Establishment Of a Project Management Unit to

Enhance Productivity

by

Rana Saadit Mehmood

A project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Project Management

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

2022

Approved by ___________________________________________________

Chairperson of Supervisory Committee

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Program Authorized

to Offer Degree_________________________________________________

Date _________________________________________________
 Executive Summary
The interest in productivity policy, practice, and research has lately increased. Although it is
frequently claimed that project management increases productivity, the evidence for this claim is
rarely looked at. In order to understand how the project, program, and portfolio management
affect productivity and productivity increases, we conducted a systematic assessment of 146
published papers, looking at the study objectives, methodologies, and findings. When studying
project management, productivity is frequently expressed in terms of outputs per unit of time or
resource used. When taking into account the significance of program and portfolio management,
the emphasis turns toward more immaterial outputs or impacts, and strategic value. There is no
overarching paradigm for evaluating project management techniques and output. The majority of
current evidence is derived from self-perception or self-reporting data that is frequently gathered
through questionnaires. Although a unified paradigm is unlikely to be feasible or desirable, it is
crucial that individuals who assess how project management methods affect productivity make it
clear what they are measuring. Particular industries, including construction and information
technology, are heavily prioritized. Examining how project management techniques affect
productivity in the service industry receives far less attention. Studies that look at the importance
of project management in overseeing an organizational transformation in the commercial, public,
and nonprofit sectors are also lacking.
 Table Of Contents

1. Introduction 4

2. Rationale 4

3. Scope 5

4. Research Questions 7

5. Aims and Objectives 8

6. Project Planning 9

7. Research Methodology 10

9. An initial Research 11

10. Safety Assessment 12

11. Conclusion 13

12. Recommendations 14

References 15

Bibliography 16
 1. Introduction

The philosophy and application of project management are influenced by a variety of different
professions. Since the dawn of time, engineers and architects have been in charge of large-scale
undertakings. Should project management be supposed to be a domain in the exact way that
engineering, business, and medicine are? This topic is the subject of several ongoing discussions.
These have professional organizations that accredit those who can legally use the job title and
engage in the profession. Additionally, they offer a measure of quality assurance and reprimand
members who act badly. Another topic of discussion is how much domain expertise an
experienced project manager should have. How smoothly can a project manager move from one
business, like IT, to another, like hospitality? On miniature projects, the project lead could be in
the account for developing the project plan and developing a schedule to execute it. A project
supervising squad that focuses on all the planning and regulating procedures will assist the
project management squad to build the plan and monitor advancement against the plan for
enormous and also complex kinds of projects.

The project team examines the project scope, agreement, and further intake to facilitate the team
to install the project deliverables to efficiently finalize the project. The project team develops an
analysis of the project as a whole based on this data. The analysis defines crucial steps that must
be taken at each stage of a project's existence for it to be completed on schedule. When the
project team functions as a unit, crucial processes are frequently formed to fulfill contractual
commitments or specified intervals that show proper development for the project. A suitable
timetable may be adequate for tracking the development of less complicated projects. More
thorough analysis and team preparation are needed for more complicated projects.

2. Rationale
The first objective is to create a group where team members can share their project management
experiences and raise difficulties to maintain language and ideas clear and consistent. Numerous
individuals, not only the end users (consumers) who earn literally from the project's yields, are
always impacted by it. Participants in the project, managers responsible for it, and outside parties
with a stake in its success can all be included in this. Planning communications, disseminating
information, tracking performance, and managing stakeholders are all important aspects of
managing project teams and effective project management procedures. The project management
industry's interests are served by the choice of this topic. The idea behind the project proposal is
that even with the broad use of projects from software to the construction sector, project
management tools and practices are universal. Project management as a field has developed
throughout time as a result of the significance of projects in this highly contemporary era. The
creation and promotion of the project management guiding principles is the responsibility of our
project proposal.

