Assignment Set - 1 Answer 1

Name : Ratan Ravindra Singh Reg No : 571016772
Subject : MB0049 : Project Management Assignment Set -1
ASSIGNMENT SET – 1
Answer 1:
To put it in a nutshell, the management skills and the confidence about one's own abilities,
make him/her a good manager. The managerial skills matter most. What are they? Actually it
is a skill set that consists of leadership, decision-making abilities, an understanding nature and
confidence to top them all. Thorough knowledge in one's domain, expertise in one's field,
effective strategic planning skills and foresight make a good manager. The person within the
manager is equally important. As a person, a good manager is understanding and considerate.
A good manager is able to differentiate between the right and the wrong. He/She knows where
to play the stickler for rules as also times when he/she needs to be considerate. The
combination of an understanding person and an intelligent professional makes a good
manager.
Leadership
Leadership is one of the vital qualities of a good manager. A good manager is often seen
exercising effective leadership in the organization. By effective and fair leadership we mean the
skills to guide the team members, to encourage them towards attainment of the organization’s
goals and take the right decisions at the right point of time. A good manager has confidence in
his/her abilities, and is thus innovative enough to experiment while nevertheless being brave
to admit mistakes. An effective leader, that a manager is, needs to think out of the box!
Plan and Delegate

Planning well is a part of one’s managerial skills. A good manager has a foresight that helps
him/her plan effectively. A good manager devises fail-proof plans, divides the task into
subtasks and delegates them to his/her team members. Effective delegation involves an
understanding of the skill sets of the employees, scheduling tasks and getting them done from
the employees within deadlines. Delegation facilitates the division of responsibility; helps
accomplish the plan faster while also giving the delegates an opportunity to excel. The effective
execution of a plan requires a manager to dream, dedicate resources towards the fulfillment of
the dream and head the team to turn the dream true!
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Intelligentsia
A very uncommon common sense is something that is seen in a good manager. A good
manager possesses complete knowledge of his field and is confident about that knowledge. A
thorough knowledge of one's position and responsibilities is the trait of a good manager.
Intelligence is characteristic to a good manager. A witty sense of humor is a trait that is often
seen in good managers. Along with intellect and humor, creativity is a common trait of good
managers. A manager needs to have a creative mind to welcome new ideas from the team
members and subordinates, and execute the bright, the innovative and the feasible ones. A
good manager always aims at bringing in reforms to work patterns, experiment and take
his/her organization on the path of success. Emotional intelligence is another important trait
of a good manager.
Listen with Concern

A good manager exhibits the trait of always taking everyone along. An excellent manager is the
one who treads with a positive attitude, along with his/her team and leads them to success. A
good manager shows traits such as an optimistic attitude, a motivating ability, listening skills
and a concern for people. An effective manager must motivate his/her team members and be
aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. A good manager is a good listener to
pay heed to the team members’ problems, be open to their views, accept a constructive
criticism from them and understand their abilities. A good manager is always aware that
‘subordinates’ are after all ‘humans’ and treats them with concern and consideration. A good
manager never forgets that he/she is leading people who are the most important assets of an
organization.
Keep Your Cool

Being able to keep one’s cool in all kinds of situations is a trait seen in a good manager. An
enthusiastic and optimistic manager is capable of remaining calm in all types of scenarios. A
good manager does not lose his/her cool even while facing a difficulty. He/she is able to correct
the team members without going wild. A good manager is an effective communicator and a
composed individual.
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Answer 2:
Programme management is a fairly new technique and as such is not always well understood.
Following my survey it is clear that programme management is an area of growing interest for
organisations.
To co-ordinate a portfolio of projects to harmonise communications in order to achieve a set of
stated business objectives. Provision of strategy alignment with design objectives in order to
maintain control over a multiple project environment. Ensuring quality end deliverables which
meet business operational needs.
Objectives of Programme Management

Programme Management is a technique concerned with controlling a group of related projects
carried out to achieve a defined business objective or benefit. If we take one of Robert
Buttrick's definitions that some projects 'are simply too large to manage as a single entity,'
then we necessarily need to split them up into smaller manageable projects. If the whole is too
large for a single project manager to handle, then it follows that a number of projects
managers are required to take care of the smaller projects.
So smaller projects with multiple project managers all designed to achieve a single long-term
objective or benefit for the organization. In order to control this group and have an overall
view we require a programme manager.
The programme manager is not concerned with the day to day running of individual projects
in the programme, this is the project mangers responsibility but he/she needs to ensure that
all projects are running on target and that each will achieve it's overall contribution to the
whole programme.
The activities undertaken during programme management are
 Setting the baseline
 Agreeing roles and responsibilities
 Programme planning
 Project prioritorization
 Stakeholder communication
 Progress reporting
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 Managing benefits
 Quality management
 Risk management
 Issue management
 Programme closure
Programme Management Framework

