8600-320 Managing Workplace Projects

Unit Overview

8600-320 Managing Workplace Projects is a unit within the ILM Level 3 module that focuses on examining the ability of leaders and managers to effectively handle tasks that they are assigned in overseeing the completion of a project as well as evaluate the efficiency in effectively accomplishing the goals and objectives assigned in the different projects. Leaders and managers should ensure they understand the different objectives of the project they pursue as well as the resources that they are assigned to facilitate the accomplishment of the tasks within the project.

This involves understanding the constraint of the resources, management of the resources to achieve the desired results in task completion, and the financial/ non-financial implications associated with the project. They should also be able to effectively evaluate the project to identify the progress in relation to the set targets and monitor performance to ensure that they are improved to facilitate success and optimisation of the outcome within the project.

8600-320 Managing Workplace Projects is a unit within the module that improves the understanding and awards of the different practices that the managers can use to achieve these goals and objectives associated with effectively managing and leading a project. The unit aims at enabling the practising or potential first-lien manager to effectively manage projects focusing on the assigned tasks and goals/ objectives of the project team. This unit is taught in 7 hours of guided learning and contributes 2 credit values towards the completion of ILM level 3 module.

Suitability of the Unit

All stakeholders, including leaders, managers, shareholders, employees and external consultants, have a responsibility to complete different projects that they Are assigned effectively. This involves exhibiting high levels of leadership and management capabilities in conducting the projects to ensure that they are successful in different aspects. 8600-320 Managing Workplace Projects is a unit that focuses on including the ability of these stakeholders to effectively manage the projects.

This involves preparing them to examine the goals and objectives and ensure that they utilise the provided resources, considering the constraints set in the use of the resources to accomplish and achieve the set goals and objectives. As such, this unit is suitable for all stakeholders within the organisation to improve their skills and capabilities. Specifically, the unit is designed to meet the learning needs of the first-line managers within the organisation who interact with teams regularly. By pursuing this unit, practising or potential first-line managers build the skills and knowledge of different principles that they can apply in effectively managing projects within the workplace.

However, the unit is versatile in terms of the information that it gives to the learners. The unit can be used to improve the knowledge and skill of top and middle-level managers who have tactical and strategic projects to pursue, as well as the employees who have the responsibility of acting on different strategists to ensure that tasks within the project are achieved effectively. Other stakeholders, such as external consultants and shareholders, are guided with the content in the unit to understand the different principles that are applicable when pursuing the projects and the process of monitoring to evaluate measures of success within the project.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Identify various projects within the workplace

• Use simple tools to determine the financial viability of the project through examining the analysis of costs against benefits

• Produce a project plan using a project planning technique that they have learned within the unit

• Set objectives and targets as well as milestones that can be used to monitor performance and review plans when implementing eh project

• Use a project evaluation technique to evaluate the project and its performance in relation to organisation goals and objectives

• Identify areas where net savings can be achieved in the process of workplace project management

• Show understanding of the non-financial implications that arise from the workplace projects.

Key Learning Areas

8600-320 Managing Workplace Projects is a unit that focuses on improving knowledge and understanding of principles that can be used by leaders to effectively handle projects within the organisation. The key learning areas that help to achieve this objectives and goals of learning include:

Managing Simple Workplace Projects

This area of learning focuses on providing the learners with basic principles that they can implement within the organisation to ensure workplace projects are successfully completed within the set constraints and meet the expected results and standards. The learners, in this area of learning, are helped to understand the basic design principles of projects and simple tools that they can use to appraise the financial performance of the project.

This involves being able to understand the ability of their organisation to fund the project to its completion. They are also introduced to project planning techniques. In this area, the learner is also guided to build skills and capabilities to use SMART objectives and goals to evaluate and monitor performance. Lastly, the learners are guided in building techniques that they can use to evaluate the project completion and the techniques that they use in the project. This helps to review the project and ensure that it is in line with the set goals and objectives and it meets the targets that have been established.

Financial and Non-Financial implications of Workplace Projects

This area of learning helps the learners to effectively conduct an analysis of their workplace project to identify both the financial and non-financial costs and benefits associated with the project. T financial costs and benefits include the ability to effectively achieve the assigned tasks and desired goals with minimal cost implications.

It involves being able to analyse the net savings and gross savings as well as the expenditure incurred within the project. Non-financial implications, on the other hand, focus on the wider setting of the project. It aims at identifying the needs and costs of change on eh social, environmental and human elements hence understanding the implication of the project to the people and surrounding within the workplace.

Evaluation

On completing this unit, the learners are required to complete an evaluation that determines the ability to use principles of managing workplace projects that have been learned. The evaluation consists of a written assessment that tests both theory and practice based on principles that have been learned within the unit.