Wk5 Final (CLINIC RENOVATION)

Clinic Renovation

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Introduction

Throughout this course, we’ve looked at the responsibilities of a project manager and an understanding of what it takes to manage a project. Also, some knowledge concerning the project management cycle has been gained. In this paper on clinic renovation, we shall discuss various issues that include a definition of a project and how project management helps in an organization’s success. We shall also discuss the project management life cycle processes.

A project is a continuous activity aimed at creating a unique product and cannot be accomplished instantly as it progresses in steps. To meet a particular project there is an application of knowledge and skills a process called project management. Project management involves the proper allocation of resources to meet project goals (Meredith et al 2017). Management requires some approaches which help the organization to succeed and get the desired outcome. Such approaches are discussed below.

A cost-effective approach is a strategy used by managers whether an in-house employee or a manager contracted for the project. The manager is required to ensure that the project initiated falls within the budget to avoid misuse and wastage of resources and time. Monitoring resource procurement is another approach to management where managers are supposed to know the type and amount of resources required for a project. Getting the most trained and fitting personnel to tackle a certain task in the organization helps managers save on time and also work within the budget lines as the workers are conversant with the kind of task they are performing (Blaskovics 2016) .

Scope assessment approach involves analysis of a scope by managers to know whether it will move the business forward towards achieving its mission or it’s a drawback. At times, the scope might not be working in line with the mission of the organization and the managers should cooperate with other leaders to change or terminate the project. Changing or terminating helps in saving on the resources and which could be wasted on the project.

Finally, to achieve an organization’s success, effective project management should give a competitive advantage to the business. The viability of a project is defined by the success of a business by breaking down a project to smaller sections and allocating experts in each section to help compete with other businesses (Agarwal et al 2019). A manager in a studio business can decide to divide work into selling, marketing and installation sections where all the section aims at keeping the customers happy and satisfied.

The project management life cycle is the processing of controlling and directing a project and includes five process groups. The processes include project conception and initiation, definitions and planning, launch or execution, performance and control, and finally project close. Project conception and initiation is a process that involves examining the idea of the project and determining whether ‘it will benefit the company. This phase identifies the reality of a project through decision making.

During the definition and planning phase of project management, an outline of the work to be performed is written and budget calculated to determine the resources required. Managers use intelligent scheduling and management features to plan a successful project delivery. Project launch or execution is a phase that includes the distribution of tasks among different workers who are informed of the status and risk tracking. The managers can control and monitor the project as well as handle any issue arising within the workers.

Project performance and control involve comparing the current status and the progress to achieving the set target of the project. The managers focus on objectives, quality deliverance and performance of a project through constant supervision of workers. Finally, the last process is a project close in which an assessment is done after completion of the project to know if the project was a success. The close encompasses project evaluation, assessment and lessons learned.

Initiating

The pre-planning stage of the project management life cycle is a combination of different activities that take place before the planning process commences. This stage requires a manager to gather the right people to discuss the project as a forward momentum will be generated. These people include stakeholders for decision making and subject matter experts as they will facilitate the strategy of the project. After gathering the right people, decisions are called out which help in achieving the success of the business. The most important in decision making is deciding on the funding and partnership towards the project. However, in most cases it’s difficult to come up with decisions at once, therefore, the team identifies what’s good for the project.

The clinic renovation project would require people like the manager, government agencies and the community who benefit from the clinic to have a meeting and discuss the way forward. Each party will give opinions concerning the renovation such as the best contractor, the materials to be purchased, the areas which require a lot of attention like the drainage system and beds. The meeting will also discuss the funding and the partnership to be included in the process. For instance, the manager might think of working with other managers from different organizations and borrowing ideas from them. This decision will be accepted or rejected according to the impact it will have on the renovation plan.

In the pre-planning stage, laying the foundation for the project is best achieved by drafting a statement of objectives. Commitment from key individuals and timeframe are other key foundations for a project. Laying the foundation is accompanied by a proper understanding of the “why” behind a project. The understanding of the purpose of the project helps in keeping everyone focused on achieving the goals of the project. The pre-planning stage closes by approval for the project. The manager now takes into consideration the decisions made and the foundation lay to start a project.

Project selection is a process of assessing project ideas according to the descriptions given for each project. As different projects might have different ideas, a project is selected based on the benefits and feasibility. Benefits describe the reasons for taking such a project which is the measure of positive outcomes. The benefits can be achieved in different dimensions depending on the main purpose of the project. Such benefits include economic, cultural and social as well as biodiversity. Feasibility is measured in terms of the possibility of success where the easiest project with the greatest benefits is considered.

