Project Life Cycle: Organization Of A Conference Event Essay.

Write a report on a project e.g development of a mobile app; conference event. You are required to describe and discuss different phases of the project life cycle, develop a WBS and a company network diagram of the case project.

The organization of conference events have become an integral part of the modern day business world and thus it is generally seen that the majority of the business enterprises commonly takes the help of this particular method to not only discuss about the various important that are significant towards the cause of their business but at the same time as a form of engagement medium as well. This particular project will deal with the organization of a conference event wherein the higher authority of the company would be participating to discuss about the important issues that are affecting their business at the current moment and also to formulate effective strategies that would help the concerned company to further enhance their prospects in the world of business and more precisely to gain sustainable competitive advantage in the business market. Thus, the intended audience of this particular event would be the members related to the higher management team of the concerned company, project sponsor, project leader and also a few of the stakeholders associated with the concerned company. Needless to say that this is going to be an important project for the company and the company hopes to gain in a significant manner from this particular project.

The company under discussion here has experienced a decline in the number of the sales of the products offered by it to the customers. This has adversely affected the market value of the company and the prices of the share of the company had been declining in a steady manner. Thus, to mitigate the effects of the present situation the project manager of the company was asked to organize a conference event where the members of the management along with some of the important stakeholders of the company would be able to discuss the issue and at the same time come up with some reliable solutions. Furthermore, the primary purpose of the company behind the organization of this particular event is to come up with some meaning strategies as well as measures that would help it to gain sustainable competitive advantage in the business market and thereby to mitigate the dwindling sale of the products offered by the company to the customers. The entire life cycle of the project would consist of four major stages, namely, Planning, Designing, Implementation and Post-Implementation. 

The first stage for the organization of the conference even would be the planning stage wherein the basic plan for the conference even would be formulated. The company had decided to take the help of the process of the “Innovative Value Chain” not only for the organization of this particular event but at the same time for the mitigation of the issue that it is facing at the current moment. Thus, this particular stage when the ideas as well as the strategies for the organization of the event are formulated can be seen as the stage of the “idea generation” as per the above mentioned process. In other words, it can be said that this is the stage wherein the idea or the initial proposition for the organization of the event were developed. Initially, a Project Charter was created by the Project Manager of the company wherein all the detailed information about the project as well as the objectives that the project intended to achieve were discussed by the Project Manager and after the approval of the management team of the company the planning stage of the organization of the event have been undertaken.

Phases of the Project Life Cycle

The first stage in the organization of this conference event was deciding the kind of materials that would be needed for the organization for this particular and also the nature of this event, that is, whether it would be a formal one with the presence of all the higher authority members of the company and organized at an appropriate venue or it would be an informal one wherein only a selected few members of the company would gather to discuss the issue. However, finally it was decided that this particular event would be a formal one and all the members of the higher authority would attend the event and would be organized at an appropriate venue. After this a preliminary plan for the event was formulated which was forwarded to the management team of the company for approval. The concerned individuals made some alterations in the plan after reviewing it thoroughly and on the basis of this review a final plan was formulated which was agreed upon by all for the organization of this particular event. In addition to these, the Project Manager at this particular stage would also be required to prepare a preliminary budget as well as the kind of resources that would be needed for the organization of this particular event.

During this particular stage the Project Manager will be required to not only design the manner in which the actual event would take place but at the same time also plan the resources that would be needed for the organization of the event and at the same time procure them as well. The Project Manager will specifically have to take into consideration the cost and the resources that would be needed for the organization of the event.

This is one of the most important part of the entire project life cycle since it is here that all the important as well as necessary resources that would be needed for the effective organization of the concerned conference event would not only be finalized by the Project Manager but at the same time will be procured or arranged. The major resources that would be needed for the successful arrangement of this conference event under discussion here are the conference hall, projectors, laptops, notepads, other accessories, various kinds of facilities like water, chairs, food, coffee, tea and others. In addition to this, the effective organization of the event is also likely to require some human resources, which the company can either hire on a temporary basis or can get them from their own manpower itself. These in short are some of the major resources that the effective organization of the concerned conference event is going to require that the Project Manager needs to procure on behalf of the concerned company.

