WBS and Risk

The Project Management Institute defines a WBS as “A deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total work scope of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed definition of the project work”

There are three reasons to use a WBS in your projects.  Firstly it, helps to more accurately and precisely define and categorise the scope of the total project. This is usually done by means of using a hierarchical tree structure. Each level of this structure breaks the project deliverables or objectives down to more specific and quantifiable chunks. The second reason for using a WBS in your projects is to help with assigning responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project. The WBS makes the deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows exactly what has to be accomplished within each deliverable. This also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. Finally, it allows you double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make sure there is nothing missing or overlapping.

For example please see below the WBS for a football tournament

In order to understand which areas of the project might require special attention, and whether there are any recurring risk themes, or concentrations of risk on a project, it would be helpful if there were a simple way of describing the structure of project risk exposure.

 Simple list of risk sources does not provide the richness of the WBS since it only presents a single level of organization. A better solution to the structuring problem for risk management would be to adopt the full hierarchical approach used in the WBS, with as many levels as are required to provide the necessary understanding of risk exposure to allow effective management. Such a hierarchical structure of risk sources should be known as a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). Following the pattern of the WBS definition above, the RBS is defined here as “A source-oriented grouping of project risks that organizes and defines the total risk exposure of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed definition of sources of risk to the project.” The RBS is therefore a hierarchical structure of potential risk sources. The value of the WBS lies in its ability to scope and define the work to be done on the project; similarly the RBS can be an invaluable aid to understanding the risks faced by the project. Just as the WBS forms the basis for many aspects of the project management process, so the RBS can be used to structure and guide the risk management process.

There are six stages of the project management process, we will now take a look at the second phase also known as the “definition phase”. After the project plan (stage one) has been approved, the project enters the second phase: the definition phase. In this phase, the requirements that are associated with a project result are specified as clearly as possible. This involves identifying the expectations that all of the involved parties have with regard to the project result. During this phase, a project plan and project scope may be put in writing, outlining the work to be performed.  According to the book project management fifth edition project scope should include the following stages.

•     Project deliverables
•   Project Milestone
• Technical Requirements
• Limits and exclusion
• Customer review

The project management team should prioritize the project, calculate a budget and schedule, and determine what resources are needed. The project definitions should be in sync with that of the client and end user requirements.

It is at this stage that the Project manager and its participants can use the scope of the project as a tool in order to measure the success of the project. It is very important that all parties that are involved in the project are able to collaborate during the definition phase, particularly the end users who will be using the project result. The client, who pays for the project, is indeed invited to collaborate on the requirements during the definition phase. Nonetheless, the project result benefits when its future users are also invited. As a point of departure, it is helpful to make a habit of organising meetings with all concerned parties during the definition phase of a project

This involves identifying the expectations of all parties involved with regard to the project result. It is important to identify the requirements as early in the process as possible. The Preconditions for the project, Functional & Operational requirements and Design limitations should be clearly defined in this phase.

Risk is associated with things that are unknown. More things are unknown at the beginning of a project, but risk must be considered in the initiation phase and weighed against the potential benefit of the project’s success in order to decide if the project should be chosen.

Poory defined project scope has been cause of 50% of all project failures according to the book written by Larson and Grey Project management 5th Edition. Scope creep can lead to risk when the project scope is not defined accurately. Project scope refers to alterations that have been made or introduced as the project progress. These can include things like newly defined costs or other add-ons. An example of project scope is what is currently happening with the new children’s Hospital and the increased costs.

Project Screening Process and the the Multi-Weighted Scoring Models operates

Detail the Project Screening Process as it is applied to an organisation of your choice, describe the role of those involved and explain how the Multi-Weighted Scoring Models operates

I will now apply the Project screening process to IKEA. Recently within IKEA they have undertaken some major projects. The first step of every project begins with the proposed idea.  In IKEAs situation the idea generation which was proposed was the “aisle width project”.

The situation was taken to not only widen the aisle but to also go higher with them. The idea was put forward after some research was conducted by way of root cause analysis on aisles which had forklift damage occurring regularly to some of the stock within the warehouse. Additional factors such as Brexit and capacity issues which IKEA have been experiencing due to growth resulted in the decision to also higher the aisles in order to allow for greater capacity. In both cases the ROI and strategic fit where assessed. IKEA have long had a strategy of “serving the many people”. This has resulted in 10% growth year on year within the Dublin store resulted in capacity issues. The aisle width project worked alongside IKEAs strategy.  At the same time IKEA also wanted to create more inspiration within the store and completely revamp the IKEA showroom.