Planning

Project planning is a layout of the required resources, how to achieve the resources, how to work within the timeframe as well as working within the budget boundaries. Without a plan, a project cannot work towards its objectives (Kerzner 2017). The clinic renovation project requires to be planned well on how the resources such as labor and raw materials will be acquired. The source of funds must be known whether the government will help and the community benefiting from the clinic will be required to contribute. Clinic renovation will not only involve the physical environment such as buildings but also changing and adding more staff is part of the renovation. Some of the clinicians have relaxed in their work and changing them helps the clinic to resume its duties appropriately.

A project scope statement gives the deliverables; challenges faced in the project, assumptions made and key success factors. A scope helps the manager understand the expectations of clients and make everyone stay updated about the progress of the project. A clinic renovation has its goals set according to the type of work expected and the time to be completed. The manager is forced to know exactly what to do to ensure they deliver according to the expectations. With a scope, the manager can avoid mistakes such as delaying the renovation, spending too much than planned and running out of cash in the process and avoiding changes that might be experienced.

A work breakdown is the division of work into small manageable sections. To understand the scope of a project, it’s necessary to break it down to tasks and subtasks to help the manager supervise well. Clinic renovation will call for breakdowns such that there will be people working on the drainage system, others with repainting of walls and the gates while others maintain the flow. Other people will be required to focus on recruiting new staff. The project manager will be able to visit each department and monitor the work progress. Also, the allocation of funds to such subtasks will not be a problem and accountability will be enhanced.

Executing

The execution it the third stage in the project management life cycle and includes the activities carried out to achieve the goals outlined in the project management plan. Through execution, people and other resources are integrated and coordinated towards achieving the plan’s objectives. An execution process is a collection of processes such as directing and managing project work, performing quality assurance, acquiring, developing and managing project teams, managing communications, conducting procurements and finally engaging stakeholders (Carvalho et al 2015).

Each of the above techniques contributes to the success of a project in a different way. Directing and managing project work in this case clinic renovation helps to deliver results, work on the provided data and enable renovation of the clinic as the request made in this study. The activities involved are the management of IT risks, performing activities that lead to renovations and managing the customers and workers who benefit from the clinic.

Quality assurance involves auditing requirements such as improved and standard service delivery equipment in a clinic. As time moves by and technology advances, the services delivered in health units get outdated and therefore a need to shift to the latest fashion of service delivery is necessary. The management team also needs to be changed with time to allow other people to experience and deliver services to the esteemed customers. Such changes are the expected outputs from a project.

Acquiring, developing and managing the project team is the responsibility of the human resource department. Acquiring means that new workers are assigned and new resources such as calendars are put in place. Developing a project team requires assessing the performance of workers and machines in the clinic as well as training more workers. Managing means updating the management and helping in the plan to renovate through resolving conflicts among workers. Managing communication helps the stakeholders to understand each other in facilitating the project of renovation. A clinic renovation includes government agents, social workers, and the community served. All these parties must ensure proper communication and understanding of the progress of the project.

Conducting procurement is the process of identifying workers, giving the contract and signing the agreement. Renovation involves demolishing old buildings and dumping of old and worn-out equipment. The manager should make a careful selection of the person to be given the contract and ensure that the signing of an agreement is done before the work commences. All this is done to ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the project. Finally, the execution process ends by managing stakeholder engagement. The expectations, and needs of stakeholders in the clinic renovation which is finally achieved at the end of the project.

The change control process is the reviewing, approving and managing of change requests in a project plan. Throughout the life cycle of a project, change control must be conducted despite the careful planning done. As the project progresses, to made changes a cost must be incurred and therefore it’s necessary to make the changes immediately to avoid the accumulation of huge costs. While discussing a clinic renovation, t’s a process that requires proper planning to avoid mistakes. Large amounts of money will be required to ensure that the project is completed and satisfies the stakeholders. Upon starting the renovation process, the manager might get a cheaper or more convenient and reliable constructor or get a better supplier of raw materials needed in the process. The planning team will be forced to make changes and adopt the better services available despite the careful plan made at the beginning.

Changes might occur as a result of a change in taste of the product, government policy, legislation or even change in business strategy. The changes need to be taken care of by the control change process which ensures that the effect of the change interpreted in relevance to the expected outcome of the project. As long as a competitive advantage is concerned in projects, a change implementation must consider the effect on the competitors as well as on the project itself. A project mandate is to satisfy the objectives and goals set and if a change does not adhere to that, then it should be rejected.

