Challenges of Implementing IT in Project Management - Assignment Example

Impact of IT in Project Management

Contents

Section A: Impact of IT Implementation in project management3

Question 13

Question 24

Question 36

Question 47

Question 59

Question 610

Question 712

Question 814

Section B: Challenges of Implementing IT in Project Management17

Question 917

Question 1018

Question 1120

• Section A: Impact of IT Implementation in project management
  • Question 1

Respondent 1

In my company, IT plays a significant role in schedule and costs management. Project management is all about successful execution of allocated tasks. Schedule management with the support of IT tools enables us to prioritize activities accordingly. On the other hand, IT based cost management facilitates calculation of necessary expenses in order t

o avoid any budget overrun.

Respondent 2

I believe that there are various operational areas where IT integration is necessary for success of an undertaken project. One of the most critical operational areas is scope management where IT integration has gained significance. In this context, IT facilitates safeguarding, approving and editing changes along with communicating essential details to project stakeholders. Apart from this area, financial management is also exhibited in my firm through integrated IT tools.

Respondent 3

Quality assurance is an important area of concern in project management. It is an operational area in which IT has been integrated. Our organization even believes that HRM is a necessary operational component within project management. Hence, IT based tools are utilized in this field to assign project related tasks, enhance performance standard and consistently review team performance.

Respondent 4

In my company, the major role of IT is to bring forth synchronization between diverse financial activities and to facilitate effective risk management. On the basis of IT integrated tools, probabilities of distinct risks are identified and properly mitigated. It has been observed that IT based financial management helps to determine key project areas requiring lump-sum investment.

Respondent 5

There are two main operational areas in our company where IT tools have been integrated such as procurement and schedule management. We deal in projects where inventory or stock-keeping is a critical area.

• • Question 2

Respondent 1

I would rather opt for all the time but it also helps in reducing cost and enhancing the quality. Being a person from financial background I find many of the software which is mainly created to not only save time and cost but also provide with accuracy. I am head financial analyst in a reputed organization and most of the projects are under my supervision. To analyze the return from the same, I use some of the software which calculates the returns. If the same is done manually, it would take labor, time and will also there will be chances of mistake. However, using such software ensures accuracy and on the brighter side it also saves labor cost and time.

Respondent 2

I would say that it helps a lot in saving time as it is something which cannot be gained back. If I’m allowed to provide my opinion in general, I would rather keep some point which can be appreciated by all the peoples around the globe. The concept of information technology is something with huge importance in today’s world. It is so because, the invention of mobiles or internets, computers are the one which saves a lot of time and cost.

Respondent 3

I would rather choose time as per my occupation because recording them manually would be very tiring and time consuming. Technology saves time and more importantly my data. The clients are very important in my occupation and I have to keep their full data which I generally save on cloud. While if given a choice among time, cost and quality.

Respondent 4

In my opinion it saves a lot of cost where the promotion of the product of my company is done over social network. IT industry is mainly helps in increasing the revenues of the company by promoting the product and also getting the feedback. It is not necessary that specific software is needed but social media works for me saving the cost.

Respondent 5

Quality of product is what I would like to vote for as per my profession. I have been working in the accounts process of a reputed firm and the use of SAP has helped us a lot. It not only saves time but also the cost of employing people. If done manually, it would rather take some time but putting the line items in the software makes it easy to calculate the cost and expenses of the undertaken project. However, it improves the quality of the product which is more important.

• • Question 3

Respondent 1

Yes, I feel that IT plays a vital role in project monitoring. In the construction industry, I feel finance and work progress are two definite areas which leads to project success. The monitoring role of IT is centered towards financial and process monitoring. Project success is certainly dependent on proper budget allocation. I even think that IT based process monitoring helps in evaluating success rate of output production.

Respondent 2

I personally feel that role of IT in monitoring is not only confined to financial activities but the most important role is in relation to analyzing progress rate. Being in the construction business I know that progress rate needs to be consistently monitored for undertaking required measures. At times it is also known as impact monitoring where project risks are evaluated along with systematic evaluation of project success.

Respondent 3

Yes, definitely IT plays an important role in project monitoring. If we reflect upon the monitoring process, we shall find that human errors are common within this stage of project management. The monitoring roles played by IT are basically in context of regulating finances and operational tasks. Project schedules and areas of investment can be efficiently monitored with the support of IT based tools.

