Project Management Leadership Assignment Sample

Project Management Leadership and Skills: Planning and Control Assessment Portfolio – Individual

Introduction

Project management is concerned with the process of bringing together different activities and elements of the project. Project management involves planning, organization, coordination, and control in a project through which objectives of the project can be efficiently achieved. This report is based on the case study of The Yang Sing Hotel in Manchester, which was one of the best hotels in the city of Manchester. This hotel has to close its door only after 8 months of its opening and after serving many satisfied and happy guests at the hotel. This report will discuss planning and control for the relaunch of Yang Sing Hotel under a new name after recently buying the building. Along with planning and control, this report will also include people management in the hotel. Planning and control involve mission and objectives, stakeholder management plan, project activity plan, resources allocation, and cost estimation and schedule along with risk management assessment.

A. Planning and Control

A1. Mission and Objectives

Mission

To provide high quality and affordable services in the luxury hotel category for becoming the best hotel in the city.

Objectives

• To develop the positive and appealing image of the hotel for attracting 20% customers of the previous hotel in coming 3 months
• To achieve the highest cost efficiency in the luxury hotel industry within 4 months
• To create 40% gross profit within 1 year of the relaunch of the hotel
• To create 10% net profit within 1 year of the relaunch of the hotel
• Getting the best rating from all the customers of the hotel on different travel and hotel booking websites

Impact on the organisation and stakeholders

The hotel is being relaunched and this is why it is similar to starting a new hotel and the impact of the project is very important on the organisation. It is because the success of the project will ensure that the organisation becomes successful, and the project will also make learning from the previous failure (Leuvennink, 2020). This learning will help in avoiding and eliminating any kind of element that caused failure to the previous hotel. The project and success of the project will also make an impact on the organisation in terms of its sustainability and long-term success in the industry.

Stakeholders will also have impact of this project in which stakeholders working within hotel might experience difficulty. The difficulty is due to the reason that they are providing high class and luxury service but at the same time, they need to maintain cost efficiency (Khan, 2018). Furthermore, owners who are entitled to profit may have positive impact because cost efficiency of the hotel will positively affect profitability of the hotel. Customers are important stakeholders of the company and they will also get positively influence because they will get high quality and affordable services at the hotel.

A2. Stakeholder management plan

Stakeholders are those individuals and organisations that are directly or indirectly connected to the organisation and influence the decisions and actions of the organisation and project. Not only this but they also get influenced and affected by organisation and project decisions, actions, and outcomes (Chyhryn et. al. 2020). Stakeholder management is concerned with maintaining good relations with stakeholders of the organisation and project. Stakeholder management can be done according to their power and interest within the project.

The above diagram indicates four categories of stakeholders and these categories are-

High power, high interest– These are stakeholders who hold high power as well as have high interest in the activities of the project. These are the most important stakeholders in the project and the strategy to manage this category of stakeholders is to manage closely (Guðlaugsson et. al. 2020). Managing closely is a very important way and strategy for building and maintaining a good relationship with stakeholders in this category. For this project, stakeholders include the project owner, project stakeholders, and the management team for the project. Managing closely involves providing regular information and ensuring they remain updated with all important information. They need to be invited and involved in important meetings for the project and their opinion should be well considered.

High power, low interest– This is another category of stakeholders who hold high power in the organisation and project but do not have much interest in the project (Nguyen & Mohamed, 2018). Stakeholders in this category require to be kept satisfied and for this, they need to be invited to certain occasions and should be provided with the important and required information.

Low power, high interest– This is a category in which stakeholders have high interest in projects and organisations but the power they hold is very low. Stakeholders in this category need to be managed by keeping informed.

Low power, low interest– These are stakeholders who have the least impact on the organisation and project and at the same time also do not get influenced by it (Yang et. al. 2018). Stakeholders in this category need to be managed by monitoring and anticipating their moves and activities.

