Critical Success Or Failure Factors Of Virtual Delivery System In UWTSD Essay.

Agreeing on project goals and objectives

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David or UWTSD London campus has switched their format of face2face or f2f delivery to online delivery of lectures, after the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. In the recent times, they have merged the system into a hybrid delivery, in which a few students do online classes and the others come down to the campus for their classes. Hence, they have decided to bring the normal process of education gradually. This particular project has been successful for its unique success factors in the process and hence a proper and effective approach has been identified (Kerzner 2022). The most distinct and noteworthy critical success factors in the project of virtual delivery system are provided in the following paragraphs:

i) The first critical success factor in this particular project of virtual delivery system was agreeing on the project goals and objectives. The main goal of this particular project was to resume the system of education, even after the pandemic situation of COVID 19. It would ensure that the students’ education is not impacted, under any circumstance and maximum efficiency is being obtained (Meredith et al. 2020).

ii) Another critical success factor was developing clearly defined and stated plans with properly assigned roles and responsibilities. Apart from the students, it was also required from the teacher’s end to ensure that the process is being followed in an appropriate manner. Hence, they should follow their respective roles and responsibilities effectively for gaining knowledge on the accountabilities.

iii) The next significant critical success factor was cultivating constant communication within the teacher and the students (Shirley 2020). The entire virtual education can be successful, only when the communication impact would be effective and appropriate. There are various formats of communication in virtual delivery system and these facilitate knowledge acquisition, creation as well as transmission and hence learner motivation is enhanced.

iv) Moreover, the project scope was also managed effectively, so that the entire virtual delivery system becomes effective. Project scope management is the procedure, which helps in the determination and documentation of every project goal, task, deadline and deliverable as a part of the planning procedure (Nicholas and Steyn 2020). As a result, exceptional teaching to the students would be delivered.

Table 1: Critical Success Factors and Stakeholders Responsible

(Source: Created by the Author in MS Word)

i) The most distinct lessons that are being learnt from the project of virtual delivery system is that a proper planning and budget analysis is needed for any project to be successful and hence the negative impacts would be eradicated. These could be possible by working in an appropriate team, so that growth of the project is analyzed and constraint management would be easier for them (Wawak and Wo?niak 2020).

ii) It is also required to ensure that a project initiation document or PID is being considered for defining the scope, success factors and objectives of the project work. As a result, the document would provide a collaborative aspect of problem solving for leading to better and effective outcomes or results. Various individuals are more likely to undertake the calculated risks, which could lead to innovation and these attributes would be mentioned in the project initiation document.

Developing clearly defined and stated plans with properly assigned roles and responsibilities

iii) It is also being learnt from the project that every work or activity of the work should be executed in a proper manner, so that the processes become easier. Since the budget considered for the project is 80000 pounds, every process or activity should be executed by the respective team in such a manner that no additional costs are not included and the project is being executed within the budget and schedule, without any kind of complexity or issue (Wei, Prybutok and Sauser 2021).  

iv) Moreover, the scope of the project should be defined in an appropriate manner for ensuring that the system would be designed accurately and the negative impacts in the project would be eradicated successfully.

v) The next lesson that is learnt from the project work is that different risks and constraints are well identified and risk forecasting should be done for eradicating the errors and complexities successfully (Rowe 2020).

vi) Communication is the next vital aspect that is being learnt from the project work, which refers to the fact that any kind of constraint can be avoided with an appropriate methodology of communication, so that the negative aspects are removed and the project goals are accomplished easily.

vii) A suitable approach of stakeholder management is also needed in a project work for ensuring that they are highly satisfied and the project management team is able to focus on the requirements and choices of the external and internal stakeholders successfully (Crawford 2021).

viii) The next lesson learnt from the project work of virtual delivery system is that the overall success of any project completely dependent on the core capability of the project team, so that they are able to enforce every necessary control on the time, cost, resources and scope that are related to the project work. A proper team work ensures that every resource is well managed and lesser time is required for completing a project work and it would also focus on the overall quality management factor (Klein and Müller 2020).

