Project Management Plan (Osama Nasir's conflicted copy 2010-10-22)
1. BUSN7024 Project Management Principles
Semester 2, 2010 – Major Assignment
Project Management Plan
Algae Nursery System
Azim Khan U4009419
Emma Shaw U4924015
Osama Nasir U 4786695
Ruoying Liang U4638781
Stephanie Mutiara U4820179
Word Count: 21,310
Due Date: Friday, 22 October 2010
E-copy: via email to walter.fernandez@anu.edu.au
Paper copy: assignment box, ABIS School Office
File Name: project-management-plan-osama-nasirs-conflicted-copy-
201010223186.doc
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Team Number: 7
By signing on Table 1 each member acknowledges his or her agreement with the
stated contribution to the overall assignment made by each team member.
Name Student No Contribution Signature
Azim Khan U4009419 A
Emma Shaw U4924015 A
Osama Nasir U4786695 A
Ruoying Liang U4638781 A
Stephanie Mutiara U4820179 A
Table 1: Membership and Individual Contribution.
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Use the following convention to state each member contribution to the total effort
• A = very good contribution, the team member went above the expected
participation level.
• B = good contribution, the member participated as expected and was diligent
in performing the assigned tasks.
• C = less than satisfactory contribution, the member participation and
contribution was less than the average for the team.
• D = the member had minimal participation on the team effort, shown lack of
commitment to the team and significantly increased other members’
workload.
• E = the team member did not contribute at all to the team.
The team shall discuss and agree on the contribution level for each team member.
Your signature on Table 1 indicates your agreement with the assessment of
contribution. A lack of signature will indicate dissatisfaction with the attribution.
Please note, if half or less than half of the team sign the contribution assessment, a
penalty of 5% will apply to the assignment’s mark.
To encourage the teams to strive to perform as a team, penalties will be assigned to
students that perform below the minimum expected level (see Table 2).
Individual contribution to the team’s effort. Penalty to be applied to the assignment’s
mark for the particular student
A 0%
B. 0%
C 15%
D 50%
E 100%
Table 2: Human Resources Mismanagement Penalties.
This page is confidential and will NOT be seen by the class. The lecturer will
delete this page before releasing the document for class access on the web site.
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Acknowledgement
Walter Fernandez is grateful to the author of this
template, David Tuffley, who generously allowed him to
modify the template and to use it at ANU.
Plagiarism
✍ Plagiarism will not be tolerated. It is the responsibility of
the team to ensure that proper citation and quotation
conventions are followed. Failure to observe this rule will
result in a zero mark for the entire assignment, regardless
of the magnitude of the infringement. Further action(s)
might be considered on a case-by-case basis.
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5.4.2. Schedule Management Plan................................................14
5.4.3. Resource Requirement Update............................................15
5.4.4. Constraints and Assumptions...............................................15
5.5. Schedule Control.........................................................................15
5.5.1. Schedule Updates ...............................................................15
5.5.2. Corrective Actions................................................................16
6. Project Cost Management................................................................17
6.1. Resource Planning......................................................................17
6.1.1. Resource Requirement........................................................18
6.2. Cost Estimating...........................................................................20
6.3. Cost Budgeting............................................................................26
6.4. Cost Monitoring, Controlling and Reporting................................26
6.5. Other considerations...................................................................28
7. Project Quality Management............................................................30
7.1. Scope...........................................................................................30
7.2. Quality Objective.........................................................................31
7.3. Quality Control.............................................................................31
7.4. Organisational Structure and Responsibilities............................33
Quality Management Process............................................................34
7.4.1. Quality Planning...................................................................34
7.4.2. Quality Assurance................................................................39
7.4.3. Quality Control......................................................................40
7.5. Other Considerations...................................................................42
7.5.1. Quality Cost Monitoring and Reporting................................42
7.5.2. Leadership............................................................................43
7.5.3. Organisational Influence, Workplace Factors and Quality..43
7.5.4. Expectations and Cultural Differences.................................43
8. Project Human Resource Management..........................................44
8.1. Human Resource Planning..........................................................44
This human resource plan is created to identify and document
project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships involved
in the project. The Organizational Chart, Roles and
Responsibilities Assignments, RACI Chart, Staffing management
plan in this plan are used to ensure project success.....................44
8.1.1. Organizational Chart............................................................44
8.1.2. Roles and Responsibilities Assignment...............................45
8.1.3. RACI Chart...........................................................................47
8.1.4. Staffing Management Plans and Resource Histogram........48
8.1.4.1. Resource Histogram.....................................................49
8.1.4.2. Staffing Management Plan............................................50
8.2. Staff Acquisition...........................................................................50
This section sets forth the acquisition strategy, defines the efforts
required to implement it to ensure coordination of the project
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manager and the human resource department to get the right
people to fulfil the project’s needs..................................................50
8.2.1. Resource Assignment..........................................................50
8.2.1.1. Staff Pooling Description..............................................51
8.2.1.2. Recruitment Practices...................................................52
8.2.1.3. Project Staff Assigned...................................................53
8.2.1.4. Project Team Directory.................................................54
8.3. Team Development......................................................................54
The main goal of this team development plan is to help people
work together more effectively to improve project performance and
achieve the project goals................................................................54
8.3.1. Training.................................................................................54
8.3.2. Team Building Activities.......................................................54
8.3.3. Input to Performance Appraisals..........................................54
8.3.3.1. Employee Self-Evaluation Assessment........................55
Employee Information....................................................................55
Goals..............................................................................................55
Risks and Expectations.................................................................55
Comments......................................................................................55
8.3.3.2. Employee Performance Review....................................56
8.3.4. Performance Improvements.................................................56
8.3.4.1. Improvement in Individual Skills...................................57
8.3.4.2. Improvement in Team Behaviours................................58
8.4. Team Management......................................................................58
Team management is essential in Human Resource Management
Plan. The Project Manager is required to do the followings to
motivate and manage his/her team members in case changes are
requested to the project..................................................................58
9. Project Communication Management.............................................59
9.1. Communications Planning...........................................................59
9.2. Information Distribution...............................................................60
9.2.1. Introductions to New Stakeholders and Negotiation............61
9.2.2. Meetings, Presentation and Reports....................................64
9.2.3. File Management..................................................................67
9.3. Performance Reporting................................................................70
9.3.1. Communications Hierarchy..................................................73
9.3.1.1. Top Down Communication............................................74
9.3.1.2. Bottom Up Communication...........................................75
9.3.1.3. Middle Out Communication...........................................76
9.4. Administrative Closure.................................................................78
9.5. Other techniques for information and communications
management.......................................................................................80
10. Project Risk Management..............................................................81
10.1. Risk Management Planning......................................................82
10.1.1. Organisational Risk Management Policies........................82
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10.1.2. Risk Planning Meetings and Analysis................................83
10.1.3. Risk Management Plan......................................................84
10.1.4. Methodology.......................................................................85
10.1.5. Roles and Responsibilities.................................................85
10.1.6. Risk Categories..................................................................86
10.1.7. Project Risks.......................................................................87
10.2. Risk Identification ....................................................................90
10.2.1. Tools and Techniques........................................................91
10.2.2. Risk Register......................................................................92
10.3. Qualitative Risk Analysis..........................................................92
10.4. Quantitative Risk Analysis........................................................93
10.5. Risk Monitoring and Controlling...............................................93
10.5.1. Monitoring...........................................................................94
10.5.2. Controlling..........................................................................94
10.5.3. Reporting............................................................................94
10.6. Risk Response Planning..........................................................95
10.6.1. Negative Risks....................................................................95
10.6.2. Positive Risks.....................................................................96
11. Project Procurement Management................................................97
11.1. Procurement Planning..............................................................97
11.2. Solicitation Planning ................................................................98
11.3. Solicitation................................................................................99
11.4. Source Selection.....................................................................100
11.5. Contract Administration..........................................................101
11.6. Contract Closeout...................................................................102
12. Conclusion.....................................................................................103
13. Appendix A - Project Gantt Chart................................................104
14. Appendix B - Table 6.3. Project Cost Baseline..........................105
15. Appendix C - Monthly Project Financial Performance Report
Template...............................................................................................106
16. Appendix D - Year to Date Project Financial Performance Report
...............................................................................................................107
17. Appendix E - Labour Cost Analysis Report...............................108
18. Appendix F – WBS........................................................................109
19. Appendix G – WBS Dictionary.....................................................110
20. References.....................................................................................113
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1. Executive Summary
The Nursery System Project will automate the early cultivation of
micro-algae. Automation of this process is needed in order to
prepare commercial quantities of micro-algae which can in turn
produce commercial quantities of bio-fuel. The Nursery System
will monitor and control the growth of micro-algae from the
laboratory to the large tanks in which the micro-algae is grown.