This chapter looks at a framework in which programme management can operate. As
identified in the introduction, programme management is a way to control project
management. A group of related projects not managed as a programme are likely to run off
course and fail to achieve the desire outcome.
There are eight key areas in the framework:

1. Vision is the high level strategy or idea to drive the organization towards a goal, benefit or
other desired outcome. This vision will usually be a brief statement of intent communicated
down from the management or leadership. It is important that the vision has high level
sponsorship and commitment for it to be successful.
2. The aims and objectives is a more detailed statement that explains exactly what is
required. This provides a point of reference to go back to when renewed focus is required.
3. The scope gives boundaries to the programme explaining what exactly it is that will be
delivered. The scope should leave no room for doubt and everyone should be clear about
what is and isn't being delivered.
4. Design is the way in which the projects that make up the programme are put together. In
this process the programme manager considers which projects have dependencies on
others and therefore which should come first, can run concurrently and those that come
last.
5. The approach is the way the programme will be run. The approach is dependent on many
factors and it is left to the skill of the programme manager to decide the most effective way.
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The communication plan is contained within the approach and at the very least should
commit to regular progress reporting to stakeholders.
6. Resourcing looks at the scheduling and allocation of resources. Short term and longer-
term views should be taken. For the projects that will start straightaway it is important to
identify resources and obtain line manager commitment early. For later projects, required
resource levels should be identified but line manager commitment is not needed at this
stage.
7. Responsibility identifies and allocates responsibility for each area of the programme.
Every member of the programme must clearly understand his or her roles and the roles of
the other team members. It is the task of the programme manager to ensure that this is
clearly communicated and understood.
8. Benefits realization is the process at the end of the programme by which the benefits
identified at the beginning of the programme and measured. It is the responsibility of the
programme manager to demonstrate to the steering committee that the desired benefits
have been realized. Often this will mean that the programme manager will continue to
monitor a programme long after the individual projects are complete in order to ensure
that the benefits are realized at a business level.
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This framework will provide:

· A focus on delivering major organisational changes or benefits.
· Greater control through visibility of all projects in the programme.
· An understanding of project dependencies.
· Clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
· A single line of communication to the steering committee or sponsor.
· Optimized use of resources across projects.
· Ability to leverage economies of scale and maximize value.
· Management of risk across related projects.
· Mechanisms for measuring benefit realization
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Answer 3:
A
Traditional Vs. Projectised Organization
Functional This is the most common form of organization. The organization is grouped by
areas of specialization within different functional areas (e.g., accounting, marketing and
manufacturing). When you see the functional form of organization on the exam, think "silo."
Projects generally occur within a single department. If information or project work is needed
from another department, the request is transmitted up to the department head, who
communicates the request to the other department head. Otherwise, communication stays
within the project. Team members complete project work in addition to normal departmental
work.
Projectized In a projectized organization, the entire company is organized by projects.