Planning Phase

The organization of the above mentioned conference event is likely to cost the company a significant amount of amount. First and foremost there is the cost of renting the venue conference hall wherein the event will be organization. Secondly, there are the transportation cost and the arrangement of the facility materials that the company is likely to incur for the organization of the above mentioned event. In addition to these, there are various other costs that the concerned company is likely to incur like the payment which the company needs to make to hire the manpower that would be needed during the course of this particular event and others. An estimated cost break down amount that the company is likely incur through the organization of this particular event is given below-

In addition to these, Project Manager is also required to ensure that there are enough food suppliers and other kinds of facilities like washroom and others for the various stakeholders who would be participating in the conference event.

The implementation stage can also be seen as the stage of the “idea conversion” as per the “innovative value chain”. This is the stage wherein the implementation of the final plan developed for the organization of the above mentioned conference event would actually take place. Thus, the first step in this particular stage would be to communicate the relevant information about the conference event that is being organized by the company to all the stakeholders who would be participating in the event. Once the information has been conveyed to all the relevant stakeholders who would be participating in the event and their approval have been taken then the process of the selection of the venue where the conference event would actually take place would be undertaken. The location of the conference event venue is of paramount importance since the Project Manager needs to ensure that the location is easily accessible and also easy to reach. The location should not be too obscure since the selection of an obscure location is likely to not only cause trouble for the stakeholders but at the same time would deter some of the stakeholders from actually participating in the event and this would hamper the objective of the project in a significant manner. The next step would be finalizing the schedule of the project and once again the Project Manager would have to get in touch with the various stakeholders to formulate an effective schedule which would take into consideration the comfort level of all the stakeholders. It is significant to note that if the schedule of the event would not be in synchronicity with the stakeholders then some of the stakeholders would find it very difficult to attend the event and this would once again hamper the prospects of the project. The final step in this particular stage would be the actual organization of the conference event wherein all the important stakeholders who have been invited would not only be able to attend the event but at the same time would fulfill the objectives with which this project was undertaken.

Designing Phase

A detailed plan of the various activities that the organization of the concerned event will entail is being provided by the below given detailed plan-

Figure 1: WBS Chart for the Conference Event

Source: (Created by the Author)

The Gantt Chart for the organization of this conference event is being provided below-

This can be seen as the stage of the “idea diffusion” as per the “innovative value chain” wherein the ideas or the strategies that have been developed in the conference event would not only be implemented but at the same time modified as per the practical business scenario. Thus, it would be apt to say that this is one of the most important stages in the organization of the entire since it is during this particular stage that the practical application of the ideas that have been generated by the entire process would take place. This stage can be seen as the conglomeration of three important steps, namely, feedback sessions, analysis of the feedbacks that has been provided and finally the modification of the conference event plan for future use. It is significant to note that these steps would be taken after the completion of the entire event and is meant to make the results generated in the conference event effective. Thus, it is with this purpose that feedbacks would be taken from all the stakeholders who had participated in the event. The next step would be to analyze the feedbacks which have been provided by the stakeholders and seen whether the application of them is feasible or not. Finally, on the basis of the feedbacks provided by the stakeholders the outcomes of the conference event would be modified and also the plan of the event itself if required for future use.

Conclusion

To conclude, projects have become an integral part of the business world and it is generally seen that almost all the business enterprises take the help of these projects not only for the construction of something new but at the same time for the effective mitigation of the issues that they are facing. Thus, the company under discussion here undertook the above mentioned conference event to mitigate the various issues that it has been facing for some time now. The organization of any project requires the Project Manager of any company to undertake various activities. For example, the Project Manager needs to provide a Project Charter to the management team of the concerned company and at the same time get the approval of them for the organization of the project. The first stage in the organization of any project is to formulate a plan for the project and get it approved. The next stage is the implementation of that plan and finally there are the post-implementation measures. Furthermore, there are various resource and cost considerations that the company undertaking the project needs to take into effective consideration.

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