Your answer should be in Minimum 2000 Words with Maximum 20% Plagiarism.
IBSS PM Assignment
Question 1:
You want to initiate your own business.
Answer the following:
1- Can you consider this as a project and why?
The right understanding of the definition and key characteristics of the project is of significant importance. Any project is not just a way to make or do something but it’s an opportunity to achieve some desired result by implementing a systematic management approach (for example, producing a product or sharing knowledge).
Yes -If my own business fulfills the following characteristics:
• Temporary: This key characteristic means that every project has a finite start and a finite end. The start is the time when the project is initiated and its concept is developed. Unique Deliverable: Any project aims to produce some deliverable which can be a product, service, or some another result. Deliverables should address a problem or need analyzed before project start.
• Progressive Elaboration: This key characteristic means that the successive iterations of planning processes result in developing more effective solutions to progress and develop projects.
• Purposeful: as it has a rational and measurable purchase
• Logical: as it has a certain life-cycle
• A budget with an associated cash-flow
• Structured: as it has interdependencies between its tasks and activities
• Conflict: as it tries to solve a problem that creates some kind of conflict
• Limited: by available resources
• Risk: as it involves an element of risk
2- Define the project scope and WBS.
Define project scope
• Project Scope describes what is expected to deliver to the customer when the project is complete.
• Project scope should define the results to be achieved in specific, tangible, and measurable terms.
• Project the scope is a definition of the end result or mission of the project—a product or service for the client/customer.
• The primary purpose is to define as clearly as possible the deliverable(s) for the end-user and to focus project plans.
• Project the scope is to be defined and described with greater specificity as more information about the project is known.
Project Scope must include:
1. Project objective / 2. Deliverables / 3. Milestones / 4. Technical requirements / 5. Limits and exclusions / 6. Reviews with customer
Define WBS
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is breaking work into smaller tasks, as deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
It is a common productivity technique used to make the work more manageable.
A WBS is the cornerstone of effective project planning, execution, controlling, monitoring, and reporting. All the work contained within the WBS is to be identified, estimated, scheduled, and budgeted
Each descending level in the WBS represents an increasingly detailed description of the project deliverables.
The first two levels of the WBS (the root node and Level 2) define a set of planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the project scope.
At each subsequent level, the children of a parent node collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the scope of their parent node.
A good WBS should exhibit the following characteristics:
• Definable: can be described and easily understood by project participants.
• Manageable: a meaningful unit of work where specific responsibility and authority can be assigned to a responsible individual.
• Estimateable: duration can be estimated in time required to complete, and cost can be estimated in resources required to complete.
• Independent: minimum interface with or dependence on other ongoing elements
• Integratable: integrates with other project work elements and with higher-level cost estimates and schedules to include the entire project.
• Measurable: can be used to measure progress; has start and completion dates and measurable interim milestones.
• Adaptable: sufficiently flexible so the addition/elimination of work scope can be readily accommodated in the WBS framework.
Generally, there are three typical ways in structuring works with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
They include phase-based structures, deliverable-based structures, and responsibility-based structures.
Phase-based structures
Define and structure project activities based on the project phases.
Deliverable-based structures
Define and structure project activities based on the deliverables agreed to deliver.
Responsibility-based structure
Define and structure project activities based on the organization units that will work on the project.