Unit 4 IP
Individual Project: Cost Management & Procurement Management
Deliverable Length: Presentation: 10–15 slides + title and reference slides; Speaker notes: 800–1,200 words
The team returned and discussed their ideas about the budget impacts on the project scope. The brainstorming session went very well, with a lot of input from the entire team. You now have more than enough project cost information to share with Sam and Gloria. The discussion again turns to the best way to present the information. Jim shares some insight on Sam and Gloria with the team.
“Sam and Gloria will have different concerns and issues on project human resources management,” says Jim. “Sam will focus more of his attention on the qualifications of people, while Gloria will be concerned with the cost of additional resources and services for the project.”
“Sam and Gloria really liked our last slide presentation,” says Jerry.
“I agree, we should put together another slide presentation of 10–15 slides with title and reference slides,” says Sara. “We should include speaker notes of about 800–1,200 words, as well.”
“The presentation should include the salary and budget information that we shared in our team discussion,” you say. “We should also consider the cost of possible overtime pay.”
“Don’t forget the cost of additional people, equipment, and technology for team members and the cost of the services rendered by the vendors,” says Sara. “It should include additional maintenance and training costs as well.”
“Oh, that’s great!” says Jim, turning to you. “Do you think you can prepare another presentation for the team? You did such a great job last time.”
“Sure,” you say. “I’ll have it ready to review at our next meeting.”
During your final check of your presentation, you review your notes from the meeting to be sure you have covered salary and budget information from your discussions, and the cost of overtime, additional people, equipment, and technology. Also, include the cost of services rendered by the vendors.
Procurement
Lessons From Experience: Fool’s Gold
1
Introduction
The story that you are about to read is from actual events that occurred in
the field. Its purpose is to provide you with a real
–
world example from a
seasoned professional in the business world.
Fool’s Gold
I served as a project associate for a technology
consulting firm based in New
York. During my first project management assignment, I made what could
have been a career
–
ending mistake. While working on the project budget, I
assessed all of the organization’s internal resources, also known as an
organizati
onal process asset evaluation
. I was trying to figure out what types
of resources exist in the company that I could use in the project, which
meant savings to my procurement budget.
I identified office materials that I needed, the software to support my w
ork
packages, and other technology equipment that I would eventually require. I
created a list of internal resources and reflected them as savings in my
budget breakdown. From there, I identified all of the materials and services
that I would need to procu
re outside of the company and the associated cost
breakdown. The project manager was very happy with my findings and cost
savings to his budget.
During the first phase of the project, I quickly realized I my mistake. Several
of the important materials and
technology equipment that I had listed as
internal organizational process assets were no longer available. Many of the
resources I had listed were already allocated to other projects in the
company. I did not follow proper procurement procedure and protoco
l, which
would have alerted me that these resources were already cleared for other
projects. I did not have enough money in my budget to purchase these
resources because I had listed it as cost savings that did not require any
procurement. The project mana
ger had to step in and negotiate for these
resources to get reallocated to our project and free up our contingency
budget (emergency fund) to cover the cost of the additional resources we
needed. Although I was lucky to keep my job, my contract did not get
renewed once the project was complete.
It is important to take away the following from this scenario:
Fully understand your company’s internal processes, protocols, and
Lessons From Experience: Fools Gold
2
procedures.
Do not assume that internal resources and materials will be available
without asking.
Should use reference
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fifth Edition: Pages 193–225, 355–389.
Managing Project Processes in Organizations: Chapters 5 & 6.
“PMBOK,” is a registered mark of Project Management Institute, Inc.
TopGear Scenario – PM600 Unit 4
Funding for the project and estimating sales results has become an issue that may stall the project completely. The Sam, Gloria and Jim have differences in their expectations for the project budget, schedule and even results for the GPS device.
Sam and Gloria have joined one of your team meetings to discuss the budget.
“I gave you a budget already and believe there is more than enough money for you to complete the project,” say Sam. “Actually, I think I gave the team too much money so I expect there would be money left over when the project is completed.”
“We only estimated that budget based on a previous GPS project we did almost six years ago,” says Gloria. “If you consider inflation, new technology, the salary of our employees and our two suppliers, it could easily exceed that budget.”
“I have compared our procurement needs against the older GPS project budget and many of those materials and services costs have increased 20%-48% ,” says Sara.
“I did a comparison of the salaries from both budgets,” says Jim. “The previous project budget salaries totaled $280,000 for six team members. The current salary for myself and the team is close to $400,000. So, technically the actually budget for this project is only $200,000.”
Sam and Gloria were shocked to hear that the salary for the project was above the budget. Jim sees the worry on everyone’s face and responds.
“Sam and Gloria, why don’t you both discuss this problem over lunch,” says Jerry. “I will work with the team to discuss how this will impact the project.”
After Sam and Gloria leave, Jim addresses the rest of the team.
“We need to analyze the budget and schedule if we want this project to succeed,” says Jim. “I want everyone’s input on how the budget will impact the project scope. Take a 30 minute break and meet back here with your ideas on how we can make this work.”
Back at your desk, you brainstorm ideas on how the budget will impact the project scope, how the budget and scope impact the schedule, how to measure success of the results of the GPS, how the plan aligns to Sam and Gloria’s vision of the project, and how to manage the scope outcomes in anticipation of international vendors.