Respondent 4

I think that IT integrated tools are capable of monitoring project risks and quality. In our construction business, quality control is an essential element that leads to desirable project growth. Risk monitoring with the support of IT tools enable team members to determine crucial risks which can adversely affect project success.

Respondent 5

To a great extent, I feel that monitoring cannot be solely performed by IT based tools rather there is need for some human intervention. Hence, monitoring role of IT is certainly confined to preparing work schedules and periodically evaluating whether allocated tasks is being successfully performed by team members or not.

• • Question 4

Respondent 1

I have been head in many projects which has been undertaken by my organization. It has been a tough task to monitor the same manually. However, with the intervention of technology it provided us with financial outlook of the project by calculating its present value of future cash flow. It shows that if undertaking such project will be profitable or not.

Respondent 2

The company in which I work uses the IT software to act as its portal to track the transaction. I actually work in a stock trading firm and am a stock broker. The portal on which I work monitors the everyday transaction which I make on behalf of the clients. Though it is financial company but it also holds data of the person’s transaction the units of various shares each day. It could also be mentioned as monitoring the transaction as clients are the main source of revenue in our business.

Respondent 3

The main use of information technology is not only to calculate the returns but also to compare the planned budget with the actual budget. It generally happens in our work when the amount of input as well as output are pre calculated and planned but in the meantime some of the elements mismatch and we skip the target by a little margin. However, there is software which is used by our organization to monitor the elements of input and the amount of the same needed to get a pre-planned amount of output within a certain time.

Respondent 4

While undertaking a project I have seen the IT software helping in monitoring the process and also allocate the cost of each item. It ensures the returns from the projects to be undertaken by calculating its NPV and IRR. The main feature of such software is providing with an intellectual decision making process. It helps to choose among various projects. I also give it credit to keep the budget in line with the expectation and little up or down is acceptable.

Respondent 5

I have worked as project manager in a few companies and have a good experience working with several processes. In such processes the information tech has helped in many ways starting from monitoring the shareholder information to cost and profit earnings. The same also helps in cost saving and the accuracy of the project is also not compromised.

• • Question 5

Respondent 1

The companies need teamwork in order to achieve success. A company is not operated by a single person and a team is always necessary to smoothly operate the business. For a better team management, trust and communication is necessary. We in the company communicate among the team members through merged calls where every team will have the full information about the project.

Respondent 2

I have been included in many projects in the construction company but when the projects are done in some other regions then communicating is very significant. Using IT software for communicating such as “Skype for Business” helps a lot in such projects. It enhances the process of teamwork where every member is connected to each-other.

Respondent 3

Our company uses software which enhances the teamwork. Our business being from construction sector has team members’ on-sight as well as off-sight. Therefore, any meeting or conference that is needed to be done is done through online portal which is provided by the software. This application enhances the co-ordination among the members of the team and each member has the perfect idea of the task he is supposed to deliver.

Respondent 4

Our company uses the software which allocates the tasks among the members according to their strengths. In this case perfect job is allocated to the member who is best for the same. On the other hand, other software which helps to communicate is also available where online board meetings are also possible in order to enhance the teamwork in the organization. Other than this constant communication among the group members also ensure the trust among them.

Respondent 5

The project management software is one which is used in our firms to enhance the teamwork. It is not only enhancing the teamwork but also enhances the efficiency of the business. It also keeps track of the project and also monitors the task each of the members.

• • Question 6

Respondent 1

Real-time interaction during proceeding with a project can be accomplished with the support of IT integrated tools. I feel that teamwork can be enhanced only when project team members are able to efficiently coordinate with one another to achieve set goals. Video conferencing and forwarding e-mails is the best possible way to eradicate any form of miscommunication amongst team members. IT integrated tools even facilitates consistent learning as a team which helps in achieving common set of objectives.

Respondent 2

I feel that the most important area where IT holds importance is in context of communications management. For example, prior to IT implementation, team members were not able to coordinate properly during project progress. Email messaging, VoIP and online discussion forums are common tools or techniques used by team members nowadays for better teamwork. Traditional face-to-face interactions usually take place once in a week but such online interactive platforms eliminate the tedious job of organizing a meeting. Consistent communication is the preferred way to achieve desirable goals.

Respondent 3

According to me teamwork can be enhanced only when organizational members are able to share necessary details or information without assigned personnel without any interruption. I strongly believe that evolution of cloud computing as an IT based component has driven team performance in my company to a desirable level. On the basis of cloud computing, project team members are able to store important files at a centralized location and access relevant information as and when required. IT has created a platform by which team members can exchange necessary project related details without any waste of time.