3. Scope
Project Scope
Dated:
Scope Description:
The team infrastructure created by the project manager is utilized to plan and carry out the
project. During the first stages of the project's defining phases, the team structure for the
project management must demonstrate alignment amongst the relevant parties who possess
ownership or involvement in the project. The project manager will hold one or more launch
conferences or orientation exercises to get the project team's members together and start the
team-building process necessary to function effectively throughout the project.
Project deliverable:
Awareness: Having knowledge of the decision-making procedure and useful information that
aids management decision-makers in their decision-making
Managing human resources: Teams make up projects, and you must manage the project
team(s) throughout the project's life cycle. Project management involves a lot of finding the
proper people, controlling their outputs, and putting it on time. In order to effectively manage
human resources, a project team must be planned for, hired for, developed, and managed.
Research on team structure: We suggest that an organization chart is likely to assist teams to
handle a fundamental issue of team function, namely coordination, even if the majority of
pertinent research on team setup emphasizes its influence on learning or creativity. We
discovered that stronger team structures attained through enhancing team collaboration,
enhanced team performance. Additionally, we discovered that team length moderates the link
between teamwork and coordination, making it such that a team's coordination is more
effective the longer it has been working together, or when the team lifespan is high.
Research on practicing transparency in the workplace: An openness that is sincere and
two-way between management and employees can be referred to as transparency in business.
Transparency fosters communication, trust, and higher levels of employee participation and
advocacy when it is a part of the workplace culture. Without transparency, employees could
feel undervalued, worried about their employer's future, and suspicious of the management
techniques used or the judgments of people in positions of control. In order to behave
transparently, business owners should ensure that all of their staff members are informed of
any company-related issues, no matter how little.Instead of imposing rules on employees,
management may communicate choices and the reasoning behind them. Additionally,
management may promote openness in a variety of ways, which we'll go over in later sections.
Meetings with SMEs: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are a factor in the scarcity
of growth. The performance void between considerable businesses and SMEs might differ by
a two-factor difference or more within the identical industry or between nations of comparable
dimensions. SMEs can benefit from prospects for development and productivity improvement
by utilizing innovative project management techniques.
Semi-structured interviews: Our project will be based upon the semi-structured interviews
conducted with senior managers, lower managers, and B2B management strategists.
B2B meetings: Any business or group has to have meetings. However, they frequently have
the potential to be ineffective or even harmful. Consider putting some of the meeting
strategies covered in this article into practice if you want to make the most of your meetings.
By doing this, team members will work more productively together.
Project acceptance criteria:
● The project management team produces a preliminary schedule, and a conceptual
budget, and refines the task scope.
● Established on the project profile, the project team puts together a plan for running out
the project.
 ● During start-ups, strategies are developed for initiating and scrutinizing an extensive
schedule, putting together investments, assembling a budget, and assessing and
observing expenses.
● The project's start-up phase is also when the plans for information technology,
communication, and customer satisfaction tracking are created.
● Responsibility matrices, flowcharts, and diagrams are instruments for seizing the work
processes entangled in executing the project plan.
Project excluding Criteria:
Briefing regarding other workplace laws is not included, dinner is not included, and any other
kind of training except B2B meetings, semi-structured interviews, and research, is not
included.

4. Research Questions

This study's main research topic was: How to enhance productivity by establishing a
project Management Unit? and further includes research questions? i.e. How can productivity
be enhanced by finding the gaps in management processes? How to apply best management
practices to overcome management gaps? How can you make strong relationships through
team management?

