Construction of a Restaurant, Essay Example

Construction of a Restaurant with a State of the Art Entertainment Unit

A summary of the project

This project is geared into the plans for construction of a restaurant with a state of the art entertainment unit. It will be located about 30 kilometers in the center of Pravets away from the capital Sofia town. The construction of the restaurant is to provide the neighborhood with great food and an entertainment unit, with modernized facilities. The personnel will be well trained in the new state of the art entertainment facility operations, and a variety of local and international culinary skills. Pooh entertainment will be at the forefront of planning, development, construction and implementation of the state of the art entertainment unit (Shaheen, 1987).

There will be a display of both house and ‘black’ music parties organized by permanent restaurant employees. VIP parties will also be organized and a consortium of guest DJs from local and foreign backgrounds. There will be a combination of drinks to be served at the entertainment bar quarters with hot cuisine served at the restaurant section. Project construction is scheduled for 5^th October 2011 with an expectation of operational opening a year later. A cost of about…..dollars is expected to be incurred for the whole process to its implementation. The presentation of the above is on assumption basis with expectations of no detrimental delays on delivery dates, construction schedules and implementation specifications (Hradesky, 1995).

Project Objectives

This project aims to have a 24 hour operational restaurant and a modern entertainment unit set in place by 5^th October 2012 through a grand opening ceremony. Projections on stipulated modes of operation during the running of the restaurant for construction are projected as below.

The stipulated working hours are:

• Weekdays 6am – 6am
• Calculations of the expenditure rates for staffs are on an 8 hour day basis making 40 hours per week
• There is an exception for the opening day being 5^th October 2012
• The human resource is set to be utilized on an 8 hour basis daily. Being a 24 hour operational business unit, 8 hours remain as the maximum shift standards for the staffs.
• The durations for carrying out of projected activities are assumed to be viable. Some flexibility reflected in the risk management plan has however, been catered for to take care of any inconveniences that may present in the process.

Costing for resources have been reflected in the project costing sections. Those that are not standard like the purchase of fixed assets requirements like construction materials for the restaurant building, dining room furniture, kitchen equipment, and entertainment equipment have been presented as estimates. Any slight alteration to these costs can change the project budget and therefore, strict operation within the limits shall be observed.

Evaluation and recommendations for a management approach

The response accorded to a specific need in a given environment in an organized, efficient and evaluated manner is project management. The need should be temporary and in possession of temporary features. In evaluation of the success of a project, a manager must first meet the targets and goals set in the initialization process, efficiency in carrying out of processes must also be followed taking due care to organizational budgets, values and ethics without adversely affecting the personnel. The project should also be in a position to give satisfaction to the needs of either employees or customers. A last thing that a project should fulfill is an improvement to the value of the organization. The success or failure of a project ought to present a learning lesson to the organization as a whole. As far as the above are concerned in regard to project management, human factors play a fundamental role in the overall performance of a project in any given setup. Several factors like specialization have been subject to multiple changes over the years while personnel management ideologies have continued to maintain a constant manner of approach (Laufer, 1997).

There are a number of motivation theories that the project manager in this case would use to see the success of this project. These are such as need theories, goal setting theories, equity theory and expectancy theory. There are several human behavior influences which determine the results displayed by projects. Cognitive, organizational, social, behavioral and contextual factors are some of the aspects that a project manager should look into when dealing with the human resource. In an effective management effort for the success of this project, a great leader would be necessary to take the deployment of its activities to the climax. There is always an increasing need for quick response to presented needs during a project implementation process. This helps an organization to be competent in response to competition issues geared towards the achievement of business accomplishment of deals in its area of operation (Laufer, 1997).Reaching the climax of this takes a team to achieve, and it is better done through a project manager with exceptional leadership skills to steward the team to the desired direction.

Through profound leadership from a project manager, implementation of a project within the targeted timeline is a reachable possibility (Laufer, 1997).The project manager in this case will make sure that available resources, both human and materials are effectively deployed to get the restaurant running within the stipulated timing. Team members will be exceptionally motivated to work towards the achievement of the stipulated targets. Motivation is important in this process because team members possess different skills, and qualities which are necessary in the restaurant construction process. All their efforts will be required in unique representation at crucial levels of the project. It is through the efforts of the project manager to make sure that those involved in the project implementation work together, in a focused manner towards the achievement of the set goals. Dual structure theory by Herzberg will help the manager to reduce instances of dissatisfaction in employees at all stages maintaining a motivated project team throughout the projects life cycle. The success for the construction of the restaurant to provide exceptional cuisine and a state of the art entertainment unit to visitors will highly depend on the input of its project manger in presentation of motivational leadership aspects (Baguley, 1999).

Using the Hierarchy theory of needs by Abraham Maslow will help the manager to design necessary training sessions for employees. Specific expertise needs of the employees will be catered for to give them confidence in staying involved in the achievement of the project objectives. Skilled architects will be a key necessity in the completion of this project. Appraisal of architects who show extraordinary skills and dedication to the project will be a plus in motivating them to work harder in the project. This can be done through periodical performance reviews possibly on a monthly basis. Allocation of resources and their proper management will be very necessary during the construction process for the restaurant. These should be adequate, accurate and able to accomplish the projects goals and objectives. The human resource for example, through the leadership of the project manager could face necessary placements and reshuffling in a non-discriminative or de-motivational manner.

