Leading Of Project Management Leadership and Training Assignment

Assignment Task

Scenario - Retrofit Clinic Storeroom to Exercise Therapy Room

The organisation that manages the Wellness Medical Centre has decided to repurpose an unused store room to make an exercise therapy area for patients. Currently the medical clinic cannot provide exercise therapy, and this is outsourced to external providers. Exercise therapy is in high demand and a potential profit growth area for the organisation.

Project Team Responsibilities

The following responsibilities have been decided for project team members

Project Manager

• Estimate costs, gather quotes for project.
• Create project documents and costings.
• Create timelines/schedules.
• Control expenses, and approve urgent changes.
• Report costs/spending to client/committee.

Finance Officer

• Responsible for building materials and equipment purchases including exercise equipment and signage.
• Reporting on project spending.
• Supporting Project Manager with control of costs and budget.

Additional Information

• An itemised budget will be prepared on receipt of quotes for all phases of the project.
• The budget must be approved by the client before any expenditure on the project.
• The client (Project Sponsor) will release funds to the Finance Officer to pay all invoices on time (most invoices must be paid within 30 days).
• Any increase in spending is at the discretion of the client.
• The Project Manager will have access to the $5000 emergency account to facilitate urgent funds release in the event of significant project changes. This account will be closed and any unused funds will be returned to the client on the completion of the project.
• Any unused funds are to be returned to the client on project completion.

Behaviour Expectations

Infinity Services Inc. is responsible for:

• an environment which is respectful, supportive and positive, and that meets diverse needs
• an environment which is free of discrimination, bullying or harassment, and protects students' health and safety
• accurate, accessible and timely information about all relevant aspects of its services⦁ timely, fair and constructive response to enquiries
• appropriate facilities and equipment
• recognition of customers' legal rights including upholding of privacy principles.

Stakeholder Responsibilities are to:

• treat staff with respect and fairness in a culturally sensitive, tolerant, non-discriminatory and non-bullying/harassing manner
• use information technology and other equipment safely, appropriately and legitimately. This includes respectful behaviour towards Infinity staff when online including social media sites
• never enter any Infinity properties with illegal drugs or weapons or while under the influence of illegal drugs, cannabis or alcohol
• follow Infinity procedures to resolve concerns or complaints Project Deliverables, Inclusions and Exclusions

Project Deliverables

Phase 1

• Design of exercise room and selection of equipment.
• Asbestos clearance / remediation certificate.
• Building and electrical works including installation of windows, electrical work, and medical alarm systems, IT hardware installation, and fire systems installation.

Phase 2

• Painting, flooring, and signage.

Phase 3

• Installation and testing of exercise equipment.
• Adopt and display the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and WHS instructions for use of room.

Project Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

• Room meets client expectations as detailed in the Project Scope, within budget and timeline.
• Room, equipment and SOP meet WHS standards.

Inclusions

• Windows x 1 - 2m x 3m tinted safety glass.
• Two rectangular roof skylights fitted – 2m x 1m each.
• Improved lighting, and new power outlets x 6.
• IT data outlets, and IT equipment.
• Fire system outlets, fire exit signage. Medical alarm installation.
• Reverse cycle air conditioner.
• Non-slip waterproof flooring to exercise equipment area, carpeted 3m x 4m rectangle to floor exercise area of room.
• Blinds.
• Paint.
• Signage.

Exclusions

Client will purchase exercise equipment as advised by S Jones. Client will purchase IT equipment as discussed with G Newman. Office furniture is not included in project scope.

Change Control and Lessons Learned
Changes to the project can only be raised by a project member via a Change Request form –

directed to the project manager

The Project Manager is responsible for assessing the impact of any proposed changes during the project. They will assess each change based on the expected cost, time, risk and quality impacts. The Project Manager can approve low impact changes and should report them to the client.

Higher impact changes must be documented and discussed with the client. The client is the only person who can approve these higher impact changes. 
All changes must be recorded in the project change control register maintained by the Project Manager.

The project review report prepared at the end of the project will include a detailed analysis of any project changes as part of the lessons learned section.

Lessons Learned

To advise future similar projects, feedback will be sought from stakeholders both during the project and at project completion to identify any unexpected benefits, problems or suggested improvements.

