Portfolio in Project Management

Portfolio in project management refers to projects, subsidiary portfolios, programs and operations which are managed as one unit to achieve a strategic objective. The portfolio needs not be co-dependent or directly related to be managed centrally. Portfolio management is therefore a critical tool in guiding investment decisions made by organizations besides picking the optimal combinations of projects and programs that will ensure strategic objectives are met. 

A project is an impermanent venture undertaken to develop a new and unique product, service or a result. They are undertaken to achieve a result upon which work is aimed at, a strategic position to be achieved, purpose to be attained or a service to be done. The objective is to produce a deliverable. a project is aimed at driving change in an organization so as to fulfill specific objectives. An example of a project from the case studies provided is the establishment of a standardized procurement and inventory control system across all the plants of Kemko Manufacturing. This is different from a program. 

A program refers to a cluster of connected projects and program activities which are managed in a synchronized way to achieve benefits that may not accrue from managing them separately (Artto et al., 2009). It may consist of projects and other programs within a program, and it often involves applying specific knowledge and skill to achieve the objectives intended and reaps benefits and control that may not be gotten if they were to be run individually. An example of a program in the Kemko Manufacturing project is the requirement for every plant to prepare its own detailed requirement package to ensure no scope creep arises. 

The three components of project, program and portfolio management are therefore very essential aspects from the perspective of an organization in that, projects and program management put a lot of emphasis on doing the projects correctly while portfolio management puts emphasis on doing the right projects and programs in an organization. 

However, all projects have processes they undergo from project selection to project closure and all have to adhere to the conventions and rules that govern how they shall be conducted. The standards may range from organizational practices and their unique specific requirements which may address any aspect of the project they are undertaking including the technology that will be used to the specifics of how meetings will be conducted and documented. 

This project life cycle will often be executed through a series of activities referred to as project management processes. Each process has to produce an output from the inputs through project management techniques and tools applicable. The resultant outputs are the deliverables that provide outcomes. 

Project Selection 

This refers to a process of evaluating and assessing project ideas and picking one with the highest priority in order to meet the objectives of the organization that will implement the project. This also involves selecting projects that align with the strategy of the organization, picking a leader to champion the project, conducting an environmental assessment of the project and identifying the parameters that will necessitate the success of the project. 

Project Charter 

A project Charter is a document which officially acknowledges that a project exists and enables the project manager to use organizational resources for the project activities. This is essential in providing a link between the strategic objectives of a particular organization with the project it undertakes, develops an official record of the project besides indicating the commitment of the organization to that particular project. See Annex 1 

Project Organization 

This refers to an arrangement that enables coordination and implementation of the activities of the project to be undertaken. Organization ensures that an enabling environment to foster member interaction is created with the least amount of conflict, overlaps and disruptions (Morris & Pinto, 2010). 

Project Planning 

Project planning involves all the activities one does to set up their projects to succeed. It involves steps that define the objectives of a project, the scope of the activities to be done and their task list. 

Project Scheduling 

Project scheduling is a process that gives an elaborate plan that shows how and when a project will output products, results and services within their scope. It is mostly used a tool of communication, managing expectations of the stakeholders and forms a baseline of performance reporting. 

Project Estimating 

This is a process that involves giving quantitative assessments of the possible costing of the entire project including other contingency funds to cover identified risks and administrative costs for work which may not have been captured in the plan. 

Monitoring and Control 

This involves keeping track, making reviews and reports of the general progress of the project so at to meet the expected performance objectives provided in the management plan. 

Project Closure 

This is usually the last phase in the project cycle and it includes the final hand over of all the deliverables, giving over the document to the organization, voiding all the contracts, releasing employees and the machinery and letting the stakeholders aware of the closure. 

Communication Management 

This process is responsible for meeting the information requirements of the project, and that of its stakeholders via establishment of artifacts and the implementation of all the activities that are aimed at ensuring exchange of information (Muszynska et al., 2015) 

Risk Management 

This is a process of planning on risk management, identifying risks, analyzing, implementing response and tracking risk on the project. This is aimed at optimizing the chances of the project succeeding. 

Role of Information Technology 

Information technology plays a critical role in improving communication, ensuring social collaboration on large scale projects, enhancing efficiency through cloud-based management technology and offering real time updates and reporting on a project (Tohidi, 2011). 

Section 2 

Standards of project management applied during the simulation 

Various standards of project management were applied during the simulation. They include: Project scheduling, project cost management and project resource management. 

Project scheduling management involves setting out the clear deadlines for the deliverables of the project in order to manage the project effectively (“Project Management Institute (PMI)”, 2017). For the given scenario, scheduling was carried out by having the project to be completed on week 18. The project was however, completed by week 15, which was three weeks in advance. The target date for completion of tasks was noted to be consistent throughout the project schedule. 

Project cost management is another practice that was employed in the simulation and which is used to establish and observe the costs of the project. It was observed that one of the parameters that would be required for the successful completion of the project is the budget (Archibald et al. 2015). The total estimate for the given project was $42,500 and the project was completed within the budget with a total cost of $41,288. In order to meet the required costs, estimation was done regarding the total expenditure that would be required for each week. The costs were controlled by considering other initiatives such as outsourcing the services. 

