The current dynamic changes in complexity of projects have greatly influenced how
managers and project teams develops, control and analyze projects. The Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) contains the various methods used to manage projects on any
complexity and provides a better understanding of implementing project activities in line with
scope, time and performance. The methodological approach to managing projects has specific
criteria that must be followed for successful completion of the projects (Cardona-Meza and
Olivar-Tost, 2017. p. 17). Project management requires the application of these fundamental
procedures of initiation, planning, execution, control, monitoring and evaluation to manage each
activity with the constrained resources while focusing on the overall scope of the project.
Section 1
The proposed project in this case is the installation of an IT project at the new Lifestyle
Centre (LSC). The project will commence on Monday 11 th January 2021 and its expected date of
completion is June 11 th 2021. The projected period of completion will be six months. The above
project will involve 10 team members who will collaborate to execute the 40 activities from
inception to completion. The project will involve both the project board, project team and all
other interested parties within the LSC. The project manager has developed the project plan in
the following manner.
Business Case
The IT project will greatly impact LSC by providing a platform to address key
technological challenges in communication and access to services in the center. The above
project aims to utilize the available resources in the center to establish a well-equipped IT system
that will facilitate the running of the LSC. Upon completion, the center will benefit from reduced
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 3
costs used in implementing IT solutions and increase the productivity of the system in the whole
LSC area. Meeting the demands of customers who utilizes the facility, this project will provide a
lasting solution for the quest for better information flow within the facility and the external users
of the center. Additionally, the above project will address employment challenges as many of the
10,000 inhabitants will obtain employment opportunities in the center. The project’s objectives
are as follows:
1. To establish a competent fully functional IT infrastructure at LSC within six months.
2. To transform the operations of the center to focus on IT related solutions.
3. To address the challenges of social distancing resulting from the prevalence of the
current Corona virus pandemic by digitally transforming services at LSC.
Scope of the Project
The above project has a detailed scope that informs how activities will be accomplished
in the whole project’s life cycle and their dependencies on each other. The project will utilize $
200 billion for the entire process. The budgeted amount will be allocated in ratios depending on
the specific budget needs of individual tasks. In the plan, there will be 40 activities broken down
and assigned to specific team members. The activities will be tracked after the first three months
to ascertain if they correspond to the schedule and respective costs.
Project Activity List
The following table outlines the major activities of the project:
Task Name Duration Planned Start Date Planned Finish Date
1. Analysis 20 days 11/ 01/ 2021 01/02/2021
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 4
On-site meetings 4 days 11/01/2021 15/01/2021
Discussion with
stakeholders
4 days 15/01/2021 19/01/2021
Stakeholder initial
requirements
3 days 19/01/2021 22/01/2021
Stakeholder final
requirements
3 days 22/01/2021 25/01/2021
Customer requirements 2 days 25/01/2021 27/01/2021
Document current
system
4 days 27/01/2021 01/ 02/2021
Analysis complete 0 days 01/02/2021 01/02/2021
2. Design 14 days 01/02/2021 15/02/2021
Design
database
4 days 01/02/2021 05/02/2021
Software design 3 days 05/02/2021 08/02/2021
Interface design 3 days 08/02/2021 11/02/2021
Create design
specifications
4 days 11/02/2021 15/02/2021
Design
complete
0 days 15/02/2021 15/02/2021
3. Development 22 days 15/02/2021 08/03/2021
Deploy
development
2 days 15/02/2021 17/02/2021
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 5
site
Develop system
modules
10 days 17/02/2021 27/02/2021
Integrating
system modules
7 days 27/02/2021 05/03/2021
Performing
initial testing
3 days 05/03/2021 08/03/2021
Development
complete
0 days 08/03/2021 08/03/2021
4. Testing 18 days 08/03/2021 26/03/2021
Deploy testing
site
4 days 08/03/2021 12/03/2021
Testing the
system
3 days 12/03/2021 15/03/2021
Running unit
tests
4 days 15/03/2021 19/03/2021
Running system
test cycle
7 days 19/03/2021 26/03/2021
Testing
complete
0 days 26/03/2021 26/03/2021
5. Implementing
system
25 days 26/03/2021 20/04/2021
On-site 4 days 26/03/2021 30/03/2021
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 6
installation
Setup database 5 days 30/03/2021 02/04/2021
Importing live
data
4 days 02/04/2021 06/04/2021
Integrating
backup
14 days 06/04/2021 20/04/2021
Implementation
complete
0 days 20/04/2021 20/04/2021
6. Training 15 days 20/04/2021 05/05/ 2021
Performing
system testing
5 days 20/04/2021 25/04/2021
Documenting
issues found
5 days 25/04/2021 30/04/2021
Correcting
issues found
5 days 30/04/2021 05/05/2021
Training
complete
0 days 05/05/2021 05/05/2021
7.