Information about changes made and feedback from stakeholders will be documented in a project 'lessons learned register' kept by the Project Manager. 

Quality Management

Quality management for the project will be conducted by identifying the quality management standards that will apply to the project management and deliverables. There will be several sources of standards that may apply.

For example there are legal standards such as:

• Building Code of Australia.
• Australasian Health Facility Guidelines.
• Fire Safety Standards.
• NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
• NSW Private Health Facilities Act 2007.

In addition, the quality of project management will be controlled using information detailed in the approved project plan, for example:

• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Meeting timelines and milestones
• Managing the budget
• Managing risk

These matters should be considered at regular meetings between the client and the Project Manager, and other key stakeholders as required.

Quality management is a continuous process throughout the life of the project and has strong links to the change management process and the lessons learned register. If all is going well and there is no need for quality improvement, no action is necessary.
Records Management

Legislation that governs records management for Government bodies is extensive and this includes CIT TAFE as a government operated Registered Training Organisation.

Some of the relevant Federal Acts include:

⦁ Archives Act 1983

⦁ Privacy Act 1988

⦁ Freedom of Information Act 1982

There are also numerous standards, regulations and guidelines that are applicable to how we gather and use information in the digital age.

Information is securely stored and protected on our company’s share point. We believe this is the safest way to protect our business and client’s information. The system is user friendly allowing our staff to have access to information and work collaboratively with staff across the business such as Human Resources, IT and communications saving time, this system has been a great success for our line of work.

Although our sensitive information is stored on hard drives securely in house, we do share some information to the cloud. Gaining access to the cloud is via company intranet, you must log on to the cloud with your company information. You are then faced with two-factor authorization process to complete, A 6-digit code is sent to you company issued mobile phone which you enter to gain access and then answer 3 questions you have previously chosen in the set-up period. Once the security process has been completed you can then access the cloud information.

USER GUIDANCE

⦁ All users must preserve the security, privacy and confidentiality of the organisation’s information. 

⦁ For security purposes, access to the computer network and filing systems is restricted to employees and other authorised officers, e.g. Treasurer of the Management Committee only. 

⦁ All users must take precautions to ensure that personal information about individuals, commercial-in-confidence information about other organisations, or other sensitive information is not misused, intentionally or unintentionally, either within the organisation or when shared with other organisations.

RECORDS MANAGEMENT: LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

• All documents and records relating to projects (similar but not restricted to correspondence, meeting minutes, contractual agreements, invoicing, drawings/plans) are to be filed appropriately in the secure share point folder. This includes each project related version control.
• All records attributing to this business and it’s project management remain the property of the business and held accordingly for a minimum of 7 (seven) fiscal years. Documents from that time will be transferred to archives and kept for a further 5 fiscal years.
• Regarding correspondence/emails internally and externally, emails relating to this business, employees and it’s associated projects will remain the property of the business and shall be retained for up to 10 calendar years.
• Documents (including signed contracts and copies of product supporting manuals etc) relating to each project are to be shared via one drive to the relevant Stakeholder. 
• Feedback and Review of Outcomes
• Reviewing project communications is important and is something that we review quiet regularly from our internal staff and external stakeholders. Getting feedback from both parties will strengthen relationships and improve all round satisfaction amongst the team and clients.
• Regular check-ins are to be scheduled with clients - these will be relatively informal and are designed to check that the client is happy and provide an update on the project progress. 
• The project administrative officer will be required to document regular status reports. 
• The project team will meet every Monday morning at 9:30 for a 15 minute project briefing and update. 
• All issues are to be recorded in the issues log. 
• Changes to be recorded in the change log. 
• Final report documentation will require sign-off by the project sponsor/client. 

1. Infinity Services Inc. | Our Vision, Mission and Values

Infinity Services Inc in addition to its work as a Project Management Services company is also registered as a Registered Training Organisation that offers some bespoke training in units from the Business Services Training Package.  This training is mainly focused on project management units and leadership skills. Averaging a staff population of 1000, for the past three years Infinity Services Inc has taken on 50-80 new staff each year and this number is expected to grow. 

Our Vision

To be the leading provider of Project Management Services and Vocational Education and Training in the ACT and Australia.

