How To Obtain Authorization For Your Project?

What is project authorisation?

Project Authorization

What is project authorization; the process of granting permission for the initially proposed project to be put into implementation. As a project is proposed and planned, it has to seek the viable permission to start its operation. This is usually done by the project sponsor, who solely provides or funds all the necessary requirements for the project execution with an intended goal of achieving, developing, initiating a particular project or addressing an identified problem in an organization. Before a project sponsor approves the project, there are a series of things they consider/ review

1. ii) What does project authorization include;

• The process of project authorization has a series of activities involved in, including
• Reviewing of the project methodologies
• Assessment of the project goals and objectives
• Analysis of the roles and responsivities
• Reviewing of the project budget
• Assessing of the project timeline and budget

iii) Who may the appropriate authority be?In a project execution, there are significantly many people who may be deemed responsible for the project authorization. Among the many may include; the project sponsor, project manager, and authorities controlling the ethical codes of conduct, to ensure that the project does not breach the pre-established codes of conduct

1. iv) Decide on an example of a projectFirstly, it is important to note that there is no one unified way of developing a project authorization. This is evident by the fact that different project managers have different views about the approach of project authorization. Holding such a view, a draft of a project authorization is premeditated subsequently

Sample project authorization

Project Name:	Mobile application development and implementation
Project Manager:	Maximillian Davis Orinado
Project Sponsor:	UBER

 a). PROJECT SCOPE

Developing a new mobile application for UBER

Training the UBER employees on the usage of the app

Scope exclusions

No clear intended exclusins

b). INTENDED OUTCOMES

The mobile app will;

improve communication efficiency among UBER employees

advance customer satsfaction

reduce on communication cost

c). STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

The strategic goals of the organisation that the preceding outcomes are aligned to

UBER aims at reducing its long-term operational costs

Improving on the competitive advantage over its competitors

Improve on customer experience

d). APPROVED SCHEDULE

Planning commence:	Thu 8/9/12	Planning complete:	Fri 8/17/12
Delivery commence:	9/11/12	Delivery complete:	Continuous/ service

 e). Key milestones

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors
project planning	7 days	Thu 8/9/12	Fri 8/17/12
project scope planning	3 days	Thu 8/9/12	Mon 8/13/12
stakeholder identification	4 days	Tue 8/14/12	Fri 8/17/12	2
stakeholder training and procurement of required equipment	0 days	Fri 8/17/12	Fri 8/17/12	3
project implementation	9 days	Mon 8/20/12	Thu 8/30/12
application development	3 days	Mon 8/20/12	Wed 8/22/12	4
testing of output	4 days	Thu 8/23/12	Tue 8/28/12	6
finalization and effecting identified issues	2 days	Wed 8/29/12	Thu 8/30/12	7
Summary #2 Complete	0 days	Thu 8/30/12	Thu 8/30/12	8
project review, evaluation and closing	7 days	Sat 9/1/12	Tue 9/11/12
review of the project process	3 days	Sat 9/1/12	Tue 9/4/12	9
correction and ammendment	2 days	Wed 9/5/12	Thu 9/6/12
project closure and handover	3 days	Sat 9/8/12	Tue 9/11/12

APPROVED BUDGET

The total cost of planning all the project activities (the planning phase expenses)	$ 1000
Total expenses to be incurred for the Capital purchase (delivery)	$ 5000
Operational expenditure (all planned expenses to be incurred during execution) (delivery)	$ 4000
Contingency (all unplanned shortcomings during project execution) 20%	$ 2000
Total	$ 12000

 g). CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

 close monitoring of all the project activities

flexibility to change (effective change management)

effective communication skills

close stakeholders’ engagement

f). AUTHORISATION TO PROCEED TO DETAILED PLANNING

SIGNATURE signed (project sponsor) Name & Title UBER

Activity 1B

1. i) Requirements to get project authorization; there are a series of requirements that need to be presented before gaining project authorization. Among the many, includes; project budget, project scope, project life cycle, project
2. ii)  Business case; A business case refers to all the relevant information required before the authorization of a project. it details all the project expected deliveries, how the deliveries will be done and the time period of the project (Saunders, 2015, p.37)

 iii)  to person to gain authority from; in my organization, the project sponsor is solely the right person to gain authority from. They are the owners of the project and dictate on the final deliveries of the project

1. iv) the required resources; just like any other projects, there will be the need for financial resource, human resource and physical resource. The human resource will include project team members while the physical resource will include the equipment needed for the designing such as computers and software platforms

Activity 1C

1. i) a governance framework refers to the pre-established rules and regulations that need to be followed when running a project. it equally applies as the codes of conduct of running a project management activity (Goo, et al., 2017)
2. ii) the appropriate delegation and authorities vary from project to project. in most cases however, the project delegation and authorities include the project sponsors as the overall head, the ethical codes of conduct authorities, and the project manager.

iii) responsibility refers to a situation where a project stakeholder takes charge of a particular task assigned, and is accountable for all the activities within the assigned tasks

