As part of my Project Management for Business module, I was required to prepare a project management report for implementing hot-desking at 'Blue Bag Films'.

1. Hot-Desking
at Blue Bag
Films
Project Management Report
345SAM Project Management for Business
By: Yordan Dimitrov
SID: 5446890
Word count: 2658 words

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1| OPERATIONAL REPORT....................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1| INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................................................3
1.2| PROJECT SCOPE ..............................................................................................................................................................4
1.3| PROJECT STAKEHOLDER ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................................................5
1.4| RISK AND OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................8
1.5| PROJECT PLAN..............................................................................................................................................................10
2|THEORETICAL JUSTIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 12
REFERENCE LIST.................................................................................................................................................... 14
FURTHER READING................................................................................................................................................................15
APPENDICES......................................................................................................................................................... 16
APPENDIX 1| PROJECT PLANNING – DEPENDENCY TABLE.............................................................................................................16
APPENDIX 2| GANTT CHART TASKS .........................................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX 3| COMPLETE GANTT CHART ...................................................................................................................................18

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1| Operational Report
1.1| Introduction
This project initiation document will focus on delivering hot-desking to Blue Bag Films. Primarily the
document would look at identifying the project scope, following which it will look at ways of
managing stakeholders’ expectations as well as risks and finally propose a project plan. For the
purpose of this project, we are assuming that the organisation employs 30 people and is looking to
double that. The purpose of the document is to evaluate the process of setting up hot-desking and
gain project approval.

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1.2| Project Scope
Problem/Need
- Blue Bag Films need to double the number of animators it employs in order to meet the increased
demand deriving from new contracts.
Requirements gathering
- The new project would introduce “location independent working” through the use of portable
devices and “hot-desks” practice. Animators must be able to work independently and have access
to all company assets when they work off and on-site. The customer expects the project would
utilise the office space more efficiently and provide working space for twice as many employees.
Information gathering
- The project must utilise existing office space and number of desks, be completed within a four-
month period. Funding is provided by Blue Bag Films.
Project objectives
- Project will modify the office space and introduce ability to work off-site and on-site work through
the use of “Hot-Desks”
- Desired outcome is related to doubling the number of employees without additional office space
- Objectives in terms of SMART:
Specific: Increasing animator capacity from 30 to 60 employees.
Measurable: Stiffler’s (2010) Hexagon Constraint Model “quality, scope, budget, resources, risks
and schedule” would be used to measure the success of this project.
Agreed upon: Creating ‘hot-desk’ environment.
Realistic: Only using existing office space.
Time-Based: Completing the project within four month period.
Assumptions
- The success of this project is dependent on the IT infrastructure of Blue Bag Films as their systems
must be able to process twice as much information and deliver it both within the company
premises and externally without compromising on data security. We must also assume that the
current number of staff is 30 animators.
Exclusions
- There are two main assumptions, primarily that the project is focused on interior and would not
involve construction work. Secondary, that the project will not offer ongoing support and this
responsibility is going to be handled by either management or external third party.
Constraints/Limitations
- The project is limited to only using the existing office space, without providing an opportunity for
additional office space.
- Relating back to Stiffler’s (2010) Hexagon Constraint Model, this project’s principle constraint
would be time (A four month fixed period).

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1.3| Project Stakeholder Assessment
This section of the project management report focuses on assessing the stakeholders.
Stakeholders Communication Plan
Stakeholder
Managerial
response
Communication strategy
Internal Stakeholders
Existing
Animators
Keep informed
As stakeholders with high interest, existing animators should be
kept informed about the changes taking place within Blue Bag
Films, communication could be done through monthly meetings
and weekly emails.
Figure 1. Power Matrix of Blue Bag Films’ stakeholders

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New
Animators
Monitor
New animators will be entering a new work environment without
prejudice, thereby their interest and power on this project will be
low. Communication would be done through briefing on their
first day of work through face to face communication.
Top
management
Manage
closely
Top managers are vital to the success of the project as they hold
both high power and have high interest as their management
skills would be assessed on the success of the company. Thereby,
they must be managed closely in order for their expectations to
be met. Often top managers do not have enough free time in
their schedule, thereby frequent communication would be done
through email on weekly basis and there would be bi-weekly
meetings.
IT Staff Keep Informed
As IT staff need to support the upgraded IT infrastructure, they
should be kept informed about technical modifications to the
existing system. Communication with them would be done every
other day through emails as IT requires attention to detail.
Additionally, team meetings would be held bi-weekly to ensure
everyone is up to date.
Company
Stock
Owners
Keep Satisfied
Investors must also be kept satisfied as the value of their shares
is going to be affected by both positive and negative changes that
occur within the organisation. Communication could be done
through monthly meetings.
External Stakeholders
Customers of
Blue Bag
Films
Monitor
Whilst customers of Blue Bag Films don’t hold significant power
or interest, they should still be monitored. In regard
communication channel, they will be informed once during the
project through email – at the end of the project.
Refurbishme
nt Staff
Keep Informed
Interior refurbishment staff would be assigned the task to modify
the work space and make it suitable for hot-desking practices. It
is in their interest that the project is completed to a reasonable
standard, thereby they would be kept informed. Communication
would be done through monthly group meetings.
Facilities
manager
Keep Informed
The facilities manager is similar to the refurbishment staff in
terms of levels of involvement and interest. However, they would
not be as highly involved with the project and would only require
contact in the beginning and in the end of the project.
Communication would be done through face to face meetings.
As illustrated graphically in Figure 1 and justified through context within the stakeholders
communication plan (Table 1), stakeholders should be managed in accordance with their power and
interest. The discussion indicates despite fitting into the same managerial response category, similar
stakeholders would require different methods of communication and frequency. Through using
appropriate communication strategy, chances of achieving projects objectives would be maximised.
Table 1. Stakeholders Communication Plan