This project will be considered successful based on stakeholder
acceptance of the project, with all changes noted and
documented and stakeholder acceptance of these changes, as
well as a working nursery system that endures an allotted
amount of time without technical failures.
This project management plan details each phase of the project
the project manager must complete in order to deliver a
successful product. This includes project cost, time and scope
management, project quality management, communications,
risk, procurement and human resources management, and
overall project integration management procedures and
methods for the successful project manager.
The project will cost $$$ and will take 271 days to complete.
The project has been planned to produce a product of high
quality, ensuring the commercial viability of the Nursery System.
The project will be complete when key stakeholders from the
ANU BioSolar Program are satisfied that the Nursery System
meets their requirements.
The major risks for this project include:
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2. Project Introduction
The Australian National University has developed bio-
technology which allows crude oil to be sourced from micro-
algae. The development of this technology allows for a
renewable source of energy. In a world of finite non-renewable
energies, the uses for this renewable source of energy are many
and varied.
However, the micro-algae needs carefully grown and monitored.
The environment in which it is grown must be carefully regulated
for light, pH, temperature and water to ensure that the algae do
not die. Current processes for encouraging the growth of algae
involve transferring the algae by hand from a series of smaller
ponds into a series of larger ponds, to ensure that the algae
does not die from overexposure to water.
The Nursery System project will automate this process. By
automating the process, the project will not only reduce the time
and effort required in growing algae into commercial quantities
for oil production, but create an exportable system in which any
business can use the nursery system to develop its own algae
for bio-fuel production.
The nursery system project includes the development of a user
manual, which will enhance the marketability of the system, and
also ensure that the technology can be widely used.
By creating the nursery system, the project team will be
contributing to the transfer from reliance on fossil fuels to a
more environmentally friendly use of renewable bio-fuels.
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3. Project Integration Management
Project integration management is key to ensuring the overall
success of the project. It involves coordinating all of the other
project management areas throughout the project’s life cycle.
3.1. Project Plan Development
The Project Plan has been created following the nine key project
management principles – cost, time, scope, quality,
communications, risk, procurement, human resources and
project integration – so that project management plan provides a
comprehensive overview. This project management plan
provides consistency across all nine areas to ensure that all
aspects of the project have been planned for.
Please, refer to the table of contents for a full list of all the
plans and documents that have been designed for this
project.
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3.2. Project Plan Execution
3.2.1. Project Initiation
The project will be initiated at the instigation of the ANU
BioSolar Program. The project will be selected by key
stakeholders from the ANU BioSolar Program, who will also
consider the development of the business case, determine
scope, time and cost constraints, identify the project sponsor,
and select a project manager.
3.2.2. Project Direction
The project will be directed by the project manager, under
whose authority all decisions will be made, in conjunction with
the Change Control Committee. The project manager’s decision
will be final. The project manager alone can endorse and initiate
each of the work activities under the Work Breakdown Structure.
3.2.3. Project Planning, Monitoring and Controlling Cycle
The project planning, monitoring and controlling Cycle will be
performed through constant communication, both oral and
written. Formally, monitoring and controlling will be managed
through written documents which include the weekly progress
report, exception reports for management on issues of particular
interest that arise during the project, and the final lessons
learned report.
The planning, monitoring and controlling cycle will constitute a
‘feedback loop’ in which any deviations from the project
schedule, budget or scope are fed back into the planning and
executing phases so that any changes are accounted for and
absorbed, ensuring that the project will meet its deliverables.
Documenting ensures that all project team members and
management have a full record of the execution phase of the
project.
3.2.4. Project Closing
The closing phase of the project includes formal acceptance of the
nursery system, administrative activities associated with the end of the
project, and the preparation of reports for stakeholders and the wider
community.
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3.3. Integrated Change Control
Integrated change control will be performed in this project. Any
change requests will be considered by a Change Control
Committee, consisting of the project manager, project sponsor,
and key stakeholders such as the head of the ANU BioSolar
program. Any change will be considered in the light of its impact
on project schedule, cost, quality and overall potential
improvement of the Nursery System. All rejected and approved
changes, and the reasons for rejection or approval, will be
documented in a Change Management document, which,
together with the original scope statement, will form the project
scope baseline. For more detail about integrated change
control, please see section 4.5.
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4. Project Scope Management
The scope of this project is described below. It has been
compartmentalized into the following areas: initiation; planning;
definition; verification and change control.
4.1. Initiation
The project has been authorized by Dr. Walter Fernandez as a
part of the bio duel solar energy program. The reason for its
authorization is the ultimate need of an automated system for
the early cultivation of algae before pouring it to the large
ponds. The business need that this project has been developed
is to automate the process of early cultivation algae in the
nursery considering all of the factors that affect the cultivation.
This is important to the industry because it will minimize the
human effort. In its early stages, micro-algae need to be
carefully cultivated to ensure it does not die. The micro-algae
are sensitive to fluctuations in water quantity, temperature, light,
pH and nutrients. The survival of the micro-algae in its early
stages is vital to ensuring commercial production of the micro-
algae later.
This is the plan for the initial planning phase of the project, it is
anticipated that once the project enters execution phase a new
or modified plan will be established updating the various
changing criterion.
The main purpose of the project is to automate the process of
micro algae early cultivation that helps in the production of bio
fuel.
4.1.1. Product Description
The product that will be produced at the end of this project will
be a nursery system that can be supplied to any where required.
The nursery system will consider all the important factors that
affect the cultivation of algae and its quality i.e., temperature, pH
and nutrients etc. The nursery system will consist of number of
tanks with different sizes. Since, algae grow initially in smaller
tanks and then need a large area to cultivate; nursery system
will monitor and control the flow of algae in these tanks with
considering the factors affecting it.
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4.1.2. Strategic Plan
This project is congruent with the strategic plan and long-term
objectives of the organisation. This is reflected particularly
strongly by the will to enter the bio fuel production markets.
4.1.3. Project Selection Criteria
This project has been selected because there was a severe
need of an automated system to control the flow of algae in the
early cultivation of algae. This project is also an integral part of
the overall bio fuel solar energy program to assist the production
of bio fuel.
The product of this project is a nursery system that can be
transferred to anywhere it is required and control the early
cultivation of algae.
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4.2. Scope Planning
4.2.1. Product Description
For a description of the product of this plan, please refer to topic
4.1.1.
4.2.2. Project Charter
• The Business Need
The business need of the system is to minimize the
amount of human effort in the early cultivation of algae.
This is important to the business because large number
of human efforts require large amount of money. With the
automated system human effort will be decreased and
this system will be one time investment.
• Product Description
The product that will be produced at the end of this
project will be a nursery system that can be supplied to
anywhere required. The nursery system will consider all
the important factors that affect the cultivation of algae
and its quality i.e., temperature, pH and nutrients etc. The
nursery system will consist of number of tanks with
different sizes. Since, algae grow initially in smaller tanks
and then need a large area to cultivate; nursery system
will monitor and control the flow of algae in these tanks
with considering the factors affecting it.
• Product Manager
The project manager for this project is to be Mr. XYZ.
XYZ will have the full authority over the budget and
resources allocated to this project. No further seeking of
resources will be accepted unless it is presented by XYZ.
• Constraints
• Budgets and time
• Availability of Human Resources
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• Assumptions
It is assumed that:
• There will be constant easy access to the
Program Director;
• Bio fuel will not be superseded by another type
of technology before production begins;
• No member of the project team will leave the
team before the end of the project.
