Lean Project Management Assignment: Techniques To Handle Business Process

Question

Task:The Board of Directors has chosen you to be in charge of implementing the LPM approach. This assessment, therefore, is to be done INDIVIDUALLY.

As the Director in charge, your task is to write a memo to all staff informing them about the decision and the proposed implementation process for LPM.

Your memo must:

1. Address the initial reason for implementing LPM
2. Describe the benefits that can be gained by the various stakeholders in a project from implementing LPM
3. Describe the Critical Success Factors (CSF) needed to be in place within the consultancy organisation to achieve successful implementation of LPM
4. Describe the steps by which you propose to ensure CSF are in place and how to achieve the LPM mindset within the consultancy staff
5. List and describe training requirements for individual staff
6. Describe your method to assess when the consultancy has sufficiently adopted the LPM approach to be able to tender for government work

Answer

Introduction
In this Lean Project Management Assignment the effective way of managing the project is discussed. The Management of the project is one of the essential practices that have to be followed for being able to achieve the project objectives under the provided conditions. People can handle most of these areas. For example, the projects of educational nature are undertaken by the government and the projects in various organizations. For this entire project, the management role is vital and essential.

The lean project management techniques are straightforward to understand and follow by the members of the team. The staff will also be able to improve the work by the implementation of the technique. This also helps in breaking down the complex processes with simple activities. Therefore project delivery will not be a complicated process.

Description
The presented Lean Project Management Assignment is a discussion about the project management implementation in the consultancy. Each company follows some steps for the management of the projects. This also includes initiation of the project, proper planning, strategies, tracking closely and having complete control. Also, the successful closure of the project has importance. It is mostly observed that the companies will be failing the delivery of the projects in the given time. In those situations, there is an observed inability for submission of the projects in a certain amount of time. This also tends to make use of extra resources and also usually leads to resource wastage. This situation mostly occurs in cases where there is a lack of proper planning for project execution. For avoiding the resource wastage, there has been the concept of Lean Project Management (LPM) had been introduced and is applied for project management (Tyagi et al. 2015).

The lean project management uses the data-driven method for the execution of the projects while maintaining a focus on the quality and the improved customer value, analysis of the data, resource efficiency that also includes the finances and the material. Being one of the directors of the company there is an expectation of implementation of the lean project management for the best approach in the operations (Garza-Reyes et al. 2018).

The Lean project management will be helping in the attainment of the project quality and enhancing work efficiency. This is going to result in better resource availability for the work on varied projects. The company will also be able to accept more project numbers without the stress or worry for the execution as everything will be taken care of at the time of the planning process.

Benefits achieved with the use of Lean Project Management for stakeholders
This Lean Project Management Assignment will work amazingly especially for the stakeholder's interests. Mainly stakeholders are people that invest financially and also the people that work with the team to deliver the project on time. There can be internal and external stakeholders in an organization. Some of the possible stakeholders include clients, management at a higher level, members involved in the project, resource managers, government, contractors, suppliers, and other peer groups (Mandel et al. 2018).

Some of the essential benefits for the stakeholders include:

• Quality of the product: The lean project Management has its main focus on the delivery of the products that are of good quality. Moreover, by-products here, it means the current project that is being worked upon. This will help by eliminating all of the functions that are not wanted and are inefficient for the project itself.
• A workflow that has been well visualized: By the use of tools related to visual management, the managers can identify the defects or errors made in the project. It will also point towards the areas that require improvements. This will also encourage the discussion within the team for finding ways that can help to think about more innovative and creative ideas that can help to add value to the project. The project will be delivered with better efficiency and also save so much of the costs involved with the project by removal of any waste generation as well (Narayanamurthy et al. 2017).
• Enhanced productivity: Because of taking care of the quality of the product, there is visibly enhanced productivity. This has been possible because of the reduction that is made by the removal of waste generation. Because there is no miscommunication between the team members, the productivity is influenced positively.
• Team management: As Lean project management focuses mainly on the workflow of every team member, it makes it easier for the team manager to be able to track individual performances. This also makes sure that the proper credit is given to the individual effort made by the team members (Sreedharan et al. 2018).
• Management of safety: The best thing about the lean project management that it aims at practising safety training and its implementation through an efficient safety plan. In case a risk has been identified it allows the team instantly to come up with measures that can be used for management of the specific safety concern. This can include safety planning and inputs, safe behaviours and finding the cause of accidents.
• Improved profits: With bringing about reduction or the removal of waste generation, it is going to help in bringing the project costs down. When the project is completed and delivered on time, the overall extra costs get lowered as well. This is going to be observed in the overall profits of the company (Stadnicka et al. 2017).
• Delivery of the project on-time: Being able to complete the work within deadlines is of crucial importance to any of the projects. Timely delivery might be achieved by removing defects for increased productivity.
• Price efficiency: The connection between cost efficiency and profits is directly proportional. So when the cost of production is lowered down, the company will not have to spend any money on the waste generation. This will lead to avoid any kind of additional expenditures on the resources that are of absolutely no use to the project (Stadnicka et al. 2017).