A3. Project activity plan

The complete relaunch project is divided into five parts. The first part is the initiation of the project that involves determining project relaunch and developing the mission and vision of the project along with defining purpose and goals (Burghate, 2018). Initiation also includes hiring a team and manager for the project who is capable and becomes involved in the planning and execution of the project. Initiation also involves including other stakeholders and communicating to them for the project. Another phase in the project is planning which involves project planning in which important questions regarding activities of the project are answered. These questions include what, when, how, where, and who of the project activities. Followed by this project is executed which involves implementing planning for getting results and achieving the goals of the project. Execution includes implementation of planning and documentation of planning along with providing constant support and guidance to those involved in the project (Sutrisna et. al. 2018). Control is also an important phase of the project that involves identifying deviation and taking actions to eliminate and reduce the difference in estimated and actual performance. The last phase is project completion which involves ensuring that the project or hotel is ready to serve the customer.

A4. Resource allocation and utilisation plan

Resource allocation matrix

The relaunch project of Yang Sing Hotel Manchester will involve relaunching the project rather than creating a new project, and this is why resource requirement is limited to human and financial resources (Qi et. al. 2021). In addition to this, human and financial resources are involved in developing a new strategy for the hotel and for the promotion of new hotel.

A5. Cost estimation and allocation

Cost estimation involves determining the cost that will be required for the purpose of the project. There are multiple ways to estimate the cost in the project, and for this project, the cost will be estimated on the basis of the Bottom-Up estimating technique (Hache et al., 2019). In this technique cost of the project is determined on the basis of separate and smaller components of the project. In this project, an important component of the project is strategy development and marketing. Strategy development involves the cost of human resources or people involved in developing a strategy for the project (Jennex & Durcikova, 2020). In addition to this, for marketing, the cost will be determined on the basis of the estimated cost and price of marketing on different promotional channels. Further, the cost will be involved in office management and expenses which are lower than other important activities of the project.

A6. Schedule

Above is the schedule of the project in which key activities involved in the project is the execution of planning that takes and requires the greatest number of days for completion. Initiation of the project will be done in 10 days, so there is a clear purpose and goals for the relaunch of the project (Hartsell et. al. 2021). Followed by planning has been allocated 15 days for effective and successful planning of the project. Control and closure have also been allocated adequate time so that activities can be determined and measured efficiently for the project, and corrective actions can be taken well to ensure that the project gets the best results and achieve goals efficiently.

A7. Risk Management Assessment

Risk management assessment

The project consists of multiple types of risk which influence and impact success and adequate completion of the project. Risk assessment and management involves identifying risk and assessing impact of risk on the project (Müller et. al. 2020). It further involves mitigating strategies for eliminating and reducing impact of risk on success of project.

B. People management

B1. Conflicts

In the project of Yang Sing, changes is being introducing hence the major conflicts that is considered to be arise inside the firm itself amongst the identified stakeholders as well as the team that is handling the project. Following will be the key conflicts that can be arising in the project;

Figure 1: Conflicts in Yang Sing Project

(Self-created)

Corporate conflict– A dispute might arise inside the venture of Yang Sing if intended outcomes are not approved as well as the shareholders’ viewpoint differs from that of the project personnel. Furthermore, Project Scheduling Conflicts might occur as considered the case study, as well as a project may be unable to be completed inside the time limitations as well as criteria (Wang et. al. 2018). Furthermore, conflicts can occur as a function of corporate structure example, top management functioning in a matrix structure in the Yang Sing Hotel that are put under a lot of pressure to staff multiple tasks at the same time. A slowdown on one initiative could cause the deployment of personnel needed to staff freshly launched projects to be postponed.

