S Company has been awarded the contract for the refurbishment of a local hotel. The overall timescale for the project has been agreed at 30 weeks (a high fast completion for this sort of project). The timescale is not flexible as the hotel requirement to re-open to host the wedding of a very famous and influential music star. In order to meet this deadline the project has no contingency.
B has been assigned as project manager and has focused on selecting the project team which has meant that no full plan has yet been produced. When one of the project team members asked about the tools and techniques to be used on the project, B seemed unsure about which ones would be most beneficial and suggested that he was going to rely on project management software. The project team is concerned about the lack of control on the project as there appear to be no project milestones.
It has been brought to B's attention that the hotel would like to add additional activities to the original project specification and requires a meeting to discuss the implications of the changes to the overall project progression. B has asked about the project initiation document which he feels should form the basis for the discussion of the changes. B has been told that the 'brief document' compiled by the hotel is the only document available.
Explain the problems that are threatening the success of the hotel refurbishment project and the ways in which B can minimise the threats identified
According to the scenario, there are a number of problems evident in the progress of the hotel refurbishment project.
Unrealistic deadlines
There appears to be pressure from the hotel to get the project finished rapidly with strict deadlines. The project is already behind schedule and there is no contingency in the project plan. B will require to look critically at the project deadlines. The time schedule will require to be revised. The critical activities need to be identified and B requires to make sure that they do not slip.
Resource estimates unrealistic
Core project staff that are significant to the delivery of the hotel project are being permitted to work on other projects. A critical issue in project planning is resource management. B will require to ensure that the hotel project has the correct level of manpower in the right place at the right time in the right quantities. B could use a resource histogram to provide a visual display of the usage and availability of resources over the project's life.
No detailed project plan
A key problem is the absence of a detailed project plan and specification. The hotel project is likely to contain a number of difficult tasks. One of the most important stages of project management is the explanation of the project objective and the breakdown of work into a comprehensive list of activities.