Respondent 4

There are various IT integrated tools which have been inaugurated in order to establish a strong connection amongst team members. I would like to emphasize on two such tools – groupware and network management. Groupware can be defined as a set of applicants which is required for exhibiting teamwork. The common groupware elements basically comprise of tracking changes and putting across vital comments. Group members are actively indulged during the project progress through the support of wide area networks mainly in the form of routers, computer terminals, network cards, etc.

Respondent 5

In my organization, I have witnessed that IT has removed the basic reasons leading to miscommunication or delay in undertaking essential project related decisions. There are practically two ways by which technology enhances team work. Firstly, IT facilitates consistent communication amongst team members. Secondly, project management software helps in allocating appropriate tasks to team members with required expertise. Project management software updates each team member regarding any project related change. On the other hand, webinars and videoconferencing help team members to disclose their problems and formulate strategic decisions.

• • Question 7

Respondent 1

Yes, I feel that IT plays a significant role in managing safety. Our company uses some project management tools in order to select safety designs along with considering safety impact. All kinds of construction related risks can be identified by using these IT based tools. Hence, it helps in enhancing safety standards within project management.

Respondent 2

I strongly believe that safety of people involved in the project is equally important like the overall project safety. In our company, IT enables the project heads to understand areas of probable risk and simultaneously undertake necessary measures. Safety is ensured by IT through guiding team members on steps to be undertaken when encountering any operational problem. The technology-based mechanism has helped in reducing percentage of accident risk.

Respondent 3

There is no doubt that IT helps in managing safety. In construction business, the trend of accidents is relatively higher. Hence, the virtual models serve as a platform for construction sequencing. For example, such virtual models have benefitted our company in context of optimizing location of cranes along with minimizing conflicts in the form of overhead high tension wires.

Respondent 4

I do not completely agree with the point that IT enabled platforms are the only source to manage safety. Human resources should be well trained in the construction industry so that they are able to understand operational intricacies and avoid any team conflict. IT can even give misleading answers which shall hinder safety standards of project management.

Respondent 5

Yes, IT helps in improving safety in context of determining risky zones and serving as a virtual platform to understand the alignment of various construction related elements. Our company has also invested in various wearable technologies so as to ensure that team members are knowledgeable about progress rate of assigned tasks. Simultaneously various critical information can be successfully stored with the support of cloud computing concept. Hence, team members can easily explore important information, thereby, avoiding accidents.

• • Question 8

Respondent 1

The construction company is generally highly capital intensive organizations. In such areas the financial risk is of high importance in the construction company. As far as I have witnessed the actual as well as planned budgets mismatches by huge margins when it is calculated manually and not monitored efficiently. However, after the introduction of IT system based out of financial utility software, the same problem has been mitigated a lot. It has been possible to punch in the elements as well as the units to be used and the output planned can also be monitored from the same.

Respondent 2

I have been working as a project manager in one of the branded construction companies. I have been through the phases where the manual works has been time taking as well as costly. However, after installing the utility software the cost has been cut by a huge number as it associated onetime cost with it. The creation of financial statement of the company has also been a tough job but after implementing the strategy to install the software, it has also been easy since then.

Respondent 3

Being an employee in one of the construction company, I have seen that the machine working hours are high and the variable cost also rose but the output was near about same. I knew that this has been result of improper task allocation and the utilization of the available resources was not optimum. However, project management software has been installed and the task were monitored on the basis of the same. Since, the implementation of new software the machine usage hours have been limited only up to its usage which saved the cost has been controlled.

Respondent 4

The construction company is very much affected by the financial elements as well as the communication issues. However, there has been some of the technology in these areas which not only help in achieving the financial goals but also enhances the communication process. I have used such software which helps in comparing the actual and planned budget. In Construction Company using an element to its optimum is main objective to make profit.

Respondent 5

I have faced issues with the machine hour used as this company has large number of big machinery. Therefore, the more machine works the more is the depreciation associated with it. Hence, the main concern of our management team was to deal with the unnecessary cost and the same was done by usage of software.

