Problems Associated with Implementation of Vodafone Projects - Case Study Example

Running Head: Project Management Problems Project Management Problems (Name) (Course) (University) Date of presentation: Lecturer: A Report on Project Management Problems Introduction Project management presents an integrated structure for project organization, planning and control, which is intended to guarantee the appropriate and gainful production of all the end-products. Projects can, however, be derailed by various problems which may not only impact on timely completion of the projects but also on the project budget. Effective project management can be effective in explaining why projects run into problems give the modus operandi for circumventing the problems (Heyworth, 2002). Project management is viewed as the single most significant management improvements in the 21st century. The concept of project management is applied in varied industries and organizations such as construction, defense, pharmaceuticals, banking, chemicals, hospitals, advertising, accounting, law and governments, as well as, United Nations. Essentially, effective project management is a fundamental process that incorporates knowledge of leadership, strategy, culture, and business functions with the skills to understand and manage social, technological, and information systems (Heyworth, 2002). This paper discusses some of the fundamental problems associated with implementation of projects, their impact on projects and how they can be overcome. The discussion relates to implementation of telecommunication projects at the Vodafone Germany. Vodafone Germany is the largest and one of the most modern telecommunications companies in Europe. Based in Dusseldorf, the company has articulated core project management practices to become a one-stop innovative and integrated technology firm. The company has a wide and well diversified portfolio including mobile communications, internet, fixed network telephony and broadband services for private and business customers. Problems Associated with Management of Telecommunication Project at the Vodafone Germany 1. Uncooperative Human Resources Management of human resources is the most important problem associated with the project management at the Vodafone. The company has hundreds of employees and needs to train them consistently in respect of its projects. Low wages, lack of motivation and difficult working conditions are some of the reasons that have caused the company’s human resources to be uncooperative during project implementation. Project managers at the Vodafone are frequently faced with the challenge of adopting diverse points of view and have to make critical decisions to court the cooperation of workers. This problem impacts negatively on time management, as well as, cost management. Recommendation: Human resources need to be trained on the work procedures and as such project managers should incorporate appropriate recruitment procedures so that the human resources with the most appropriate proficiencies and aptitudes are employed in the project. According to Black (2006) over 80% of the cases of failure in projects are related to people (PMI, 2010). This means that the issue of leadership is critical for the success of any project. It is the prerogative of the project manager to bring a project to the desired completion, and therefore, a project manager ought to discover how to coalesce the attitudes of the personnel involved in the project. The first hurdle the project leader encounters is creating a strong and thriving project team. The project leader must appreciate that each team member in the project has diverse proficiencies and backgrounds as well as diverse interpretations of the importance of team work in a project. According to Heyworth (2003) there are seven established traits of effective project management including results orientation, problem solving aptitude, self confidence, energy and initiative, perspective, negotiating and communication ability. In a variety of studies on project failures and success, good communication, effective leadership, and the aptitude to operate under pressure in a complex environment have been found to be vital human resource skills necessary for project managers. According to Heyworth (2003) the people skills is requisite for effective project management. Other than the decision- making skills and technical knowledge, other skills needed include motivation and negotiation, communication, self-confidence, maturity and emotional consistency, a constructive and optimistic attitude, and lastly flexibility and broadmindedness for indistinctness and uncertainty. Effective leaders are not entirely relationship or duty focused in the actions they take but rather because they uphold a balance between these two (Heyworth, 2002). Alleman (2003) has recommended that organizations need to expand their human resource training programs to train project managers to produce an effective mix of values. What is imperative is the development of plans for allocating various persons to the diverse stages of the projects. For instance, more ideal ways may be required to evaluate the principles of various team members, as well as, project managers in relation to influence and power allocation, approach towards time and work practices. Such an objective technique could permit team members to decide on tasks that most appropriately correlate to their skills. 