The project manager has control of projects. Personnel are assigned and report to a project
manager. When you see projectized on the exam, remember "no home." Team members
complete only project work and when the project is over they do not have a department to go
back to. They need to be assigned to another project or get another job with another employer.
Communication generally occurs only within the project.
Projectised organizations Traditional organisations
1. They have teams comprising members who 1. They have the formal organization
are responsible for completing one entire structure, with departments, functions,
deliverable product. sections having a hierarchy of managers
and their assistants.
2. The teams will have all the resources
required to finish the jobs. 2. All of the managers function on a
continuous basis catering to a series of
3. They have a time schedule within which all requirements issued by the planning
the elements of the projects Have to be Department.
completed.
3. They have teams comprising members
4. There is greater accountability among who are responsible for completing One
team members and everyone is Responsible entire deliverable product. An assembly of
for the delivery. various units of their production forms a
products and a
5. It is found that a sense of ‘ownership’ of variety of such products make up the
the project motivates team members to be Business of the company.
creative, cooperative among them to achieve
high productivity 4. No particular member or a department
or a team is responsible for the
Completion of any particular product.
Their creativity and innovation is in
Particular respect of their jobs.
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Structure Explanation
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B
Re-engineering:
1. Reengineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an
organization. A business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a
defined business outcome.
2. Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-
functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer
separate functional tasks into complete cross-functional processes.
3. It is an approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization's
mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the
organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs
E-engineering
1. e-Engineering is an answer for growing globalization of manufacturing, sourcing and
engineering. In the world of ever increasing speed, competition, treats and opportunities,
you need to conduct your business better, faster and more efficiently every day.
2. This is exactly the main goal of our e-Engineering: to help run your business according to
the highest global standards and best practices, by providing with up-to-date, leading-edge
industrial Web applications, customized to your needs.
3. Although the term “e-engineering” has been around for a while, its definition has been
broadened as of late to encompass entirely new job roles and ways of working. Initially, “e-
engineering” simply referred to electronic engineers working collaboratively from different
locations.
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Answer 4:
Macro issues
A : Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront: In order to provide complete stability to
fulfillment of goals, one needs to constantly evaluate from time to time, the consideration of
what will constitute the success of completing a project and assessing its success before
completion. The KSF should be evolved based on a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will
also provide an input to effective exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit from the
project but from any of the drilled down elemental activities which may prove to be hurdles
rather than contributors. Broad level of KSF should be available at the conceptual stage and
should be firmed up and detailed out during the planning stage. The easiest way would be for
the team to evaluate each step for chances of success on a scale of ten. KSF should be available
to the management duly approved by the project manager before execution and control stages.
KSF rides above normal consideration of time and cost – at the levels encompassing client
expectation and management perception – time and cost come into play as subservient to
these major goals.
B : Empowerment Title (ET) – ET reflects the relative importance of members of the

organization at three levels:
1. Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated

responsibilities – the major change from bureaucratic systems is an expectation from these
members to innovate and contribute to time and cost.
2. Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards client
expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers.
3. Managers are empowered further to act independently
4. but to maintain a scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and perception,
apart from being a virtual advisor to the top management.
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Partnering Decision Making (PDM) :

PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control. A senior with a better decision making process
will work closely with the project managers as well as members to plan what best can be done
to manage the future better from past experience. The key here is the active participation of
members in the decision making process. The ownership is distributed among all irrespective
of levels – the term equally should be avoided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The
right feeling of ownership is important. This step is most difficult since junior members have
to respond and resist to being pushed through sheer innovation and performance – this is how
future leaders would emerge.
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Answer 5:
A
Risk Identification:
To identify risks, we must first define risk. Risks are potential problems, ones that are not
guaranteed to occur. When people begin performing risk identification they often start by
listing known problems. Known problems are not risks. During risk identification, you might
notice some known problems. If so, just move them to a problem list and concentrate on
future potential problems.
Risk identification can be done using a brainstorming session. The brainstorm

typically takes 15 30 minutes. Be sure to invite anyone who can help you think of
risks. In the brainstorming session, people call out potential problem that they think
could hurt the project. New ideas are generated based on the items on the brainstorm
list. A project manager can also use the process to refer to a database of risk
obtained from past.
The information obtained from such databases can help the project
manager to evaluate and assess the nature of the risk and its impact on the project.
Example of risks are: “We may not have the requirements right.
“The technology is untested,” “Key people might leave,” “The server won’t restart in
situation X,” and “People might resist the change.” Any potential problem, or critical
project feature, is a good candidate for the risk list.
B
Risk Analysis : Are those events or conditions that may occur and whose
occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aims to identify
the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk management
entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be considered cost effective only if the cost
of risk management is considerably less than the cost incurred if the risk materializes.
There are different types of risk involved in a project. The main types are:-
(a) Project risksit is the risk arising out of a change in the scope of the project,
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changes in the work quantities, changes in the resource requirements, estimation