In a conclusive summery, for proper display of good leadership and management attributes of a project manager during a project management plan process, there should be

• Clearly set objectives and plans in regard to targets, scheduling, participants and budget.
• Coordination should be efficient with properly set channels of communication through the major phases of the project implementation like planning, cost estimation, timeline creation, construction and planning.
• Conflict resolution processes should be fairly evaluated to project the concentration of concerned members towards the achievement of a similar goal.

Efficient maximization of available resources should be maintained throughout the process. Equipment, resources materials and labor should be effectively utilized and balanced for the success of the project to be achieved.

Tasks

For the achievement of this to be realized, tasks such as construction work, interior design and decoration, hiring of staff, sourcing for food and preparation for the grand opening ceremony must be done.

A plan and schedule for the project’s activities, budget, and non-financial resources

Time is a major aspect in the success of any given project. Every project works within a given timeframe to have its activities adequately analyzed and implemented (Lockyer 2005). The lifecycle of any project depend on the appropriate implementation of resources with the supervision of the project manager. The establishment of a reliable transition of a project through its lifespan will be implemented by fair allocation of necessary resources in a balanced manner.

Schedule for

Construction of a restaurant with state of the art entertainment unit

Risk Management Plan

Monitor and control parameters

It is necessary to always have a monitoring and control process to guide the operations within a project. The work of the project manager is to identify risks that may present, and find ways of tackling them.

To control any risks faced in a project implementation process, it is necessary to have the project team informed in advance about any instances of risks to expect during the process. Ensuring self sufficiency of the team is vital, and processes and responsibilities should be fairly distributed among stakeholders.

The grand opening ceremony of the restaurant comes a few days after the completion of the final task in the project plan. This allows for tackling of any delays that may encounter along the process. It also gives room for processing of invitations and advertising of the grand opening ceremony date (Daellenbach, 1994).

Working days have been scheduled for weekdays without any allocations for the weekends. However, due to stipulated delays, it may be necessary to utilize weekends to bridge the gap, but this may in turn have a cost impact on the project budget as there will be need for overtime payments.

Checklists will be applied to ascertain that all modalities are in place.

Table 4: Risk Register

A recovery plan for defined situations, including personnel problems

In the implementation of a project, some risks spruce up without warning, and it is always necessary to have them tackled promptly before they jeopardize the project life. Facing some of the risks may present the willingness for competitiveness in the process while in some instances; it might put things at stake. During the construction process of the projected restaurant, several risks are possibly going to come up, and it is necessary to determine ways through which recovery from the situations will be handled (Rosenau, 1998).

Economic problems may present themselves because of various aspects. There may be fluctuations in prices and exchange rates making the purchase and affordability of some requirements hard to achieve. This situation may cause delays in deliverables and it is a thing that may hinder the smooth running of the project implementation process. To tackle this, it will be necessary to purchase items in bulk, to avoid cost inconveniences. Thorough research is therefore, very necessity in the determination of dependency and reliability of any company to be contracted for any supplies for the construction (Kerzner, 2000).

Due to technology factors and improvements in the business industry, new operational aspects have come up. Advancements in IT have brought about an influx of demand for outsourcing of certain process which the project manager may consider taking up to reduce on certain costs during the implementation of the project. This is perceived as a process that may not auger well with some of the employees especially if it may get to the extent of laying-off some. The management company intends to for example have a permanent team which is projected for assistance by occasional entertainment from external DJs. Should the restaurant staffs feel heightened about this, there will be major reason to create a clear explanation on the importance of backing up the internal entertainment team with an input from outside entertainers.

Being that it is the intention of the management unit to set up a modernized eating and entertainment unit, there is need for various trainings. Those on the restaurant section will have to undergo a series of oriental and international culinary skills training. The entertainment staff will also be required to take necessary courses to train them on the use of new technology entertainment concepts. Trainings for both staff teams will be a continual process because aspects keep changing in these fields, and customers are always looking for the most currently based places to eat and get entertained.

During the construction of the restaurant, contracting of diverse manual resources is inevitable this may pose cases of constant conflict among those involved and therefore a balance between available resources, and the objectives of the project will be keenly looked into. It will be highly beneficial to take appropriate care of any instances of relationship conflicts among project participants, contracting agencies and the project managers (Knutson, 2001).

Social problems can also come up with issues related to environmental ethics in regard rules pertaining to public safety during the construction processes.

References

Baguley, P., (1999). Project Management. New York: NTC Publishing Group.

Daellenbach, H., (1994). Systems and Decision Making: A Management Science Approach. N Y: John Wiley & Sons.

Hradesky, J., (1995).Total Quality Management Handbook. N Y: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Kerzner, H., (2000). Applied Project Management. N Y: John Wiley & Sons.

Knutson, J., (2001). Succeeding in Project-Driven Organizations. John Wiley & Sons,    Inc.

Laufer, A., (1997). Simultaneous Management: Managing Projects for Dynamic Environment. N Y: American Management Association.

Rosenau, D., (1998). Successful Project Management. N Y: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Shaheen, K., (1987). Practical Project Management. N Y: John Wiley & Sons.