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The most important stakeholders to this particular project would be top management and existing
animators as both parties have high interest, and both are vital to the business.
Whilst some stakeholders are currently sceptical about the likelihood of a successful project
completion, research indicates “hot-desking can reduce a company’s costs by up to 30%, with UK
businesses able to save a total of £34 billion a year” (Arain 2018). The practice would offer some
stakeholders (for example top managers and stock owners) higher Return on Investment (ROI) as it
could increase the workload capacity of the work floor. Thereby, sceptical top management and stock
holder members should feel more reassured regarding the change.

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1.4| Risk and Opportunity Assessment
In terms of risks, here are a number of potential risks that Blue Bag Films could face when trying to
integrate the new hot-desking concept.
Risk Register
Risk
ID:
Risk Description Impact
on
project
Likelihood
of
occurrence
Risk
rating
Response
strategy
Proposed responses
R1 Delays in set up of
additional IT services
2 3 6 Mitigate Recruit additional IT
specialist to ensure
successful set up of
the additional IT
Services
R2 Issues of setting up
secure network that
works within and
outside the
organisation
2 3 6 Transfer Assign external IT
security firm
responsibility of
network security and
add incentives and
penalties within the
contract.
R3 IT staff not being able
to adapt existing
system to work off-site
1 3 3 Mitigate Recruit additional IT
staff who have
experience in off-site
networks
R4 Existing staff not
willing to give up their
individual office space
2 3 6 Mitigate Arrange meeting with
existing staff and
outline the benefits of
the project in order to
win their support
R5 Project worker gets
injured during desk
reshuffling
1 1 1 Accept Despite health and
safety measurements,
risks still occur in the
work place.
R6 Price of equipment
causing cost overrun
2 1 2 Avoid Prior to starting the
project, evaluate all
costs to ensure there is
no cost overrun.
R7 Concept not meeting
health and safety
requirements.
1 1 1 Mitigate Prior to starting the
project, consult with
health and safety
expert to ensure
regulations are met.
R8 Clients unhappy about
dealing with
distributed workforce
during the project
1 3 3 Mitigate Recommend
management creates
central point of call,
ensuring clients are not
aware of the change.
Table 2. Risk Register

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The ratings are analysed through a risk register
(Table 2) and risk rating Matrix, shown on Figure
2. Each of the eight risks that has been
described in the risk register table has been
placed in accordance to its impact and
likelihood. The figure shows majority of risks
(R3, R5, R6, R7 & R8) have multiplications below
3, meaning they would not have significant
impact on the project and/or are likely to occur
during the project.
Equally three risks (R1, R2 & R4) are placed
within the bright red box of the Risk Rating
Matrix, indicating they would have a high
likelihood of taking place and could have a
potentially medium impact.
The above mentioned high likelihood risks,
- R1: Delays in set up of additional IT services
- R2: Issues of setting up secure network that works within and outside the organisation
Could be handled by recruiting additional IT staff to ensure the project runs as planned and reduce
potential drawbacks. By bringing additional staff, we could reduce the likelihood to two.
- R4: Existing staff not willing to give up their individual office space
In terms of risk R4, face to face interaction would be key when handling this risk. Through educating
existing animators on the benefits of hot-desking, they would be reassured and thereby become
more optimistic about the change. Thereby, we would reduce the likelihood of the risk to two or
one.
Figure 2. Risk Rating Matrix for hot-desking

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1.5| Project Plan
Work Breakdown Structure
Prior to creating a Gantt chart, Work Breakdown Structure was used to visualise the project.
Gantt Chart
The Gantt Chart (Figure 4, Appendix 3) identifies the timeline of Blue Bag Films’ hot-desking project.
It is based on the project plan (see Appendix 1) and the Work Breakdown Structure (Figure 3). In
terms of duration, the project will take 115 days (or 3 full months and 26 days) to complete. As the
Figure 3. Work Breakdown Structure on Adopting Hot-Desking at Blue Bag Films
Figure 4. Gantt Chart of hot-desking project for Blue Bag Films | (See bigger version of Gantt Chart in Appendix 3)

