Lean Project Management For A Home Construction

Question

Task: Your tasks:
Answer the following questions:
1. Select and explain the project management processes (either from PMBOK or PRINCE2
or a combination of any best practices you have learned in this unit) that can help you:
a. Finalise the client’s requirements (in terms of scope)
b. Ensure communications with all relevant stakeholders are effective and efficient
c. Manage your subcontractors and vendors successfully
2. Explain how you would implement lean best practices to achieve lean project management
for (1a), (1b) and (1c) above.

Answer

Introduction
This project is based on lean project management techniques which are mainly used for construction purposes. There are huge benefits of a lean project such as these projects help to improve communication and minimize the high complexities. This project mainly deals with the requirement of clients to contract the home for the client and it will help to know the stakeholders involved in the project. In addition, the role of communication has been discussed to depict its efficiency and effectiveness while handling the stakeholders. The process of managing both the vendors and stakeholders has been mentioned in the study. The main motive of this study is to build a dream home for the client whose budget is AUD$500,000 and s strict deadline of 12 months has been given. PRINCE2 method has been used in this study to accomplish the target within govern time interval. The time along with quality and budget should be used properly in order to satisfy the project manager.

Question 1
1 a. Finalize the client’s requirements (in terms of scope)
Scope
The main scope of the project is to build a dream home for the client by undertaking lean project management techniques. The main motive of using this lean project management practices it to complete the project on govern deadline with an allocated budget of AUD$500,000. Through using the lean practice one can easily eliminate the future consequences and complexities easily (Meng, 2019). Therefore, it can be stated that the scope determines that the project should complete within the given time period and the project team should maintain the quality of the project. So that the client will be satisfied with the project and it will help to raise the reputation of the company as the company is been adopting new methodologies like PRINCE2 and lean project management practices to eliminate waste; which is beneficial for both the company and economy of the country.

Clients Requirements
The main requirement of the project is to fulfill the needs of the client by constructing a dream home for the client within the given time interval. In order to accomplish the project qualified people are needed to handle the planning department and budget departments. The raw material for construction and salary for the employees and project managers and other miscellaneous costs are required for this project. While the planning process a meeting is required with the executives, directors, managers and other stakeholders of the company and construction teams. By understanding the process will help the project manager to eliminate the unused material and waste and budget should be used in an effective manner so that in future the client will not face budgetary issues.

Limitations of the Scope
In the construction process a high amount of waste will be generated and to control the waste it is important to use lean project management practices; in addition, it will help the stakeholder to understand the scope clearly. The scope determines that by recycling the generated waste might help the project manager to increase the productivity of the company. The scope might get affected if budget of the project is not controlled effectively. As per the views of Nipa, Kermanshachi and Kamalirad (2019), proper communication should be maintained in order to enhance the productivity and quality of the project. If there is an absence of communication it might result in delays and poor quality of the project. Therefore it is important to adopt PRINCE2 methodology while starting the project planning stage to achieve the scope.

Stakeholders involved
In this project, the main stakeholders who are involved are the financial manager, project manager along with other directors of the company. Boards of directors are present to set up a meeting for all the construction team and other members in order to control the quality and cost of the project. Through proper meetings will help the individual to minimize the waste and it will help to build a dream home for the client.

1 b. Ensure communications with all relevant stakeholders are effective and efficient
Minutes of the meeting are the quality procedure through which one can easily announce the official written record of meeting with the stakeholders. As commented by Shah, Gochtovtt and Baldini (2019), effective communication plays a vital role in increasing the efficiency of the lean project management practices; it will further help to raise the quality of projects. The dream home construction can be completed effectively only when all the departments and stakeholders work together by interacting with each other. The stakeholder communication process is beneficial for enhancing the relationship with all members and it will help to clarify the doubt of project teams (Herremans, Nazari & Mahmoudian, 2016). The board of directors should provide a notice to all the members of the project for clarifying the doubt and discussing all the essential measures of the project. Through this meeting, the stakeholder can establish a better relationship with other members and this interaction process will minimize the further conflicts of the project. Effective communication help to promote the quality of work and it will help to allocate suitable job roles to a suitable person. The meetings will help the financial manager to decide the allocation of budget for specific tasks; so that the team can complete the project within the provided budget that is AUD$500,000 and the human resource team will help the company by hiring qualified employees who have the knowledge of lean project management practices. 