Both projects are needed and work alongside the strategic fit of the organistion. However both projects would not be able to be under taken at the same time as this would cause too much of a disruption to the everyday business. This is where the prioritizing of projects are crucial. This can be an uncomfortable process for managers. It is vitally important to remain unbiased to project you feel more passionate about as opposed to what makes a better business decision. Once the decision was taken which project to lead with then top level management where presented with the proposal and the green light given if they were happy with the project proposal. The main decision in this case was we would more sales location and stock locations in the warehouse if IKEA created a new inspirational showroom. As it stood IKEA where tight on space. The decision was taken to increase capacity and driver efficiency and then create a new inspirational showroom. Some organization use a project priority system to help them priorities projects.

Once the top level management have said the project can be implemented, the budget is set after having a minimum of three contractors price the job. Once the budget has been set IKEA then create a project team. The project team consists of Individuals who are deemed as experts in the field being undertaken. In this case the logistics manager was removed from his role and given the project managers rolled and his position was filled temporarily. This allows the project manager give their full attention to the job at hand. IKEAmust also evaluate what resources can be allocated to the project.

“Management of a portfolio system requires two major inputs from senior management. First, senior management must provide guidance in establishing selection criteria that strongly align with the current organization strategies. Second, senior management must annually decide how they wish to balance the available organizational resources (people and capital) among the different types of projects”

Multi-Weighted Scoring models.

Weighted Scoring. A weighted scoring model is a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria. Apply the scoring rubric to assign raw scores for each criterion to each project. Multiply the raw scores by the weights to get the weighted scores for each criterion on each project.

Above is an example of the weighted scoring model. The total weight of the weighted score must add to 100%. After this you list all of the requirements deemed applicable to the project in question. For example these may include time frame, budgets and other important criteria. In order to get the final weighted score of each project a simple calculation is required. Please see below example.

The project with the highest weighted score is deemed the project to choose. An example can be seen below

  

The Irish government and project failure

Briefly Research a public sector project. Describe the project and suggest why it failed with reference to the Lars Mieritz "Gartner Survey Shows Why Projects Fail" article. 

The project I have chosen to discuss is the new children’s hospital which is currently being built on the St. James hospital site. This project has yet to be completed but will already be deemed a failure on the following grounds.

·         Will finish over budget

·         Not completed in the projected time scale.

·         Not all amenities which where required will operate as planned.

Gartner describes the above as some of the main reason as to why projects fail. I will now demonstrate how each of the above apply to the project I have chosen.

 The plan for the new children's hospital began almost 33 years. Applying the time scale element to the project, it was first reported that the new hospital would be built in 2015, however in 2012 An Board Pleánala refused planning permission for the site at the Mater hospital. Since then the site has moved to St. Jameses hospital. Leo Varadkar announced that the hospital would open in 2020, however this has now been pushed back until August 2022.

In order for a project to be deemed successful it is also required that the budget comes in within the budget allocation. Yet again the Irish Government have displayed their poor project management of the hospital. Originally the project was set to cost €790 million, yet most recently the project now looks set to cost in the region of €1.4 billion.

As Gartner says “Many large projects fail because business conditions keep changing after the project scope has been set, leaving a significant disconnect between the agreed-on scope and budget versus what the business will require and pay for by the time the project is delivered”.  The Irish Government have done exactly this. Perhaps the case could be argued that the Government are perhaps not as careful as they would be if it was their own business.

If we look at some of the amenities that the hospital where to have, one of which was to have a Helicopter pad on site for emergencies. This will be located on the fourth floor but unfortunately the coast guards helicopter is too heavy and will have to land at least a mile away where an ambulance will finish the journey. This could have been avoided if the green field site at Connolly hospital had of been chosen.

If we look at what is known as the triple constraint two of the key elements of project management is time scale and cost, both of which the Irish government have failed to manage.

It would seem the Government have also lacked adequate planning for this project. Far better options where available and which would have eliminated the parking issue which will arise in the new children's hospital, ease of access, all which cause for needless stress at a time where calm is of the essence. Perhaps the government should look at outsourcing future projects and leave them in the hands of those who will look out for the interests of the entire country,

Going forward the government should as stated by Gartner

“ need to be aware of and address changes in the environment, and understand that cost, scope and schedule are not weighted equally. By maintaining close ties to sponsors and stakeholders, and being upfront regarding the trade-offs between functionality scope and schedule, expectations can be re-calibrated on an ongoing basis, thus improving success rates.”

supply chain

One of the first developments in the supply chain was that of EDI (electronic data interchange). EDI  is a computer to computer based exchange that works with documents that can help reduce cost, increase processing speed, reduced errors and improve relationships with business partners. This is simply system can help is easily explained with the below diagrams. Diagram one shows the traditional old style way of ordering buying/ordering stock and the paper work process that it follows..

(Diagram 1)

Having an EdI system can allow documents to flow straight through to the appropriate application on the receiver’s computer (the Order Management System) and processing can begin immediately while eliminating the humon error that may occur in the manual process.