4.3. Scope Definition
4.3.1. Scope Statement
The scope of the project is to develop a project management
plan for nursery system project. The Nursery System Project
Management Plan will provide a project plan for the
development of a Nursery System which can be exported
anywhere around Australia. The business need of the system is
to minimize the amount of human effort in the early cultivation of
algae.
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4.3.2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Please, refer to Appendix F – WBS.
4.4. Scope Verification
This section seeks to identify the critical success factors and
evaluation of those factors upon delivery of the strategic plan to
the stakeholders.
4.4.1. Critical Success Factors
There are number of critical success factors that will decide
whether the project has been successfully completed. They are
described as follows:
1. The nursery system is completed meeting all the required
specifications;
2. The project is completed in a time as was planned;
3. The nursery system is in a working condition with ease;
4. It is easy to train a person with all the functional &
technical specification of the system; and
5. The system meets all of the quality standards as were
planned.
4.4.2. Evaluation Measures
Stakeholders can check the quality by deploying the prototype
system on a small scale. The output of the system can be
analyzed. After testing the prototype system, the system will be
deployed on the production site where the output can be further
analyzed.
After testing this, stakeholders can decide whether system is
meeting all of the requirements or is it missing few of the
features as planned.
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4.5. Scope Change Control
This section defines how planning and management of changes
to the scope, via change request, is carried out. This section
also details how any scope management plans; corrective
actions and lessons learnt documentation should be completed.
4.5.1. Scope Changes
Any change requests will be considered by a Change Control
Committee, consisting of the project manager, project sponsor,
and key stakeholders such as the head of the ANU BioSolar
program. Any change will be considered in the light of its impact
on project schedule, cost, quality and overall potential
improvement of the Nursery System. All rejected and approved
changes, and the reasons for rejection or approval, will be
documented in a Change Management document, which,
together with the original scope statement, will form the project
scope baseline.
For any change requests that come during the project, a proper
path of communication will be required to communicate the
change to the respective authority. The request must include the
strong justification and grounds for implementing the change.
The request should be submitted to and approved by the project
manage. If the project manager feels that this change request is
of any worth, then he may approve it and forward to the program
manager. Both project and program managers will reserve the
right to contest the change based on practicalities and delays
caused, costs incurred and quality effects. Once approved, the
requested changes will be integrated in to the project plan,
which will be disseminated to each stakeholder, including the
effects on costs, timeliness and quality. The base line should
remain the same and the changes should be mentioned
separately.
4.5.2. Corrective Action
Where a scope change request has been submitted and
approved, the following corrective actions shall apply.
1. It will be integrated into the project plan in a separate
section;
2. New costs, timeframes and quality effects will be detailed;
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3. All new tasks will be integrated into the WBS and
assigned;
4. All cost increases will be factored into phasing and
overall budgets; and
5. The scope verification adapted to suit new deliverables.
If there is any change or delay in the timeline, which is not
caused by any scope change, it has to be reported to the project
manager. The program manager has to be informed about this
delay by project manager. If the delay can be recovered through
additional hours, the overtime can be paid to the employees
who will work on it.
In the event of a major delay, a corrective action report (CAR)
will be created giving options of how to proceed. This will
include the amount required to get back on time, the quality drop
that will be required to get back on time or the time that will be
lost. This will be disseminated to the program manager and
internal stakeholders.
4.5.3. Documentation
All changes, the efforts required to work on those changes and
the communication done for the change requests are to be
documented and approved by the project manager. The
documentation has to be shared on Google Docs so that the
whole project team has access on it. (Refer to Project
Communications Plan for further description.)
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5. Project Time Management
This section describes all the strategies that have been adopted
to manage the time, which affects one of the most important
aspects of a project, i.e. Schedule. The section will start from
the activity definition, continue with defining the duration of
activities, the resources used in the activities, schedule
development and will end with explaining how to manage control
the time management process in schedule control section.
5.1. Activity Definition
Please see below the activity list for this project. All constraints
and assumptions are listed in the project charter, in the scope
initiation section (4.1.1).
Please, refer to the Appendix A – Project Gantt chart,
Appendix F – WBS and Appendix G – WBS Dictionary.
5.2. Activity Sequencing
We have used Network diagram to show sequencing of
activities. Network diagram is a schematic display of the logical
relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities.
Please, refer to the Appendix A – Project Gantt Chart.
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5.3. Activity Duration Estimating
The Work Breakdown Structure contains the times that have
been estimated, as shown below.
5.3.1. Basis of Estimates
This is a list of further assumptions that were taken during
development of the estimates.
• The number of human resources is assumed.
• Raw material can be supplied without any interruption.
• Feed of preliminary design and prototype will be provided on
time.
5.4. Schedule Development
This section details the start and finish dates and how to
manage the timelines for the project. The schedule assumes
that the standard hours of the project are 8 hours per day 5 days
per week, excluding public holidays.
5.4.1. Project Schedule
To view the project schedule, please refer to the Gantt chart
attached in Appendix A – Project Gantt Chart.
5.4.2. Schedule Management Plan
If there is a schedule change or a delay in any specific task is
identified before the activity becomes late, the project manager
is to reallocate the necessary resources according to the
changes that have occurred. The Project Manager should
investigate why there was a delay going to happen. If it’s
because of the resources that were assigned to the activities,
necessary action should be taken against them.
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5.4.3. Resource Requirement Update
In the event of corrective actions being approved by the Project
Manager, where there are cost or resource implications, these
are to be tracked and included in the budget. This will be done
by formal notification to the project accountant via email and
followed up in writing. If there is an issue with the number of
required resources, Project Manager should try to fill the space
as soon as possible.
5.4.4. Constraints and Assumptions
The constraints on this section include standard hours to be
worked, because it limits the ability of workers to complete tasks
by their allotted time.
Assumptions
• The number of required employees will always be
available on time throughout the project.
• The attendance of the employees will remain
constant.
• No employee will resign during the project.
• There will be no significant and unrecoverable ‘lags’
in the proposed schedule.
5.5. Schedule Control
5.5.1. Schedule Updates
A schedule update is considered to be anything that changes
the start or finish time of another work activity down to the level
three tasks. These include any level four tasks or below that
affect higher-level tasks. To assist in schedule management
once a task is complete, the WBS will be updated via the online
software. In addition, the person in control of completing the
work activity is to advise the project manager and anyone whose
task it will affect. The updated WBS will be saved as a new
name with updated date as well. In that way, it would be easy to
keep track of the changes and updates.
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5.5.2. Corrective Actions
In the event of a completion time that will affect another task
either by allowing it to start earlier or forcing it later, a formal
schedule update request must be submitted to the project
manager with a corrective actions proposal including an
estimated cost of any such proposal. If accepted by the project
manager – with no corrective actions available – they will notify
the project sponsor, program manager and any relevant internal
and external stakeholders.
In addition, the project manager will inform the other team
members affected about the change to schedule and seek any
possible corrective actions from that work group to get the
project back on time.
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6. Project Cost Management
Cost is one of the Triple Constrains of a project. To create a
successful project, project manager must have a comprehensive
consideration of the cost to achieve the project goals, any cost
overestimate and underestimate may ruin the project during the
project life cycle. This cost management plan serves to
effectively and efficiently allocate resources for development of
a strategic plan for developing a prototype of a nursery system
with the capacity to cultivate 450 litres of algae for the Bio-fuel
program.
The range of the total cost of the project would be +/-10% of the
estimate cost ($306,360) which is between $275,724 and
$336,996.
As a best practice guide PMBOK recommends the Project
Cost Management processes include the following:
• Resource Planning
• Cost Estimating
• Cost Budgeting
• Cost Monitoring, Controlling and reporting
6.1. Resource Planning
Core resources determination is explicitly based on the Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the project scope statement
presented in the project scope management section. Other
resources, such as the office supplies, transportation and
utilities etc, which are not directly related to the nursery system
but indirectly related to the performance of the project, are
included in the General and Administrative charges (G&A).
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6.1.1. Resource Requirement
The resource requirement table below presents the summary of
core resources in quantity, type, and quality needed to
efficiently develop the nursery system. The requirements of the
job positions are stated in this table, while the descriptions of
the job positions are presented in Human Resource
Management Plan in details. The allocation and the cost of the
resources at the WBS levels are presented in the cost estimate
section.