5. Aims and Objectives

5.1 Aims

● To develop a project management unit and improve team skills

● See the benefits of teamwork
● Experience the important criteria for managing effective teamwork
● Take a look at good process
● Worthwhile team experience with fun
● Finish projects on time
● Control budget
● Improve team collaboration and communication
 ● Improve productivity
● Improve the effectiveness of team meetings
● Don’t stop learning

5.2 Objectives

● In order to better understand why this devoted setup for specialized activities is
not producing results, this research set out to diagnose issues that hinder PMU
operations during project implementation as well as specific PMU duties. The
research study's particular goals were as follows:
● To research the PMU establishment strategy adopted in Pakistan and pinpoint
any reforms that need to be improved
● To determine and evaluate the use of global best practices in project
management that are in line with Pakistan Project Management Institute (PPMI)
standards and may be utilized to enhance its project management practices.
● to find capacity problems with PMU installation and personnel
● To guarantee that PMU procedures and team performance are both directly
related to productivity

6. Project Planning

The project's goals, which were attained during the opening stage, are purified during the
planning stage. It also entails summarizing the precise undertakings and materials required to
finalize the project in order to schedule the processes crucial to accomplish those goals. These
goals must now be explicitly expressed, offering a comprehensive assessment of each one that
has been recognized. With such examination, our perception of the goal could be modified.
While some students approach their research project with a distinct research issue to solve, many
others do so with a variety of ideas rather than a distinct research question. This might cause
stress and even despair because of the pressure to start very fast. However, being in this
circumstance is not unusual.
Schedule Activity Assigned To

Week 01 Discussion of different business ideas with Rana Saadit Mehmood

supervisor

Week 02 Finalizing the idea and submission of proposal Rana Saadit Mehmood

Week 03 Data collection Rana Saadit Mehmood

Week 04 Research and Meetings Rana Saadit Mehmood

Week 05 Conducting interviews for research purposes Rana Saadit Mehmood

Week 06 Working on the obtained results and Rana Saadit Mehmood

recommendations/conclusion, completion of
documentation

Gantt chart

Winter 2022
Phase (Activity wise) Time in Weeks
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1. Discussion of different project ideas with Supervisor
1.1 Research on relevant or suitable project ideas
1.2 Discussion on ideas with supervisors
2. Finalizing the idea and submission of proposal
2.1 Final idea selection
2.2 Making a research proposal
2.3 Submitting a research proposal
 3. Data Collection
3.1 Collect data
3.2 Analyze and interpret data
3.3 Present your findings
4. Research and Meetings
4.1 Research on gaps in study
4.2 Planning meetings with research experts
4.3 Meetings with professional experts in the relevant field
5. Conducting interviews for research purposes
5.1 Review methods and strategies for interviews and observations
5.2 Requirements of purpose statements in research proposal writings
5.3 Formulating a questionnaire for the interviewees
6. Working on the obtained results and
recommendations/conclusion, completing documentation
6.1 Analyzing the results and determining conclusion
6.2 Finding gaps and determining recommendations

7. Research Methodology

We recognize that a research study can: investigate an area that hasn't been sufficiently studied,
duplicate an earlier study in a new environment, expand a prior investigation, evaluate the body
of knowledge in a particular topic, create or try out a methodology or approach, and a research
issue in isolation or as part of a larger work program; or use a theoretical concept to solve a
practical issue.

This is not a comprehensive list, so you should find out if your department has a bias for any
particular kind of research study. Talk about your planned topic with a faculty member you
believe would be a good project supervisor. Academic staff is often amenable to proposals as
long as they believe they have sufficient knowledge of the topic to oversee it and as long as it can
be construed as falling within the overall scope of your degree subject.

8. Resources
Modeling, self-reporting or self-perception questionnaire surveys, and case study research are the
three most often utilized techniques. To evaluate the impacts of specific factors on productivity
or to estimate productivity, either by generating a baseline measure or by predicting productivity
losses, modeling was mostly employed to address the two primary research topics of importance.

1. Questionnaire
2. Semi-structured interviews
3. B2B meetings.
4. Meetings with SMEs
5. Previous Studies
6. The resemblance with Modern Management techniques

9. An initial Research
To assess published research on project team management and productivity, a systematic review
approach was used. Systematic reviews, which have their roots in the medical and healthcare
sciences, are a rigorous and open method of mapping and evaluating the data in a given issue
area, in contrast to typical narrative reviews. Analyzing meta-narratives in the research and other
review techniques like bibliometric analysis was also taken into consideration. To determine
keyword occurrences and the shifting patterns of keyword connections, these techniques
frequently depend on quantitative methodologies. However, as the goal of this review research
was to analyze the connection between project team management and overall productivity, it was
crucial to include both quantitative and qualitative studies. As a result, the "what" question,
"how" question, and "why" questions on the relationship between project management and
productivity will each be better addressed.