(Diagram 2) 

More recently retails giant Marks and Spencer’s have implemented a Microsoft.net infrastructure that collects transnational data from the tills during the day. This information was then sent to the central data warehouse within 10 minutes of the sale being processed. This helped improve both sales forecasting and reporting. M&S also combine MUWS (multi-user warehouse system) with the .net infrastructure to allowing stores to view real time stock availability.  This will mean over time that M&S will be able to visibly see what stock is on what trailer and will have the possibility to re-routs stock to busier stores to meet the demand and ensure customer satisfaction is met at all times in all stores.. 

How to get customer insights?

If only we had the ability to think like our customers even better still, to be able to realise who our target audience really are and what demographic they are in. The truth is we have so much readily available data about or customers or potential customers that we can gather valuable information and use it to target them with a particular product or service. Think about it, not a day passes where the majority of people haven’t spent time on the internet leaving a trail of information behind them as they venture in the online world. This data should be gathered analysed and used to the benefit of an organisation. There are so many analytic tools at your disposal that you can take advantage off. I will now list some of the most valuable analytic tools that as a marketer you could use.

You tube analytics: To find out who your real audience is, click on the ‘demographics tab’, here you’ll find information about the location and age of the people who watch your videos. Once you know who your audience is, you will be able to produce more personalised content that caters to their needs and increases conversions. You can also gain some information as to at what stage to people turn your videos off. In this instance you can have a pop up that directs them to your website ten seconds or so before the estimated time of departures.

Google trends: Using google trends you can see if your assumptions about the interests of your customers are correct. Take for example the rise in the makeup industry. Your marketing team could use Google analytics to see what makeup videos are trending. Google trends will also show you the most popular searched topics in your niche. Once you have decided on what areas or topics your customers wants to know more information on you can create and target them with the appropriate video or advertisement. Google trends can provide essential customer insights if used correctly. 

Google analytics: Google analytics is one of the most popular analytics tools on the market. It has the possibility to track the traffic of your website along with the performance of various web pages. One of the best benefits of Google analytics is the Goal funnel option. This is really important for those involved in E-commerce. Goal funnel provides all the URL links that the customer clicks through when making a purchase. This provides you with the information of how many people are actual going through the process. More importantly it will show you the stages that people are abandoning the purchase which can provide you with the data needed to improve the stages and steps needed to make a purchase.

Social Mention: Social mention is a free real time tool that allows you to monitor your performance on social media. It monitors and gathers all the social media mentions of your brand into a single stream which include hashtags. It gives an in-depth analysis of data and measures influence in four categories: sentiment, strength, passion, and reach.

The above mentioned are just some of the ways in which marketers can increase the information through gathered data to provide a better service for the customer, create new innovative ideas and to endure they are targeting their product or service at the correct demographic.

Digital for retention and new customers?

Organisations in today’s world focus heavily on attracting new customers as this forms the basis to grow and expand. Equally customer retention should have just as much time and energy focused on to ensure we maintain our loyal customers. Attracting new customers to your business can cost up to 7 times more than the cost of customer retention. The digital era in which we live in today can help with both of these aspects of growth. Take customer retention as an example. The term social media is fast becoming the gateway for organisation to continue to market their goods or services. However one simple solution of involving customers in in your social media can massively increase their loyalty. Soda Stream does a great job of regularly putting their fans in the limelight through their Facebook page and on their blog. Not only are they regularly engaging their fans with contests, they are making sure everyone knows who won, and creating a lot of buzz while they’re at it. This is also another form of marketing as these customers will spread the positive news to friends, family and most importantly on all social media platforms.

 Personalisation is another key aspect that most business over look, if we take the time to learn about our customers and present them with relevant products based on their preferences and buying purchases they will feel more valued and involved with the company. Ensuring repeat customers who buy online can have a simple purchase process take Amazons one click payments process as an example. Having a strong customer service presence online is more efficient then making customers contact and wait in line on call centre calls. These are just some of the simple but effective ways in which can ensure we retain our current customer base.

In order to attract new customers as a business you must be easily accesses, then of course you must offer value to the customer. If we look at Pinterest as an example of how using a unique sign up process was a strong form of customer acquisition.  Every step in the process, from requesting an invitation to the social signup, is designed to create a sense of belonging and wonderment, thereby building an emotional connection to the user. Having a demonstration video around the benefits of becoming one oy your consumers will increase conversations around your brand. Small offerings can increase someone to buy or use your product like an initial discount for first time buyers/ users. This can also be used to retain loyal customers. When potential customers are visiting your digital page for the first time we need to ensure it is now that we convert them as According to Infinite Conversions, “Over 80% of abandoning visitors never return.” Therefore, your focus should be on converting visitors the first time they visit.

Digital experience