Kitchen Plan for Firefighters
Table of Contents
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
2.1 Methods of Data Collection
2.2 Analysis of Alternatives
2.3 Industrial Competition and Economic Outlook
3. Management of the Project
4. Horizontal Analysis
5. Vertical Analysis
References
Abstract
Project management is a common concept in the modern day. Companies and individual entities are constantly undertaking projects with the aim to attain certain goals. This is because the projects contribute to the growth of a company as various milestones are eventually achieved. As a result, the concept of project management is constantly being incorporated within the organizations to facilitate growth.
Moreover, project management ensures that companies are able to successfully implement projects in an effective and efficient manner with the use of a project charter outlining its objectives, scope, scheduling, budget, and proper stakeholders and project manager who will have the ability to lead from initiation to finish acknowledging the project scope statement in the description of an assumption and constraint. In this regard, a kitchen plan for Pickering’s Fire station needs to be guided by the principles of project management.
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to introduce alternative methods for meal plans at a fire station. The information in this report is comprised of in depth research from scholarly articles and interviews with firefighters.
Background
The small town of Pickering, Ohio has relied on volunteers to fight its fires; however, the number of volunteers available is decreasing. Pickering has received federal funding to hire full-time firefighters and wants to expand the kitchen and living arrangements of the town’s fire house.
During this transition, Mayor Hall has asked me to come up with the best possible solutions on how the firefighters will eat. As the Mayor’s assistant, I have familiarized myself with Pickering’s municipalities, budgets, and citizens. Additionally, I have researched other town and city-wide methods on this same topic, so I am well-prepared to present my solutions to help our firefighters remain healthy while they assist in protecting the town of Pickering.
Problem
When there is a large amount of people living in the same corridor, there can be a lot of concerns surrounding each person’s dietary wants and needs. The fire house is no exception. Variations in the firefighters’ food preferences, diets, amounts demanded, and fiscal reach should be considered. With six or seven firefighters rotating throughout the week, there is also the concern that more desirable foods will be eaten before others can have their fair share. I am proposing several solutions to the purchase, preparation, and cost-sharing of food at the Pickering fire house.
Data-gathering Techniques
Both primary and secondary data will be collected. Self-administered questionnaires would be the source of primary data since they would describe the first-hand experience of the firefighters. Secondary data will be obtained from the internet, newspapers, journals, business publications and magazines; these are useful in illustrating what has been done in the past regarding this issue. The questionnaire will be made up of structured questions using Likert scale and will be delivered to the respondents both by email and by hand (drop and pick).
The sampling technique that would be applied is stratified sampling. In this method, the population is sub-divided into groups according to a certain characteristic. In this particular study, the parameters of diet and personal preferences will be applied. After dividing the population according to diet and personal preferences, a probability sample will be selected; this is the strata. For example, the survey would state that most firefighters prefer protein-based meals. Stratified sampling is suitable since each firefighter has his favorite meal and diet restrictions.
Additionally, stratified sampling will be used since participants will be readily available. If this method is properly used, it gives more accurate results that can accurately be generalized. Under this method, statistical methods would be invoked to select randomly the data to be analyzed.
The outcomes acquired from the study will be deemed to represent the whole population with only a 5% error allowance. The findings will, therefore, be deemed 95% correct and generalization shall be practical. The results from the findings will then be represented in charts and graphs for easy interpretation. The generality of the outcomes will be the final step where the findings got from the sample will be deemed to represent the whole population.
The data that will be collected is qualitative since it reflects the personal opinions of the study’s population, rather than empirical figures. Everybody has their opinion regarding diets, thus, these opinions cannot be quantified in absolute mathematical figures. The qualitative study will be used to understand the profound opinions, motivations, and reasons for the reasons firemen prefer a certain diet.
Goals and Objectives
The key goal of the project was to increase efficiency at the firestation. The need to have an efficient kitchen was essential in reducing downtime at the station. Other objectives of building a new kitchen was enhancing employee satisfaction and hygiene standards at the station.
Project Goals and Objectives
The project aims at coming with effective ways of controlling and managing operations at the kitchen area. The activity is a difficult task because it needed the involvement of external and internal environment to deal with the dominant issue at hand.
Scope
The kitchen is usually disregarded; however, the space is very crucial at a fire station. The need to come up with a reliable kitchen was important in enhancing efficiency at the firm. The fire station has the duty of coming up with an efficient kitchen that can handle all employees at the same time. Application of effective project management models played a key role in the evaluation and communication of effective risk management strategies that work at eliminating the operational risks that may hinder the team from achieving its ultimate goals in of the project.
Budgeting
The creation of a risk management project dictates the perfect funding of the key activities that would take place. The activity dictates the use of research team members to identify the potential causes and factors that lead to the occurrence of the risk. The activity required the involvement of various stakeholders that are experienced in the field.
The finance department created an effective budget that enabled the activities of the project to progress without any shortcomings. The management of the project had the duty of presenting the finance department with the budget estimations about the costs of the project.
