Background to the project management - Essay Example

PROJECT MANAGEMENT by Background to the project management situation: question A medium sized NHSclinic situated in London decided to improve the way staff have access to the building and its different rooms by implementing a 3d key printing project. The approach to manage the innovation project was using the linear approach which emphasizes rigid evaluation criteria, rigid resource utilization, rigid control and the following of a strict process (Turner & Keegan, 2004, p. 575). The project management team chooses the linear-way approach by using the Prince2 process (OGC, 2009) as it is used widely all over the world. Project Managers all over the world adopt different types of project management to ensure the project’s success. This project adopted the NTCP ‘diamond’ framework which classifies projects into four main dimensions; novelty, technology, complexity, pace (Orhof, Shenhar & Dori, 2013, p.56). Values assigned to each of the four dimensions illustrate a management style that increases the project’s success. Novelty dimension The undertaking was a platform project since it was based on improving existing systems. The clinic previously utilized the traditional key system. From this undertaking, the project team will gain technical experience in improving the existing technologies. Technology dimension The project had a high tech level of technological uncertainty. The technology used in the project is generally well established. The required improvement is on a small scale and thus new features are limited. Project complexity The project in terms of complexity was under the system project since the used technology was new to the organization. Pace dimension The project was under the fast/ competitive level since it was an internal project of the organization whereby employees were required to have the keys on time to avoid locking other out. A delay in the project will inconvenience the hospital employees since some of them will be unable to access various rooms of the building. The 3d key printing project NTCP ‘diamond’ framework The project cycle was made up of three phases. During the initiation phase, the project’s objectives were clearly outlined. The planning phase is the second stage. In this phase, the actions needed to ensure the project objectives are met were outlined. The last phase is the execution phase whereby the project commences. The project management situation: question 2 The project management situation is that the team manager failed to delegate the tasks on time to the different stakeholders and motivate the staff in doing so which resulted in the delay of the project and the risk issue of a poor and unsuccessful delivery of the project. Due to these setbacks, the project failed or it was unsuccessful. I chose to investigate this situation primarily because it is the major reason why the project was unsuccessful. Thus, it is a vital aspect which had a great impact on the project’s success. As a member of the project team, I was tasked with keeping a log of all the keys produced during the project, and who they were given to. The aspects which need to be looked at are how we can manage the stakeholders better (recruitment of qualified staff ), then the team manager will have to be careful at assigning the responsibilities to the teams members in a timely manner, and also monitor on a regular basis the outcome of the tasks delegated. In light of this, I will use the following three topics to critically analyse and evaluate the project management situation: Block 3: Tributary: 6: leading the team 6.2.7 Motivating the team: influence of the team leader towards the team, measurement of effort towards effectiveness. 6.3 Delegating: Major skill for a project manager to be able to successfully delegate tasks to the team members. Good delegation clarifies the goals of the teams’ members. Tributary: Stakeholder management as part of the leadership issues. I have picked up these topics as they are the most relevant to the project situation as the project failed purely because of poor management structure. Therefore, a critical analysis of the roles and attributes of a project manager will be highlighted. In fact, Shenhar et al., 2001, p. 67) stated that a project’s success is dependent on the skill and experience of the team leader or project manager. Analysis and discussion question 3 According to tributary: leading and managing people, the concept of managing people and projects involves a variety of activities and skills. These skills determine the success or failure of a project. Leading a project team is about being an agent of change and building enthusiasm among the project team members. Thus, an aspect the aspect of motivation is a vital element of management. Team motivation is directly proportional to the team’s effectiveness and productivity. Motivation can be defined as the psychological element in an individual that encourages him/her to work towards achieving a certain goal or aim. Hence, motivation is basically the incentive that espouses behaviours meant to reach a certain goal. During the project, the project manager lacked motivational skills. As such, he did not motivate or encourage the team members to do their best. This had a negative impact on the project since the team members did not feel encouraged. There are various motivational theories which define or attempt to explain what motivates people or workers. These theories are vital to a project manager since he/ she can utilize them in finding out what aspects motivate each individual in the team. For instance, process theories such as Adam’s equity theory, and the expectancy theory (Leading and managing people) require the project manager to find a balance between an employees’ input, enthusiasm, and hard work with the employee’s remuneration, recognition and benefits. Bell & Martin (2012, p 45) argues that finding a balance between these factors creates a robust productive relationship between the team leader and the team members leading to a motivated team. Additionally, a team leader should be able to coach the team and equally discuss performance elements with the team. During the project’s life cycle, the team leader did not engage the team in performance discussions which would have motivated or enabled the team members to adopt desired behaviours. Regular performance discussions and assessment by the team leader will be a way of identifying the member’s skills and areas that need extra attention. Moreover, letting the team members to identify areas where they feel they have succeeded will be more beneficial. By including the team in making decisions, the team members feel included and motivated. In contrast, the team leader during the course of the project de motivated the team members by excluding them from contributing to the project decisions and objectives. Instead, he preferred making decisions alone and then requiring the team members to follow and adopt them. This made the members to feel excluded from the project. Project teams that are inadequately motivated do