Skills and Knowledge Inventory

Project Name: Online Booking System for RALS

Project Team: PLEASE FILL

Description: In this proposed, a new automated online booking system is proposed for RALS (Riverina Agriculture and Lifestyle Show). The main purpose of this proposed system is to replace existing manual entry process regarding reservation of site during a particular Agriculture and Lifestyle Show event. In the current system, there is a booking office where a representative of the client has to visit and buy a pass for reserving a particular site in the event. The issuing of the pass, selection of the site and payments are all done manually and hence, in some cases, there are some significant errors. On the other hand, in the proposed online booking system, the entire process will be conducted online. A company website will be developed that will be connected to the company’s database regarding the hosting of the events. When a client enters the website, he will be able to find the empty/unreserved spaces in the event venue and select it. After selection, he will be redirected to the payments section where he can pay using cards, net banking and other cashless transaction methods. After payment is complete, the particular site will be reserved for the client and the database will be updated. As per the plan, five individuals are selected for participating in the project as a team. The project roles have been allocated to these individuals that they need to fulfill during the project execution.

Skills and knowledge are the two most important attributes that are required from the project team members. In this project, the team members are required to develop project plan, utilize funds and resources, develop the online booking system, manage risks and others. Hence, for this project, the team members must have sufficient project management and technical skills. For the project requirement, five team members are chosen and of the three, two should have in depth knowledge of project management, one should have knowledge regarding business aspects of a project and the other three should have technical skills to develop an online system along with the identification and mitigation of problems and risks associated. Furthermore, each of the team members should have the skills to work in a team instead of personal venture.

The roles and responsibilities of the project team members are shown in the following table.

In any team effort, a suitable team communication is necessary so that all the team members can communicate with each other. Furthermore, team communication is an essential requirement of team bonding that all also helps to enhance the quality of team work.
In this project, there is a particular team communication plan that must be followed throughout the course of the project. The team members are required to work as a unit and in order to achieve that, they need to share ideas with each other. During project planning, the team members will be allocated with tasks that they first need to discuss with each other. Furthermore, during project execution, the team members are needed to consult each other in order to enhance the quality of the project. For the final step in this regard, the project manager will organization team meetings at the end of the day in order to analyze the project progress as well as allow the team members to share ideas with each other freely.

Roles and Responsibilities

I have both positive and negative experiences in working in a project team. In the positive experience, I was helped by all the team members when I was new to the project and they allowed me to enhance my learning from the project. In negative experience, the team members denied helping me and only cared for individual achievements. From the two experiences, I have learnt that the best way of learning from a project is to help each other within the team. Mutual cooperation not only enhances the quality of the project but also enhances the knowledge and skill inventory of each of the team members.

I also learned the importance of team values while working in the project. The most important value according to me is honesty towards one’s own self as well as to the team. This can be achieved by giving complete dedication to the cause of the project instead of running for personal achievement and glory.

The most important code of ethics for this team is show professionalism and abide by the rules and guidelines while working in the project. This also includes respecting all the team members regardless of background, religion and culture. No team member should show any disgraceful behavior for hurting a particular project team member.

For this project, the rules developed for the team members are as follows.

• The team manager (project manager) should listen to all the ideas presented by the project team members and implement changes in the project accordingly.
• No team member is allowed to physically or mentally hurt another team member and create conflict during project work.
• Team meetings will be organized for sharing ideas and participation of all team members in the project is desired. In case someone misses a meeting, he will be allowed the chance to participate in video conference during the meeting.
• Equal contribution in the project from all the team members is desired and all team members are encouraged to participate and contribute to the project to the best of abilities. 

As per the plan, five individuals are selected for participating in the project as a team. The project roles have been allocated to these individuals that they need to fulfill during the project execution. However, each team member will have additional duties during project team meetings. The meetings will be arranged by a member designated as “organizer” and the “scrub” will assume the duty of documenting the proceedings in the meeting. The other members will have to discuss ideas and present new opinions regarding the project. In order to maintain fairness of duty allocation, the roles will be interchanged every week until all the team members have played the duties of organizer and scribe at least once during the entire cycle. The team members are required to work as a unit and in order to achieve that, they need to share ideas with each other. During project planning, the team members will be allocated with tasks that they first need to discuss with each other. Similarly, during the meetings, the team members should discuss the project progress and document the details accordingly. In one complete learning cycle, a team member should learn the duty of an organizer, a scribe and a common team member. This will not only ensure fair and uniform allocation of duties but will also allow the promotion of personal development of the participants.

The understanding of the project at this time of development is shown in the following table.

This project was a turning point in my life in terms of my ideas regarding project management. Before participating in this module and taking part in this project, I had some minimal and wrong ideas regarding project management and the duties of a project manager. According to my old ideas, project manager is just a post and the duty includes only invigilation of the project and issuing orders to the lower delegates regarding what to do in the project. In short, basically I thought project manager is just an instructor and has no further duties. I also thought that the project manager drives the project as per his wish and instructs the team members accordingly. However, this project and the course taught me that those ideas are completely misleading. The lessons in the project taught me that the duty of a project manager is not limited to instructions only. In reality, the duty of a project manager is massive and poses a huge burden on the project manager regarding the management of the project. Project manager is a guide, manager as well as a team member who should participate in every aspect of the project just like any other team member. The additional duty of the project manager is to organize the team and make it perform as a single unit.

From this project, I specifically learnt about the duties and skills required to work as a successful ICT project manager. It taught me that an ICT project manager should also have sufficient technical knowledge and skills in addition to management skills. He should also be able to understand technical problems and requirements and find suitable ways to address them. An ICT project manager should also guide the team members in course of the project regarding technical development and solve complex technical problems together. Finally, the project manager should also organize regular meetings to discuss the progress of the project.

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