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chart shows, the project will primarily begin with simultaneously researching hot-desking strategies
and evaluating the existing IT infrastructure of Blue Bag Films.
Once strategy has been agreed, additional devices would be ordered, and desks will be cleaned. As
the clearly identified dependencies show, the project requires predecessor tasks to be completed in
order to proceed further with the project. Once IT and office space have both been adapted, final
stakeholder survey could be conducted, followed by a project handover and completion.
Milestones have been used to identify significant phases of the project, for example the order of
the additional devices. Four additional days were intentionally left to allow room for movement.

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2|Theoretical justification
Initial understanding of hot-desking was obtained from two accounts: “Remote working: Linking
people and organizations” by Nickson & Siddons (2004) and Vargas (2008)’ book entitled “Practical
guide to project planning”. The two sources evaluated the project path from start to completion. The
two books agree hot-desking is not a simple process and it requires adequate planning. In terms of
relevance, Nickson & Siddons (2004) was more appropriate as it focused more on the technicalities
of hot-desking, whilst Vargas (2008) researched a variety of different organisations.
Project has been defined as “temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one
or more business products according to an agreed Business case.” (Office of Government Commerce
2009) whilst the Association for Project Management (2018a) states project management is an
“application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the project
objectives.”
For the purpose of this document, Blue Bag Films is assumed to be a small organisation as they had
below 50 members of staff (European Commission 2018) in the beginning of this project.
Various theoretical frameworks were used within the project initiation section of this document.
The Iron Triangle (Oisen 1971), consists of “triple constraint”: Cost, Time and Quality. Academics
Catanio et al. (2013) argue that the three must be balanced in order to achieve success.
However, Atkinson (1999) states the iron triangle (Oisen 1971) “has
limited success criteria” and is not a realistic way of measuring
accomplishments. In 2010, Stiffler “upgraded” the iron triangle by
turning it into a Hexagon. His trademarked “Stiffler Hexagon Constraint
Model” (see Figure 5) explores schedule, risks and resources which go
beyond Oisen’s (1971) quality, cost and time. His perspective focuses
on customer satisfaction as opposed to organisational objectives.
Within this project, both Oisen (1971) and Stiffler (2010) have been
used in an attempt to measure success more accurately.
In terms of different sections of the operational report such as 1.2 Project Scope, Pinto (2016)’s
framework gave sufficient understanding through evaluating the problem and identifying
constraints. Pinto (2016) and Maylor (2010) have similar approach to scope management. When
writing the project scope, questions such as “What’s the underlying problem?” and “Does the success
of the project depend on any assumptions?” were answered. This gave the project a clear outline
and provided for a better understanding of the origin of the project as well as the directions at which
it needs to be taken.
Figure 5. Stiffler’s Hexagon (2010)

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Two matrixes were used within this project. Both matrixes aim to convert qualitative data into
quantitative. Primarily, within the stakeholder analysis, Bryson’s (2011) stakeholder analysis table
and power matrix (see Figure 6) were used to categorise individual
stakeholders. Assumptions were made based on rationality. Each
stakeholder was placed in a unique position with accordance to their
level of interest and power. This
stipulated for an understanding
of which stakeholders are
considered key.
Secondary, risk rating matrix
(APM 2018b) was used within
the risk and opportunity
assessment section. Likelihood and impact were given a
numerical value, again based on rational assumptions (see
Figure 7). The risk rating matrix aims to evaluate each risk in
order to place an importance and allow for adequate response strategy and proposed responses.
However, as academics Ward & Chapman (2003) argue, the risk matrix does not ‘facilitate’ for
uncertainty. They argue the project risk management method is ‘bias’ and unquantifiable i.e.
accuracy of findings would be questionable as the metrics could be interpreted differently between
different individuals. For the purpose of the project the original risk rating matrix was used as it gave
sufficient for the puprose data.
In order to prepare a project plan, Gantt
Chart was used to represent the timeline
of the project, outlining potential
milestones and duration of each task.
Whilst this method of representation is
widely adapted by project managers, it
has been criticised for not
accommodating high-performing firms
by Maylor (2001). He claims a ‘BTGC approach’ would be a more suitable alternative that would offer
more custom integration. The BTGC approach includes an aggregate project plan in addition to the
traditionally used organisational strategy and project strategy. The focused and coherent approach
provides further competitive advantages. Within 1.5 Project plan, Gantt chart was intentionally used
as it offers visual representation whilst the BTGC approach does not.
In conclusion, there are close links between theory and practice. From setting out the project
constraints (Stiffler 2010) to applying frameworks by various academics, for example Maylor (2010,
2001) & Pinto (2016). The project management report for Blue Bag Films did not only show the
applications of project management, but also supported them up with theoretical justification and
methodology. Traditional operational reports would not normally feature theoretical section as they
are targeted towards stakeholders as opposed to academics. Thereby it was logical for this document
to be split in two parts. Overall, the project could be completed within the timeframe and theory
appears to have direct relevance to the project.
Figure 6. Power Matrix (Bryson 2011)
Figure 7. Risk Rating Matrix (APM 2018b)
Figure 8. Gantt Chart of hot-desking project for Blue Bag Films