Table 6.1.1. Resource Requirement Table
Resource Name Hrs
Resource
Description/Requirements
Labour
Project Manager 512
1. More than five years of
Project management
experience as well as be PMI
certified.
2. Strong planning, motivation
and communication skills.
Senior
Engineer/Analyst
1496
1. Master degree in biology
science and/or engineering.
2. At least five years recent
specialized experience.
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
2
888
1. Bachelor degree in biology
science and/or engineering.
2. At least two years recent
specialized experience.
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
1
584
Accountant 320
1. At least three years
accounting experience, the
majority of which should have
been in a project related
environment.
2. Computer literacy with
experience in MSWord, excel.
3. Must be able to work
independently and meet
deadlines in a team
environment.
Technician 1 440 1. Relevant tertiary
qualifications in biologyTechnician 2 440
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28. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
science or/and engineering
2. At least two years
experience in biology-related
Technician 3 360
Technician 4 360
Procurement
Specialist
1640
1. A purchasing certification is
preferred.
2. A minimum of two years
working in a general buying
environment.
3. Considerable knowledge of
purchasing methods and
procedures and of the
techniques of specification
writing.
ANU expert 20
Provide suggestions and solve
the technical problems at
technical level.
Hardware
Desktop PC 10
Each PC will be assigned to
each employee
PC
Model: HP Pavilion P6325A I3-
540 Pc or at the equivalent
level.
Printers 5
Model: Samsung CLP315
Colour Laser Printer or at the
equivalent level.
Coulter Counter 1
Estimate the culture density of
the algae.
Fluorescent Tubes 3
Artificial illumination to
optimize growth.
Immersion Heater 4
2400 watt, 240 volt immersion
heater to control the
temperature for cultivating the
algae at different stage.
Pines and Hoses 5
Transfer the algae from small
tanks to large tanks.
Air Filter 4
Filters for air supply to prevent
contamination.
Tanks 4
Used to contain the growing
algae, the sizes of the tanks
are 250ml, 250ml to 4l, 4l to
20l, 50l, respectively.
Materials
Fertilizers Nutrient
Media
500
Fertilizer nutrients such as
nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium and carbon source
are needed to cultivate algae
in the nursery system.
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29. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
Glassware 5
Contain the sample of the
algae cultures.
6.2. Cost Estimating
Commonly used tools and techniques to assist in creating a cost
estimate include analogous cost estimating, bottom-up
estimating, parametric modelling, resource cost rates, project
management software, vendor bid analysis and reserve analysis
(Kathy Schwalbe, 2007).In this project, cost estimations are
created using bottom-up estimates and based on the market
prices for goods and services in the Australian economy and the
Australian most popular job site SEEK.COM pay check survey.
Every individual work items or activities in the WBS are
allocated a cost and summed to get the higher level total.
When creating cost estimations and allocating costs to
resources requirements, significant consideration is given
to uncertainties such as major scope changes and
extraordinary events. A 5% contingency reserve
(estimated by predetermined guidelines and the risk level
of the nursery system) is created to allow for future
situations that may be partially planned for, and a 5%
management reserves is set to allow for future situation
that are unpredictable. Hence the budget is therefore
flexible to cater for any uncertainties and the budget itself
forms the cost control mechanism (Meredith J. and Mantel
S, Jr. 2006).
Table 6.2. Project Cost Estimates
Notes:
1. General & Administrative charges (G&A) are calculated as
10% of the total cost of the core resources.
2. The project manager is assigned to complete several specific
WBS activities in the project while he/she is managing the whole
project, and all the labour costs of the project manager are
calculated in the project management level.
WBS
activities
Resources
Name
Unit/hr Cos
t/uni
Subtotal
s
WBS
level 1
% of the
total
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35. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
reserves 5
Total 306360 100.00%
6.3. Cost Budgeting
Project cost budgeting involves allocating the project cost
estimate to individual work items over time. The main goal of the
cost budgeting process is to produce a cost baseline for
measuring project performance and project funding
requirements. Based on the cost estimations, the following
project budget baseline is planned to fully implement the project
from initiation to completion.
The budget allocated in each month includes labour cost, the
cost of hardware and materials that are expected to incur in that
month. The office supplies, such as printers, desktop PC are
depreciated using straight-line method in the whole project life
at the project management level. The costs of other equipments,
such as coulter counter, immersion heater, etc, which are
directly related to the development of the nursery system are
depreciated into the actual months of their corresponding WBS
activities.
Please, refer to Appendix B - Table 6.3. Project Cost
Baseline.
6.4. Cost Monitoring, Controlling and Reporting
Deviations from the cost baseline should signify critical cost
performance signals of the project. Budget overrun or
underutilization should be importantly considered as a major
change to the budget (Project Management Institute, 2000).
Therefore, a well-disciplined cost monitoring, controlling and
reporting system is very important.
Project Management Institute (2004) suggests, a Project
Manager, when planning for controlling project costs, should
take the following items into account:
1. Influencing the factors that create changes to the cost
baseline.
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36. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
2. Ensuring requested changes are agreed upon
3. Managing the actual changes when and as they
occur.
4. Assuring that potential cost overruns do not exceed
the authorised funding periodically and in total for the
project.
5. Monitoring cost performance to detect and
understand variances from the cost baseline.
6. Recording all appropriate changes accurately against
the cost baseline.
7. Preventing incorrect, inappropriate, or unapproved
changes from being included in the reported cost or
resource usage.
8. Informing appropriate stakeholders of approved
changes.
9. Acting to bring expected cost overruns within
acceptable limits.
In addition to the above, it is also recommended that a Project
Manager takes into account the following:
1. Thorough planning of the work to be performed to
complete the project
2. Good estimating of time, labour and costs
3. Clear communication of the scope of required tasks
4. A disciplined budget and authorization of
expenditures.
Project accountant plays an important role in ensuring that
project costs are being routinely monitored, appropriately
controlled and reported in a timely manner. As such, the
following tasks must be performed by the project accountant in
the cost control system:
1. Keeping track of project cost performance throughout
the project life and conduct budget review in every
month, planned milestone and project phase.
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• Refer to the following appendices for report
templates:
• Appendix C - Monthly Project Financial
Performance Report Template
• Appendix D - Life to Date Project Financial
Performance Report
• Appendix E - Labour Cost Analysis Report
2. Detecting and investigate the cause of the variance
and make necessary recommendations to the project
manager.
3. Ensuring that all appropriate changes are recorded
accurately in the cost baseline under the project
manager’s approval.
Based on the project accountant’s recommendations, the project
manager should:
1. Schedule meetings and inform appropriate stakeholders of
the changes; ensure that changes to the cost baseline are
minimised, authorised and agreed upon by all stakeholders.
2. Rectify the changes and manage actual changes with the
agreement of the stakeholders.
3. Distribute modified plans to the stakeholders and the
management team.
6.5. Other considerations
The followings are other considerations the project manager and the
project accountant should take into account that may lead to the
budget out of the range.
1. Resources over-allocation or under-allocation will end up with the
delays of the deliverables and the increase of the costs. (Please
refer to Human Resource Section for details)
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2. As the budget of the project is estimated based on the market
prices of the goods and services in Australia, the actual acquisition
costs of materials and equipments will vary among vendors that
might create the deviation from the estimated costs
3. Contingency reserves will be underestimated in the budget
because of misestimating the level of the risks.
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7. Project Quality Management
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve the
project goals and objectives while adhering to project
constraints – usually scope, quality, time and budget (Cline et
al, 2010, Schwalbe 2007). Juran (1988) suggests that, 90% of
all problems in organisations are systematic and beyond the
positive influence of staff. Unfortunately, this also includes
issues related to quality (McManus and Wood-Harper, 2007).
One of the greatest challenges faced by project managers is to
get the process right first time and this means initiating a
rigorous quality regime, which is both defined and measureable
(McManus and Wood-Harper, 2007).
The importance and purpose of Project Quality Management is
to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was
undertaken (Schwalbe, 2007). Therefore, having a solid plan to
address quality issues in this project is very important and this
will help the project team to ensure stakeholders are satisfied
with the outputs of this project.
