Task: Develop a group project plan for an approved project of choice , implementing the theoretical material covered and focusing on Scope, Time, Cost and Risk . A project plan is produced to plan a...

Project Plan – Solar Powered Food Trailers for Adelaide
Contents
Project Background    4
Project Location    5
Client Representative, Project Owner and Project Sponsor    5
Project Manager    6
Project Outcome Vision & Project Value Proposition    7
Project Stakeholders / Project Roles / Responsibilities    7
Project Purpose, Project Objectives & Project Benefits    9
Project Scope    9
Project Requirements    10
Constraints / Assumptions    10
Implementation Strategy    11
Risk Management    14
Project Phase Assessment & Transition    15
Activity Schedule & Milestones    17
Project Schedule & Resource Allocation    17
Milestones    24
Project Budget    25
Task Wise Detailed Project Budget    25
Summarized Budget & Management Guidance    29
Enterprise Environmental Factors / Organisational Process Assets    31
Other Project Plan Management    31
Communication Plan    31
Integration Plan    32
Monitoring / Control / Project Evaluation Using KPIs    32
References    34
Project Background
Project management refers to the domain concerning initiation, planning, execution, controlling, as well as closure of the activities pertaining to specific team for attaining specific set of goals / objectives as well as meeting specific set of success criteria within specific time period and allocated budget (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). Any project can be stated to be temporary form of endeavours designed for producing unique set of product(s), service(s) or else specified outcomes that has defined initiation as well as end with most projects being constrained by time, as well as usually constrained in terms of deliverables or funding (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). A project can be stated to undertaken for meeting unique set of goals as well as objectives usually for bringing in beneficial form of changes as well as added value (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). Projects being of temporary nature stands at complete contrast as against the business undertaking at an operational level that are permanent / semipermanent, functional, and repetitive form of activities for producing product(s) or else service(s) (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). At a practical level, the overall management concerning these distinct forms of production approaches necessitates the development concerning distinct form of management strategies as well as technical skills (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014).
This project aims to develop, install and setup food trailers that are solar powered in five different locations across Adelaide, Australia and shall offer various snacks. The overall infrastructure for this business hinges on this solar powered infrastructure and the same shall be successful setup by way of this project.
Project Location
The project shall be planned, managed and undertake at Adelaide, Australia for designing, implementing, installing and integrating with business five different food trailers that are solar powered that shall be setup across five different strategic locations with Adelaide, Australia.
Client Representative, Project Owner and Project Sponsor
The project is undertaken for ABC Inc. which is planning to undertake a food business involving sale of snacks. The unique selling point for the project is its sustainable and cost efficient selling operation / infrastructure that aims to sell snacks using food trailers that are solar powered. The project planning, management and its implementation are contracted to XYZ Inc., a project consultancy firm based in Adelaide, Australia. The project owner / project sponsor for the project shall be the chief executive officer of ABC Inc. and he shall be the client representative / interface for the project with the project team.
In essence, project owner / sponsor refers to the role within the context of project management which is most often undertaken by a senior member in the particular project board as well as most often has a top level position (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). This project owner / sponsor shall be senior executive within the corporation and usually one who shall be responsible for the overall business as well as the ultimate success / outcome of the specific project (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The project owner / sponsor have varied set of responsibilities as well as interfaces within any project (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The overall responsibilities that lie with project owner / sponsor include the following – (i) offers leadership with respect to values, culture, etc. (ii) Owns as well as holds accountability with respect to business case for the project, (iii) Keeps the specific project to be aligned with that of the strategy of the organization as well as the direction of the portfolio, (iv) undertakes governance of the project risks, (v) Works amongst other sponsors, if any, (vi) lays emphasis over realization concerning the benefits, (vii) makes recommendations in terms of opportunities for optimizing overall project related cost as well as benefits, (viii) Makes sure continuity with respect to sponsorship, (ix) offers assurance, and (x) offers feedback as well as lessons learnt (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016).
Project Manager
Project manager refers to the profession within the domain / framework of the project management (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). In essence, project managers possess the overall responsibility for undertaking planning, procurement as well as execution concerning the project they manage, across any of the domains, industry or business (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). Project managers represent the first / primary point for contact in case of any project or affiliated issues, or else even when any discrepancies arise from that of various heads of different support functions departments within the project organization prior to the problems getting escalated towards higher authorities (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). It can be summarized that project management forms the core responsibility for any project manager (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014). The role in a project seldom gets involved directly within the project activities that produce project end outcomes and instead strives for maintaining the overall progress, mutual interactions as well as tasks with respect to varied set of parties in the manner which shall reduce the overall risk concerning project failure, maximization of the benefits, as well as the minimization of the costs (Larson & Gray 2013; Fleming & Koppelman 2016; Mir & Pinnington 2014).
