Project Management For New Roller-Coaster Ride – A Report

Part A

As a project manager, the crucial role is to manage the team as well as the execution of the tasks according to the plan in order to create the product within the time limit along with managing the quality within the budget. It is also important to understand the team, the stakeholders and the customer needs as a project manager. Every person possesses some strengths and weaknesses. As a project manager, I possess the following strengths and weaknesses.

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 Strengths

  1. Good Communication Skills:The strength that I possess is that I spend more time in communicating with the stakeholders and the team in order to make them understand regarding the project. The communication is essential in order to encourage the team, manage the resources and the activities of the project.
  2. Good Listener:I am also a good listener and it is an important strength as a project manager. It enables me to understand and manage the expectations of the stakeholders as well as the team. This helps me to develop a better team through making decisions correctly as well as to motivate the team(Guerzoni, 2014).
  3. Problem Solving Ability:I possess the ability to solve the problems. I believe in solving the problems by analyzing it and simplify it. The simplification of the problem means breaking down the project into easy to understand and manageable sections so that those sections can be completed efficiently.
  4. Positive attitude:I hold a positive attitude as a project manager as it is important to maintain such attitude for completing a project successfully. A positive attitude to complete the project is necessary as it affects the team and the project as well because positive attitude makes a big difference. As a leader, it is essential to carry a positive attitude in order to motivate the team as well to accomplish the project(Holbrook, 2017).

Weaknesses

  1. Dealing with more than one issue: The weakness that I possess is dealing with more than one issue. This increase the difficulty to deal with the issues and it also affects the project in the completion.
  2. Dealing with issues as they arise: The other weakness that I possessis dealing with issues as they arise. This increases the complexity of the issues because at the time when the issue arise, it is not easy to deal and solve(Thecvrighter, 2017).
  3. Disorganized: One other weaknessthat I possessis that I am disorganized. This sometimes leads to delay in the completion of the project and unable to meet the expectations of the employees (Bianca, 2017).

Conclusion 

In order to be a good project manager, it is essential to possess the abilities as strength that includes good communication skills, good listening ability, problem solving ability as well as possessing a positive attitude so that the project can be managed efficiently and effectively. The weaknesses possibly create problems in the management of the project for the project manager but it is important to focus on converting the weaknesses into the strengths so that the weaknesses can be eliminated.

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The rollercoaster is designed in order to entertain the adults and children more than the age of 15 years which will offer a substitute ride to the Lightning Rod rollercoaster. As the senior management want minimum of one unique feature in the new rollercoaster to make it different from the Alton Towers and Legoland of UK, the various types of loops has been added to make the rollercoaster ride more adventurous and thrill. The customers can experience the thrill in very reasonable costs. The new rollercoaster project is based on the Traditional Project Management (TPM) considerations. This consideration is applied as this involves standard tools and the techniques to achieve the end outcomes. The five stages of a project management life cycle (PMLC) model for the rollercoaster project includes Initiation, Planning, Implementation, Control and Closing (Bisk, 2017).

The project planning considerations used for the rollercoaster project is Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is one of the tools that are used for the project management. It helps to break down the projects into specified sections in order to make the tasks easy to perform as well as manageable. All the activities that are involved in the rollercoaster project are enlisted in the WBS table which helps to determine the sequence of the tasks. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) helps to identify the tasks involved in the completion of the project as well as allow managing the project as it provides the overview of the tasks that has to be followed one after the other (Mukund, 2013).

ID

WBS

TASK NAME

1.

1

Roller coaster

2.

1.1

Start project

3.

1.2

Initiation

4.

1.2.1

   Develop project charter

5.

1.2.2

   Submit Project Charter

6.

1.2.3

   Project charter approved

7.

1.3

Planning

8.

1.3.1

   Determine Project Team

9.

1.3.2

   Manage Requirements Gathering

10.

1.3.2.1

      Review requirements document

11.

1.3.3

   Develop project plan

12.

1.3.3.1

      Create estimates

13.

1.3.3.1

      Create schedule

14.

1.3.3.1

      Create resource assignments

15.

1.3.3.1

      Create budget

16.

1.3.3.1

   Project Plan Approval

17.

1.4

Implementation

18.

1.4.1

   Verify and Validate Requirements

19.

1.4.2

   Manage Rollercoaster Design  

20.

1.4.2.1

      Develop rollercoaster outline design

21.

1.4.2.2

      Finalize rollercoaster design

22.

1.4.3

   Manufacturing Process

23.

1.4.3.1

      Preparing the site

24.

1.4.3.2

      Erecting the main support structure

25.

1.4.3.3

      Installing the track

26.

1.4.3.4

      Fabricating the cars

27.

1.4.3.5

      Finishing the ride

28.

1.4.4

   Testing and security

29.

1.5

Control

30.

1.5.1

   Risk Management

31.

1.5.2

   Quality Control

32.

1.6

Closing

33.

1.6.1

   Audit Procurement

34.

1.6.2

   Feedback

 
The activities can be managed by assigning the work to the team members in order to complete the project on time as well as by emphasizing on the quality of the tasks that are taking place through the regular monitoring and controlling the activities of the project. The proper execution of the tasks of the project is necessary in order to produce the product as desired for fulfilling the expectations of the stakeholders as well as meeting the demand of the customers from the new rollercoaster ride.