Project resource management was also employed in the simulation, and it involves the management of the team that would be required to complete the project. The management of the project team is critical as it is the team that steers the project to completion. A small team that was mostly about 3 members was used to complete the project. The team was identified that it could require training so as to develop certain competencies to complete the project (Rodriguez &Walters, 2017). This was possible through ensuring that the team went through coaching at the early stages of the project. From the simulation, the team was seen to have a typical level of stress and good morale during the project. 

Lessons learnt from the project management simulation which can be applied in the future management of projects 

Several lessons were learnt from the project management simulation which can be applied in the future management of projects. One key lesson was flexibility. Flexibility was identified as a critical component of the project as the number of team members was adjusted and this forced weekly project costs to be adjusted throughout the project. One has to be flexible with regard to the schedule as it could vary. It is therefore important than one observes the time and cost of the project and adjust it appropriately in the future projects. 

The next lesson learned from the project was having an approach to manage the team members correctly. The employees had several one-on-one meetings and coaching in order to train them regarding the process of production. In case the meetings and additional deliverables such as the project prototype were required, it could result in a huge amount of stress for the workers. The working hours of the employees was averaged at 40 hours a week. Different factors were put into consideration in order to ensure that the team morale was maintained at the highest level. 

An effective use of resources was also an important lesson for the project. At the start of the project, the project manager begun with three employees that had extensive outsourcing. The basic employees were required to be trained and adjust to the needs of the project before the mainstream production begun. An extensive amount of time was carried out for one-on-one coaching in order to train the employees. Further into the project, the project manager had to add the number of employees to 4 and reduce the time that would be required for training through one-on-one coaching. The outsourcing of the project was still kept extensive. 

Recommendations for improving simulation outcomes 

Making modifications to the model and simplifying it. 

Making use of the Simulink performance advisor. 

Running multiple simulations in parallel with each other. 

Section 3: Case Study Analysis for Kemko Manufacturing. 

Kemko Manufacturing acquired other companies and developed challenges on procurement and inventory controls as a result of each plant remaining autonomous (Kerzner, 2017). The company has therefore approved an establishment of a standardized procurement and inventory control system across all the plants. This is aimed at aimed at eliminating cash flow problems and loss of corporate control over inventory. 

Statement of Work 

Tasks 

A work breakdown structure (WBS) 

A project Schedule /Gantt 

A communications plan 

A risk Management Plan 

However, to be a successful project manager, the leader needs to develop: 

Communicate predictably and consistently; 

Seek to understand the communication needs of the project stakeholders; and 

Include essential positive and negative news. 

Conclusion 

The process and standards of project management are an integral aspect necessary for successful implementation of projects. Section 1 of these people gave a general description of the process and the standards in project management. Section 2 described a simulation projection from assignment module 6, which was necessary to provide experience when dealing with a situation similar to a real-world scenario as a project manager. The intent of the of the simulation was to apply the lessons in class in the real-world scenario. As the senior project manager, one gained experience regarding how to lead a team that meets the target objectives of the project such as meeting the budget costs and completing the project based on the given deadline. There were several PMBOK Guide standard practices that were applied in the project which included project costs, scheduling, and resource management. The simulation experience was identified that it could be applied to enter and advance one’s career in project management. Lastly, I analyzed a case study of Kemko Manufacturing and developed templates for select management processes. 

References 

Archibald, R., Filippo, I. & Filippo, D. (2015). The six-phase comprehensive project life cycle model including the project incubation/feasibility phase and the post-project evaluation phase. IstitutoItaliano di Project Management . https://www.iil.com/downloads/Archibald_Di_Filippo_ComprehensivePLCModel_FINAL.pdf 

Artto, K., Martinsuo, M., Gemünden, H. G., & Murtoaro, J. (2009). Foundations of program management: A bibliometric view.  International journal of project management ,  27 (1), 1-18. 

Kerzner, H. (2017).  Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling . John Wiley & Sons. 

Morris, P., & Pinto, J. K. (Eds.). (2010).  The Wiley guide to project organization and project management competencies  (Vol. 8). John Wiley & Sons. 

Muszynska, K., Dermol, K., Trunk, V., Ðakovic, A., & Smrkolj, G. (2015, May). Communication management in project teams-practices and patterns. In  Joint International Conference  (pp. 1359-1566). 

Project Management Institute (PMI). (2017).  A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)  (6th Edition). Newtown Square, PA: PMI PublicationsScope, Resources, and Schedule. Retrieved from https://forio.com/simulate/harvard/projectmanagement/simulation/prepare 

Rodriguez, J., & Walters, K. (2017). The importance of training and development in employee performance and evaluation.  World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development ,  3 (10), 206-212. 

Tohidi, H. (2011). Human Resources Management main role in Information Technology project management.  Procedia Computer Science ,  3 , 925-929. 

ANNEX 1 

Project Charter Sample