Our Mission

Changing lives through quality Project Management services, education and skills development for individuals, industry and community.

Our Values

Infinity Services Inc believes quality in Project Management and education is achieved through the values of: respect, integrity, collaboration and innovation.

Respect at Infinity Services Inc rests on a foundation of fundamental decency in our dealings with our colleagues, our learners, employers, other clients, society and the world in which we live.

Integrity at Infinity Services Inc means doing what we say we will in an honest and open manner, recognising achievement, not shirking from uncomfortable conversations and being consistent in our relationship with others and accountable.

Collaboration at Infinity Services Inc means actively sharing information and resources, working together towards shared goals and seeking opportunities to work as a team across infinity services inc. collaboration relies on genuine engagement with others in Infinity Services Inc, with our business and other partners and with the broader community.

Innovation at Infinity Services Inc means empowering colleagues at all levels to raise new ideas and to be creative as teams as we actively look for new and better ways of doing what we do (as well as better things to do), and not settling for how it has always been.

2. Contingencies and Financial arrangements

Contingency Funds

Infinity allows for a 10% contingency reserve for all projects. 

Other Financial Arrangements

You will be utilising Infinity Project Management governance, policy and procedure relating to financial matters for general project cost management. 

Infinity has assigned a dedicated Commercial Officer to provide you and project staff with direction and assistance relating to financial governance, policy and procedure. The Commercial Officer will also be responsible for initialising, establishing and maintaining as required Infinity Finance/Enterprise Resource Planning systems for the project including project staff access and training under your direction.

At a local project level, the following arrangements will be in place for discretionary funding. 

The Project Manager:

• will be issued a company credit card with a $1000.00 balance acquitted monthly against relevant identified project cost codes (the credit card cannot be utilised for purchasing of food, beverages, fuel or any individual costs which would normally be reimbursed via company expense claims process).
• can approve payment of project related invoices of up to $2500.00.
• can approve staff expense claims of up to $1000.00 per claim.
• will need to have any personal expense claims approved by the Infinity Services Inc Project Management Office Director.
• 3. Documentation and Information Management
• As part of your personal induction at Infinity Services Inc you meet with the Infinity Project Management IT Department to discuss what Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) are used. 
• At Infinity Services Inc. Microsoft Teams is the group collaboration software that can be used to help teams work together remotely. You can find chat, video calls, and other collaboration tools within the app.
• All scheduling of meetings is to be completed using MS Outlook. 
• Meeting Minutes and Agendas are to be saved in the Project Teams folder with a link sent to all relevant Project Team members and stakeholders. 
• Gantt Charts is the Infinity Services Inc choice for project scheduling. <>You have confirmed Infinity Project Management utilises MS Excel as its base project management scheduling tools with start and end dates adopted to convey time. You have also added MS Excel to the project team’s training plan and organised for them to participate in the next available training course. While conducting a skills gap analysis of the project team members, it will be important that you include adequate time allowance for the team members to become comfortable in using MS Excel and its advanced functions.
• Lessons Learned and Progress Reports are to be provided to Cheryl Strong who will arrange from them to be stored centrally with all other Infinity Services Inc project documentation. 
• For external communications Infinity Services Inc has a Client Relationship Management System (CRM) where copies of correspondence are to be recorded.  All administrative staff are training on the use of this company platform. 

4. Governance

Stage-Gate Approach

A stage-gate approach is being used for the project.

⦁ Stage 1 – Decision to create in-house or use external agencies

⦁ Stage 2 – Outline of product inclusions and contract’s if using external agencies

⦁ Stage 3 – Acceptance of Product

⦁ Stage 4 – Release for Staff Use 

⦁ 5. Scope Management

⦁ Approach

⦁ Our approach to scope management will adhere to Infinity Services Inc policies and procedures for effective Project management and include a staged gate approach. Standard protocols include a detailed and approved Scope and Scope Management Plan. 

⦁ Scope acceptance and approval

⦁ The scope outlined through the project charter and the project scope. Those documents are best read in conjunction with each other. The project deliverables provide the best baseline for assessing the scope and its adequacy. It is against the deliverables that the scope is best assessed by the Infinity Services Inc Projects Committee. 