2. The Problem Of Implementing New Project Strategies Another important problem associated with project management at the Vodafone is the implementation of the project strategies. This problem arises from failure to take into consideration the unique facets and requirements of each project and leads to numerous sub-optimal outcomes. Ideally, successful completion of any project requires development of a strategy document. The purpose of the strategy document is to define the framework for project planning phase, which helps in facilitating project planning. Devising a fine strategy for an imprecise project goal may not be very helpful and this is what has caused most of the company’s projects to fail. Recommendation: This problem can be overcome by working out the most optimum strategy. Once the optimum strategy is worked out, it is followed out by planning on how to effectively execute the strategy. Some of the major steps in the design of a project strategy for success include determining the fundamental aspects of the project, familiarizing employees with the universal necessities of the project and the project stakeholders; understanding the environmental and legal setting in which the project is set to operate and shaping the management methodology and in agreement with the main project stakeholders (PMI, 2010). The challenges of implementing the decisive stage of any project arise from the fact that it traverses between the project delivery team and the project initiators. In the strategizing phase, the successful completion or failure to complete a project management is determined by how the management delivers on the actual goals of the project. Therefore, the decisive lynchpin for successful execution of a portfolio management structure is the approach by which certain aspects of the project are given priority and chosen within the portfolios (Black, 2006). Where there is precision, transparency and, objectivity the aspects that are selected can directly relate to the strategy that supports them. As such, the project managers at the Vodafone should institute mechanisms for prioritizing project needs and avail appropriate tools for assessing project needs (Alleman, 2003). 3. The Problem Of Developing Viable Success Assessment Criterion And Performance Indicators This is another problem that poses significant challenges to project managers at the Vodafone and impacts considerably on project quality management. Occasionally, project managers fail to define the capacity of project work teams or elucidate on what should be out of capacity. Furthermore, governance structures, functions and responsibilities fail to be spelt out spelt out. This makes it difficult to evaluate success and performance achievements. Recommendation: Smooth governance structures are employed with minimized reporting lines and easier procedures; uncomplicated spreadsheet-based tracking systems and communications plans should be established and implemented. The aim here is to provide clarity, and successful mechanisms to guarantee that project outcomes are attained on time, inside the budget and to highest standards (PMI, 2010). This identified a sequence of well coordinated activities whose aim is to guarantee effectual communication between and amongst project staff and project stakeholders Alleman (2003). It is imperative that case studies are developed to exhibit successful accomplishments, underpin the fundamental company values and create a distinctively shared culture; and lastly, work-stream leadership should be trained to maintain the delivery of demanding objectives and transfer know-how. The benefits which will be accrued by taking such an initiative include product alignment, process alignment marketing alignment and improvement of quality assurance. In many cases, successful project management bears the utmost impact on the clientele’s appreciation of an organization as a leader in cost-to-market, time-to-market and quality-to- market in their particular inventory of suppliers (PMI, 2010). The ability to achieve and surpass customer expectations by implementing projects successfully on a regular basis is the foundation for getting acknowledgement from customers. This is the fundamental objective of every project management team. Project managers and supervisors should acknowledge that project management is important for sustainable development and requires clear set objectives and goals and the mechanism for achieving them (Ammeter & Dukerich, 2002). As such, the volume of resources and staff allocated directly to the projects should be capable of overcoming any logistic and planning challenges. The project manager should clearly distinguish between their personal and achievable work objectives in collaboration with team members that possess requisite corresponding skills to support them. Conclusion Project management is an integrative process in which the omission or failure to take an action in case of any problem can as well affect all other areas of the project. Therefore, integration of the various activities is an essential process in project management. Projects can, nevertheless, be hampered by various challenges and problems. These problems include management of human resources, strategy implementation and performance measurement. The integration of project system is usually applicable to almost all projects because all projects are inevitably a system in one way or the other. System management theories give highlights on the interdependencies inherent between project elements and as such provide a way of thinking appropriate for effective project management. References Alleman, G. (2003). Strategies for Effective Project Portfolio Management. New York: Cutter Consortium. Ammeter A. P. & Dukerich, J. M. (2002). “Leadership, Team Building, and Team Member Characteristics in High Performance Project Teams”, Engineering Management Journal, Black, R. (2006). The Psychology behind True Project Success. Computing Canada, 32(6), p. 19. Heyworth, F. (2002). A Guide to Project Management. London: European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe Publishing. Project Management Institute (PMI), (2010). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Project Management Institute. Read More