1. iv) authority; in project management, authority refers to the power to direct or give orders, enforce obedience and make decisions in particular contexts regarding the operation of a particular project (Todorovi? et al., 2015, 783)
2. v) accountability is a process through which an individual or a group of people are answerable to a particular authority regarding all the activities that prevail in their area
3. vi) delegation process refers to the logical procedures taken or followed when assigning different tasks to different stakeholders, whom of which become responsible for all the tasks that are assigned to them

vii) from the sample project authorization, the project manager is granted authority as he undertakes the powers of assigning tasks to the project team players while the project team members are granted the responsibility and held accountable for the project that they are assigned to undertake (Kovess et al., 2015, p.113)

Activity 2A

1. i) A project boundary is a tools for the identification of all the things which will be included in the Project and those that will not be included in the project. the project boundary is a part of the project scope
2. ii) example of project boundary in the previous project can be; the application will be developed to work only in the Unites States of America.

iii) when identifying project boundaries, it is important to consider the available resources, the available time, the maximum available time for project execution and project manager expertise.

1. iv) benefits of identifying project boundary include; clearly identifying the project limits, knowing what is expected of the project manager. It also helps in conflict resoluions in case of misunderstandings at the time of project closure.
2. v) in the sample project, the uber app will be designed to work only in the USA.

Activity 2B

1. i) project benefits are the paybacks and profits arising as a result of undertaking a project. in other words, they are rewards accruing as a resulting of the project management activity being undertaken
2. ii) project outcomes are the final deliverables of a project. it also implies all the outputs that are intended to be achieved at the end of the project execution

iii) project outputs are closely related to project outcome. However, output are the final realized remedies. In simple terms, it implies the achieved project objectives and aims

1. iv) in the example, project benefits, outputs and outcomes include the mobile application, improved communication among the stakeholders and reduction of costs as a result of the project

Activity 2C 

1. i) relevant stakeholders are all the individuals who have an impact on the success or failure of the project. this is true irrespective of whether they are external or internal stakeholders
2. ii) when developing project outcomes, it is important to consider the identified project aims, objectives and available resources. The resources may include times, funds, and equipment among others (Rice et al., 2015, p.275)

iii) in the example project, the relevant stakeholders include but not limited to; the UBER top management, the application project manager, the client of the company and the drivers among others.

Activity 2D

1. i) a scope management plan is a document that clearly highlights the extent to which the project will cover, including the time, resources and project deliverables
2. ii) with the help of a scope, it is simple to define the project boundaries, the amount of resources needed for the project completion and the expected time to be used. This is constituted in the time scope, resource scope and boundaries.

iii) example scope of the project

• the company will secure the necessary project requirements
• training of the project team members will be catered by the company
• the project will take a period of seven months

Activity 3A

1. i) scope management may include, product description, acceptance criterion, justification of the project, project objectives and deliverable, project constraints, assumptions made and cost estimations among many others
2. ii)  scope management procedures refer to the logical steps followed when designing a project scope. It is important to note that when designing a scope, one variable leads to another and thence, it becomes typically significant to follow the right flow of activities

Activity 3b

1. i) firstly, it is important to note that constraints are limitation to the project. the limitation may be time shortage, low funds, less skills of the project members (quality constraint) and environmental constraints among others.
2. ii) scope change is best effected if the project manager is much responsive to change. In other words, the project manager should have adequate skills in change management in order to easily adopt to the change in the project budget, deadline and quality requirements.

iii) change control procedures refers to the logical steps involved when adopting to change in a project. it is important to follow the right procedures when adopting to a new change, else, may lead to project failures (Kerzner, 2017)

1. iv) there is no unified right way in change control procedure. However, the project manage can begin by identifying the need for the change, how the change will be adopted, the maximum time needed, the available resources required, and train the personnel on change management. The change can thereafter be implemented or adapted
2. v) the change control procedure may include; the estimation of the total time required, resources to be used, the training of stakeholders, and the total expenses to be incurred in the change management (Tomanek, & Juricek, 2015, p.39)

Activity 3C

1. i) possible example of scope management issues includes;

• poor/ wrong assumptions made
• exaggeration of deliverables
• poor time planning
• poor risk assessment
• poor budget estimates

1. ii) the above can be improved by;

• poor time planning can be improved by the use of improved computerized project management software packages such as MS project
• risk assessment can also be improved through the deployment of expert personnel in risk assessment.
• Clearly following the project goals and objectives befor making the project assumptions
• Before drawing a budget, it is important to clearly identify te project activities which could help in clearing estimation of costs.
• project assumptions can be improved by clearly analysing the project’ expected 