Lack of manpower assets– According to an investigation underneath British Hotel Association (2017) and KPMG, the UK lodging market is suffering recruiting difficulties; coupled including its steadfast dependency on EU labour, the hotel industry would be hurt more than any other by limitations on EU new immigrant supply (Gebbels, Pantelidis & Goss-Turner, 2019). A potential source of friction throughout the Yang Sing Initiative seems to be the lack of personnel throughout the hotel sector as a result of Brexit. Initiatives are routinely authorized without regard for production scheduling or the accessibility of competent personnel after the operation starts. As a corollary, not exclusively are competent employees lacking, however project group participants are also in limited supply.

Intra-group conflict– Parties involved have a wide range of backgrounds as well as, throughout the context of a large venture, might not necessarily understand each other sufficiently enough to integrate in, however they are actively functioning. The Project Leader should enable time for parties involved to get to understand each other understand their roles. In order to minimise conflicts in this circumstance, supervisors must routinely encourage as well as strengthen the steering committee in order to direct them forward achieving the project’s goals.

Following are the five strategies to tackle the conflicts sources;

According to TKI framework that is also recognised as Thoma Kilmann framework, 5 tendencies of conflicts is being recommended that will be applied in the case of Yang Sing; appeasing, compromising, competing, collaborating, and avoiding (Lam et. al. 2019).

B2. Reasons why a sponsor may be necessary in the project

The venture sponsors are indeed a specialist who is in charge of the initiative as well as ensures that it delivers the agreed-upon corporate benefits. They also represent the company as well as offers substantial leadership across a variety of fields. There seem to be several explanations why a sponsor will be required for this initiative, several of which are being discussed throughout the subsequent sections.

• The project sponsor in the Yang Sing Project will be necessary to ensure the quality standards with each changing activities by setting the standard of quality services within the hotel for the guests (Breese, Couch & Turner, 2020).
• To align the scope of the project. The sponsor contributes the original concept as well as enthusiasm for the venture, including incorporates endeavour milestones as well as goals that are in line with the aspirations of the equity investors.
• Funding and managing change is also among the most essential role of project sponsor. In the case of Yang Sing project, these two elements are important to be delivering quality services. For essential as well as substantial adjustments throughout the organization’s administration of the endeavour altogether, the Project Manager should obtain conversation as well as agreement with the sponsor.

B3. Management style would be most appropriate for the project manager of the project

When selecting acceptable program management approaches, it is critical to consider both interior as well as exterior elements which influence the style of management for the Yang Sing Project.

Environmental influences also have an impact on management approach. Manchester has a lot of rivalry throughout the hotel industry. Because of the Covid Crisis, hotel customers possess greater hopes as well as likely less spending income, thus unique bargains as well as promotions, as well as a smart marketing plan, may be required to flourish under such prevailing circumstances (Ntounis et. al. 2021). While, the Yang Sing Hotel has a strong hierarchic ethos in place. All across the firm, labour as well as tasks are highly regulated as well as monitored. The importance of stability, conformity, as well as professionalism cannot be overstated.

The ability to harness all efficiency and develop exceptional outcomes through adequately leveraging existing talents, facilities, as well as information inside the Yang Sing hotel, beginning with competent leadership, is vital for the effective administration. It is encouraged that they use the Scrum management style that is related to servant leadership. It is distinguished by short developmental sessions wherein modest groups concentrate on clear goals (Chen, 2021). The teammates depend on the insight as well as understanding of the other participants; therefore, interaction is frequent, rendering this model particularly cooperative.

This is the task supervisor’s obligation to accurately describe responsibilities as well as actions throughout the program period whilst maintaining a high degree of excellence. Nevertheless, because to the program’s limited deadline with the comparatively agile management style, there seems to be a possibility of the outcomes adopted throughout the venture stage being unpredictable.

Conclusion

Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that effective planning of projects enables successful projects that have managed to achieve goals. This report discussed planning for the project including development of mission and objectives, stakeholder management plan, project activity plan, resource allocation, cost estimation, and schedule of the project. These elements ensure that the project starts on time and ends on time and all activities are carried out appropriately. Followed by this, people management was discussed in the report, and this involved elements like conflict, sponsor, and management style appropriate for the project.

References

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