⦁ Factors that may affect scope management 

⦁ Based on the fact that the project is relatively straightforward, there are few foreseeable factors that would necessitate a change of scope through the project. It is the unforeseeable that may impact scope change through the project. And the most likely sources of scope change are a change of intentions of those establishing the company. 

⦁ Project life cycle and importance of scope management

⦁ By their nature projects are time and resource limited, not ongoing operations. Therefore time management is crucial. Since the scope is the element that consistently guides a project, any changes to scope have time and resource implications for the project. Therefore ad hoc or ill-considered changes to scope can have a serious negative impact on a project. And should therefore be managed carefully. 

⦁ Scope Verification

⦁ We will verify the scope against the acceptance criteria in the deliverables section of the scope. The deliverables will be assessed periodically to ensure they remain consistent with the scope. The Infinity Services Inc Project Committee will sign off on acceptance of the deliverables at the periodical review/s. 

⦁ Scope Control Scope control 

⦁ For this project was covered off in the section on Scope Management Plan. One section in the scope management plan outlined a ‘scope change process’. That process requires that any proposed change to project scope must be drafted and signed by the scope change initiator, noting resources implications. For the scope change to proceed, it must be unanimously agreed by the Infinity Services Inc Project Committee to proceed. 

⦁ Scope Management Evaluation 

⦁ At the end of the project, all scope changes (whether accepted or not) should be reviewed to assess whether, with the benefit of hindsight, those changes that were made were warranted. And secondly that review could also examine whether any of the proposed scope changes that were rejected, could or should have been agreed. This analysis should provide some insight in the integrity of the scope change management process, and will allows lessons to be drawn for this and future projects. 

6. Change Management

The approved proposal or business case, whichever is applicable, will constitute the initial baseline of the scope of the project at inception.  
Any change to an approved baseline, such as an approved document shall be subject to a Change Control Procedure.  
All change management will be by change request as per standard change management procedure - as illustrated.

7. Risk Management

Project management professionals say, managing risks successfully is the best insurance for delivering projects on scope, time and cost. A successful manager knows that risk never disappears, it just moves to the least regulated corner, it can find. Like any project, Infinity Services Inc also faces a number of risks. As the Project Manager, you are accountable to identify, evaluate, and recommend controls and monitor all risks to this project. Risks are the events and occurrences that can prevent the project team from delivering the project scope, on time and cost, meeting quality requirements and expectations of the key stakeholders.

Risks can be identified on the basis of project life cycle such as risks to Initiation, Planning, Execution and the Closures phases, or risks to project scope, cost, time, quality, communication and procurement aspects of the project. Risks can also be identified as Internal and External or you can specify risks related to Technology, Humans, and Processes. You can also categorize risks as 'known', 'known-unknown' and 'Unknown-unknown'. Known risks obviously are the one, you are aware of and you need to do something about these risks. Known-unknown risks are the one, that you may know these will occur but you do not know when, such as rain or fire. Unknown-unknown risks are those risks that are least expected but these can occur such as earthquakes and COVID19 is the best example of an Unknown-unknown risk.
The steps in developing the Risk Management Plan are:

⦁ Establish the risk environment

⦁ Identify risks

⦁ Analyse and evaluate risks

⦁ Treat/control risks

⦁ Monitor and review effectiveness of risk controls 

Risks

In general discussions with other staff you have been compiling some notes and recording the following points:-

⦁ The risks of not developing an effective Induction Program is that new staff are not well inducted, errors are made and there is continued lost time as new staff struggle to navigate their new workplace. 

⦁ Staff morale is jeopardised as new staff feel frustrated that they don't have sufficient organisational knowledge to function effectively, and existing staff feel exasperated by the ongoing need to spend multiple hours supporting poorly inducted new staff. 

⦁ There could be a WHS incident directly related to a poorly inducted new staff member

⦁ Errors will be made as new staff don't complete work according to policies and procedures that they are unaware of

⦁ Staff turnover will continue to worsen as the lack of an effective induction program continues to erode staff morale and job satisfaction

8. Quality Management

Quality Management is an important component of project management. It is important to deliver a product that is as per agreed expectations. 