not often offer their best. This leads to project failure. Delegating is a crucial function of the team leader. An effective team leader should correctly delegate duties to his/her team members based on their experience or skills. For a project manager, successful delegation of duties relies on his understanding of the tasks he should delegate, the one he should not and the reasons why he should not or should delegate these duties. Apart from being beneficial to the team leader, delegation also benefits the team members. For the team leader, delegation saves time for him/ her. A team leader should have enough time to formulate new goals and manage the project effectively. Delegating tasks to the team members frees up extra time for the leader. Additionally, delegating of tasks reduces the team leader’s burden. During the project, the team leader only delegated some tasks and left other routine tasks to himself. This overburdened him. Thus, he had little time to manage the project. Furthermore, delegation improves the team member’s self-esteem. . Good delegation clarifies the goals of the teams’ members. Giving each team member a task to complete is an indication that the leader has confidence in the team members. Good self-esteem tends to encourage team members to accomplish the project objectives. In any project, there are bound to be different stake holders. These are the groups who have direct influence over the project. Without their support, the project is bound to be unsuccessful (tributary: stakeholders). The team leader contributed to the project’s failure since he excluded senior management form the project decisions. he did not update senior management on the project’s progress or failings. This made the senior management to develop a negative attitude towards the project. Conclusions In a bid to improve how workers access the various areas of the institution, the NHS clinic decided to implement a 3d key printing project. The project, under the direction of the team leader set its objectives and commenced. However, it failed due to poor management structure. The team leader had poor delegation, stakeholder and motivation skills. These contributed greatly to the project’s failure. The team leader failed to motivate the team members. A motivated team tries to work to the best of their abilities unlike an unmotivated team which does not struggle to perform. The team leader did not include the team members in making decisions. Instead, he made the decisions himself and then imposed them on the team members. In addition, the team leader did not delegate some routine duties which could have been easily done by the team members. Thus, he overburdened himself. An experienced and skilled team leader should delegate duties. Moreover, good delegation clarifies the roles of each team members. Also, the team leader failed to include senior management in the project. Regular updates to senior management of the project’s progress will convince senior management to support the project dully. Due to these factors, the project failed to meet its set objectives. Recommendations The skills and experience of a team leader determines the success of a project. An effective team leader has to motivate his team, delegate his duties the team members based on their expertise, and effectively communicate with senior management. In light of this, the recommendations below will limit the chances of project failure in this and future projects. 1. The team leader should motivate his/ her team. There are different ways a team leader can motivate his/ her team to increase performance. For example, intrinsic outcomes such as praise from the team leader to the team members are important since they enable the team members to work harder towards achieving the team goals. To better motivate the team, the team leader has to comprehend the interests and needs of each team member. A team leader thus can motivate his/ her team by having clear set objectives, listen to the team members’ opinions, include them in decision making, praise them when they have done well, be well informed and coach the team members. To be able to coach the team members, the team leader has to have the right information and experience. Also, the team leader has to ensure the team members are fairly rewarded. 2. The project manager should communicate frequently with senior management. Communication with senior management during the course of the project is very important. Senior management should be clearly informed about the project’s progress or setbacks. Further, the team manager should be able to distinguish between the primary stake holders and the secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders such as senior management are directly involved in the project. Thus, they influence the project’s success. This makes them it necessary for the team leader to be in constant communication with them. 3. The team leader should correctly delegate duties to the team members. Delegating duties and tasks to team members frees the team leader to truly deal with the vital aspects of the project. The team leader is in charge of the whole project, and the overall direction the team is supposed to take. If he/she gets involved in routine tasks that can be delegated, he risks losing the project’s goals and aims. This can lead to project failure. Also, task delegation increases the team’s confidence and morale. Team members tend to feel more satisfied when they know that their leader has confidence in them when he gives them clear set roles and responsibilities. Therefore, it is vital for a team leader to show his team that he has confidence in them. Project team members are likely to repeat the same project mistakes in their future undertakings if knowledge is not captured and transferred from previously done projects. Thus, there will be a documentation ‘lessons learned’ about the 3d key printing project on which aspects worked and which did not work. This documentation will be given to the team members and other project managers so as to ensure that knowledge is shared. Project management faces a lot of ethical considerations. In regard to the above recommendations, biasness is the major ethical consideration. The project manager can be biased in delegating his/her duties leading to project disturbance. References Bell, R. L., & Martin, J. S. (2012). The relevance of scientific management and equity theory in everyday managerial communication situations. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 13(3). Orhof, O., Shenhar, A., & Dori, D. (2013, June). A Model-Based Approach to Unifying Disparate Project Management Tools for Project Classification and Customized Management. In Proceedings of the 2013 INCOSE-IS Annual Conference. Philadelphia, PA, USA. Shenhar, A. J., Dvir, D., Levy, O., & Maltz, A. C. (2001). Project success: a multidimensional strategic concept. Long range planning, 34(6), 699-725. Tributary: 6: leading the team: 6.2.7 Motivating the team Tributary: 6: leading the team: 6.3 Delegating Tributary: Stakeholder management as part of the leadership issues Read More