Project Management Practices on Implementation

Question: Discuss about the Project Management for Practices on Implementation. Answer: Introduction: Project management is an endeavour that is taken through the application of knowledge and methods as well as expertise to achieve certain identified objectives. Projects can be successful or unsuccessful depending on how they are managed. Successful projects are those that meet the desired objectives while failed projects are those that are not able to meet the desired objectives (Collins 2011). It is the desire of every project team to ensure the success of a project. Australia has had both successful and unsuccessful projects .Clen Jones Tunnel project also known as North South Bypass is a motor way road under Brisbane river whose construction began in the year 2006 and was completed in 2010.The idea of the project had however been proposed much earlier in the year 2001 by Jim Soorley who was the then Labor Lord Mayor. The Tunnel was named by Brisbane county council in honour of former Lord Mayor .It was majorly constructed to ease traffic in the central business district of the rapidly growing city in order to save on the total travel time for travellers. It also provided an alternative for crossing river Brisbane. The tunnel has 18 Bridges and 4.8 Km tunnel and has two traffic lanes on either side. Despite having faced a number of challenges the project can be said to have been a success because its initial objective of reducing traffic and saving on travel time was achieved. Factors for success of the project Just like any other project, there are a number of factors that contributed to the success of this project. The most significant among these factors are resources both monetary and human resources. Resources are the number one consideration in any given project that is because without resources, projects would only remain on paper and would never be implemented. (Maylor 2010) For any project Money is almost everything. Without sufficient funding a projects will stall mid way before its completion and will not be able to meet its objectives .The project was sufficiently funded having cost the Australian Government a whopping $ 3.2 Billion . Although there were initial complaints about this cost being too high it at least enabled the successful implementation of the project in time. This money was necessary for purchasing of equipment, paying of wages and salaries for the people working on the tunnel, fuelling machines and vehicles used in the construction among other things. Each tunn elling machine was constructed at a tune of $50 million. Conveyors were used for removing soil and rock which were later taken away by trucks .In a day there were more than 25 trucks of Rock and soil transported .This means that there were transportation and fuel costs incurred on daily basis. All these were all necessary for the success of the project. It can be argued that adequate funding was one of the factors that led to the success of Clem Jones Tunnel Project. Human resources on the other hand comprise of all the people who provided their skills, expertise as well as labour to ensure that the project was implemented successfully without delay. These also form a critical component of any project. Human resources are able to provide varied skills all which are helpful to a project. They are in position of converting sets of data into information that is useful for a project. The project comprised of 1700 staff members who provided their skills to ensure that the project was not faulty and was completed within time. Because of the nature of the project and the large number of staff, a RFID tagging system was used to locate them at any time. Safety measures Safety of both equipment and labour force is important for any project. If safety measures are not adhered to in any project, the number of accidents is likely to be more .This is likely to result to losses because of money that will be spent to replace destroyed equipment or to repair them. Additionally, it will also bring about extra costs as money will be spent to cater for medical expenses of the injured employees. For Clem Jones Tunnel Project sufficient safety measures were put in place to ensure that it was implemented successfully. Several cameras were installed in the tunnel for easier monitoring of operations which enabled taking of actions where necessary. RFID tagging system was also used to improve safety in the tunnel that was considered as hazardous and which had the potential of causing several accidents if care was not taken. Additionally, in the tunnel, there were cross passages spaced every 120 Metres which were designed to be used in case of emergencies. Adherence to safety precautions therefore, was also a success factor for the project. Comprehensive plan Planning involves organizing activities in an orderly manner for the purposes of achieving particular objectives. Planning is done beforehand and usually involves assessing how a particular activity will be carried out, who will be involved, what resources will be used, the source of these resources, the location of the activity among other considerations. Despite the fact that the idea of the project was first given back in the year 2001, it took 5 years for the project to commence. This was to ensure that all factors were considered and all preparations were made. Planning also involved identifying the resources that were necessary for the successful implementation of the project. Planning also ensured that the actual length of the tunnel as well as other features that were incorporated in the plan were analyzed to ensure that the project was successfully implemented. Defined objectives Projects are designed to help meet particular objectives, to alleviate a problem that had initially been identified or to make better a particular situation. Unless these objectives are met the project will not have served its purpose .There is need therefore of ensuring that project objectives are achieved so that they can be considered as having been successful. The major objective of Clen Jones project was to ease traffic and since it was achieved the project can be said to have succeeded because objectives were set beforehand and adhered to. Team work and good leadership Team work and good leadership also play a significant role in projects. Apart from expertise on the part of labour force and project leaders, how they work together and how they are led is quite important. There would be no success without good leadership and team work. River city Motorway limited which won the tender for the project was able to effectively manage and lead the over 1700 staff working in the project .Working as a team also ensured that the objectives of the projects were achieved since all effort was directed towards the same direction. These factors significantly contributed to the success of the project. Involvement of stakeholders Projects require collective efforts for successful implementation. Involvement of stakeholders is quite important for the success of any project (Patel 2008).The public is the most important stakeholder in government projects .In case of any benefits from the project; they will be the greatest beneficiaries and in case of any loss they will be the greatest losers. The members of the community were initially opposed to the project because they felt that the project would pollute the environment .However after they were given a listening ear and their opinions put into considerations the implementation of the project was able to be carried out smoothly without any significant challenges. Clen Jones project was a complex project with a number of challenges because of the challenging responsibilities that were required to be undertaken by the people working in the tunnel. A number of tools and techniques were used in the project implementation. PERT control and planning tool was used to define project tasks that were necessary for its successful implementation. This tool involved identifying the activities that would be carried out in the project; the sequence of various activities was then analyzed so that implementation would be carried out in the best and most satisfactory order possible. 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