The project manager (PM) is overall accountable for the identification and the implementation of quality requirements for a project. In your role as the Project Manager, you would identify quality expectations and requirements for this project. Quality requirements can be collected from relevant legislation, quality standards and the organizational quality guidelines and policies. 
In your role as the Project Manager, you would research the quality requirements of Infinity Services Inc, as the project services provider and Registered Training Provider.  The project is to provide internal training and this is non-accredited, however it may be useful to look at some of the national standards for training and assessment set by the Australian Skills Training Authority (ASQA) for benchmarks of quality and to determine quality metrics. Fully understanding the expectations of the customers (the staff and Heads of Department) is critical and interviewing and/or conducting surveys would be a useful starting point. 
Employment Law and WHS Laws will also help frame material that must be included in the Staff

Induction Program. 

You may develop your quality plan on the basis of relevant legislations, policies and guidelines and obtain agreement for your quality plan from key stakeholders or the Infinity Services Project Committee (as representatives of the customers). 

Following are some hints on how you can determine quality requirements of a project:

⦁ Identify relevant legislation 

⦁ Identify Infinity Services Inc quality requirement for project management practices

⦁ Identify quality expectations of the staff by conducting interviews or surveys

⦁ Determine benchmarks for Staff Induction Programs - covers all key learning requirements, up-to-date, relevant, interesting, interactive, accurate. 

⦁ Protocols for contracting of external work if required

⦁ Testing protocols to ensure testing rigour and soundness of the final product prior to full release

⦁ Quality assurance and quality control measures and metrics
Here are some useful articles that you may also want to determine suitable quality measures for the project:-

Metrics for Measuring Training Effectiveness - KnowledgeCity, and

How to Use Training Metrics to Measure eLearning Effectiveness (efrontlearning.com)

9. Regulations and Legislation

Regulations

Infinity Services Inc must adhere to standard employment and training regulations, some of these include the following:-

Fairwork Act 2009 (Commonwealth)

The Fairwork Act 2009 is responsible for the employee and employer relationship within all Australian workplaces. Adhering to the requirements of the Fairwork Act supports effective workplace relationships within my organisation by setting standards of employment.  Fair Work Australia requires employers to provide their new staff with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement. This statement covers topics such as minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards (NES), modern awards, agreement making and the role of Fair Work Australia.

Work Safety Act 2008 (ACT)

The Work Safe Act 2008 supports effective relationships within my organisation by setting out the responsibilities of the individual and employer in relation to workplace safety as the new WHS law shifted some of the responsibility from the employer to the employee. Examples of this include written signs on how and whom to report incidences, hazards and risks. When these are reported, the WHS officer is responsible for addressing them. Finally, all staff must complete WHS training annually. This shared responsibility provides channels for staff to communicate WHS issues, keeping the workplace safe.

Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT)

The Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) is an extremely important Act that protects human rights of Australians. Section 27 of this Act assists in effective relationships within workplaces by providing minimum rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other minorities. By staff understanding the rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in these courses, it provides a better working relationship with any culturally diverse within our organisation. 

The Privacy Act 1988 protects how an individual’s personal information is collected and how it will be used and/or disclosed to. This Act is important as an employer obtains personal information for its employees.
Standards
Users' guide to Standards for RTOs 2015 | Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)

Others

Project Management

10. Project Integration and Closure Requirements

Project integration is a process, which works towards coordinating various project processes and activities such as developing project charter, project management plans, directing and managing project work, monitor and control budget and schedule and carryout project closure activities.

Monitoring and control is all about making sure that you keep a tight control on scope, budget and schedule, and if changes are necessary, these are requested formally, reviewed and analysed for impact on budget and schedule. Please remember the project board is very sensitive due to the political nature of the project, therefore, you need to manage your changes skillfully for impact on scope, budget and schedule. 

Since this is a unique project, therefore, the board would like you to develop lessons learnt reports for every phase of the project. In the end you would be required to present a comprehensive lesson learnt report. The lessons learnt report would cover, what went well, what did not go well, what can better be done in the next project phase, based on learning from the previous phase. The last lesson learnt report will cover all lessons for the entire project. Lastly, the project implementation review will look whether the project has been successful in delivering its objectives, which is mainly the assessment report, consultations with the community, and soil samples collection etc.

The closure activities would require submitting the final report, obtaining sponsor's acceptance of the report and finalising all payments and disbanding the project team.