Monitoring and Controlling

Monitoring and controlling is a process that tracks the performance of a project throughout the management activities. It is purposely made to understand the current state of a project, schedule and scope forecasts. Some issues arise in the process of management which a manager should work on. For instance, the renovation of a clinic might take shorter than expected. This is because of the contractor’s commitment or other situations that made the work easier. However, upon completion, so mistakes might be noticed which led to poor results. This means that the manager was not careful in monitoring the entire activities, therefore, failing in the mission. Close supervision of workers during their work is necessary as they work seriously towards the objectivities set and ensure that they don’t disappoint their managers.

Monitoring and controlling include some process-inputs which aid in management. The processes include a project management plan (PMP), project documents, work performance information, agreements, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets (Kerzner 2019). The PMP involves subsidiary plans which help in controlling the activities of the project. Clinic renovation is a project which involves several plans to enhance its effectiveness. Project documents include the assumption log which carries the expectations of the project. In clinic renovation, the expectations are that the walls will be repainted, potholes filled, other equipment such as beds maintained or replaced and other improvements.

Basis of estimates document shows the circumstances under which different estimates were borrowed and how they can be responded to. During planning, each stakeholder has a different opinion concerning how the renovation has to be done. This estimate helps to decide on how to respond to all those opinions. A cost forecast is made to determine if the project goes hand in hand with the set budget. If the renovation has to take a certain amount of money and the project goes beyond the budget the forecasts help to accommodate the changes. An issue log is used to document the people responsible for solving certain problems. If there is a delay in the supply of materials such as cement, the manager or however responsible is monitored using the log. Risk register and report contain the risks incurred by individuals over the project.

The collection and analysis of data to produce output give work performance information used for decision making. When the clinic innovation process commences, the manager is responsible for recording the progress. This information helps the manager to evaluate work progress, notice areas of improvement and decide on what to do. An agreement includes terms and conditions which must be adhered to. According to the standards of work expected, the manager and contractor have to sign an agreement that brings them together. In case of violation by any party, the other party can sue them.

Closing

As the name suggests, the closing phase involves all the final activities in a project. The closing of a project helps in releasing the resources used to do other jobs and ensures that the planned work is completed as expected. Closing the clinic renovation project means that the work is completed which includes changing the drainage system and equipment as well as changing the old structures. Closing is a one-time event unless the organization is planning to stop the work for some reason and resume later. In the case of renovation, if the closing has to be done before completion of the work, the manager has to release the contractor and workers to get work elsewhere. However, it’s rare to find projects closing during work unless some management problems occur such as improper allocation of funds.

The closing phase requires tools and techniques, inputs and outputs. The tools and techniques include expert judgment, data analysis, and meetings. Inputs are project charter, project management plan, project documents, acceptable deliverances, business documents, and agreements. Outputs include project documents updates, final products, final reports, and organizational process updates. Apart from the aforementioned importance of closing, other importance includes confirming delivery, ensuring all costs are charged and closing the project accounts. Several activities are carried out for administrative closure to help in collecting the project reports, investigate whether the project is a success or failure and lastly identify the lesson learned.

Lessons Learned

Every project has some lessons learned which are captured throughout the life cycle of the project. The lessons learned report is necessary and helpful to other managers who might be assigned similar duties. In the clinic renovation project, the lessons learned can be used by another manager assigned the duty of renovating or constructing a new health facility. The problems and challenges faced in the projects are the lessons learned which will be avoided in the next projects. Again, the parts of the project which made it a success are captured and put into consideration. The organizational archives keep such information for references.

Conclusion

Project management improves an organization’s success by incorporating the budget and ensuring that the project works within the boundaries of the budget. Scope assessment helps to determine whether a project is working towards its mission or its failing. Lastly, project management improves the organization’s success through a competitive advantage where the business works towards beating its competitor (Badewi 2016). In accomplishing a project’s objective, the five process groups help in managing the process as they are more simplified and efforts concentrated at one point.

References

Agarwal, R., & Virine, L. (2019). Integration Stages of Project Risk Management (PRM) into Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management (IJRCM), 8(1), 13-33.

Badewi, A. (2016). The impact of project management (PM) and benefits management (BM) practices on project success: Towards developing a project benefits governance framework. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), 761-778.

Blaskovics, B. (2016). The impact of project manager on project success—The case of ICT sector. Society and Economy. In Central and Eastern Europe ǀ Journal of the Corvinus University of Budapest, 38(2), 261-281.

Carvalho, M. M. D., & Rabechini Junior, R. (2015). Impact of risk management on project performance: the importance of soft skills. International Journal of Production Research, 53(2), 321-340.

Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H. (2019). Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. Wiley.

Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Shafer, S. M. (2017). Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.