• Section B: Challenges of Implementing IT in Project Management
  • Question 9

Respondent 1

IT integration is considered to be the most profitable venture by many firms. Even I feel the same but IT integration is also accompanied with various challenges. Our company has also faced similar challenges. One of the most vital problems was investment and ROI. It is difficult to convince investors for such IT based platforms. Another issue was encouraging change management in terms of integrating IT tools within the system.

Respondent 2

My team was initially convinced about the trend of IT integration in project management. Hence, I personally have not encountered any challenge in relation to integrating IT. The consistent support from team members’ facilitated successful incorporation of IT based platforms. In general context, I feel that initial investment can be regarded as a major challenge faced by firms.

Respondent 3

I somewhere feel that change management was a challenge faced by my company during IT integration. Team members are usually comfortable in traditional project management approaches. A sudden change into IT based project management raised several questions, such as lack of skills, need for training, etc. Another challenge was process synchronization because traditional practices do not fit into modern IT based platform.

Respondent 4

I feel the major drawback of IT integrated tool is that team members become completely dependent on machines. A single operational failure within such platforms tends to adversely affect project management process. It was a challenge to maintain proper back-up for project management operations being exhibited through IT based tools. Another challenge faced was budget overrun, since construction projects usually constitute high cost factor. We as a team encountered a problem of drawing in funds for IT integration.

Respondent 5

I surely feel that IT integration is accompanied with several challenges. There are two challenges which have been faced by my team. Firstly, aligning team members with the functionality of IT enabled platform. I believe that consistent training is necessary for helping team members to understand operational intricacies of such platforms. Secondly, integrating IT as per our project requirements was another major challenge encountered by our company. I think that it is a difficult task to structure IT related activities as per project goals.

• • Question 10

Respondent 1

I feel that the identified challenges can be resolved with the help of certain methods. According to me, change management is a common issue which can be solved through employee engagement. I have witnessed that when team members are involved in such IT integration it becomes easier for them to cope up with operational shift. The issue of ROI I feel can be managed by counting on non-monetary rather than financial returns.

Respondent 2

I personally believe that IT integration is not problematic unless team members are not supportive. In my organization any such challenge has not been encountered regarding IT integration. However, in later time-period, if any problem occurs, I would suggest organizing training programs in order to make team members knowledgeable about the key advantages linked with IT integration.

Respondent 3

As I have stated process synchronization is a common problem and the best possible way to handle it is through analyzing which traditional practices need to be retained. It is a time-consuming process to transform all traditional project management practices into an IT integrated mechanism. I feel that the problem of change management can be eradicated through involvement of team members in IT integration process. In construction business, innovation is a key driver to growth. In this context, I think that team members need to understand significance of IT based platforms.

Respondent 4

I think to avoid team members from becoming completely dependent on such technology based platforms there should be a correlation drawn between traditional and modern practices. In my company I would always prefer encouraging my team members to continue with their traditional practices in some contexts. I do not think that budget overrun problem can be mitigated to desirable extent. However, maintaining buffer costs from the initial stage can prove to be a suitable procedure.

Respondent 5

The major issue is of change management and there is couple of ways to deal with this problem. I feel that training and development programs need to be designed when IT tools are being integrated. We observe that individuals accept change only when they are well aware about the integration process. I will even recommend to associate financial incentives with change management so as to encourage employee engagement.

• • Question 11

Respondent 1

As per my opinion, not only the construction companies but also other companies witnessed a positive change after installation of the utility software in their organization. The construction companies on the other hand are witnessing a trend where it is rising and intervention of technology in the same is enhancing its output.

Respondent 2

Time and cost being two main constrains in most of the construction companies present a huge challenge. The usages of the technology as well as various applications are helping to solve the same effectively along with enhancing the profitability. Therefore, I would support the usage of the IT software within an organization.

Respondent 3

The interventions of technologies in the companies are the main reason of unemployment in the nation. This statement was kept from the point of view of general public but being a project manager I would say that the profitability of the companies is also rising due to the usage of various utility application.

Respondent 4

If seen from the point of view of the economy, the usages of such products are doing both good and bad to the economy. I would rather say that in one hand, it makes the companies to utilize the resources to its maximum while on the other hand, it is creating job loss by doing various tasks itself. However, the cost for the company has been deducted by a huge number after installation.

Respondent 5

The overall impact of IT system on the construction company in my opinion has been very good as the probability of making profit has increased. It not only enhanced the functioning of the organization but also helped in team co-operation. It provided with the platform where the tasks of the company are well monitored and the cost can also be controlled.