7.1. Scope
This document will cover:
• Quality Objectives
• Quality Policy
• Quality Organisational Structure and Responsibilities
• Quality Management Process
• Other Considerations
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7.2. Quality Objective
1. The final product of this project must be of highest
standard, quality, and meets the approved performance
specifications and requirements of the ANU’s BioSolar
Program.
2. The final product must be flexible and compatible to
accommodate any changes and deviations in the cost
baseline, time baseline and performance specifications.
7.3. Quality Control
In operations management research there are many approaches
or standard been recommended to address quality issues in a
project management environment. For example, Total Quality
Management (TQM) approach, ISO 9000 standard on quality,
Project Quality Activity approach and Project Management
Planning Quality Model, Capability Maturity Model to name a
few (Zwikael and Globerson, 2004; Masters and Frazier, 2007;
McManus and Wood-Harper, 2007). Among these, TQM and
ISO 9000 standards are found to be the most adopted quality
management principles in project management environment.
While both of these approaches are very similar it is
recommended that this project adopts ISO 9000 principles as a
matter of policy in managing project quality related issues. This
project policy position is consistent with the overall project
management framework principle adopted by the ANU (see
http://projects.anu.edu.au/management/index.php, accessed on
15 September 2010). Table 7.3 outlines this policy.
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41. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
Table 7.3. Quality Management Policy
Principles Descriptions
1. Customer
focus
Understanding current and future
customer needs; meet
requirement; strive to exceed
expectations; and link
organisation’s objectives to
customer needs
2. Leadership Leaders establish unity of purpose
and direction for the organisation.
They create the appropriate
internal environment.
3. Involvement
of People
Motivated, committed, and
involved people at all levels
accept ownership of problems,
evaluate their own performance,
and freely share information.
4. Process
approach
Activities and related resources
are managed as processes
resulting in predictable results and
improvement opportunities.
5. Systems
approach to
management
Integrate and align processes;
focus effort on key processes; and
understand interdependencies,
capabilities, and constraints
before starting projects
6. Continual
Improvement
Use a consistent organisation-
wide approach to continual
improvement to include training in
methods, goals to guide, and
measures to track.
7. Factual
approach to
decision
making
Ensure data and information are
accurate, reliable, and accessible;
make decisions and take action
based upon analysing facts; and
challenge opinions and decisions.
8. Mutually
beneficial
supplier
relationships
Identify and select key partners;
jointly develop and improve with
partners; and openly share
communication with them.
Source: The Australian National University (2008), Course
Notes of BUSN7024 – Project Management Principles,
Semester 2, 2010.
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7.4. Organisational Structure and Responsibilities
The organisational structure to carry out the Quality
Management Plan is as follows:
Table 7.4. Quality Review and Audit Team
Quality
Review and
Audit Team
Job Responsibilities
Project
Manager
1. Quality monitoring and control
review and audit process and
arrange audit meetings.
2. Quality policies are
implemented throughout the
entire project.
Project
Accountant
1. Ensure that project is on
budget and cost associated
with quality control is
accounted for through critical
milestone audit points.
2. Conduct professional
audits and report any changes
in actual spend or available
funds that will affect project
quality
Senior Project
Officer
1. Ensure that quality is
maintained at all milestone
points
2. Ensure that all critical events
and activities are carefully
implemented
3. Audit for any deviations,
identify cause, and report for
corrective actions
Senior Project
Consultant
(Scientist from
ANU BioSolar
Program)
1. Review project performance
against the approved technical
performance specification.
2. Provide necessary technical
recommendation to the Project
Manager and Project Director
on quality improvements to
ensure the project satisfies its
technical objectives.
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Quality Management Process
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) prescribes
three main processes as being quality management process.
These are, planning quality, performing quality assurance and
performing quality control (PMI, 2004). These are discussed
below.
7.4.1. Quality Planning
Quality planning involves identifying which quality standards are
relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them (PMI,
2004). PMBOK also recommends that quality planning should
be performed in parallel with the other project planning
processes (PMI, 2004). As mentioned above in Table 1, the
ISO 9000 has been adopted as a matter of policy for this project
and this table also provides guidance for the Project Manager
as to what needs to be performed during quality planning stage
to ensure that Quality Policy (ISO 9000) is adhered to during
this project.
Researchers in the project management suggests that, by
asking probing questions and challenging the assumptions i.e.,
the validity of estimates and project delivery methods, it is
possible to steer a situation towards an environment where
either where either the problem does not exist or the objectives
can co-exist and hence can be collectively achieved (Gill, 2008).
Following this approach the PM can empower each project team
member to raise any quality issues that may adversely impact
customer satisfaction KPIs. PM then can raise those issues in
the Quality Review and Audit Team to resolve them and
document the issue and resolution in the Quality Management
Plan. This could significantly minimise any potential risk of poor
customer satisfaction from project deliverables.
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Project scope is an important consideration in planning for
project quality management. It is PM’s responsibility to ensure
that s/he takes project scope into account in planning and
executing project quality management. Project quality planning
also involves communicating the correct actions for ensuring
quality in a format that is understandable and complete
(Schwalbe, 2007). For example, in order to satisfy the first
principles of ISO 9000, the Project Manager should carefully
document and explain any key performance indicators (KPIs)
that may have been given by the customers to the entire project
team (including any third party resource provider). This will
ensure that customer needs are fully understood by each
member of the project team.
PMBOK suggests that a quality management plan may be
formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based on
the requirements of the project (PMI, 2004). Due to the level of
technical complexity that could be involved in executing this
project, it is recommended that the quality management plan is
prepared is a formal and as detailed plan as practical to ensure
the quality policy can be adhered to through out the project.
In summary, organisational policies related to quality, the
particular project scope statement and product descriptions, and
related standards and regulations are all important input to the
quality planning process (Schwalbe, 2007)
Table 7.5.1 summarises a range of checkpoints, at various
WBS levels, that the PM should ensure that the
recommendations provided in this quality management plan is
adhered to.
Table 7.5.1. Quality Management Plan
WBS
Number
Activities Recommendation on Quality Management
1.1 Project
Initiating
• Project manager must ensure that the project team has the
correct information on Project Scope and Project Budget and
an approved copy of this Project Management Plan before
Project Kick-Off meeting.
• In Project Kick-Off meeting, PM must go through the project
scope thoroughly and seek feedback from the respective
team members to ensure the project scope is clearly
understood by team members.
1.2 Project
Planning
• Project manager must ensure that performance and process
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audits are done at all milestone points throughout the
project.
1.2.3.3 Verify
Technical
and
Functional
Requirement
• At this point, Project Manager must ensure that the technical
and functional requirements have been reviewed and
endorsed by Senior Scientific Consultant.
• Report any process and performance deviations to relevant
stakeholders and take immediate corrective actions
• Obtain sign-off from the Quality Management Committee to
ensure project objectives have been catered for in identifying
the technical and functional project requirements.
1.2.4 Analysis • Appropriate data analysis methods (qualitative or
quantitative) must be used to analyse data through out the
project
• Data analysis process must be clearly defined and free of
personal influences and subjective information
• Analysed data must be accurately tabulated and presented
for documentation
• Adequate funding must be allocated for quality data analysis
• Data analysis must be conducted within the planned budget
• Any deviation/variance to the cost baseline must be notified
and investigated
• Corrective actions must be immediately taken to rectify
• Sufficient time must be allocated for quality data analysis
• Data analysis must be conducted within the planned
schedule/time
• Any delays/ over-run to the scheduled time must be notified
and investigated
1.2.4.2 Review of
baseline
• Obtain sign-off from the Quality Management Committee to
ensure all requirements in Project Scope are achievable
within the Project Baseline.