error or unexpected developments in a project.
(b) Market risks it is the risk arising out of a change in any of the
Following marketing parameter – price change, changes in market regulations,
Economic changes, competition, competitor’s product changes, etc.
(c) Industry risk it is the risk arising out of a change in scientific instruments
Used in business activity, changes in companies policies because of changes in the
Industry.
(d) Social and political risk it arises out of changes in labor situation,
labour laws, environment law, etc.
C
Risk Management Planning :
Risk is real for any company or organization. Don't kid yourself. Things happen when you least
expect them to happen. Are YOU ready for the unimaginable, the unexpected, the
unwanted? As an executive, have you put your head in the sand around risk? Do you pretend
that all is well, and nothing will change? If so, it's time to face reality: data gets lost, buildings
burn, people resign. When any of these occur, your organization is at risk for malfunction,
inefficiency, chronic struggle, revenue loss, and even total failure. Is this the path you want to
go down?
Beginning now, you can initiate the process of developing your organization's risk
management plan. Take charge. Form a committee representing Board members and staff,
and ask them to partner with you to create this critical document. Make sure everyone
understands the importance of the work, and explain to them how they can benefit from
contributing to the finished product. Risk managements plans are not optional; they are
essential for every company, large or small. There are no valid exceptions.
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Implement the following seven steps, and give yourself and others a huge slice of peace of
mind:
1. Define what risk looks like for your organization.
What constitutes risk in your shop? Threats to normal operations? Threats or compromises to
people's safety? Loss of physical and electronic property? Loss of revenue? Decreased
public/community support? Unethical behaviors? Create a comprehensive definition of risk
that means something to YOU and YOUR organization.
2. Identify specific risks.

Ask the committee to brainstorm as many different risks as they can possibly imagine. Record
them on a white board or flip chart. Examples of various risks include: firing of the chief
executive, dwindling interest in one of your major products, departmental silos, Board
infighting, inability to fundraise, economic downturn, layoffs, building fire, computer crashes,
philosophical differences between key employees, extended leaves for managers, interruption
in receiving necessary supplies. All of these are potential risks, and there are many
others. Continue brainstorming until the group believes they have come up with an exhaustive
list.
3. Categorize each risk.

Determine category names for the identified risks. Examples may be: Chief Executive, Board of
Directors, Physical Property, Technology, Data, Employees, Products or Services,
Customers/Clients, Stakeholders,. Place each risk under one of the selected categories. Create
as many category names as you need.
4. Rank each risk according to severity or significance.

Choose headings such as "most severe", "moderately severe", "of minimal concern". You don't
have to use these same words for your headings, but be sure that your phrases adequately
differentiate between the degrees of seriousness. Perhaps you would like to color code each
risk according to its significance heading: red for "most severe"; black for "moderately severe",
and green for "of minimal concern". Set it up the way it best works for you and your
organization.
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5. Develop strategies for reducing or eliminating each risk.

Begin with the risks under your "most severe" heading. It's critical that you don't delay in
thinking through possible solutions for those major issues. Ideally, determine multiple
strategies for each risk. Be sure to consider who within the organization is going to be
responsible for implementing the various strategies, and the resources needed to implement
them. Omitting this information from the plan only causes big problems later.
6. Write your plan.

Using all of the above input, shape a readable document. Practicality is paramount here. The
plan is worthless if nobody can follow it, interpret it, or actually rely on it as a guide during
crisis. After it is compiled, seek feedback from the committee as well as other employees and
Board members. Incorporate changes where indicated. Check for evidence of common sense
throughout the document. Hold yourself accountable to a high standard around common
sense. A pie-in-the-sky risk management plan doesn't serve anyone.
7. Test some of those strategies in your plan for viability.