It is of utmost importance to hear the opinion and ideas of employees equally like other stakeholders because it will help to motivate them. As stated by Anderson (2019), engaging the employees in the decision-making process will help to decrease the waste and the construction of a dream home for the client can be achieved easily. In the modern world, the two-way communication method is popularly used by the companies to establish a democratic surrounding and it further improves the relation with other peoples and resolves the complexities. It is the responsibility of the director to call a meeting and providing a notice to every stakeholder group; it will help to complete the project i.e. building a dream home within the given time frame. This meeting will help to discuss the working hours and schedule for each task.

1 c. Manage your subcontractors and vendors successfully
In the modern world, it is important to manage both the vendors and subcontractors for distribution effective job roles to qualified individuals. According to Kerzner (2019=), by providing and clarifying the structure of lean project practice will help to achieve the goals. Quality relationship model and creating bid documentation can help the company to manage the vendors. It is important to maintain vendor relationships in order to gain trust and enhance approachability. Cost efficiency is being used to save the budget of the project and it will help the company to gain better alternatives to solve the issues (Iswahyudi, Azis & Santosa, 2017). The director and manager should buy insurance for saving the loss of additional budget while building the home for the client. In order to control and manage the subcontractors, it is essential to gather feedback from the clients about the performance of the management. For a better decision-making process, it is important to interact with all the stakeholders and it will help to manage both stakeholders and vendors. The PRINCE2 methodology is the quality tool through which one can easily enhance the performance and it will maintain the quality of the construction project. The lean project management practices help to eliminate the waste and help to provide quality projects at a lower budget.

In order to manage the subcontractors, it is the responsibility of the project manager to provide the payment on time to all the employees and other stakeholders. Key performance indicators are essential for the staff of the company and other contractors. PRINCE2 methodology is beneficial for managing the vendors as well as subcontractors because it helps to manage the risks of projects. It helps to divide the tasks' in a controlled and manageable manner; so that each member can understand their roles and responsibilities effectively. It has been observed that the PRINCE2 technique consists of testing tactics and some communication and management strategies which will help to accomplish the goals.

Question 2
Explain how lean management project can be implemented for 1a
Lean management will help the client to build the required house as it will help to focus on the needs of the customer and check waste. In this case, the lean project management is done with the help of PRINCE 2 methodology which helps in starting, monitoring, checking resources, planning and many more (Bolpagni, Burdi & Ciribini, 2017). Using this technique will reduce the probable financial risk, time risk, planning risk, management risk and many more. Lean project management helps to reduce waste by creating ways that have no value-added parts. Any part of the process which does not satisfy the customer is removed immediately using the lean algorithm. The workforce will be involved in activities that need more focus on the project. Employees working on the project will be more focused as they will not be distracted with unnecessary details.

It will help in increasing the efficiency hence the work will not only complete within the next 12 months but also it will financially benefit the client. The process of work becomes more smart and simple by the use of a pull system in lean management. More resources can be utilized for completing the given project. It helps the work to become more flexible and uninterrupted work can be conducted. Customer responses can be kept in focus and changes can be made based on the requirement. A stable process of work can be achieved which will help in improving the performance as a whole. A strategic process is developed which helps to analyze the problem and find an immediate solution. Lean project management helps to provide training to the team of people working for the project so that they plan continuous improvement daily.

It is such powerful management that it helps workers to share their ideas and encourage them in their work. It helps to track the outcomes of their work so that they can gain experience from the failure and prevent it in the future (Nimeh, Abdallah & Sweis, 2018). It helps the workers to be more enthusiastic and therefore it can be stated that there is no doubt that the house will be completed in the given time. The lean project management with the help of the PRINCE 2 methodology can ensure the client that it will build the house from the best quality of materials available. Using this methodology helps to keep track of work done, materials, and resources used for the project. No money is wasted during the building process as it was a cost-effective and time-efficient process.

The materials used will be accurate and the work will be done by an effective method. It will help to improve client engagement so that the client can be transparent about his requirements including the design of the house, materials and many more. It will help to focus on the goals of the client. Defects of work like unnecessary transportation and materials coasts, non-utilization of skilled workers and many more can be exempted.