• Report any process and performance deviations to relevant
stakeholders and take immediate corrective actions
• Project Accountant must conduct financial and cost audits at
all milestone points throughout the project life
• Report any variances from the cost baseline to project
manager to take necessary actions
• Time/schedule audits must be conducted to ensure that
lower level activities are implemented on time to achieve
higher level/ milestone activities
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• Causes of delays or early execution must be investigated
and necessary actions immediately taken to ensure quality
1.2.4.6 Review
Current
Market
Solution
Vendors
Project Manager should utilize the Project Procurement Plan
to ensure quality process is maintained during procurement
process. Research on current suppliers and type, kind,
quantity, and quality of raw materials is a crucial milestone
activity of the project. The research method, type, time
allocation, sources of information, and qualifications and
skills of research officers are critical for quality research
outcome. This high level activity is the core activity of the
project; hence, adequate funding and time must be allocated
to achieve high performance and quality. Following factors
must be addressed and performed during procurement
process:
• Research problem/area must be properly stated and
specifically defined
• Research officers must be qualified and have necessary
research skills and knowledge
• Research must be conducted within the planned budget
• Research must be conducted within the planned
schedule/time
• Appropriate research design, methodology and type must by
employed
• Genuine and reliable sources of data are used for literature
review
• Adequate funding must be allocated for quality research
outcome
• Any deviation/variance to the cost baseline must be notified
and investigated
• Corrective actions must be immediately taken to rectify
• Sufficient time must be allocated for quality research
outcome
• Any delays/ over-run to the scheduled time must be notified
and investigated
• Corrective actions must be immediately taken to rectify
•
1.3 Executing • Implementation should be according to this Project
Management plan
• Implementation process should be according to planned
quality procedures and standards
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• Performance audits/checks must be conducted through
meetings at every key milestones or deliverables
• Any deviations must be accounted for and sources identified
for immediate corrective actions
• Adequate funding must be allocated for strategic plan
implementation
• Implementation process must be executed within the
planned budget/costing
• Any deviation/variance to the cost baseline must be notified
and causes/sources investigated
• Corrective actions must be taken immediately rectification
• Budget provisions must be made to cater for any
contingencies during the course of strategy implementation
• Sufficient time must be allocated for strategic plan
implementation
• Implementation process must be executed within the
planned schedule/time
• Any delays/ over-runs to the scheduled time baseline must
be investigated and identified
• Corrective actions must be immediately taken to rectify
sources
• Time allowance must be made to cater for any changes to
the scheduled time baseline
1.4 Monitoring,
Controlling
and
Reporting
• Performance audit/risk management committee must be
established
• Performance audits/checks must be conducted through
meetings at every key milestones /deliverables
• Any deviations/changes must be accounted for and sources
identified for immediate corrective actions
• Adequate funding must be allocated for strategic plan
implementation reviews
• Review process must be executed within the planned
budget/costing
• Any deviation/variance to the cost baseline must be notified
and causes/sources investigated
• Corrective actions must be taken immediately rectification
• Sufficient time must be allocated for strategic plan
implementation review process
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• Review process must be executed within the planned
schedule/time
• Any delays/ over-runs to the scheduled time baseline must
be investigated and identified
• Corrective actions must be immediately taken to rectify
sources
• Time allowance must be made to cater for any changes to
the scheduled time baseline
7.4.2. Quality Assurance
The Quality Review Team should hold regular meeting (either
weekly or fortnightly) to address any quality issues related to
this project. Figure 7.5.2 outlines the recommended flow of
activities to ensure quality is maintained throughout every step
of this project.
Figure 7.5.2. Quality Assurance Approach
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Quality Audit and
review team Meeting
Convened
Quality
Deviations/Defects in
time, cost, and
performance
specifications identified
and thoroughly
discussed.
Resolutions in according
with Quality Management
Policy of this project and
recommendations
adopted and plans made
for immediate corrective
actions
PM to report to
stakeholders on critical
changes in scope, cost,
schedule and
performance for approval
and resource
requirements
Approved Quality
improvement
recommendations and
resolutions are
implemented by
respective project teams
Reports on the
corrective actions
including normal audit
reports are ready for
the next meeting and
communicated to the
relevant stakeholders.
49. Writing Documentation That Works Contents
Quality assurance (QA) provides an umbrella for another
important quality activity, continuous process improvement (PMI,
2004). Activity and information flows in Figure 7.5.2 hinges on
the ongoing fostering of continuous improvement culture and
motivation within the project team. By fostering continuous
improvement philosophy within the project team will reduce
waste of resources and non-value-added activities, which in turn
allows processes to operate at increased levels of efficiency and
effectiveness.
7.4.3. Quality Control
Performing quality control (QC) in a project involves monitoring
specific project results to determine whether they comply with
relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate
causes of unsatisfactory results. Although one of the main
goals of quality control is to improve quality, the main outcomes
of this process are acceptance decisions, rework, and process
adjustments (Schwalbe, 2007). PMBOK recommends that
quality control should be performed throughout the project
duration (PMI, 2004).
There are many general tools and techniques to assist in
performing quality control. Table 7.5.3 below provides a brief
description of these tools.
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Table 7.5.3. Tools of Quality Control
Tools / Methods Short Descriptions
1. Cause and Effect Diagram
(Fishbone or Ishikawa
Diagram)
Illustrate how various factors might be linked to potential
problems or effects.
2. Control Charts Purpose of Control Chart is to determine whether or not a
process is stable or has predictable performance. This
may also serve as a data gathering tool.
3. Run Chart This method shows the history and pattern of variation. A
run chart is a line graph that shows data points plotted in
the order in which they occur. Trend analysis is
performed using run charts.
4. Scatter Diagram A scatter diagram shows the pattern of relationship
between two variables. This tool allows the quality team
to study and identify the possible relationship between
changes observed in two variables.
5. Histogram Histogram is bar chart showing a distribution of variables.
Each column represents an attribute or characteristic of a
problem/situation.
6. Pareto Charts Pareto chart is a specific type of histogram, ordered by
frequency of occurrence, which shows how many defects
were generated by type or category of identified cause.
7. Flow Chart Flowcharting helps to analyse how problems occur. A
flowchart is a graphical representation of a process. While
there are many styles of flowchart, all process flowcharts
show activities, decision points and the order of
processing.
8. Statistical Sampling Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population
of interest for inspection. Appropriate sampling can often
reduce the cost of quality control.
9. Inspection An inspection is the examination of a work product to
determine whether it conforms to standards. Generally,
the results of an inspection include measurements.
Inspection can be conducted at any level.
10. Defect Repair Review Defect repair review is an action taken by the quality
control department or similarly titled organisation or team
to ensure that product defects are repaired and brought
into compliance with requirements or specifications.
Source: PMI (2004)
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The first seven of the tools in Table 7.5.3 are known as “Seven
Basic Tools of Quality” (PMI, 2004).
Given the nature of this project, it is recommended that the PM
uses a combination of the abovementioned approaches to
monitor, control and report on quality management related
issues. This will allow and benefit the PM to monitor, control
and report on both technical and non-technical oriented quality
related issues.
This project management plan recommends the following
approaches/tools to analyse, monitor, report and control quality
for this project:
• Cause and Effect Diagram
• Flow Chart
• Run Chart
• Inspection
• Defect Repair Review
7.5. Other Considerations
In addition to the above suggestions and plans provided for
good quality planning, quality assurance and quality control,
there are several other important issues involved in improving
the quality of a project (Schwalbe, 2007). Strong and supportive
leadership, understanding the cost of quality, providing a good
workplace to enhance quality, and working toward improving the
organisation’s overall maturity level in project management can
all assist in improving quality.
7.5.1. Quality Cost Monitoring and Reporting
The cost of quality is the cost of conformance and non-
conformance in meeting the project specification and fitness for
use. There are various types of cost of quality that the PM
needs to be aware of during the execution of this project.
Schwalbe (2007) suggested that the following costs are related
quality cost:
• Prevention cost
• Appraisal cost
• Internal failure cost
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• External failure cost
• Measurement and test equipment cost
To control budget, it is strongly recommended that during the
execution of this project there is structured and routine reporting
and monitoring on quality cost. This will allow PM to take
corrective action in a timely manner without compromising
quality.
7.5.2. Leadership
Quality expert, Joseph M. Juran once (in1945) said, “It is most
important that top management be quality minded (cited by
Schwalbe, 2007). Indeed, without sincere manifestation of
interest in maintaining high standard of quality at the top level
management of an organisation, there is high risk in a project in
producing poor quality output. For this project to accomplish its
objective, it is important that top management must create a
culture that embraces quality.
