Building a House for the Handicapped - Term Paper Example

Building a House for the Handicapped Definition a. Managing the Project Process i. Stakeholders: The stakeholders for this project include members of the handicapped community, relevant construction experts, disabilities advocates and the funding programme (possible federal funding). ii. Managing strategic choices: Strategic choices are used to manage the element of uncertainty in a planned fashion during a project. (Institute for Manufacturing, 2011) The strategic choices for this project will be managed best through a continuous iterative cycle composed of: shaping; designing; comparing; choosing. iii. Benefits analysis: A benefit analysis must be carried out to ensure that the project is justified. A qualitative benefit analysis as well as a quantitative benefit analysis would ensure that all possible aspects are covered. The qualitative benefit analysis would comprise of various aspects that make handicapped housing better than simpler abodes for disabled individuals. The quantitative analysis could comprise of the cost benefit analysis which would determine if the proposed project is better than existing solutions. (Flyvbjerg, Bruzelius, & Rothengatter, 2003) b. Initial Planning i. The planning process would need to take into account the proposed design to facilitate disabled individuals as well as the compliance of this design with guidelines and relevant laws. This would be followed by procurement planning and subsequently construction planning. ii. WBS (Work Breakdown Structure): The WBS approach ensures that a larger project is distributed into smaller components that can be defined individually. The various work areas are articulately defined so that they are mutually exclusive. This helps to define the complete scope of the project with relative ease. (Haugan, 2001) The WBS for the project is presented below: iii. SWOT analysis: SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) represents the internal strengths and weaknesses of a project or business operation. (Armstrong., 2006) The SWOT analysis for the project is presented in the matrix below: Strengths Weaknesses well planned execution; help from volunteer groups; well established trends to take cue from. mismanagement during construction; underestimated timelines; underestimated costs; provision for specialised services will add to cost. Opportunities Threats government funding support; volunteer based help. solution may not be the most feasible solution around; budgetary overruns. iv. SOW (Statement of Work): A SOW is a formal piece of documentation that defines the total work activities along with deliverables within a timeline. Often a SOW is used for coordination between provider / vendor and the concerned client. Generally detailed price breakups and requirements are included in a SOW as well as any relevant regulations and governance conditions. A SOW will be developed for the project to enhance traceability as well as measurability of the overall progress. (Nielsen, 2009) 2. Design a. Time planning i. Constructing a time plan will be done through standard tools such as Microsoft Project to create a comprehensive Gantt chart as per the WBS. This will enable the executing party to take full measure of the time involved along with the resources involved. ii. Tasks dependencies will be listed within the prepared timeline and will be kept to a minimum in order to ensure that the WBS is allowed to function fully. Major task dependencies will include approval of planned materials (including plot plans and construction blueprints), building foundations, creating walls, building the roofing and floors. Finishing will depend on these tasks during which special elements such as ramps, communication equipment etc. would be added to facilitate disabled people. b. The critical chain approach ensures that project planning and management depends largely on resource requirements. This is opposed to traditional methods such as PERT and critical path. The CCPM (critical chain project management) methods allow level loading of resources along with flexible starting times and agile task switching to keep the project schedule on track. (Lechler, 2011) c. Cost and benefit planning will be carried out during the initial planning phase as outlined above and will be followed up consequently to ensure that established objectives are maintained. A detailed cost benefit analysis will be carried out to asses overall project benefit. d. Stakeholders and quality need to be monitored continuously for their inputs and feedback over the design process. Stakeholders will be involved so that their reservations can be removed during planning. Stakeholders such as the financers and the disabled people advocacy groups will be focused on. Moreover quality management will be done through the planning phase by comparing this project with already executed projects and their quality principles. e. Risk and opportunities management will be done through hiring of appropriately trained, qualified and experienced staff for the design phase of the project. Opportunities will be managed through hiring of appropriate consultants with proven experience within this particular sector. 3. Execution a. Project organization would require assembling an appropriately experienced team with experience in construction in general and construction of housing for disabled individuals in particular. A central command centre would need to be created depending on the size of the total project to organise the project on professional lines. A project leader would be required to direct the project’s overall efforts and targets. The project leader would be followed by senior management including the department or section managers. These managers would be supported in their operation by line staff such as supervisors who would deal with affairs in the field. The main construction team would also need several support teams such as safety and health, supply chain, transport etc. which would also need to be structured accordingly. Moreover as the project is being executed the size of the teams would first expand and then contract as the project nears its end. This would also have to be managed to avoid shortages in the beginning as well as disgruntled workers who are laid off as the project nears completion. b. Management would have to be hired preferably professionals with construction experience behind their backs. Moreover safety management would have to be structured as well as quality management by hiring appropriately trained and experienced individuals. Risk managers could be hired from third parties. Specialised personnel dealing in construction management of housing for disabled people would need to be hired in the field for proper execution of the design elements. c. Project control would be established through setting up a control team that would monitor and report on the progress of the overall project as well as its components. This control team would report directly to the project executive who would direct the management to modify their approach as well as techniques in use accordingly. Given that the CCPM approach is being used, the project management would need to switch between tasks rapidly at times so professionals with a background in CCPM would be preferred for control. Moreover coordination between the control monitoring team and other interfaces would need to be of a high quality to ensure that constant monitoring and feedback flow from the respective quarters. d. Supply chain would need to be maintained as per procurement planning outlined earlier as well as disposal of materials that have been used up such as packaging materials. A separate section would have to be created to deal with supply chain affairs exclusively. One part of this section would deal with procurement while the other part would deal with disposal. Proper rules would have to be set up such as contracting guidelines, procurement guidelines, disposal guidelines etc. Moreover supply chain management would need to be audited both internally and externally to ensure transparency and accountability. e. Problem solving and decision making would be an expected trait of the hired management. Even so problems and disputes would arise internally that would need to be solved. This can be done effectively through creation of a complete hierarchical structure for the project management team. Training could also be provided to newer professionals to ensure that their skills for problem solving and decision making are up to the required mark. 4. Development a. Project completion and review would be constituted at the end of the project in order to assess the overall performance of the project. A project completion certificate would have to be issued that all relevant stakeholders would sign to show their approval. The project’s performance as per finances, timeline and resources would be carried out at the end to see how far the project deviated from the planned objectives. Bibliography Armstrong., M. (2006). A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page. Flyvbjerg, B., Bruzelius, N., & Rothengatter, W. (2003). Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Haugan, G. T. (2001). Effective Work Breakdown Structures. London: Management Concepts. Institute for Manufacturing. (2011, September 15). Strategic Choice Approach. Retrieved September 15, 2011, from IfM: http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/dstools/choosing/strach.html Lechler, T. G. (2011, September 15). Critical Chain: A New Project Management Paradigm or Old Wine in New Bottles? Retrieved September 15, 2011, from AllBusiness.com: http://www.allbusiness.com/management/1054157-1.html Nielsen, D. (2009, August 25). How to Write the Project Statement of Work (SOW). Retrieved September 15, 2011, from Project Management Hut: http://www.pmhut.com/how-to-write-the-project-statement-of-work-sow Read More