A few recommendations to the project of virtual delivery system in UWTSD are provided in the following paragraphs:

i) For reducing the uncontrollable delays, as identified earlier; it is being recommended to the project management team to conduct regular project monitoring and meetings, which would be reduce the negative impacts successfully. It is extremely critical for the project manager to understand the process of project delays increase in the overall management of the work (Rodríguez-Rivero et al. 2020). The most common causes of such delay involve changes in the project scope, unavailable resources, unplanned project timeline, unrealistic project objectives and deliverables in the constraint. The project management team of virtual delivery system would require to ensure that they are setting realistic goals for the project, so that they are able to strategize their priorities in an effective manner.

ii) It is also recommended to implement a suitable approach for project leadership and governance to reduce the negative impacts like resistance from staff or employees. Project leadership refers to as process of leading different individuals and ensuring that a project is being carried out in an effective manner (Layton, Ostermiller and Kynaston 2020). The involvement of an efficient project leader would also be needed to engage the team, motivate them as well as ensure that the requirements are fulfilled for maintaining a productive work environment. The inclusion of proper project governance would also be beneficial for ensuring that every procedure and working aspect is being followed and different metrics are analysed for the virtual delivery system.

Cultivating constant communication within the teacher and the students

iii) Moreover they should focus on communication methodologies on a regular basis. The main reason is that since virtual delivery system is related to education; a suitable approach of educational factors and management is required, so that the risks and threats are reduced and there is a regular flow of communication in a significant manner (Paulmakesh and April 2021). To make the process a successful one, it is needed to ensure that a risk response team is being created. It is needed to include such a team for ensuring that the erroneous aspects in the work are avoided. The main responsibility of a risk response team is to take or consider the worst case scenarios into account and also comprise of a specific plan ready for them in advance. It is also required to ensure that the respective team comprises of team members, who are well trained and also comprise of the core capability of dealing with the issues.

After analyzing the entire project of virtual delivery system of UWTSD, I have been able to understand the importance of project management and processes in an effective manner. Project management is the procedure to lead the team’s work for achieving every goal or objective of the work in the provided constraints (Zasa, Patrucco and Pellizzoni 2020). I have also known a proper budget planning and risk analysis is needed in every project to ensure that the project goals are clear and concise and they are being accomplished easily. In this reflective report, I will be providing my analysis on a career path in project management with different skills needed for acquiring to be a successful project manager.

Project management comprises of seven distinct principles of continuous business justification, learning from the experiences, different roles and responsibilities, management by phases, management by expectations, focusing on the products, sticking to the environment and even following the business case (Silva, Pereira and Magano 2021). This particular information is mainly described in the project documentation and since virtual delivery system is an online project; documentation should be completed in an appropriate manner for getting success and efficiency accordingly. I have considered project management as a career aspect as I would be able to gain new expertise and knowledge in the process and develop professionally.

Project manages eventually become professional for having a potential career path. The first and the foremost attribute that I would be able to focus is that I would be working in the industry as a project manager. Several project managers initiate as non-managerial role and also work their way up to the project manager by taking different responsibilities (Thesing, Feldmann and Burchardt 2021). Since I have my focus on software development project, my projects would be aligned with information technology and software. Doing hands on work in the respective industry could be beneficial for understanding the issues and aspects easily and also ensure that I would be able to collaborate with the team members for having a better attribute and aspect.

Managing project scope effectively

The positions in the project management background would allow me to get diversity in the work processes and I could be the project coordinator, assistant project manager, associate project manager and junior project manager. All of these positions are helpful for effectively planning and overseeing the project to gain success and efficiency accordingly (Mukhamadiev, Staroverova and Shustrova 2020). Moreover, I have also known that the project managers plan as well as execute the projects for helping different companies in improving processes, developing new products, building effective structures and even completing other initiatives for the work.