As described earlier, the project is undertaken for ABC Inc. which is planning to undertake a food business involving sale of snacks and the project planning, management and its implementation are contracted to XYZ Inc., a project consultancy firm based in Adelaide, Australia. In this context the chief consultant at XYZ Inc. shall act as the project manager for the project.
Project Outcome Vision & Project Value Proposition
While the project at the outset aims in designing, developing, implementing, installing and integrating the solar powered food trailers for selling snacks across Adelaide, the project outcome vision beyond the immediate project deliveries lies in developing robust, reliable, efficient and effective business infrastructure (that is, food trailers that are solar powered) to ensure successful business outcome in terms of business performance, sales increases and operational cost efficiencies.
Project Stakeholders / Project Roles / Responsibilities
    S. No.
    Project Role(s)
    Current Company Designation
    1
    Project Owner / Sponsor
    Chief Executive Officer at ABC Inc.
    2
    Project Manager
    Chief Consultant, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    4
    Associate Project Manager
    Associate Consultant, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants Information Systems
    5
    Team Member 1
    Executive Consultant, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    6
    Team Member 2
    Executive Consultant, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    7
    Design Team Member
    Sr. Manager, XX Inc. Product Designers
    8
    Design Team Member
    Manager, XX Inc. Product Designers
    9
    Design Team Member
    Executive, XX Inc. Product Designers
    10
    Business Analysis Team Member
    Sr. Business Analyst, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    11
    Business Analysis Team Member
    Business Analyst, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    12
    Business Analysis Team Member
    Business Analyst, XYZ Inc. Project Consultants
    13
    Implementation Team Member
    Sr. Manager, XX Inc. Implementation Vendors / Contractors
    14
    Implementation Team Member
    Manager, XX Inc. Implementation Vendors / Contractors
    15
    Implementation Team Member
    Executive, XX Inc. Implementation Vendors / Contractors
    16
    Support Team Member
    Finance Manager
    17
    Support Team Member
    Accounts Manager
    18
    Support Team Member
    HR Manager
Project Purpose, Project Objectives & Project Benefits
This project aims to develop, install and setup food trailers that are solar powered in five different locations across Adelaide, Australia and shall offer various snacks. The overall infrastructure for this business hinges on this solar powered infrastructure and the same shall be successful setup by way of this project. The benefit / advantage of the project is that the developing of robust, reliable, efficient and effective business infrastructure (that is, food trailers that are solar powered) shall ensure successful business outcome in terms of business performance, sales increases and operational cost efficiencies.
Project Scope
The overall scope of the project can be stated as the designing, developing, implementing, installing and integrating the solar powered food trailers for selling snacks across Adelaide which shall form the robust, reliable, efficient and effective form of business infrastructure for ABC Inc. and ensure successful business outcome in terms of business performance, sales increases and operational cost efficiencies.
The project shall be undertaken with allocated budget of AUD 330,000 and the overall project duration shall not exceed 1 year.
Project Requirements
The key set of project requirements include the following,
· Business Requirements: This project is undertaken with an aim to develop business infrastructure for ABC Inc. that shall aid the company to sell snacks across Adelaide in a cost efficient, effective and sustainable manner
· User Requirements: The users of the project outcome shall be able to use the food trailer to sell snacks in an effective manner.
· System Requirements: The key functional capabilities of the product outcome shall be a mobile form of food trailer that can be operated solely on solar power thereby saving on fuel costs and still deliver effective operation.
Constraints / Assumptions
The various constraints of the project are as follows,
· The project is undertaken with project management team from third part consultants and the same may have potential constraints in terms of excess time for the project team to understand internal capabilities and requirements
· The project is constrained by budget allocated and time schedule mandated.
The various assumptions of the project are as follows,
· The project scope is limited to development, implementation, installation and integration of food trailers that are solar powered with the ABC Inc. business.
· After the project completion, the food trailers shall be completely managed / operated by the internal operations / sales team of ABC Inc.