7.5.3. Organisational Influence, Workplace Factors and
Quality
Research shows that organisational issues can have much
greater influence on productivity than the technical environment
or superiority (Schwalbe, 2007). As such, the PM of this project
should keep in mind factors such as organisational politics. The
PM function is to remove political roadblocks and create an
environment where negative organisational influence does not
adversely impact project quality and objective.
7.5.4. Expectations and Cultural Differences
Schwalbe (2007) argues that there are many aspects of quality
can be defined and measured, many cannot. She suggests that
different project sponsors, customers, users and other
stakeholders have different expectations about various aspects
of a project. Therefore, it is very important for the PM of this to
understand these expectations and manage any conflicts that
might occur due to differences in expectations from various
stakeholders.
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8. Project Human Resource Management
People are the most important asset as they determine the
success and failure of organizations and projects (Kathy
Schwalbe. 2007). This section is created to assist the project
manager in managing human resources effectively; the
components of this section are as follows:
• Human resource planning
• Staff acquisition
• Team development
• Team management
8.1. Human Resource Planning
This human resource plan is created to identify and
document project roles, responsibilities, and reporting
relationships involved in the project. The Organizational
Chart, Roles and Responsibilities Assignments, RACI Chart,
Staffing management plan in this plan are used to ensure
project success.
8.1.1. Organizational Chart
This organizational chart provides an organizational structure to
manage the project team members that come from different
backgrounds and have different functions in the project.
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8.1.2. Roles and Responsibilities Assignment
Position descriptions and qualification criteria are essential to
select the right people to do the job and ensure all the tasks in
the project are assigned to certain people.
Table 1.2. Roles and Responsibilities Assignment
Project
Management
Position
Responsibilities Qualifications
Project Manager Ensure the Project Team
completes the project
Develop the Project Plan
with the team and
manages the team’s
performance of project
tasks
Secure acceptance and
approval of deliverables
from the Project Sponsor
and Stakeholders
Make sure the project is
delivered in budget, on
schedule, and within
scope.
1. More than five
years of Project
management
experience as well
as be PMI certified.
2. Strong planning,
motivation and
communication
skills.
Project
Accountant
Keeping track of project
cost performance
throughout the project life
and conduct budget
At least three years
accounting
experience, the
majority of which
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Project
Manager
Scientific
Consultant
Project
Accountant
Procurement
Specialist
Senior
Engineer
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
1
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
2
Technician 1 Technician 2
Technician 3
Technician 4
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review in every month,
planned milestone and
project phase.
Detecting and investigate
the cause of the variance
and make necessary
recommendations to the
project manager.
Ensuring that all
appropriate changes are
recorded accurately in the
cost baseline under the
project manager’s
approval.
should have been in
a project related
environment.
Computer literacy
with experience in
MSWord, excel.
Must be able to
work independently
and meet deadlines
in a team
environment.
Senior
Engineer/Analyst
Establishing and
maintaining project
technical requirements
Directing the technical
implementation according
to established schedules
and budgets
1. Master degree in
biology science
and/or engineering.
2. At least five years
recent specialized
experience.
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
1
Watching day-to-day
progress and quality of
work, supervising the work
as per specification,
maintaining quality control
records carrying out
quality control tests
Assess the requirements
of materials like, fertilisers
nutrient media, Immersion
Heater, and coulter
counter etc. for the
nursery system
Bachelor degree in
biology science
and/or engineering.
2. At least two years
recent specialized
experience.
Junior
Engineer/Analyst
2
Technician 1 Constructing and
maintaining the works
involved to develop the
prototype of the nursery
system
Top of Form
1. Relevant tertiary
qualifications in
biology science
or/and engineering
2. At least two years
experience in
biology-related field
3. Excellent
communication skills
to work in a team.
Bottom of Form
Technician 2
Technician 3
Technician 4
Procurement
Specialist
Develop the solicitation
document that states the
1. A purchasing
certification is
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requirements for acquiring
of raw material for nursery
system.
Develop a Proposal
Evaluation Plan for
evaluating the proposals
to describe the specific
evaluation criteria (such
as qualifications,
methodology for
completing the work,
references and cost), and
the methods that will be
used to apply the criteria.
Research and evaluate
suppliers based on price,
quality, selection, service,
support, availability,
reliability, production, and
distribution capabilities as
well as the reputation and
history
preferred.
2. A minimum of two
years working in a
general buying
environment.
3. Considerable
knowledge of
purchasing methods
and procedures and
of the techniques of
specification writing.
8.1.3. RACI Chart
In order to show the position roles to the project stakeholders,
we created the RACI Chart to identify the responsibility (R),
accountability (A), consultation (C) and informed (I) roles to
execute the project.
Project
manager
Project
accountant
Senior
engineer
/analyst
Junior
engineer
/analyst
Technician Procurement
specialist
Scientific
Consultant
Design Nursery
System
R I A C C
Build Nursery
System
I &C I R A A A C
Deployment R I A A C C
R=Responsibility, only one R per task
A=Accountability
C=Consultation
I =Informed
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8.1.4. Staffing Management Plans and Resource
Histogram
The purpose of the staffing plan below is to make certain the
project has sufficient staffs with the right skills and experience to
ensure a successful project completion
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8.1.4.1. Resource Histogram
The Resource Histogram presents the number of human
resources assigned to the project over time. From the chart, the
project manager can determine the number of the people
needed each month, which he/she can base on to design the
staffing plan to acquire the necessary staffs and develop the
project team.
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8.1.4.2. Staffing Management Plan
After creating the Resource Histogram, the Project Manager is
required to prepare the staffing management plan for
recruitment; the staffing management plan (Appendix H –
Staffing Management Plan) should include the overall staffing
approach, the training plan and reassignment plan.
8.2. Staff Acquisition
This section sets forth the acquisition strategy, defines the
efforts required to implement it to ensure coordination of the
project manager and the human resource department to get
the right people to fulfil the project’s needs.
8.2.1. Resource Assignment
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8.2.1.1. Staff Pooling Description
The staff pooling description table assists the project manager
and Human Resource Department in assessing the
characteristics of potential staffs and make decisions of hiring
staffs.
Table 8.2.1.1. Staff Pooling Description Table
Employee
Name
Employee
ID
Job Title Period
required
Department Date
Characteristic
s
Performance Ratin
(1=lo
5=hi
Previous
Experience
Personal
Interests
Personal
Characteristics
Availability
Competencies
Proficiencies
Overall Assessment
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8.2.1.2. Recruitment Practices
During the recruiting, all the staffs must strictly abide by the
policies, guidelines and procedures governing staff
assignments. Additionally, all the updates to the staffing
management plan must be recorded by the project manager.
The recruitment gives priorities to current employees in the bio-
fuel program.
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8.2.1.3. Project Staff Assigned
Based on the needs of the project, staff may be assigned full
time, part time, or variably, which is presented in the resource
requirement in project time management section.
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8.2.1.4. Project Team Directory
The template below is to be used by the project team when
taking down details of relevant members and stakeholders.
Employee
Name
Employee
ID
Role Phone Mobile Fax Email Address
8.3. Team Development
The main goal of this team development plan is to help
people work together more effectively to improve project
performance and achieve the project goals.
8.3.1. Training
To ensure all the team members are qualified for the project,
they are arranged to take specific training courses based on
information from the Roles and Responsibilities Assignments
table and the staff pooling description.
8.3.2. Team Building Activities
Project manager is recommended to organize team-building
activities monthly; the options of team building activities,
physical challenges or psychological preference indicators are
determined by the performance of the team members and the
requirements of the upcoming tasks.
8.3.3. Input to Performance Appraisals
The performance reports below are used to evaluate the
performance of the team members, as documentation for
updates to the human resources management plans.
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8.3.3.1. Employee Self-Evaluation Assessment
Self-evaluations help employees measure how they are
performing in their job. This assessment form can provide
guidance and consistency within our project, to help the Project
Manager and Human Resources department to record, track,
and report information for the employee evaluation process.
This form is required to assess monthly.