How lean project management can be implemented for 1b? Explain.
Lean management along with PRINCE 2 methodology will help in a sustainable improvement process. The builder has to be very clear about the requirements of the client and how it can be implemented. The amount of material required the planning, design both interior and exterior, money required, amount of time needed and many more details (Kadarova & Demecko, 2016). Lean project management and PRINCE 2 methodology use many tools for uninterrupted communication. The stakeholders must know the details about each step of progress. Misinterpretation of messages can lead to project failure form the client and builders' side. Such cases will give rise to financial loss, time loss, loss of resources and materials and many more. The process provides proper design models, ways of approach, and a methodology for implementation of the communication process.

It helps to track communication defects and provides solutions. Team communication and culture are much more improved. It provides proper keywords to the messages conveyed so that transparency is maintained. This helps to promote proper team management increasing the productivity of work. Lean project management also uses visual communication. This helps the workers to use data control charts, charts, dashboards more effectively to trace the work progress. This communication simplifies complex work and hence enhances the productivity of work. There can be zero waste generated with the help of this process. Visual communication helps workers to rectify their mistakes and they can instantly access the information needed for the project by communicating with the client (Mayr et al., 2018). It helps in studying the stakeholder's requirements and provides a process for their satisfaction. Coordination will be improved between the builder and the client in terms of the trust, mutual understanding and many more.

Lean project management and PRINCE 2 methodology provide time to time analysis of the progress and meeting with the stakeholders. Meetings are conducted to convey every little detail of the building process. It also helps to notify the client with the help of emails or phone conversations. Hence it ensures that the message is clear and effective for the stakeholders (Chandrakar & Jain, 2019). PRINCE 2 methodologies improve communication among all team members with external stakeholders. Therefore the stakeholders feel free to give an opinion while the decision-making process. This method helps in creating consistency, building stronger relationships and making more effective decisions during the project.

Explain how lean project management can be implemented for 1c
Lean project management with the help of the PRINCE 2 methodology provides various steps for effective management of vendors and subcontractors. Contractor management helps to check the insurance information, health and safety details, specific training programs and many more. It is very important as it helps in promoting efficiency, growth and opportunities are an increased and lesser risk in management systems (Roy et al., 2018). Their responsibility is to provide proper material, resources, labor, tools, and equipment necessary for the project. Contractors take the responsibility of the sub-contractor work quality and time to time checking is done. Vendor management helps the builders and contractors to reduce cost, provide excellent service and reduce risk throughout the building project. Necessary information should be provided to the vendors and contractors at the correct time so that they will be able to serve whenever the team needs help.

It can include plans for some changes in design or budget, new materials use, resources and many more. The main goal of such management is to gain the commitment of the vendors so that they support the builder's operation. A strong negotiation tactic should be followed so that the goals for both the builders and contractors are maintained. Above mentioned PRINCE 2 methodology provides proper points on which the negotiation can be done. Vendors can provide important information about the resources and materials which can be very helpful for the builder. Building a strong relationship with the vendors is very helpful for the ongoing business.

This relationship prioritizes financial gains and costs savings in business along with deep-rooted relationships (Asim, Deep & Ahmad, 2017). Continuously changing contractors or vendors for short term gains is sometimes very harmful financially in the long run. Building relations also ensure trust in the business, sometimes important information can be approached and dependence will increase. The vendors can make the value of the products cheaper hence inviting them to help strategize the meeting will be very helpful. Hence lean project management along with PRINCE 2 works in favor of the client as maximum money lost can be saved and the project will surely be completed in time.

Conclusion
It can be concluded that PRINCE2 methodology is beneficial for this lean project because it helps to gain knowledge about the core principles of the project. It helps the stakeholder to learn the strategies for managing the tasks and boost the performance and confidence of the individuals. In this study, the first section deals with the lean project management process through which the project team can construct the dream home of the client. It has been observed that an effective communication process is important to minimize the future challenges of the project might relate to budget or planning processes. The process of managing the vendors and subcontractors has been discussed above to illustrate the importance of PRINCE2 methodology. The lean project management practices and their uses are discussed in the second section. The main motive of lean project management practices in this project is to eliminate the waste and to accomplish the target. It can be stated that building a dream home can only be possible within 12 months if proper lean project management practices and PRINCE2 methods are used in a project.

References
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