Implementation Strategy
The primary set of challenge with respect to project management lies in the attainment concerning each of the established goals / objectives of the project within applicable / relevant constraints (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The set of information are most usually described within documentation for project, prepared during the initial phase of specific project’s development processes (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The primary set of constraints for a project comprises budget, quality, time as well as scope (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The secondary set of constraints for a project as well as what can be termed to be ambitious includes the challenges that lies in optimizing allocation of the inputs that are necessary as well as applying these inputs for meeting the objectives that are pre-defined (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). The core object for project management lies in producing complete project that shall comply to the objectives of the clients. In most of the cases object concerning project management lies in addition to reform / shape the brief of the clients for the purposes of feasibly being able to meet the objectives of the clients (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). After the objectives of clients are established clearly they shall impact across all of the decisions undertaken by different people who are involved within the project in terms of project managers, contractors, designers, sub-contractors, and many others (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016). In case the objectives of project management are defined badly or else prescribed to too tightly, the same shall lead to detrimental form of effects over the decision making (Gido et al. 2014; Nicholas & Steyn 2017; Martinelli & Milosevic 2016).
The project implementation for this project shall adopt a phased approach to implementation and shall comprise the following steps,
· Initiation Phase
All through this initiation phase, the team undertaking project management shall utilize pilot projects for building the process momentum and overcoming natural resistances towards change, as well as gaining ground level knowledge concerning the organisation (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014). The overall objective of the phase shall be in successfully mobilising the project organisation, remediation of the immediate risk concerning the projects, as well as setting the stage with respect to subsequent phases of implementation (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014).
· Installation Phase: Project Level
The subsequent phase makes use of information that are gathered using pilot projects / planning undertaken during initiation phase for rolling out structured form of project planning as well as control related processes with respect to remaining aspects of the projects, in addition to establishing formally the ground level team for project management (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014). The phase can also comprise the establishment of the job descriptions concerning the project team, formal set of guidelines with respect to planning / controls for the project, the project level information systems, as well as overall access system for the same to use and update the system (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014). In essential all of the basic level infrastructure for supporting a consistent as well as successful form of application concerning the project management methods shall be undertaken by project team (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014).
· Installation Phase: Enterprise Level
In this phase of installation, various project tools shall be employed, implemented or developed which shall be focused for managing the complete set of portfolio at the organisation. The aims of this phase shall predominantly focus on providing the management by way of accurate as well as timely form of information concerning the overall status pertaining to projects that are actually undertaken on behalf of the organisation (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014). In addition there shall be efforts for supporting the business related decision making which impact a successful form of completion concerning the projects like that of changes towards project prioritisation, workload, staffing, funding, etc. (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014). On completion of this phase, all of the responsibilities with respect to the development as well as updating of the individual level project plans will be transitioned (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014).
· Maintenance Phase
In this last phase, the key transition from the team undertaking project management to that of the users / team that shall take over the project outcome within the organisation shall take place (Steyn et al. 2016; Svejvig & Andersen 2015; Burke & Barron 2014).
Risk Management
    S. No.
    Related Tasks (as WBS IDs)
    Risk Event Identified
    Likelihood
    Impact Rating
    Overall Risk Rating
    Mitigation Strategy
    1
    1 to 62
    Cost variance (between budget and actual expenses)
    Medium
    High
    Medium
    Reduction / Limitation
    2
    1 to 62
    Schedule variance (between planned project schedule & actual project progress)
    Medium
    Medium
    Medium
    Reduction / Limitation
    3
    1 to 62
    Personnel dependency issues when key people Leave for various reasons
    Low
    High
    Medium
    Reduction / Limitation
    4
    1 to 62
    Conflicts & Communication Issues
    Medium
    Medium
    Medium
    Reduction / Limitation
    5
    9
17
25
34
41
45
47
52
58
60
    Quality variance over the Project Deliverables at each milestone
    Medium
    High
    High
    Risk Avoidance
    6
    60
    Significant Issues Arising / Determined During Project Evaluation Level
    Low
    High
    Medium
    Risk Avoidance
    7
    25
    Implementation Problems Identified at the Design Phase
    Low
    High
    High
    Risk Avoidance
    8
    45
    Major Functional issues / gaps determined in the trailer after the implementation illustrating delays for re-implementation and affiliated cost overruns
    Low
    High
    High
    Risk Reduction / Limitation
    9
    47
    Business Integration roadblocks resulting in in operational...