Planning for a Project - Assignment Example

Reflective Report Customer Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 16/05/ 2011 Plog 1 Institutions make the use of groups to achieve certain task objectives which would not otherwise be met by an individual. Team or group development comprises of five stages: formation, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. It is important to plan on groups in terms of the resources that a group requires to execute a task such as time and funds as well as, training about importance and expectations at each stage. I feel that if this is not provided some group members will loose focus on the whole project. Therefore, the managers and the leaders assigned to group projects must consider this. At the formation stage, majority of the group members tend to loose focus since they are not aware of each other in terms of their roles and expectations. There is low communication since members have not achieved comfort around each other. At the storming stage, each member wants to establish his own position based on his capabilities and expertise in his field. At this stage, the group is focusing on who will play particular role and therefore there might be role overlap where some group members may want a particular role. When role players are not chosen properly, there may be loss of focus by some group members. On the other side, some group members loose focus due to their non involvement in the project. This is because they are either ignorant to directions provided or they simply did not like the idea of group work. Some group members loose focus because they do not listen attentively to instructions given during group induction and training periods. Lack of required knowledge and skills needed to execute the project can also lead loss of focus. Some group members fear criticism which can contribute to loss interest and later focus. Generally, lack of the required skills is the major reason of loss of focus. Therefore, to create and maintain group interest and commitment managers and group leaders should come up with ideas on how to gain focus from group members. One way to achieve this is to equip the group members with the required skills to complete a group project. It is also important to emphasize on adhering to directions and instructions during the training and also when provided. When the managers are handling the training, they should emphasize on the importance of listening so as to achieve understanding and comprehension to gain focus. In addition, roles should be allocated appropriately to each member as well as explain to them on the requirement of each role or position. At the formation stage, the leader can suggest the use of group warm ups. Groups should consider group or team warm-ups at the formation stage which are aimed at improving social relations within the team. Team warm-ups are social activities conducted for team members to know each other more and enhance communication through. When communication is achieved members will as well be comfortable in sharing what they think about the whole project and pose questions in areas that they do not understand hence gaining focus. When there is warm interactivity within a group, members will be more interested in the group and the project and become more committed. Plog 2 Organizations analyze and design processes aimed at transforming the resources or inputs into good and services. The goods and services should be of high quality compared to competitors. This can be enhanced through designing processes that acquire a competitive advantage in terms of differentiation and costs. In addition, the processes should be designed in such a way that they eliminate non value adding procedures and maximize value as perceived by the customer. The organization should upheld value adding activities while focus on eliminating the non- value adding activities. Value adding activities include: designing and processing, while non value adding activities include: inspection, delivery, storage and delay. These activities can only be identified when using a step by step process. As in a process where objectives are efficiently achieved through breaking the process into steps identified as activities, a problem is understood better by breaking it into steps. In addition, it is easier to propose and apply solutions to each step. As proposed in the process analysis article, there are different ways of understanding a process design, and all of these are carried out on step by step basis. For example, in Enterprise rent a car, the group members had to analyze the locality of the business in terms of demographic, geographical, population, customers and competitors. These process methodologies include: flow diagrams, value-stream mapping, process charts, time-functioning and service blueprinting. These methodologies depict step by step procedures aimed at producing quality product or service. Some of these processes such as the service Blueprinting integrates customers since it focuses on gaining customer’s opinion and perceptions about the quality of a product. Accordingly, like in processing breaking down the problem into simple steps enhances problem understanding and proposing of solutions. Plog 3 To start a new phase with a group is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting because I am bound to acquire new experiences from the new group members. On the other hand, it is challenging because I have to adapt to a new way of doing things. I find the formation and norming stages of group development the most critical. This is because I have to attain effective communication skills and interactivity. The group members are new to me and they also come with their own insights, views and opinions. Most critical is that these new ideas may be accommodative to me or not based on my values and perception. As well, my ideas may not be welcoming to them also. This new group needs to come up with its norms that will guide group members in their task execution. In my view, the challenge is to attain a balance in founding the norms that will guide the new group. For the new group to work harmoniously and be very productive I need to understand the members of the group. This is because with the knowledge about members of the group, I will understand the skills they possess, extra skills that they need as well as their expectations as individuals and as groups and their guiding principles. Through this, individual roles will be assigned properly and achieve role cohesion which leads to increased productivity. In addition, since each member understands his or her role, role conflict, ambiguity and incompatibility will be eliminated. It is important to avoid role stress which is brought about by role ambiguity, incompatibility, conflict and overload or under load. I will also ensure that all members acquire the skills needed to achieve the group task. This will be achieved through training done by expatriates, managers or group leaders. This will lead to increased productivity since when members possess the skills they acquire confidence and morale of performing the task since they have what it takes to accomplish the project. I would also explain to the members the importance of welcoming criticism since it is through this that we become aware of the mistakes and consequently avoid them. I would also advocate for guiding rules and principles for group harmonization. Plog 4 It is very important to plan on a project either to be executed by a group or as an individual. Planning for a project ensures that there is an understanding of the whole project in terms of resources required. There are major consequences of not planning for a project. Firstly, when executers fail to plan for a project effectively, they may later find out that inadequate resources were allocated or there was under or over use of the resources. Secondly, the project objective may not be achieved within the allocated period because of the delays experienced. Delay experienced in any project activity will impact on the whole project. This is because every activity of the project is necessary for the completion of the project. Further, there are critical and non-critical activities of a project. Delays in critical activities have profound impacts on the whole project than delays in non-critical activities. Delays will lead to extra consumption of resources; most specifically time and the whole project completion period will be extended unlike intended or planned for. The project undertakers may become less productive when time is extended since their confidence in the managers or project leaders has been affected or reduced. To maintain a project momentum the very first and important thing to do is to plan for the project. When a project is planned for there will be knowledge on the required resources: man power, funds, materials and money. Resources must be made available to the project executers. In this case, availability should be in terms of timely and adequate. In addition, those assigned to specific activities must possess the required skills. It is important to make everyone aware of the project period as well as critical and non-critical activities in the project. What are the three most important things you have learned during the course? Why do you consider these important? Effective communication, Strategic planning and Group work are the most important things I have learnt from this module. This is because when there is effective communication every person is bound to know and understand what is expected of him. Strategic planning is important to me because I will know what I need for every task given to me. I will know the required resources and complete my task within the most appropriate time. Group work is important to me because there is pool of skills that I would otherwise not be possessing. What changes does your learning in this module suggest you might make in your studies and life generally? Why? That I become more participative in group projects as well as plan for every task assigned to me whether in the course of my studies or in the field. This is because what I do not know I will acquire the knowledge effectively through group where there are different individuals with unique skills and understanding of certain areas. I must also make plans concerning my studies and in other spheres of life. Through this, I will find out that I have achieved a lot effectively and efficiently since I have utilized my time and resources according to the plan. Read More