Assessment 2

1. The components of scope management plan include; project requirements, the stakeholders to be engaged in the project, the deliverables of the project, the sponsor acceptance, scope control, scope statement, and work breakdown structure
2. There are several challenges faced in scope management among which include constraints related to time management, poor stakeholder engagement, and hardship in allocation of tasks and responsibilities
3. The critical ways of addressing the issues of scope management include the referring to past projects of the same/ related case, holding of project workshops to merge ideas from different stakeholders and conducting of product analysis.
4. The most appropriate ways of controlling scope include; evaluation of the impact of change, determining the magnitude of variance, measuring the project performance against the scope baseline, and application of corrective/ preventive measures to issues or challenges.
5. Responding to potential and actual changes requires planning with high level of flexibility. This is important as it allows the integration and application of most appropriate change management techniques to ensure high performance during change.
6. Project scope is mostly impacted on by the constraints, among which include; regulatory constraints, managerial constraints, time constraints, variability in the resource levels and risks both internal and external
7. There is no one direct change control procedures, however, the following can apply

• The proposed change
• Why the change is important
• Expected outcomes of the change
• The time needed to implement the change
• Other factors that ma affect the change process
• Estimation of the total cost
• Stakeholders of the change implementation

8. When measuring project outcomes against the original plans, it is important to consider the total unit/ percentage of the project completed, the total increment of the milestone from the proposed, the start-finish time, and cost ratio among others.
9. Work breakdown structure visualizes the logical procedures in which the project will be executed. The segment therefore follows phases in which the project is executed or implemented. For example, the basic follows the planning phase, execution and project completion (Rice et al., 2015, p.275)
10. The procedure that could be used for reporting scope change include assessment of the work activities, identification of progress and filing final findings
11. Project management tools that can be applied in scope management include work-based breakdown structure, Gantt charts, pert charts, project status reports, and resource workload view among many others.
12. The project manager is the overall foreseer of any project. in this essence, the project manager plays a role of coordinating all the project activities, reporting to the project sponsors, and assigning of responsibilities to the project stakeholders
13. Project initiation documentation entails the project goals, the business case, scope of the project, risk assessment, project stakeholders, constraints and project control among others (Goo, et al., 2017) 

Assessment three

1. the procedures for project authorization follow a logical procedure which include

• a detailed breakdown of the project sope
• intended outcomes of the project
• strategic alignment of the project activities
• well structed project schedule
• project milestone
• an approved project budgets
• the critical success factors and finally
• the authorization

2. the authorization to expend the available resources involved a critical assessment of the project scope, all the expected project deliveries, the time available for project execution and the possible risks assesses. Based on the summary of these, the expend was drawn (Kovess et al., 2015, p.113)
3. project delegation and authorities were confirmed after the analysis and review of the project plan by the project sponsor, project manager and the ethical body of authority
4. the project boundaries of the project included not creating user agreement for the application, no update development for the app after its outdate
5. the project benefits included all the positive outcomes of the project. included improving company stakeholder engagement, improving company brand image and improving competitive advantage. The benefits, outcomes and output were measured by establishing the extent to which the project objectives were achieved (Kerzner, 2017)
6. the shared project outcome involved all the company stakeholders. This is due to the fact that all the company stakeholders shared a common goal of improving the firm’s operation and improving communication and engagement among all the shareholders
7. the processes involved in scope management plan are; 

8. the implementation of scope management procedures involvement and consultation of the relevant stakeholders while considering their interests and powers in the project. additionally, relating the scope plan with other past related projects to get the possible outcomes from specific implementation
9. the impact of scope management requires flexibility and adjusting according to the outcome of the plan. In addition, the integration of new tools and techniquest to assist in solving issues that may lead to project lagging or failure (Saunders, 2015, p.37)
10. scope management has been one of the most challenging issue in project management. Issues that were identified in the scope included time constraints and managerial constraints. The best way of handling such was improving planning and resource evaluation and ensuring high level of stakeholder engagement.  

References

Goo, J. J., Rahman, A., Nabilah, N., Cavallini, A., El-Yamany, Y., Azmily, A. H., ... & Haziq, A. (2017, May). Multiwell Operational Performance Benchmarking: A Continuous Drilling Optimization Approach for a Brownfield Drilling Project in Malaysia. In SPE Intelligent Oil and Gas Symposium. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.

Kovess, V., Carta, M. G., Pez, O., Bitfoi, A., Koç, C., Goelitz, D., ... & Otten, R. (2015). The school children mental health in Europe (SCMHE) project: Design and first results. Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health: CP & EMH, 11(Suppl 1 M7), 113.

Rice, J., Bradford, M. J., Clarke, K. D., Koops, M. A., Randall, R. G., & Wysocki, R. (2015). The science framework for implementing the fisheries protection provisions of Canada's fisheries Act. Fisheries, 40(6), 268-275.

Rusk, D. (2018). Memo Requesting Authorization for Export-Import Bank Guarantees for Romania. Box 203 National Security File Country File Romania.

Saunders, F. C. (2015). Toward high reliability project organizing in safety?Critical projects. Project Management Journal, 46(3), 25-35.

Todorovi?, M. L., Petrovi?, D. ?., Mihi?, M. M., Obradovi?, V. L., & Bushuyev, S. D. (2015). Project success analysis framework: A knowledge-based approach in project management. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), 772-783.

Tomanek, M., & Juricek, J. (2015). Project risk management model based on PRINCE2 and SCRUM frameworks. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.03595.