week 1

Project Management

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Reflection and Discussion Forum Week 1

Assigned Reading: Chapter 1 and 2

The assigned reading has two major important concepts to reflect on. First is the project life cycle, composed of the paths to take the project from the start to the end. The project life cycle phases include conceptual design, advanced development, detailed design, productivity, and termination (Shtub, & Rosenwein, 2017). For any project, it is essential to follow the life cycle as it aids in the progressive evaluation of the project and promotes structured governance. The project life cycle promotes effectiveness and efficiency in accomplishing the project deliverables.

The spiral life cycle of project development is the second important concept from the reading. The project life cycle enables the team members to adopt the different elements of the process model like evolution prototype, incremental, and waterfall in one model to complete the project successfully (Shtub, & Rosenwein, 2017). The spiral life cycle model is best at handling project risks as it performs risk analysis and handles them at each cycle of the model. The spiral life cycle model enables any changes to be incorporated in the model anytime with ease.

Response

The recent news article on the ongoing project is by 'California High-Speed Rail Gets Back on Track With Biden Infrastructure Plan' from U.S News. The railway project connected San Francisco and Los Angeles to promote development (Bach, 2021). However, the project is still ongoing as it is claimed to take too much cost and time. Nevertheless, organizing the project to be undertaken in small phases will reduce the burden of cost. Even though it would take longer, the small phases will facilitate cost distribution based on the state’s budget.

Spiral and waterfall project life cycle models have their pros and cons. The major pro is spiral is the way it follows the developmental way that enables it to incorporate new ideas at any stage and adequately handle the risks. However, it is faced with the con of not being affordable with small projects. On the other hand, the waterfall life cycle model is important as it enables control and departmentalization of the project within a given time. But, it is not desirable to the projects that require frequent changes.

The processes in PMBOK involve the five major phases of project development. They are related to each other as they provide the guidelines and principles that help in project management. It breaks down the project and groups it in the PMBOK process that intersects under one process group.

Activity 1

The Manhattan Project was a research and development assignment that aimed to produce the first nuclear weapon. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org, this project will be used to provide answers to the questions in this assignment.

Project Stakeholders

The United States government took the lead on the project, with the United Kingdom and Canada as supporting countries. The project manager was a major general from the United States. At the same time, the nuclear physicist who designed the actual bombs was the director of the laboratory where the project took place. Even though the project started small since its inception in 1939, it grew over the years, employing over 130,000 people. The employees across the research facilities cannot be excluded as not being stakeholders of the project.

Was the Project Internal or External?

The Manhattan Project was an internal project. Its core objectives did not involve revenue generation. Even though we can assume that the implementation of the project by supper powers would have ended the war, thus saving money, we assume that money was not the driving force for this discussion.

Important Project Resources

The project depended on technological expertise from experts and scientists, with an estimated cost of 2 billion US dollars at inception. This cost would be way higher in our current economy. Since big factories and facilities were required for raw material storage and testing the bombs, large pieces of land and isolated fields were necessary for the project. Furthermore, manpower was key to the success of the project. During the project’s lifetime, labourers were recruited across the various sites in the three countries.

Needs and Expectations of Each Stakeholder

We begin with the workers to assess the needs of the relevant stakeholders from the bottom to the top of the chain. They were looking for employment to create a livelihood and sustain themselves during the war to improve their quality of life. Also, the project leaders aimed at providing solutions to the problems at hand to meet the project’s outcomes. Lastly, the three governments would be expected to have the same goals as the project leaders, who were their representatives. Governments would then rely on the project outcomes to create solutions for the war.

Alternative approaches for the Project

This project was unique and has set out goals from inception. With the main focus being nuclear weapons, all efforts were made to ensure this outcome was achieved. Considering that we are using desk review data for this discussion, we assume that the project explored and settled for the optimal alternative for success.

Was the Best Approach Selected?

In my opinion, considering how sensitive the project was to national security, scientists and experts used the best approach for the project to deliver the two categories of atomic bombs during the war. The project met its objectives, and this ad count for efforts and resources invested.

Project Risks, Ranking, and Mitigation

Underbudgeting tops the ranks as a significant risk for the success of the project. The project inception happened at uncertain times when war was in place. The chances of the allocated budget not meeting the project costs was very high. Confidentiality ranks the second risk. This project was top secret and had its existence leaked to rivals, its success would have been affected. Ranking number three is performance risk. Being the mastermind of the project, the US government would have experienced a significant blow had the project failed to deliver its outcomes. To mitigate these risks, the following actions would ensure the project’s success. Close budget monitoring would establish funds deficit and replenish without a glitch on the project. George (2020) suggests that project managers should institute an effective monitoring system that will provide accurate data for decision making. Secondly, introducing clearance levels would ensure sensitive information doesn’t leak. Lastly, proper planning, monitoring, and evaluation would ensure the success of the project.

For this discussion, we conclude that the project was a success since it delivered its outcomes. Also, enough outsourcing was done during implementation. Experts were consulted to ensure project success.

Lessons from the Project

The project has specific and time-bound outcomes. From inception, the project goals were clear, and all project stakeholders worked towards achieving those goals. Furthermore, leadership plays an important role in project planning and implementation (Shtub & Rosenwein, 2017). Besides, effective resource management yield optimal results at the least cost possible.

References

George, C (2020). The Use of Project Management Information Systems in the Monitoring of Projects. Academia.

Shtub, A., & Rosenwein, M. (2017). Project Management: Processes, Methodologies, and Economics 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.