This particular manager leads a team through the project by ensuring that the communications, budget and schedule are being aligned for accomplishing the goals of the project work. My next career aspect in the project management field is a senior project manager, who helps the projects to be executed with better and wider scope, such as scaling procedures within teams, development of the most complex products and even leading the projects with longer time frames (Lalmi, Fernandes and Souad 2021). I would be requiring experience to become the senior project manager and also implement additional skills and approaches to complete the planning in an effective manner.

The career path in project management is in high demand and as per the estimation of the Project Management Institute or PMI, the global economy would be requiring 25 million new professionals of project management by the year of 2030 for ensuring that demand is fulfilled, under every circumstance. The respective career path could be highly satisfying for working with other team members and even comprising of stronger organizational skills and talents, so that the challenges and risks are successfully avoided and the team is able to work on different types of project for meeting budget goals and deadline (Wo?niak 2021).

I would be requiring new skills for becoming a successful project manager in my professional career. A project management skill is the most vital trait or competency that is required to gain success as a professional. I have known that as a project manager, I would require to plan the project works from the initiation stage to implementation, mapping out timelines, assessment of the project risks, threats and opportunities, execution of every stage of the project life cycle, creation, allocation as well as management of the budget and many more (So?ta-Dr?czkowska and Mro?ewski 2020). Furthermore, I would require to communicate with all stakeholders as well as troubleshoot challenges for delivering the end product.  

The most effective skills of project management could be termed as helpful for ensuring that the responsibilities and roles would be focused in an easier manner. The most distinct skills that I would be requiring for a successful project manager are provided in the following paragraphs:

i) Planning and Forecasting: The first and the foremost skill that I would require a project manager is planning and forecasting. The skill could be highly challenging and several project managers require to ensure that proper timelines and resources are considered in the business (Radhakrishnan 2021). The project manager also requires to utilize any kind of information that could make proper predictions and estimations or forecasting.

Lessons learnt

ii) Risk Management: The second distinct and noteworthy skill that I would require a project manager is risk management. Every project comprises of risks and there could be a high chance that the respective work is not completed within timeline or budget. Hence, the project managers are mainly responsible for analyzing the risks as well as anticipating them for avoiding them in an appropriate manner.

iii) Budgeting: As a project manager, I would also require to ensure that I have the skill for budgeting (Mukhamadiev, Staroverova and Shustrova 2020). Since there are different financial constraints in every project, I would require to ensure that my skill for budgeting is accurate and I am able to consider financial management in my work for delivering the works within limitations.

iv) Tracking and Monitoring: I would also require to have the skill of tracking and monitoring the processes. Project management is not only about completing the work; it is also about completing a successful work and without an appropriate approach of tracking and monitoring; it would not be possible.

v) Project Management Methodologies: The next skill or knowledge that I would require in a project is the ideology of different methodologies in project management, such as Agile or Waterfall (Silva, Pereira and Magano 2021). There are a few principles for successfully overseeing as well as completing the project works and the most experienced project managers are familiar with the methodologies and could even determine the best fit for the specific teams.

Different methodologies like PRINCE2 or PMBOK would be extremely distinctive for me. PRINCE2 is a process based method for project management that provides the user with fundamental skills that I would require for becoming a successful project manager. The main benefits of PRINCE2 methodology include wider recognition, high flexibility, built for uncertainty and better accountability. On the contrary, PMBOK is a specific framework of important guidelines, characteristics and rules of projects. I would be able to breakdown the project into different stages or steps with the help of this specific methodology and there would be a proper procedural standardization.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion, I can conclude that project management provides a proper and efficient career for a professional. The most basics of project management can be considered by the respective organization, which includes integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communication management and even risk management. Four major processes of project management that are required to be executed are planning, build up, deployment and close out. I have mentioned the core skills that are needed as a project manager, so that I am able to become successful easily.

References

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