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A (Bad?) Day in the Life of a Project Manager

Frank Mills is a Site Agent for McMurray Concrete Ltd which specialises in building concrete structures on industrial sites. His present site is a large chemical plant, Agrochem Ltd that manufactures farm fertilisers. The project he is currently working on is part of a large contract being managed by Design Solutions Plc. who has hired McMurray Concrete and other companies for the actual construction, whilst undertaking all of the design themselves. Frank is thus one of a number of project managers who ultimately report to the Project Director who works for Design Solutions plc.

The elements of the project that Frank is working on involves the installation of a series of reinforced concrete bases (foundation); these are required for a network of large steel tanks and pipework scattered a kilometres across the chemical plant. Typically, construction involves a number of activities: - excavating the ground for foundation; assembling steel cages (the reinforcement for the foundations); carefully positioning the steel cages and bolts into the holes and filling them with fresh concrete; the next part of the contract is carried out by Swift Pipe Ltd who position steel tanks onto the bolts set into the concrete bases and connect up the various tanks with steel pipes. Frank’s job is to co-ordinate construction of the concrete foundations so that they can be handed over to Swift Pipe Ltd. He is directly in charge of the concrete gang who report to his site supervisor and his site engineer (who ensures that the bases are built in the correct location and to the specification shown in the drawings). However, a gang of steel fixers has been subcontracted to assemble the steel cages. Likewise he has subcontracted excavation team whose job it is to dig all the holes for the foundations.

Each day Frank records the progress made against the estimated schedule of works; at the same time he sums the actual amount of concrete which has been used (the sides of excavation have been collapsing leading to excessively large holes!) and the cost of labour. He has managed so far to keep the project on schedule and within budget but it has not been easy. Design Solutions plc, in overall charge of the project, employs its own resident engineer, Jerry Redpath, whose job is to check on the quality of the work on the site at all stages of construction. Frank doesn’t particularly like Jerry, who seems an abrasive character who likes to show off his technical expertise and who doesn’t think he should be involved in what he regards as minor (referring to the importance and prestige of the contract, rather than its size) projects such as this one. Also, he tends to think that all contractors are out to cut corners wherever they can. This has placed an additional strain upon Frank who now has to be doubly sure that he keeps adequate quality records of all concrete sampling and testing which prove the concrete strength is to the correct specification.

Today it seems that he has more problems to deal with! The foreman of the steelfixers has left a note on his desk complaining that one batches of steel delivered is incorrect. Next to this note is the Drawing Revision from Design Solutions which tells him to “please note” that the position of two of the bases have been changed. Frank than receives a telephone call from Swift Pipe Ltd who says that they have just arrived on site and discovered that one of their tanks won’t fit the concrete base and they need to have urgent meeting. As if that is not enough it has been raining heavily through the night and the excavation team slowly attempt to pump out the water from holes dug the previous day.

Question 20 (a) Refer to the case study provided in Section A entitled "A (Bad?) Day in the Life of a Project Manager”, assuming that you are the Project Manager of this project and has been required to study the project risk. Choose ONE (1) specific risk in the passage provided and do the following: i. Evaluate the risk using the Risk Specification provided in Appendix A. (13 marks) ii. Tabulate the likelihood and impact of the risk using the Risk Distribution Matrix provided in Appendix B. (2 marks) (b) Project Procurement Management is part of the project management process in which products or services are acquired or purchased from the outside existing employee base in order to complete the task or project. Describe the flow of a typical procurement process. (5 marks) (c) Knowing stakeholders, their needs, expectations, and requirements increases the chance of a project's success. If any important stakeholder is missed, then in later stages the project manager may face many difficulties, for examples, causing a delay in project, cost overrun, and in the most severe case – the project may be terminated. Describe the best strategy to manage stakeholder. (5 marks)

Appendix A

Appendix B

Answer 1

a) Risk Identified: Change in position of bases after completion of concrete work

i) Risk Evaluation:

Risk Specification Risk ID DES-01 Risk Item Name Design Change Risk Statement Condition Change in position of bases Risk Statement Consequences 1) Rework to be done: Re-excavation, reassembling steel cages, refilling with fresh concrete 2) Impact on cost and schedule Probability (Low/Med/High) Medium Impact (Low/ Med/High) High Earliest the risk could occur Immediate Latest the risk could occur 1 day Mitigation Plan(s) 1) Highlight the consequences of the risk and quantify the likely impact on cost and schedule (2) Discuss with the management of McMurray Concrete Ltd and get their buy-in 3) Have a joint meeting of the management of McMurray Concrete Ltd and Design Solutions on the impact of the change in position of the bases and if the consequences are acceptable 4) If the consequences are acceptable, obtain approval from the management of both the companies on the additional cost and schedule Contingency Plan(s) 1) Inform the management of McMurray Concrete Ltd that the excavation, foundation and concrete work has already progressed and the change in position of bases cannot be absorbed; get their buy-in (2) Inform Design Solutions that the excavation, foundation and concrete work has progressed and it is too late to carry out any change in position of bases now Risk History Date Comment Current Date 18/05/2020 Risk Owner Frank Mills

ii) Risk Distribution:

Risk Distribution Matrix Impact Medium Low High Identified High Medium 1 Probability Low

b) Procurement Process Flow:

1) Plan Procurement

• Map internal and external capabilities to project requirements
• Evaluate the typical types of contracts available/ used in the organization
• Make-or-buy analysis
• Expert opinion/ Market research
• Identify Resources needed
• Assess Impact on cost and schedule
• Decide Vendor selection criteria
• Risks identification & evaluation

2) Conduct Procurements

• Invite Seller proposals
• Hold Bidders Conference
• Evaluate proposals
• Conduct Seller Negotiations
• Select Sellers
• Create Seller Agreements

3) Control Procurement

• Direct and Manage Sellers
• Conduct Seller Performance reviews
• Control Risks and Changes
• Conduct Inspections and Audits
• Payments processing
• Handle Claims

4) Close Procurement

• Conduct Procurement Audit
• Hold Seller Negotiations
• Handover and Takeover of Deliverables from Seller
• Document Lessons learned

c) The key stakeholders have to be identified first and analysed. As part of the analysis, their position in terms of their power, influence, interest in the project and impact on the project has to be assessed and mapped. A stakeholder management plan has to be created to capture the approach for managing the key stakeholders and controlling the engagement with them. A useful tool for this is a Communications Management Plan that documents the schedule and content of the reporting, the regular schedule of meetings and the stakeholders involved and the escalation matrix in case of any issues. Ensuring there is a regular and transparent flow of communication at different levels and key stakeholders are actively involved in major project desicions and activities, is the best way to manage stakeholders.