Risk Assessment
The assessment of the operational risk was an essential procedure that required the involvement of various stakeholders in respective fields. The first step in the risk assessment involved the detection of common hazards that lead to the occurrence of the operational risks in the project.
The second step was to determine the potential group or people that the risk would cause harm. The determination on how the operational risk would inflict harm was also essential to the project. The third step involved the project team taking an effective action to prevent and protect the project from facing the risk at hand. The last step included the writing down of the events and results that took place during the event.
Milestones
The creation of a milestone in a project created the ultimate purpose of the project within the company. The project management team needs to create milestone to set a pace and a challenge to the teams. The significant changes that would take place in the project needs to be recorded down in order to determine the success levels of the project. The company has a duty of working with the project management team to determine the current changes that take place during the occurrence of the operational risks facing the organization.
Deliverables
The intended outcome of the project is to allow the fire station to have access to a newly redesigned and upgraded kitchen facility. This difference should be clearly noted when compared with the current space in order to highlight the progress and advancements being made by the company. The benefits of this move will include increased space to work with, advanced technology and better ease of movements of employees in and out the kitchen.
Technical Requirements
In order for the project to be realized, a number of different requirements had to be met. First of all, the electrical and lighting system has to be properly designed, installed, tested and liaised with the plumbing and communication network in the kitchen. There has to be a working online network, an installed drywall, workbenches, proper finishing on all surfaces and production equipment.
All these different elements need to be properly vetted and inspected during installation to ensure they work well together. This will help to avoid extra costs later on created by repairs and maintenance problems.
Limits and Exclusions
Naturally, the project faced some problems during execution. First of all, there was the challenge getting everything done within the required timeline. Due to the large number of technical requirements, a lot of details have to go into the construction of the kitchen and this could cause delays especially if one area fails or is delayed since they are all linked to each other.
Budgetary constraints were also considered due to risks such as inflation and the aforementioned possibility of repairs and miscellaneous costs. The scope also did not cater for certain scenarios including the possibility of changes in personnel in management and a lack of or excess in labor which would had to be offset to avoid additional problems with project timing and costs.
Reviews with Employees
In order to accurately judge the success of the project, there will be a need to get opinions from the firefighters. This involved all people who are involved in the company. Reviews will be done based on different criteria including the storage conditions of the kitchen, the quality of services offered within it, the amount of space available, the fluidity of operations and the overall aesthetics of the area. Employee satisfaction remains a key part of the company and therefore, their inclusion and opinion in the matter is extremely important in order to promote professional relationships.
Project Management Office
A project management office was the central place where meetings and discussions are held. Here, the team met to look at new and existing projects and decide how they will be handled. Different duties were also passed out to the employees including deadlines that are supposed to be met.
The project managers resided here so that he could easily accessible to people and help to answer questions and solve any problems. People also had major brainstorming sessions here to creatively finish different designs of the project.
The Tools and Techniques used to Control the Project
Much of the design work was done using different software applications and not manually. Software was used to create schedules and appointments and deadlines for tasks. This is additionally used in order to order items, keep inventory and allow employees to check in and out. In team meetings, presentation software such as PowerPoint and Prezi were used and team members were encouraged to use electronic means such as email for communication. Overall, a framework set up to allow each person to be in sync and for information to be sent and received quite easily.
Identification of Risks
The identification of risks was an important step that worked for the benefit of the organization. The key purpose of the project was to come up with a new kitchen that would enhance efficiency at the fire station. Management of operational risks was an important task that was enabled by the risk management plan. The activity takes place owing to the increased rate of company failure because of operational hazards that affect the daily activities of a company. The project team had to stipulate an effective way of managing and controlling the potential risks.
Assumptions
The occurrence of the operational risks is an unexpected event that leads to the failure of daily operations. Technical failure is a common cause of operational risks. The activity may take place during unexpected blackouts leading to communication failure. The need to identify the changes at an early stage was relevant while the occurrence of natural disasters was also a key reason behind the occurrence of an operational risk at the fire station. The project management team assumed that the company has allocated all the required funds to its operations.
Constraints and Barriers
Project Constraints
The commencement of the project faced specific challenges, especially since the activity involved minimal involvement of the management to deal with the dominant operational risks. The project led to the creation of challenges for the fire station when dealing with dominant issues such as finances and basic tools required for a proper project.
Additionally, lack of proper risk management tools led to the development of minimal challenges that affect the operations of the projects. The need to eliminate the existing constraint played a relevant part in the success of the whole project. The project team had to ensure that the potential constraints were identified and dealt with at the early stages of the project.
Project Barriers
The project was likely to face s financial barrier; this is because the management had initially allocated inadequate funds to facilitate the operations of the project. Restricted access to vital company resources related increased operational risk of the project and placed a threat to the daily operations of the company. The need to deal with such barriers was essential and the project manager had to come up with effective ways of dealing with the issue.
References
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