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Reference List
APM (2018a) Risk Management Techniques [online] available from
<https://www.apm.org.uk/body-of-knowledge/delivery/risk-management/risk-techniques/> [20
February 2018]
APM (2018b) What Is Project Management? [online] available from
<https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/what-is-project-management/> [22 February 2018]
Arain, N. (2018) Ups And Downs: Hot-Desking V Co-Working [online] available from
<https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/ups-and-downs-hot-desking-v-co-working> [22 February
2018]
Atkinson, R. (1999) "Project Management: Cost, Time And Quality, Two Best Guesses And A
Phenomenon, Its Time To Accept Other Success Criteria". International Journal Of Project
Management 17 (6), 337-342
Bryson, J. (2011) Strategic Planning For Public And Nonprofit Organizations. 3rd edn. Hoboken, N.J.:
Wiley
Catanio, J., Armstrong, G. and Tucker, J. (2013) "The Effects Of Project Management Certification
On The Triple Constraint". International Journal Of Information Technology Project Management 4
(4), 93-111
European Commission (2018) What Is An SME? [online] available from
<http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition_en> [22
February 2018]
Maylor, H. (2010) Project Management. 4th edn. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall
Maylor, H. (2001) "Beyond The Gantt Chart:". European Management Journal 19 (1), 92-100
Nickson, D. and Siddons, S. (2004) Remote Working. Oxford [England]: Elsevier Butterworth-
Heinemann

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Office of Government Commerce (2009) Managing Successful Projects With PRINCE2. Norwich:
TSO, The Stationery Office
Oisen, R. (1971) "Can Project Management Be Defined?". Project Management Quarterly 2 (1), 12-
14
Pinto, J. (2016) Project Management. 4th edn. Boston: Pearson
Stiffler, D. (2010) "The Triple Constraint Model – Is It Time To Upgrade?". Global Knowledge
Training LLC [online] available from
<https://pmisac.com/index.php?option=com_docman&view=download&category_slug=articles&ali
as=47-wp-pm-stiffler-thetripleconstraintmodel-pdf-15504&Itemid=163> [11 February 2018]
Vargas, R. (2008) Practical Guide To Project Planning. Boca Raton: Auerbach Publications
Ward, S. and Chapman, C. (2003) "Transforming Project Risk Management Into Project Uncertainty
Management". International Journal Of Project Management [online] 21, 97–105. available from
<https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0098/9b7a36e5422b473b8ab01f5cffee9712159a.pdf> [20
February 2018]
Further reading
Millward, L., Haslam, S. and Postmes, T. (2007) "Putting Employees In Their Place: The Impact Of
Hot Desking On Organizational And Team Identification". Organization Science 18 (4), 547-559

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Appendices
Appendix 1| Project Planning – Dependency Table
ID Activity Duration Immediate predecessor(s)
1 Strategy Selection
1.1 Research hot-desking strategies 10 days -
1.2 Choose appropriate hot-desking strategies 20 days 1.1
1.3 Collect stakeholder feedback 2 days 1.2
1.4 Make amendments based on feedback 10 days 1.3
1.5 Propose and agree strategy with Blue Bag Films 7 days 1.4
1.6 Strategy agreed - 1.5
2 IT Infrastructure
2.1 Evaluate existing IT infrastructure 20 days -
2.2 Order additional devices for new staff 10 days 1.6
2.3 Additional devices ordered 1 day 2.2
2.4 Adapt or upgrade IT infrastructure 20 days 2.3
2.5 IT Adapted for hot-desking - 2.4
3 Office space
3.1 Clean desks and remove staff possessions 2 days 1.6
3.2 Place staff possessions in temporary storage 5 days 3.1
3.3 Reshuffle desks 5 days 3.2
3.4 Return staff possessions from storage 5 days 3.3
3.5 Office space adapted for hot-desking - 3.4
4 Completion
4.1 Handover completed project to the
management team
1 day 2.5, 3.5
4.3 Project completed - 4.1
Normal text = tasks | Italics = milestones

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Appendix 2| Gantt Chart Tasks

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Appendix3|CompleteGanttChart