Part B

Risk is unavoidable in any kind of project. The project manager needs to make sure that the risks are minimal. The risk can be managed by the identification, monitoring and controlling the risk.  In order to manage the risks there is a need to take corrective actions for the purpose to minimize the effect of the risks. Risk management is a crucial function in the project in order to diminish the effect as well as to manage the proportion of loss (Tutorials Point, 2017). A risk register should be prepared by the project manager to enlist the risks that can occur as well as the strategies that can help to eliminate the risks. A risk register is a document that is prepared to enlist the risks and the possible strategy to overcome the risks. The risk register for the rollercoaster project is provided below.

Risk

Likelihood of Occurrence

Mitigation Strategy

Eye injury

Very likely

Safety glasses will be worn at all times on the construction site.

Employee Illness

Likely

Project Manager will take over employee’s construction task

Low Technology Environment

Possible

Hard copies of reporting material. Project Manager support.

Medical Emergency

Rare

Project Manager will halt activity on site until emergency is resolved. The appropriate authorities will be notified.

Natural Disaster

Rare

Project Manager will halt activity on site until all possible danger to the construction crew ceases.

In general, the scope creep occurs in the project management when the scope of the project is not defined, controlled or documented appropriately. The scope creep is the result of poor change control, improper identification of the objectives of the project and poor communication (My project management expert, 2017).

The scope creep can be managed in the project management by:

  • Proper initial estimating and the planning.
  • Managing the expectations.
  • Following the project management process in a managed way.
  • Building good relationship with the stakeholders.
  • Proper monitoring of the project management process(My project management expert, 2017).

Stakeholder management can be defined as the organized planning, identification, analysis and the implementation of the actions for the purpose to engage with the stakeholders of the project. The management of the stakeholders can be implemented by evaluating the interest of the stakeholders, developing the relation with the stakeholders through communication and by engaging and influencing the stakeholders towards the project (APM, 2017). Stakeholder management is a significant element of the strategic management as well as essential for the success of the project (Cleland, 1986).

Managing client expectations is one of the functions that is important to be carried out appropriately. In order to develop client expectations, it is essential to give priority to the following:

  • Building a good relationship with the client so that it will be helpful to manage the expectations of the clients.
  • Communicating with the client regularly as well as addressing the problem directly to the client to maintain the transparency because it will help to establish strong relationships with the client.
  • Agree on the goals, timelines and the strategy for the purpose to eliminate the risks related to the confusion.
  • It is essential to be open about the budget as the understanding the requirement of the budget in the project in order to execute the project effectively.
  • Be a good listener as this will help to understand the client as well as communicate with the client for the further procedures as well.
  • Be a counselor as this will improves the trust of the client through providing advice regarding the successful project management(Olguin, 2012).

The closing of the project takes place after the accomplishment of all the major tasks of the project for the formal closing of the project. The closure process needs to be initiated for the purpose to release stakeholders as well as the team members from the interactions and responsibilities of the project. The confirmation or the verification from the clients, sponsors and the stakeholders regarding the fulfillment of the requirements from the project is incorporated. The process of closure including formal closure of all the contracts and verifying that all the deliverables has been delivered. The planning of the project closure needs to be done at the time of the initiation of the project in order to accomplish the project on time (CDC, 2017).

It is essential to maintain the quality of the project and considering the safety of the customers should be the first priority in order to eliminate the risks. The communicating with the clients and the stakeholders is essential. In order to meet the schedule, it is necessary to speed up the tasks considering the quality of the project management. Meeting the demand and understanding the need of the customers is essential. The implementation of the right approach of project management is important to accomplish the project successfully (PMP, 2012 ).

Gantt chart is the instrument used by the organizations in project management. Gantt charts helps to develop a visual flow chart of the tasks that are involved in the project. It provides help to prepare the schedule of the tasks along with the assigning of the each task to the team members (Techtarget, 2017). The Gantt chart also provides help to complete the tasks within the time. The Gantt chart is also used to identify the critical path that is the sequence of the tasks to be completed on time which allows completing the entire project on time. The Gantt chart for the rollercoaster project is prepared along with the predecessors and the time each task takes to complete (Mindtools , 2017).

Conclusion 

The rollercoaster project is implemented in order to provide an alternative ride to the adults and the children who are above the age group of 15 years. The purpose to create a new rollercoaster ride is to offer a better experience of adventure and thrill to the customers.  The Traditional Project Management approach is used to manage the project. It has been analyzed that maintaining the relationship with the clients and the stakeholders is essential for the successful completion of the project along with meeting the needs as well. The scheduling of the tasks of the entire project helped to simplify the project tasks and accomplish the project on time.

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Bianca, A., 2017. Examples of Weaknesses for a Manager Position. [Online] Available at: https://work.chron.com/examples-weaknesses-manager-position-21562.html[Accessed 2017].

Bisk, 2017. Five Phases of the Project Management Lifecycle. [Online] Available at: https://www.villanovau.com/resources/project-management/5-phases-project-management-lifecycle/#.WSmwure6bcs[Accessed 2017].

CDC, 2017. PROJECT CLOSE-OUT. [Online] Available at: https://www2a.cdc.gov/cdcup/library/practices_guides/cdc_up_project_close-out_practices_guide.pdf[Accessed 2017].

Cleland, D. I., 1986. Project Stakeholder Management. Project Management Journal, 17(4), p. 36–44.

Guerzoni, E., 2014. Features and strengths of a good Project Manager. [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140728062524-15847216-features-and-strengths-of-a-good-project-manager[Accessed 27 May 2017].

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