Documentatio
n
20 days 05/05/2021 25/05/2021
Technical 4 days 05/05/2021 09/05/2021
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 7
document
Functional
document
4 days 09/05/2021 13/05/2021
User manual 3 days 13/05/2021 16/05/2021
Transition plan 4 days 16/05/2021 20/05/2021
Handover
document
5 days 20/05/2021 25/05/2021
Contract
closure
0 days 25/05/2021 25/05/2021
8. Software
upgrade
17 days 25/05/2021 11/06/2021
Software
installation
10 days 25/05/2021 04/06/2021
Software
upgrade
7 days 04/06/2021 11/06/2021
The above activity list entails all the possible activities to be done by the project team in
the above project. The Work Breakdown Structure for the above project will list key members of
the tea required to carry out the specifies tasks. The assumptions made for this project includes
the following:
i. The project will complete in the stated time and allocated budget.
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 8
ii. All the project team members will act collaboratively to facilitate the success of
the project.
iii. The project sponsor will provide all the financial resources required for the above
project.
iv. Risks such as the Pandemic Corona virus, inflation rates and system fails will
affect the deliverables of the project.
v. The resulting project deliverables will correspond to the project plan.
vi. All stakeholders have different interests in the project outcomes and will work
collaboratively to achieve the project goals.
vii. The senior project management team will continually assess the progress of
activities and make proper adjustments on those activities that do not reflect
productivity.
viii. The project sponsor will provide all the resources required for successful
completion of the project since the initial stages towards the finish time.
ix. The UK government comprises people who have a shared vision, and work
collaboratively to improve its environment.
x. The risks associated with the project will have a minimal effect on its
performance and thus will not affect the expected outcomes.
xi. The project will benefit every stakeholder residing in and out of the LSC.
Project Constrains
The above project has some constrains that impact its completion. Firstly, the project is
constrained on its budget of 200, 000 million dollars. The budgeted cost of the project is static
and the project board does not expect it to change throughout the project’s life cycle. Every
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 9
activity outlined in the activity list should use the specified budget allocation contained in the
project’s budget. As the project continues, the project manager will be tasked to calculate the
earned value, planned value, actual cost of the project and confirm if these figures reflect a
positive direction in the project’s vision.
Time is also a constrain in the above project. The project has been scheduled to complete
in 6 months beginning the 11 th January 2021 to 9 th June 2021. The specified time for the project
means that all the project activities must take place progressively within the set deadlines. Each
activity has been allocated a specific time to complete. The time management plan will be used
to check if some activities have exceeded time or not (Giran, Temur and Bekdaş, 2017 p. 484).
Thus, the project team must adhere to the planned time when accomplishing tasks to prevent
delays in delivering on the overall project.
The scope of the project is another constrain. The project team expects to establish a
competent IT system in LSC. The system will impact the overall fraternity of LSC and the UK
government at large. Hence, the above project must deliver on its scope and the business case.
Project Dependencies
The project above depends on the accomplishment of specific tasks before it becomes a
success. First, the project depends on the project sponsors aid in financing its activities.
Additionally, the project depends on the overall support of the LSC fraternity to implement its
functions on the site.
Each activity in the plan will be dependent on the other and thus the project team must work
collaboratively to ensure all the activities are done completely for a successful project
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 10
(Sepasgozar, 2019 p. 191). The following represents the specific project budget breakdown of
the major project activities.
Task Assigned cost (millions in
dollars ($)
Assigned time (days)
Analysis 30,000 20
Design 25,000 14
Development 20,000 22
Testing 35,000 18
Implementation 20,000 25
Training 20,000 15
Documentation 25,000 20
Software upgrade 25,000 17
Section 2
The project manager appraised the above project on Friday the 9 th of April 2021
and made several calculations regarding the progress and performance of the project. Due
to the rising inflation rates, the current impact of COVID- 19 and environmental
uncertainties in the region, the cost of the project activities increased by 10% in the initial
stages. The effects of uncertainty also caused the project time to increase in the first three
months. Thus the following calculations were carried out on the project.
a. Percentage of wok completed in the first phase
Percentage of work completed = actual work/ work
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 11
= 74/150
PWC =50%
b. The actual costs incurred in the project as at 9 th April 2021 will be computed basing
on the costs consumed against the budgeted cost
Cost incurred till 9 th April 2021 as estimated in the budget = 120, 000 million dollars
Additional costs as a result of uncertainties = 10% of the projected total budget
Hence, additional costs= 10 % x 200,000 million dollars = 20,000 dollars
Thus, the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)= 120,000+
20,000= 140,000 Million dollars.
c. Planned Value (BCWS) will simply be computed as the budgeted amount through the
current period of reporting.