Template 8.3.3.1. Employee self-evaluation assessment
Employee Information
Employee
Name:
Employee
ID:
Job Title:
Date
:
Department:
Manager:
Review
Period:
To
Goals
Describe the goals you had set out to accomplish for this time period:
ch goals did you accomplish? Which other objectives did you meet, beyond your stated goals?
Which achievements are you most proud of?
Which goals did you not accomplish and why not?
Risks and Expectations
What kind of risks did you take during the time span of this evaluation?
What are your expectations for the next evaluation time span?
What can your manager do to help you achieve your future goals?
What are your goals for the next evaluation? Please be clear and concise
Comments
Additional Comments:
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8.3.3.2. Employee Performance Review
The template below is to assess employees’ performance by
their superior (refer to the organizational chart) monthly.
Please, refer to Appendix I - Employee Performance
Review.xlsx.
8.3.4. Performance Improvements
Project manager has the responsibility to set up the HR
management mechanism to improve employees’ performance.
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8.3.4.1. Improvement in Individual Skills
a) Set up reward and recognition system.
b) Discuss work and personal issues with employees via
e-mail, telephone, or other communication media
(refer to communication management plan for
details).
c) Provide training opportunities to employees who are
in need. (Refer to training section.)
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8.3.4.2. Improvement in Team Behaviours
a) Keep an issue log to document, monitor, and track
issues that needed to solve for the project team to
work effectively.
b) Organize team-building activities to help employees
to understand and value each other’s differences in
order to work effectively as a team. (Refer to team
building section).
8.4. Team Management
Team management is essential in Human Resource
Management Plan. The Project Manager is required to do the
followings to motivate and manage his/her team members in
case changes are requested to the project.
a) Have formal or informal conversion with employees
regularly; discuss any issue with them when they are in
need.
b) Record and keep track on all the updates to human
resources plans.
c) Inform any personnel changes to stakeholders in a timely
manner
d) Maintain and update the Reward and Recognition System
regularly.
e) Take corrective or preventive actions to deal with any
unexpected event, such as employee leaves the project.
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9. Project Communication Management
In order to keep the project activities dynamic between team
members and other stakeholders within the project itself, it is
mandatory that all communications align perfectly and are up to
date.
Communications management incorporates methods for
collecting, gathering and disseminating communication, as well
as information across the internal teams and stakeholders of the
project.
This documentation will list methods of communication, as well
as the technology that will help communication during various
tasks where communication is needed.
9.1. Communications Planning
Before one is to follow the guidelines for distributing information
discussed below, it is important to run skill checks on team
members and also stakeholders.
This will be used to find the most optimized method of carrying
out these communication processes i.e., to find out which
software is most commonly used by individual members (this will
decrease new learning curves, saves time and increases
productivity since they are already familiar with the software).
In this project, there is a probability that members will have to
work remotely from time to time. Therefore, the team must be
flexible in terms of communicating. Although, the guidelines
below conjure the recommended method of communication i.e.,
written or verbal, members are able to make themselves adapt
to which of the two methods they prefer to use during a certain
situation.
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Lastly, along the course of the project, it is expected for the
Internet and phone to be the primary channel for conveying
information. Fax and postage mails are not to be considered for
daily and active communication but are to be used whenever
necessary. Domestic or international shipping will be used
whenever tangible products, prototypes or deliverables are to be
sent.
9.2. Information Distribution
The English language is taken into account being the de facto
language for all communication and documentation in this
project, although, not being the de jure language of
communication meaning stakeholders are still able to verbally
communicate in other languages beside English.
The types of communication that are discussed in this
documentation have been divided into either or both
dynamic/verbal and/or passive/written communication.
Dynamic/verbal communication is when communication is
synchronous and happens in real time e.g., talking face to face
from one human being to another. Passive/written
communication describes communication that happens
asynchronously meaning one party is able to reply the opposing
party on a different time e.g., sending and replying emails
through technological devices.
Relating to the previous point made on dynamic and passive
communication, this documentation suggests which should be
used during a certain task of communication.
One should note that dates on which new communication has
commenced should be recorded inside the perspective
documentation for future reference, not to mention evidence for
legal issues if they were to arise.
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9.2.1. Introductions to New Stakeholders and
Negotiation
Task Method Technology Goal
Introducing an
existing
stakeholder to a
new stakeholder
Verbal/written
communication
When introducing an
existing member on the
team to a new member
or a new stakeholder,
must notify the existing
member in prior to the
introduction.
It is considered
inconvenient for one to
meet a new colleague
without warning
beforehand.
• Face to face
• Phone/audio/
video/confer
ence calls
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
This allows the
existing team
member to be
prepared
mentally in order
to convey the
preferred first
impression.
Commencing
communication/Int
roduction with new
individuals and
stakeholders
Verbal/written
communication
The initial project team
must consider good
etiquette at all times,
particularly, the Project
Manager.
Greetings should be
conveyed politely and
with adequate.
This is a very crucial
task to be completed
properly, especially
when first impressions
are to take place.
• Face to face
• Phone/audio/
video/confer
ence calls
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
The goal to
achieve after
new
communication
has started is to
allow the
mentioned
parties to be
comfortable with
one another.
If this is
achieved, in
return, the
parties will have
a more relaxed
and pleasant
environment
when
communicating.
Commencing
negotiation
Written
communication
It is a significant issue
when one needs to
perform negotiation with
another human being.
Written communication
is recommended when a
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
This allows
parties to make
their own initial
statements,
ideas and points
concisely.
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negotiation is to
commence. This allows
both parties to be
concise, exact and
follow the concept of
brevity when delivering
their points.
If one prefers to
commence a
negotiation verbally with
another party, one is
allowed to as there are
no strict restrictions to
using this method.
Although, a note should
be taken to be synoptic
but detailed.
In return, this
allows each
party to at least
predict a small
portion of one
another’s
favoured
decision.
Commencing
negotiation with
individuals from
different cultures
Written
communication
It is an even more
significant issue when
one needs to perform
negotiation with another
human being coming
from a different culture
and background.
Before making an
attempt at this task, it is
wise to study and
analyse how the
particular culture
communicates and
performs negotiation
organically. Thus, one
is able to adapt to their
environment and dive
into natural
communication
methods.
Also ensure to use more
common words that
most English speakers
are familiar with.
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
Beyond the
previous task
mentioning
commencing
negotiation in
general, written
communication
is also preferred
when
communicating
with individuals
of different
cultures and
native
languages.
Written
language is
better
understood by
both native and
non-native
speakers than
verbal language
due to dialect
and accent
differences.
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Be careful when using
certain expressions that
are known more in
distinct areas or region
not globally.
Completing
negotiation
Verbal
communication
When both parties are
close to according on
the same level of
agreement, it is best to
execute the completion
of negotiation verbally.
This conveys a more
reliable personality to
one another proving
that both parties are
serious and dedicated
to the agreement.
• Face to face
• Phone/audio/
video/confer
ence calls
In order for the
considered
parties to be on
the same level
of a specific
agreement.
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9.2.2. Meetings, Presentation and Reports
Task Method Technology Goal
Inception of a
meeting
When a decision needs
to be made or a major
brainstorming needs to
take place, one should
create the inception of a
meeting and arrange
time, date, venue and
topic details.
The idea of holding a
meeting may take place
during verbal
communication or
written communication.
• Face to face
• Phone/audio/
video/confer
ence calls
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
This task is
simply deciding
a meeting needs
to be held not
planning the
contents of the
meeting yet.
Planning of a
meeting
Written
communication
Meeting schedules must
be clearly set up by the
leader of the meeting.
It is poor practice to
arrange and invite
attendees to a meeting
that has no agenda that
the attendees can refer
to.
• Microsoft
Office Word
To properly
outline and
clearly point out
the ideas and
itinerary of the
meeting.
[Email] Invitation
of a meeting
Written
communication
After the inception of a
meeting has been
arranged, an invitation
has to be sent out by
email to everyone who
is obligated or should
attend.
A formal invitation of the
meeting should be sent
to attendees in written
form via email.
Informal invitations or
reminders are able to
be conveyed by verbal
• Face to face
• Phone/audio/
video/confer
ence calls
• SMS
• Email
• Instant
Messenger
To announce
that a meeting
will be held a
certain time,
date and venue
discussing
specific topics.
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