective application of Project Management techniques. Indeed, the hugely complex nature of the project at St Pancras and the number of stakeholder actors involved made this requirement particularly important (Kelly and Nokes; 2007). The development process at St Pancras was part of a wider endeavour to establish the Channel Tunnel Rail Link linking an underground tunnel with a major station in London (PTS Consulting; 2008). As such, the complexity and varying sub projects involved in the overall process made it essential that effective Project Management was carried out in a way which united all the various components and actors. Naturally, difficulties with the project emerged, particularly pertaining to funding allocation and cost assessments. This failure essentially came about because of inadequate assessment of time, cost and performance factors (Kelly and Nokes; 2007). Thus, as the project took longer to carry out, so costs and performance were negatively affected as a consequence. Therefore, it is possible to see how managerial account of performance and aims in conjunction with costing failed to take account of potential difficulties at St Pancras station. Moreover, methods and structures which should have allowed for adaption to changing circumstances failed to effectively carry out their function in a way which would have allowed for ongoing cost assessments to be made. As such, as with the example of Spinnaker Tower, those responsible for the project management at St Pancras station did not adopt comprehensive methodological approaches to the project in a way which would have allowed for effective time management. Once again, the effective practical implementation of PRINCE2 would have allowed for greater time management and thus provided the necessary foundation on which to base practical costing and structural issues.
Nonetheless, although the St Pancras project was beset by a variety of political impediments, the overall process exemplified effective cross actor cooperation. Moreover, the complexity of the project and its various constituent parts was in many ways overcome because of a clear initial outline of what was required and how it was to be achieved. Thus, effective initial planning with regards to aims, objectives and goals gave the St Pancras project as greater foundation on which to base theoretical and practical applications than that of Spinnaker Tower (Bligh; 2007). For example, whereas the Spinnaker Tower project failed to account for potential onsite difficulties, this was not mirrored with St Pancras. Thus, the serious problems that occurred with onsite assessment in Portsmouth were not mirrored with the same severity in London.
In conclusion, the processes and functions of Project Management have been outlined along with their application in our two cases study examples. What is clear is that although all the nine elements of the Project Management Body of Knowledge are of vital importance, the three used during the discussion above have particular relevance to our case studies. Firstly, in order for any Project Management process to be effectively undertaken it is essential that initial aims and objectives are clearly defined in order to lay the contextual basis on which later practical application rests. Indeed, such initial assessment allows for beneficial outlines of input and output variables to be derived and thus often accounts for the overall success of a project (Lewis; 2007). As such, using our case studies it is possible to see how effective implementation of detailed and comprehensive aims and objectives is vitally important. Moreover, effectively accounting for possible alterations to these initial aims is equally vital. Thus, the Spinnaker Tower project suffered from numerous practical problems because initial assessments of goals and objectives failed to take account of potential onsite problems. However, the much larger and more complex project at St Pancras did provide comprehensive objectives outlines and took account of possible alterations further down the line.
The use of relevant and applicable methodologies is vital in order for theoretical assumptions to be translated into effective time practice (Lewis; 2007). In this regard, both our case study examples highlighted the potential problems which can emerge when such procedures are not actively undertaken. Indeed, both the Spinnaker Tower and St Pancras station projects suffered from time delays because of inadequate methodologies to underpin their management procedures. Given the complexity of the St Pancras project and the variety of different forces involved such delay can be understood to a certain degree. However, the delays involved in the construction of the Spinnaker Tower clearly point to methodological failures in time management. Thus, the importance of such factors in carrying out effective Project Management is obvious.
Finally, both case studies suffered from costing problems, in particular accurately assessing cost issues through analysis data and performance indicators. Naturally, problems pertaining to increased costs were in many ways brought about and certainly exacerbated by time delays. However, such failures clearly indicate the need for ongoing cost assessment on the basis of performance data is vital for effective Project Management to be undertaken.
Bibliography
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Mott MacDonald (2009) ‘Spinnaker Tower, UK’, Mott Macdonald [online], cited 29/11/09, available at; http://www.mottmac.com/projects/?imageId=39675&id=39661.
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