The critical success factors (CSF) that are related to Lean Project Management
For the success of any project, the Critical success factors are of utmost importance. These are benchmarks on which the project managers and stakeholders depend on meeting the project objectives in the right manner. Here are some important critical success factors (CSF)for the implementation of lean factors:

1. The lean project management mainly has its focus on the planning of the project properly. This must always be the first step that should be initiated by the managers.
2. The scope of the project described in this Lean Project Management Assignment should be discussed between the anger of the project and also the stakeholders before the project has been started. The scope of the project includes Goal, strategies, objectives to be achieved, further vision and also evaluation of performance in the project. It is a vital requirement of the project, and everyone that is involved with the project should be aware of the details of this project (Fernández-Solís et al. 2018).
3. Initially for the project to be worked upon SMART goals must be set. These goals must be attainable, measurable and also relevant to the project.
4. Only the techniques that have been approved earlier by the project managers must be applied.
5. There must be risk management policies developed to avoid any kind of damages that might be caused because of the risk factors.
6. Before and even during the project effective communication should be maintained at all times. This includes complete honesty and transparency between the team members and the project manager as well (Mostafa et al. 2017).

The implementation of critical success factors (CSF)
When a project is completed within the required time frame, it will be a successful one. The critical success factors take a comprehensive approach for a successful project that also keeps a track on the short and long term goals as well (Sony, 2019). After this, the goals are evaluated for the need of any kind of change that and are noted for any future project references.

Here are the crucial steps that are required to be followed for the attainment of successful Lean Project Management with the assistance of the critical factors:

• The commitment of team managers: For a successful implementation of the lean project management method in a company, commitment of the team managers is the top priority. They are required to administer the complete process and also get involved in each of the steps while the project is going on. This helps the team members to remain convinced that the project is moving ahead in the right direction.
• Employment training: Training and education of the team members for the improvement of skills that are needed to complete the specific project is vital. The team manager can train the team members themselves and alternatively some internal or external staff can be appointed to do so (Bogdan et al. 2017).
• Workflow and project plan:As understood by the points above, the basic factor before initiation of the project is a proper project plan. For a further effective smooth flow of work, each objective should be divided with smaller steps. The team members will find it easier when small targets are set, and the efficiency of the team also increases.
• Allocation of the resources and sharing of the profits: It is the responsibility of the team manager to see that the resources required by the team members should be provided to them. Also, the fund provided must be allocated efficiently. Also for keeping the team members motivated and encouraged, the profit should be shared (Galli, 2018).
• Use of Lean project management tools: When the importance of lean management is understood by the team, they must try to use the methodologies and tools that are involved in lean management in everyday work. This will ensure that there is practical usage of the Lean program as well (Narayanamurthy, et al. 2017)

Project members training requirements
As described in this Lean Project Management Assignment the project should be able to initially identify the members of the team that require training for the execution of the project. When the team members have been chosen the arrangements that are required are to be made for meeting the physical aspects of training as well. This also needs good spacing were training is taking place. Proper material and training manuals also need to be provided as per the requirements (Gonzalez et al. 2016).

After all of these arrangements have been made some of the main lean management techniques can also be taught like:

Lean six sigma, Deming cycle, the last planner system and total quality management. The trainers should be using the streamlined and holistic methods while they are teaching the trainees so that no information is overburdened with and it's challenging to understand. For keeping the team motivated throughout the time, the project managers should also be work towards it. For ensuring the success of the process, there can be a use made of Balance score technique with applications of KPI's. Use of proper methods for evaluation should be used for these training sessions. (Elnadi, 2015)

Individual staff Training requirements
For training the employees, one of the tasks that external consultants or the team manager should be able to do is having expertise in lean project management. Proper arrangements should be made for being able to make connections with the physical attributes for training. For preparing the employees well, the team manager requires the creation of a skilled team. The proper place has to be provided for practical training, and functional training materials with appropriate manuals are needed to be sourced, and then it can be used as an instruction manual. After the resources like physical, psychological and physiological have been allocated the complete process of training can be started (Gomes, 2016).

Some of the techniques that are available include:

1. Deming cycle
2. Six Sigma
3. Last planner system
4. Value system mapping
5. Total quality system
6. Kanban
7. Kaizen

The employees that are selected for training should have a learning attitude, and the trainers that have been training them should follow a comprehensive and holistic method of teaching. It is essential for the team members that they have an open mind; this makes teaching easier(Garza-Reyes et al. 2018).