10. Safety Assessment

Because the project will entail the usage of computer technology, this risk analysis is being
employed.

● disease of the upper limbs

● Backache
 ● Stress and fatigue
● headaches and brief eyestrain (not damage).
● Poorly adjusted equipment, a lack of knowledge or training, a disorganized workplace, or
inadequate activity changes can all contribute to postural issues;
● Visual issues may result from an improperly positioned screen, glare, reflections,
inadequate lighting, poorly organized work, insufficient activity changes, or an untreated
vision issue;
● By addressing posture and visual issues, as well as by designing tasks properly to include
pauses, fatigue, and stress can be reduced. Breaks are primarily included in the work
schedule to guarantee that the user adjusts their posture and their visual demands. The
number of breaks taken and their duration will vary depending on the user's workload at
DSE.

11. Conclusion

Although seldom rigorously examined, project management's role in fostering a more productive
workplace has frequently been assumed. We analyzed 146 pieces of research that have been
published in order to establish a connection between project management and productivity for
this project proposal. Studies of project management tend to base their productivity
measurements on a conventional manufacturing/production paradigm. It appears that time-based
measurements are the focus. Therefore, productivity is about making the most of the available
(human) resources. This, however, disregards current discussions around work hours and the
necessity of working smarter, not necessarily harder. In post-industrial situations, when the
emphasis switches from counting outputs to determining which outcomes should count,
time-based measurements might not be as applicable. This may also be the case for the sparse
reporting of painstaking attempts to quantify production, such as by techniques like activity
sampling. Talking about program and portfolio management also seems to be focused on a more
strategic discussion about value. Prior research concentrated on specific topics, such as the value
of front-end planning and productivity. There is no comprehensive framework that depicts the
full range of effects that project management techniques have on productivity. The prevalence of
self-reporting surveys and modeling is to blame for this. However, it is unclear how replicable
the beneficial methods found in these studies may be, despite the fact that case study research is
also frequently employed. Studies have generally concentrated on certain industries, particularly
information systems and construction. These don't fully represent the variety of scenarios in
which project management is relevant. Numerous research makes use of information on one's
own perceptions. As a result, it is necessary to look beyond impressions to examine the reality of
how project management affects productivity. Nevertheless, perceptions may serve as powerful
drivers of performance.

12. Recommendations

A much more comprehensive definition of "project management" is required, one that extends
beyond the tactical to the strategic. An appraisal of the contribution that projects and project
management make to the larger economy and society will be much more thorough with a more
strategic perspective. New "productivity" indicators that consider a more comprehensive
knowledge of value and results are required in conjunction with a more strategic
conceptualization of "project management." The effectiveness of productivity incentives in the
management of projects, programs, and portfolios has to be examined in more detail. There is a
need for methodical case study research that focuses on the potential effects of certain project
management approaches on productivity results. There is a need for research on
knowledge-based jobs in industries other than the conventional industrial sectors, such as the
services industry, the public sector, and the non-profit sector. It is necessary to investigate the
value that project management may bring to the delivery of a wide variety of intra- and
inter-organizational transformations. Studies on how non-project managers view the benefits of
project management techniques are necessary.
 References
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Practices. Project Perspectives, 30.
Ozguler, I.S., 2015. The Way Of Establishment Of The Organization’s Project Management Process.
Practice and Perspectives, 255.
Aubry, M. and Lenfle, S., 2012. Projectification: Midler's footprint in the project management field.
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
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driver of productivity and innovations. Project Management Journal, 45(6), pp.2-6.
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Williams, L.F., 1980. Productivity in project management. Engineering Costs and Production Economics,
5(2), pp.89-100.
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