The Ohio Department of Human Service - Case Study Example

SUCCESS CRITERIA al Affiliation) Table of Contents Introduction 3 Success Criteria 3 The examination of the project output in relation to the outcomes of the business. 5 2. Parallel balance 6 Conclusion 8 References 8 Introduction The project of Ohio Department of Human Services’ Email Software Upgrade was a culmination of; sponsorship of the project and its management, the description and the business needs, the project scope, the methodology of the project management as well as the role of the manager. The key aspects of the project focused on three main criteria. This were time, performance, and cost. At the end of the project, there are feedback that was revealed by both the stakeholders and the consumers. Some of those feedback forms the background for this lesson learned document. Success Criteria It is evident that there is some varied aspect of the projects that did not meet the desired goals. For instance, the Ohio Department of Human Services did not meet the original timeline that was indicated in the charter. Further, the budget that was originally allocated for the project was exceeded, a situation that poises challenge to the organization. This paper will try to explore the lessons that have been learned from the project. This will be directly discerned from the direct feedbacks that have been noted including; the fact that the deliverables that were supposed to be observed by the Worldview vendors were late by between ten and thirty days in different variable. Further, the study will also examine the successes that the project realized at the end of the project life. It is a clear fact that sometimes projects would be delivered in time and even meet the objectives that were presented in project charter, and yet the project may still not be regarded as successful according to the stakeholders. There are several aspects of a project that needs to be examined in details in order to quantify and measure a success of a project. These criteria usually revolve around the cost that was involved in the project as well as additional cost in the project which was initially not budgeted for. It also includes time of delivery of the project. Delivery time of a project is usually a very important aspect that must be examined in relation to the expectation of the stakeholders, which was also indicated in the project charter. Away from time and cost, criteria of examination of a project should also focus on the scope of the project as well as the quality of the project. From this end, the paper will try to highlight a number of ideal criteria that need to be in a project charter and further examine three basic criteria that ought to have been included in the project charter. This will include the quality of delivery, benefit realization, end users satisfaction, as well as meeting the criteria of governance. The most important aspects of a project understand that there is a very clear connection between the cost time and scope of a project since they determine the output that the project would realize. It is because of the determination of the project output that sets the three components of time, cost and scope (also known Triple Constraint) from other factors such as stakeholders and customer satisfaction; end user adoption, benefits realization, as well as meeting of the governance criteria. This is because these other remaining factors are directly related to outcome of the entire business. Though there has been a high dependency on the triple constraint as the main criteria in evaluating a success of a project, study has revealed that exploiting other criteria goes a long way to determine a success of a project. This is majorly because overreliance of the triple constrain may narrow the perspective and ultimately hinder the project’s success. Considering the dynamics of the projects environment, Project managers need to respond to their ever changing needs and demands particularly in broadening the criteria to adopt in order to satisfy consumers and stakeholders as well as improving the deliverables to the business. This project has necessitated a rethink on of the design that was originally proposed specifically by giving the triple constrain prominence in the project charter. There are a number of perspectives that clearly present a more promising result, which no doubt would have changed the project’s perspective. The first perspective that this paper will try to examine is: 1. The examination of the project output in relation to the outcomes of the business. Even with the focus laid on the triple constraint, it was important that a reflection made on the original decisions that were made on the project, based on the achievement that was desired on every decision that was made on the project. Even though time and cost was stringent and could be seen as a failing side of the business, there was a need to optimize the two to ensure that the benefit that came as a result of the completion of the project was desirable. This would be one of the reasons as to why the consumers liked the outcome and new potential users demanded for the same project. Scope needs to be grounded on the potential of the adoption by end users. It is also important that the overall quality of the project reflects and balance the satisfaction of both the consumers and the stakeholders. Figure 1.1 below demonstrates the reflection of the project output vis-à-vis the outcome of the business. Figure 1.1 below: Reflection of the project output vis-à-vis the outcome of the business 2. Parallel balance One of the ways that the charter needed to have observed is a parallelogram perspective of the project. At this point, the charter needed to have observed the balancing that was taking place between schedule and the scope of the project as well as a parallel view between the benefits and the budget. In trying to look at the benefit of the project, it would be necessary to examine the benefit in relation to the existing project objective, that were indicated in the charter and in this case was to incorporate significant improvements that the previous software didn’t have, and with the end purpose having been envisaged to be improving the quality of the network infrastructure of the state of Ohio and provide an excellent service within the next 6 months. Other aspects that need to be examined include the adoption by the end users and the satisfaction of the customer. From the feedback of the project, it could be said that though there was deficit in the budget that necessitated increase of money that is; a total of 1.56 M used as opposed to the planned 1.25 million, the customer feedback was overwhelming based on the quality and satisfaction. Figure 1.2 is a demonstration of parallel balance. Figure 1.2: Parallel balance 3. from the constraint triangle to diamond of opportunities Another view that should have been considered in the charter is appreciation of other criteria through what would be referred to as a diamond of opportunities. What diamond does in this perspective is to examine and combine the two most important aspects of the project, which are the project strategic outlook as well as the output of the project. What happens in this case is that the two aspects are examined alongside each other. This is the time when crucial considerations need to be observed including compliance with the governance regulations. The multiplicity of the diamond would enhance the ability to bring on board the multiple perspectives as well, which would have aided the success of the business. Many organizations now adopt the multiplicity aspect of project implementation particularly on the realms of safety security and environment. Figure 1.3 below is a representation of movement from the constraint triangle to diamond of opportunities. Figure 1.3: from the constraint triangle to diamond of opportunities Conclusion Inclusion of other criteria rather than time, cost and performance is a very critical aspect of project. This ensures that expansion of a project is effectively enabled. It will not only ensure that a project realize the profit it desires, but will also provide a ground for satisfaction of the stakeholders as well as the consumers. The Ohio Department of Human Service had implemented the project successfully. Though adoptions of other criteria were not given importance, the project feedback was able to provide satisfaction to the targeted consumer. Further, the turnover was reported to increase which was an indication that there was an outstanding quality as the project outcome. . References Furman, J., & Bordoff, J. (2008). Path to Prosperity: Hamilton Project ideas on Income Security, Education, and Taxes. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Lester, A. (2007). Project Management, Planning and Control Managing Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing Projects to PMI, APM and BSI standards (5th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann. The future of project management: the first PMI forecast and assessment of the future of the project management profession and the future of the Project Management Institute.. (2007). Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Insitute. Nemiro, J. E. (2004). Creativity in Virtual Teams Key Components for Success. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Young, T. L. (2013). Successful Project Management (4th ed.). London: Kogan Page. Read More