PROJECT RESOURCES AND RISKS By Catherine Cowper

AVAILABLE RESOURCES When doing a project there are various resources that need to be made available for the project manger so they can manage and complete the project with the help of their team. The first resource is the people and team members. The project needs to have the right team/specialists participating so that all of the tasks can be completed by the experts in that area. For example needing specialists web designers to create a new website for a client. People can also mean sponsors as the project may need some more money so they get the right resources to complete the project. The second resource needed would be the right information. The right information would be needed for the project to be completed, i.e. what the project actually is, what the team need to do and any tasks they need to complete. The information usually comes from the client as they would supply all the information about the project they would be completing.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES PT.2 The third resource that would need to be available is the tools needed to complete the project tasks. This would include any software, hardware or equipment that would be needed to complete the project. For example if the project was to create a database for a client, a database software such as Access would be needed. The fourth resource needed would be time. To complete the project fully to the clients standard time would be needed, the project manager would need to negotiate the right amount of time to complete the project with the client so they can get the full product at the end and not a half finished one. The fifth and final resource that would be needed is with the budget and finance of the project. The project manager needs to set the right amount of money and have the proper funding for the project so that the project can be completed with all of the right tools and equipment needed for the client’s task.

ISSUES AFFECTING PROJECT MANAGEMENT – EXTERNAL FACTORS There are numerous factors that would effect a project in this slide I will be talking about some external factors that may effect a project. One factor can be supplier bankruptcy, if the supplier of the tools needed for the project goes bankrupt the project team may not be able to use those tools as they may need redeeming or the license for those tools may run out immediately. This effects the project as they may not be able to complete tasks that are vital for the project to be deemed successful. A second factor can be with the changes to product prices. If the project team are buying or renting out a product for a short period of time to complete their project and the price for the product goes up it may affect the project as they may no longer be able to afford the product. This hinders whether can they complete the project or not. A third factor that can effect a project is the safety issues of the project. If the project needed to have access to any personal details the project team may need to go through security checks before they can access the data for the project. This may slow down how fast the team are able to complete the project for the client.

ISSUES AFFECTING PROJECT MANAGEMENT – EXTERNAL FACTORS PT.2 A fourth issue that may affect project management is with software malfunction. This can affect the project management where if the software is vital for the project to be completed and it malfunctions the project may need to be stopped or put on hold until the software is fixed and the team can use the software once again. A fifth issue that may affect project management is with absent team members. If a team member is absent this can slow down the projects progress, as each team member has individual tasks that need completing if one member or members are ill it can slow down the project progress as tasks may not be completed on time or at all. A final external factor that can affect projects is with inexperienced team members. If a team has inexperienced team members tasks may take longer to complete as they are not very well informed or have much expertise with what they are using. Also with inexperienced team members it may slow down the project as they could be asking for help regularly and slow down other peoples progress.

ISSUES AFFECTING PROJECT MANAGEMENT – INTERNAL FACTORS In this slide I will be talking about internal factors that can affect project management. The first factor that can affect project management is with the change of management. If the management of the company doing the project has been changed the project management may change and the team could end up with a new manager who is un informed about the project and not very knowledgeable about the topic of the project and slow down the project progress and how the team complete the tasks. A second factor which may affect project management is with any new legislation. If there has been any change in legislation or laws the project may need to be put to a halt or stopped briefly so the project manager and client can negotiate a way to work with or around these new legislation. A third and final factor which may affect a project is with the impact of the project on other systems, for example if the project is to create a new system for a company the staff of the clients company would be affected as they would need to get trained in and used to the new system so they can complete their day to day job.

WHY PROJECTS FAIL There are numerous reasons as to why a project may fail, in this slide I will be describing why projects can fail. One reason to why projects fail is because that organisations tend to pick out solutions or projects they like to looks of, this solution may not be the best for the company but the organisation have chosen this way as it is the best in terms of money or people needed. This can cause the project to fail as the organisation do not pick the best solution that the team can do but a solution that the team may find difficult as it benefits the company the most. A second reason to why project may fail is because no clear objectives are made to what the client is looking to achieve. If there is no objectives set for the project team they may end up going down the wrong route in the project and end up giving the client something completely different to what they wanted. A third reason to why projects may fail is because of the complexity of the tasks the project team members have been given. If there are team members who are not experts and have been given complex tasks the project may fail because those members do not have enough experience and cannot handle the complexity of the task.

WHY PROJECTS FAIL PT.2 A fourth reason to why projects may fail is because of the systems projects members may be given to work with. If a team has been given a system hey are not very accustomed with and expected to make it work, the project may fail because the team are unaccustomed with the system. A fifth reason why projects may fail is because of the budget the team has been given. A project may fail because of the pressure to fit within the budget they have been given. If they were given a large scale project and they go over their budget the project will be deemed as a failure because they went over budget. A final reason to why projects fail can be due to lack of communication. If there is no communication between client and project manager or the CEO, the project may fail because the team are not getting updates and feedback on the products they are producing and in the end may create the wrong thing due to lack of communication.