Professional memo to company describing management of the project

Question

managing a Project

Discussion Best PracticesFor this Discussion you will write an essay to address the requirements described below. Your essay must be carefully planned and written using well-constructed sentences and paragraphs. Make sure that your grammar and spelling are correct. Points will be awarded for content as well as composition. Your essay must be a minimum of 1 page in length with standard 1 inch margins and include the textbook as a resource. Read this resource from the KU Writing Center on how to you cite your sources in APA format:https://kucampus.kaplan.edu/MyStudies/AcademicSupportCenter/WritingCenter/WritingReferenceLibrary/ResearchCitationAndPlagiarism/BasicCitationGuidelines.aspx

Project Management

Scenario: You are a consultant with expertise in project management strategies. Select a possible project management situation from your current or future professional experience. As a project management consultant, you are tasked with developing a project management plan for this project. Your goal is to maximize the time, resources and finances associated with the project in the best interests of the business/company. You will need to write a professional memo to the business/company owner describing the management of the project.

Your essay should include:

1. Create the PERT/CPM activity network for your project that includes at least five activities and at least one predecessor activity.
2. Estimate the optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times to then determine an expected time for each activity.
3. Determine all activities that are on the critical path.
4. Identify the slack time (if any) associated with activities in the project.
5. Create a Gantt chart to show the project timeline.

Address the following questions in your essay:

• What is the overall timeline for this project?
• What activities are critical for established timeline of the project?
• What activities have flexibility in completion that would not impact the overall project timeline?
• What time, resources and money might be affected by any changes to activities throughout the project?
• What recommendations would you suggest to prioritize the company’s time, resources and money with regards to the project?

Sample paper

Professional memo to company describing management of the project

The discipline of project management is changing rapidly as the nature and worlds of projects is changing. The projects that organizations have singled out to deliver have changed in response to the shifts in the economic world. Project management involves the application of process, methods, knowledge, skills and experiences to achieve the objectives and goals of a particular project (Kerzner, 2013).  A project is a unique endeavor undertaken by an individual or an organization to achieve predetermined aims and goal which are widely defined regarding outcomes.  A project can only be successful if it attains its goals. For a project to be successful, it needs a safe and healthy project manager.

Question 1

Create the PERT/CPM activity network for your project that includes at least five activities and at least one predecessor activity

This project is estimated to take 42 weeks if no delays are encountered on the way. The estimated project duration equals the length of the longest path through the project network (Kerzner, 2013). This longest path is usually referred to as a critical path. In our case, our critical path takes 42 weeks.

Start – A – B – C – I – J – L – N – finish.

Question 2

Estimate the optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times to then determine an expected time for each activity

Each activity is scheduled to begin after completion of their immediate predecessors. However, some events carry more weight than the others. These critical activities include the purchase of raw materials, construction of the new warehouse and stocking the warehouse.

Question3

Determine all activities that are on the critical path

Considering that there are critical activities, there are flexible activities too that do not affect the project timeline. Such flexible activities include painting the warehouse, licensing the new building and getting an insurance cover for the new warehouse. Although they are important, their delays do not have much impact on the overall project.

Question 4

Identify the slack time (if any) associated with activities in the project

The time taken to construct the new warehouse and the availability of raw materials for the construction can be highly affected by activities throughout the project. Moreover, labor can also be affected.

Question 5

Create a Gantt chart to show the project timeline

The company needs to have extra cash and resources that can be utilized and exploited in case of any delays and disruptions (Kerzner, 2013). Moreover, the company should allow for sometimes to the initial duration of the project to cater for any delays.

References

Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. . John Wiley & Sons.