Also, the team leader should be able to convey their message without any hindrances and in a transparent manner. For the growth of individual employees, the manager should be providing some of the real-life examples for the growth of the employees. For keeping the employees focused at all times, several factors have to be taken care of (Elnadi, 2015). There is a need for proper and structured manner for incorporating the testing and learning skills with the abilities of the team members, and accordingly, proper segmentation should take place.

When the team has been provided with a manual that is structured well, the content grasping is quicker and for the employees. One thing that has to be made sure is that the manual has to be reader-friendly as well and the message to be conveyed is direct (Stadnik et al. 2017.). The effectiveness of the manual can also be evaluated directly by evaluating the improvement of the employee. Although there isn't any proper definition for good manual in a situation where it can convey the message in the right manner it is a good enough manual.

LPM Methodologies for government tender work

• The company should be able to make use of the six sigma methodology for undertaking tenders for government projects. This specific method also removes that root cause of the problems for reducing any workflow deviation (Tyagi et al. 2015). The main focus is on the satisfaction of the customers and helping to improve the business for the company(Kerzner et al. 2017).

The inclusion of the six sigma methodology for the working of the organization can reduce the errors and defects for up to 99.96 per cent. This high of a number, when achieved by an organization, is a significant number. The Six Sigma includes the following five stages:

• Defining
• Measuring
• Analyzing
• Improving and
• Control

This process generally is called DMAIC. The organization can use the specific method for reducing the wastage and achieving complete client satisfaction. The company work had been observed for a period of five months. At this time a considerable waste reduction of about 70 per cent was achieved and a customer satisfaction rate of about 83 per cent (Joslin et al. 2015).

It was also seen that much of the waste that was being generated included overuse of paper. About one-third of the article was being used because of the errors and negligence. Around 200 boxes of paper were being used by the company every month. There was a usage of 200 plates of paper each month. With the use of six sigma methodology the issue was resolved and was fixed as some of the measures were taken with the control in printing and the electronic system. It was noticed that about 134 boxes of paper were being used now after the effective use of six sigma method (Todorovi? et al. 2015).

Graph representation of percentage waste before the implementation of Six Sigma

Figure 1: Blue shows boxes of paper and red shows wastage in percentage. (created by author)

The levels of client dissatisfaction had been growing that was later on reduced with the application of the customer-centric approach. The Six Sigma approach that included with the setting up portals for the customer queries and complains had a significant role in helping to solve the issues that also brought more customers towards the company. Further evaluation was done by taking feedback from the clients.

Figure 2: pre and post six sigma implementation (Created by author)

Conclusion:
By the application of the Lean Project management method in the consultancy, it was also observed in this Lean Project Management Assignment that there is a change in the organization and function of the company. A higher level of efficiency was achieved by the organization when compared to the earlier times. It can be observed in this Lean Project Management Assignment that the organization will be able to easily undertake new government projects more efficiently and successfully ( Kerzner et al. 2017).

Similarly the six sigma technique had helped the consultancy for a reduction in the wastage generation and additional unnecessary expenses. It was observed in this Lean Project Management Assignment that by this Lean Project Management Assignment way identification of the areas of customer dissatisfaction had led to bring about a drop in the company's overall turnover. Just about in the period of six months the company had also decided on the application of the lean project management techniques for all of the functional departments and the future projects of the consultancy. Project management assignments are being prepared by our management assignment help online experts from top universities which let us to provide you a reliable assignment help online service.

References:
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Bogdan, F. and Mihai, C., 2017. PROCESS MAP TO CREATE ADDED VALUE TO CUSTOMER BASED ON QUALITY DEPLOYMENT FUNCTION. International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference: SGEM: Surveying Geology & mining Ecology Management, 17, pp.657-664.( Bogdan, F. and Mihai, C., 2017)

Elnadi, M., 2015. An innovative framework for implementing lean principles in the product-service system.

Fernández-Solís, J.L., and Gadhok, N., 2018. Comparative Analysis of Lean and Six Sigma in Building Construction: Benefits, Obstacles, and Opportunities.

Galli, B.J., 2018. How Project Management Overlaps with Lean Six Sigma. International Journal of Productivity Management and Assessment Technologies (IJPMAT), 6(2), pp.39-55.( Galli and B.J., 2018)

Galli, B.J., 2018. How Project Management Overlaps with Lean Six Sigma. International Journal of Productivity Management and Assessment Technologies (IJPMAT), 6(2), pp.39-55.( Galli and B.J., 2018)

Gomes, D.A.D.S., 2016. Modelo Governativo da Cultura Kaizen Estudo de Caso–Millennium BCP (Doctoral dissertation).

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