Hence PV = 30,000+ 25,000+ 20,000+ 35,000
PV= 120,000 Million dollars
d. Earned value (EV) for the above projected will be the total projected budget
multiplied by the percentage of work done (Mahmoudi, Bagherpour and Javed, 2019
p. 54).
Total projected budget = 200,000 million dollars
Percentage of work done as at 9 th April,2021= 50%
Thus, EV= 200,000x 50/100
EV= 100,000 million dollars.
e. Schedule Variance will be obtained by subtracting the Planned Value from the Earned
Value
Planned value= 120,000
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 12
Earned value= 100,000
Thus SV= 100000- 120000
SV= -20,000 million dollars
f. Cost variance involves a subtraction between the earned value(EV) and the actual
cost (AC)
EV= 100,000
AC= 140,000
CV= 100,000- 140,000
CV= -40,000
Section Three: Reflection
The above project has a critical path that requires the project team to address for
successful completion. The project commenced well as indicated in its plan and all the resources
needed for its completion were available. The project plan outlined each activity needed and
assigned specific roles to individual team members. During the analysis stage, the stakeholders
and the project board brainstormed on the project’s benefits and formulated the business case.
Work began as planned and the system was designed. The preceding activities occurred in
conjunction with the outlined procedures. The project’s initial stages were accomplished as per
the plan.
The subsequent project stages involved a number of constrains and hence impacted the
productivity of the entire project. For instance, the outbreak and prevalence of the novel COVID-
19 impacted how the activities of the project were done. Due to the need to maintain social
distance and lockdown effects, some team members did not turn on the site. The delay and
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 13
absence at the site resulted to increase in time needed to accomplish tasks by 15 %. The increase
in time resulted into delays and generally affected the time for completing the project activities.
Additionally, the rising inflation rates in the UK government caused prices of items to rise. The
rise in prices impacted the project purchasing power hence resulted to a 10 % rise in the project
cost. The costs increased hence affecting the budget. The increase in budget has a causal effect
on the overall delivery of the project. Huge costs cause some of the activities to slow down as
there need to source for more finance to ensure continuity in the project work.
Projects of this time usually require close monitoring to evaluate their performance and
align them with the project scope. For the above project, appraisal has been scheduled to occur in
the middle of the project as at 9 th April 2021. The evaluation report will be presented to the
project board for insights and decision making. If the project board approves the
recommendations indicated in the status report, then the project manager will revisit the project
plan to make adjustments on costs and time. When revising the plan, the manager will prioritize
activities that need to complete and reschedule those activities that have not completed according
to the plan. Timely, the project manager will track the progress of these activities to confirm
whether they intend to produce the planned deliverables.
Risks and issues are also part of the project life cycle and thus must be addressed as the
project progresses. Some possible risks related to the above project may include system failure,
faulty installations and cyber-attacks. The project manager will have to update the risk register
and calculate the value of risks to determine the potential risks that can result in project failure.
Timely, the project manager will develop a risk management plan to enable the project team
perform tasks while reducing the impact of risks on the deliverables. Thus, after establishing a
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 14
risk management plan, the project manager will communicate the plan to every project member
and mitigate ways to reduce the risks as the project progresses.
Lastly given the current state of the project after the status report, the project manager
will need to crush some activities in the remaining phases. Crushing will ensure that time has
been recovered and the project delivers on its scope without compromising its expected
performance. For this reason, the project manager will crush those activities to save on cost and
time to gap the increased 15% time and 10% cost of the project.
Key project management expertise is crucial in managing a complex project like the one
above. As a result, project managers and teams need up-to-date knowledge to accomplish
specific tasks and address project risks in a timely manner. Thus project management involves
critical approaches that require a deep understanding of the project scope, time and cost.
PROJECT PLANNING, CONTROL AND ANALYSIS 15
References
Cardona-Meza, L.S. and Olivar-Tost, G., 2017. Modeling and simulation of project management
through the PMBOK® standard using complex networks. Complexity, 2017.
Giran, O., Temur, R. and Bekdaş, G., 2017. Resource constrained project scheduling by harmony
search algorithm. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 21(2), pp.479-487.
Mahmoudi, A., Bagherpour, M. and Javed, S.A., 2019. Grey earned value management: theory
and applications. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.
Sepasgozar, S.M., Karimi, R., Shirowzhan, S., Mojtahedi, M., Ebrahimzadeh, S. and McCarthy,
D., 2019. Delay causes and emerging digital tools: A novel model of delay analysis,
including integrated project delivery and PMBOK. Buildings, 9(9), p.191.