Do they work? Can they work? Why or why not? Where are the pitfalls? What steps are
missing? Would you benefit from having certain outside experts review your strategies? If so,
which types of experts?
D
Risk Review:
1. Identify Threats:
The first stage of a risk analysis is to identify threats facing you. Threats may be:
 Human – from individuals or organizations, illness, death, etc.
 Operational – from disruption to supplies and operations, loss of access to essential
assets, failures in distribution, etc.
 Reputational – from loss of business partner or employee confidence, or damage to
reputation in the market.
 Procedural – from failures of accountability, internal systems and controls,
organization, fraud, etc.
 Project – risks of cost over-runs, jobs taking too long, of insufficient product or service
quality, etc.
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 Financial – from business failure, stock market, interest rates, unemployment, etc.
 Technical – from advances in technology, technical failure, etc.
 Natural – threats from weather, natural disaster, accident, disease, etc.
 Political – from changes in tax regimes, public opinion, government policy, foreign
influence, etc.
 Others
This analysis of threat is important because it is so easy to overlook important threats.
One way of trying to capture them all is to use a number of different approaches:
 Firstly, run through a list such as the one above, to see if any apply.
 Secondly, think through the systems, organizations or structures you operate, and
analyze risks to any part of those.
 See if you can see any vulnerabilities within these systems or structures.
 Ask other people, who might have different perspectives.
2. Estimate Risk:
Once you have identified the threats you face, the next step is to work out the likelihood of the
threat being realized and to assess its impact.
One approach to this is to make your best estimate of the probability of the event occurring,
and to multiply this by the amount it will cost you to set things right if it happens. This gives
you a value for the risk.
3. Manage Risk:
Once you have worked out the value of risks you face, you can start to look at ways of
managing them. When you are doing this, it is important to choose cost effective approaches –
in most cases, there is no point in spending more to eliminating a risk than the cost of the
event if it occurs. Often, it may be better to accept the risk than to use excessive resources to
eliminate it.
Risk may be managed in a number of ways:
 By using existing assets:
Here existing resources can be used to counter risk. This may involve improvements to
existing methods and systems, changes in responsibilities, improvements to
accountability and internal controls, etc.
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 By contingency planning:
You may decide to accept a risk, but choose to develop a plan to minimize its effects if it
happens. A good contingency plan will allow you to take action immediately, with the
minimum of project control if you find yourself in a crisis management situation.
Contingency plans also form a key part of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) or
Business Continuity management (BCM).
 By investing in new resources:
Your risk analysis should give you the basis for deciding whether to bring in additional
resources to counter the risk. This can also include insuring the risk: Here you pay
someone else to carry part of the risk – this is particularly important where the risk is so
great as to threaten your or your organization's solvency.
4. Review:
Once you have carried out a risk analysis and management exercise, it may be worth carrying
out regular reviews. These might involve formal reviews of the risk analysis, or may involve
testing systems and plans appropriately.
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Answer 6:
The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the project’s goals
or objectives. Regardless of scope or complexity, any project goes through a series of stages
during its life.
Every project requires careful planning so that deliverables are met in a timely, cost-effective
and professional manner. In today's economy, project managers must ensure that all allocated
resources are used in the most efficient manner. This means a focused and professional project
plan which is based on the project life cycle. Here is how the basic structure is laid out:
Initiation Phase
In this phase the project scope and timing are determined. Scope means all the things that
must be considered are accounted for (such as budget, time allotment, etc.) and those that are
not mandatory for the success of the project must be excluded so as to keep the plan on track
in terms of time, budget and stakeholder expectations.
This is also the highest risk portion of the project life cycle because the variables must be
determined and if the wrong budget, resources, or timelines are set it could throw the whole
project off and risk stakeholder discontinuance.
Planning Phase
In this phase, the detailed planning occurs and the actions to complete the plans are set in
motion. Whereas the initiation phase saw the high level planning, this is about creation of
project plans that will guide the team through to successful completion.
For example, in the initiation phase the Project Manager might determine that a technical
person is required on the team. This portion of the project life cycle will determine who that
person should be, and show the actual acquisition of that specific individual to the team.
Execution Phase / Controlling Phase

This portion is usually the longest portion of the project life cycle and will consume the
greatest amount of resources. In this phase, the action items in the project plan are
accomplished and the physical deliverables are achieved. This phase also shows the
implementation of management processes to ensure that time, cost, quality, change, risks,
procurements and any grievances or issues are addressed.
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Close-out Phase
This phase is the wrap-up phase. The project is formally closed and final reports that
summarize the project’s successes and lessons learned delivered to the stakeholders. This
phase also shows the return of all equipment, the closure of human resource contracts, and the
transfer of documentation and deliverables to the customer or stakeholders.
Post-Implementation Phase
Many companies choose to add on one extra phase to the basic project life cycle structure: the
Post-Implementation Phase. One to three months after the completion of the project, a Post-
Implementation report is created to evaluate the success of the project and product now that
the company has had a chance to evaluate the success of the implementation
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Name : Ratan Ravindra Singh Reg No : 571016772

Subject : MB0049 : Project Management Assignment Set -1

Plan and Delegate

Listen with Concern

Keep Your Cool

Objectives of Programme Management

Programme Management Framework

There are eight key areas in the framework:

This framework will provide:

Traditional Vs. Projectised Organization

Projectized In a projectized organization, the entire company is organized by projects.

Projectised organizations Traditional organisations

B : Empowerment Title (ET) – ET reflects the relative importance of members of the

1. Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective allocated

Partnering Decision Making (PDM) :

Risk identification can be done using a brainstorming session. The brainstorm

changes in the work quantities, changes in the resource requirements, estimation

2. Identify specific risks.

3. Categorize each risk.

4. Rank each risk according to severity or significance.

5. Develop strategies for reducing or eliminating each risk.

6. Write your plan.

7. Test some of those strategies in your plan for viability.

Execution Phase / Controlling Phase

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