P4+M2 - Produce a project specification and assess the impact of potential risks to a project.

Jonny Smart

In this essay I am going to produce a project specification. In a project specification you need to identify the following aspects; stakeholders, business requirements, benefit and success factors, constraints and various other factors. However, these aspects in project specification can uproot some potential risks that can impact on the whole project design. Such as technical issues, costs, team based and inputting and reporting. These are very important features of project management, therefore they should be thoroughly researched and analysed to gain an in-depth understanding. 

A stakeholder is either an individual, group or organisation that has a significant impact on a business. Such as the owner, manager, worker, costumer, supplier, lender or the community. The owner is the person most interested in the profit in the business as they are the ones funding the business. There are two types of stakeholders, internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. External stakeholders are groups outside the company, for example costumers. Whereas, internal stakeholders are people inside the company like the owners or managers. Stakeholders are important in any project specification because they are they groups of people who are needed for the company to run.

In a business there are a few business requirements that must be met for a project to function correctly. Such as standards, customer satisfaction and company objectives. If a company has poor standards, they will struggle to perform tasks properly. In addition, if they have poor customer satisfaction they will have few customers returning to their business and they will go elsewhere instead. A business also needs objectives or targets to meet so that the company can expand and improve.

In project management there are many contributing success factors that should be considered in the project specification. Such as solid testing, communication and staff involvement. When projects lack these success factors they are likely to miss deadlines, disagree on important business decisions. It is important to consider these factors when planning the specification for a project.

Constraints are restrictions in project management that limit the project reaching its objectives. The most influential constraints are the cost, schedule and scope. The cost for resources is important in any project and most projects will need extensive financial support. Therefore, when planning the specification for a project you must make sure you have the correct amount of financial support to fund the project. Keeping up to date with the schedule of the project is also very important. Monitoring your time productively is a very useful skill to have in a project or business because in a professional environment, time is money. Products will have a specific deadline which should be met because it will affect the profits of the organisation. Another constraint is the scope. The scope is usually decided at the start of the project; it is designed to decide whether the project will be successful. However, the scope can also change during the project and the final outcome can change. The schedule and the cost are very influential aspects that provide evidence for the scope. Therefore, the scope is a very important constraint which the project manager should consider seriously when planning the specification of the project.

In this part of the essay I am going to assess the potential risks to a project. Risks are also very important to understand when planning a project because they can affect the overall outcome of the project. Risks like time, communication, finance and skills can potentially impact of the final result of the project. Needless to say, that this should be assessed in great detail to gain the best understanding.

Time is one of the biggest problems project managers face, if your project doesn’t calculate the correct amount of time to complete the project there can be saviour consequences. By missing deadlines, you are risking the functionality of the company. A successful project needs to be functional as well as effective.

Communication skills is something employers look for when employing a new colleague. Effective communication is useful for many things; it can improve interaction with other members of the team as well as help transfer improving ideas to the company or organisation.  Communication can also be digitally transferred through email or social networking sites. With this in mind, if a colleague struggles to confidently communicate to other people or the company hasn’t established a company email account they will lack an effective communication system. This can lead to potential misunderstandings between colleagues. They would also lack important convocations that notify the strengths and weaknesses of the company, meaning the company will never move on and improve.

Finance, as I have previously mentioned, is vital in a project. It is important to have the correct amount of finance to support the project. The cost for resources is important in any project and most projects will need extensive financial support to fund these resources. Without the correct finance the project manager won’t be able to employ workers, provide the correct equipment or supply the much needed resources to build the project. 

Skills are important in any project; they help us to develop talents which we can us in our professions.  However, a lack of skills can restrict the projects progression. One of the project managers most important jobs is to select the correct people with the correct skills for the project on hand. If the project manager doesn’t select the correct employees with the right skill set, they will have to spend more time and money on training these employees with the correct skills. As a result, they would be behind on schedule and therefore, the lack of skills would impact on the functionality of the project.

In conclusion, there are many potential risks to project management. Risks are very important to understand when planning a project because they can affect the overall outcome of the project. Risks like time, communication, finance and skills can potentially impact of the final result of the project. It is vital project managers consider the features of project specification as well as the risks to ensure the success of the project.