Accounting Software Installation - Case Study Example

Accounting Software Installation Project Name: University: Course: Professor: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents i Abstract 2 Introduction 2 Success of the planning phase 2 Collaboration 3 Communication 3 Leadership 4 Problems during the implementation phase 5 Lack of collaboration and effective communication 5 Ineffective leadership 6 Solutions 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Accounting Software Installation Project Abstract The success of any project depends on the way the participants perform the planning, implementation and evaluation phases. While there are several ingredients that contribute to project success, key factors include collaboration, proper communication and effective leadership. This report intends to reflect on the strengths of the planning process in the project case study under examination. Additionally, the report will examine the challenges that threatened the success of the project implementation exercise. It will also discuss the actions that the participants should have taken to ensure that the implementation phase was as smooth as the planning process. Introduction According to “Kuen, Zailani and Fernando (2009, p.16), “Project mission, top management support, client consultation, technical task, personnel competency, client acceptance, trouble shooting, project plan monitoring and effective communication are among the critical factors identified.” The case on the installation of accounting software reveals that the implementation phase was not as smooth as the planning stage. The reader notes that ineffective communication, lack of teamwork and poor leadership hampered project execution. Success of the planning phase The case study reveals some strengths of the project planning process. There was collaboration, proper communication and effective leadership in this phase. Collaboration Collaboration is essential to the effective execution of a project. According to Yang, Huang and Wu (2011, p. 258), “Teamwork exhibits statistically significant influence on project performance.” Teamwork exhibits statistically significant influence on project performance Collaboration is impossible without stakeholder participation, which is crucial to project accomplishment. The project manager sought the participation of stakeholders in the project. This was essential in ensuring that the project outcome satisfied accounting software user needs. Chung ensured the representation of the needs of every company department in the project’s implementation. She did so by having each department appoint a task force that represented it in the project. In addition, the contractors who were going to implement the project contributed to the planning process by developing a work breakdown plan that incorporated material specifications, estimated costs and timeline. Moreover, Chung enhanced the participation of contractors, accounting managers and departments by organizing a training workshop. This exercise emphasized the need for project participants to share information openly and collaborate. Communication Effective communication is vital to the accomplishment of any project. Participants cannot collaborate if they are unable to communicate well with one another (Spencer et. al. 2011). This means that communication supports and facilitates collaboration during all project phases. In addition, through communication, the project manager makes team members aware of the project mission, objectives, as well as, directions (Kuen et. al. 2009). Equally, communication is essential in enabling project managers establish clear lines of command through which team members will air their grievances, as well as, contribute their ideas (Kuen et. al. 2009). In the case study, the project manager allowed every company department to select a task force that communicated the accounting needs it desired to meet through the new software. Further, contractors were responsible for communicating project specifications, timeline and cost requirements to the rest of the team. Additionally, the training workshop that Chung organized served as a means of communicating the essence of teamwork among the project participants. Leadership As the project manager, Chung demonstrated effective leadership during the planning process. Leadership is one of the factors that determine whether a project will succeed or fail. As communication supports collaboration, effective leadership also facilitates teamwork among project participants. According to Yang, Huang and Wu (2011, p. 258), “Increases in levels of leadership may enhance relationships among team members.” Moreover, through proper leadership, project managers, as well as, team leaders provide their teams with the necessary support for successful project implementation. According to Kuen et. al. (2009, p.22), “Top management also demonstrates support through communication to the project by responding to the resource needs requested by the team.” In the case study, Chung exhibited participatory leadership by creating opportunities for stakeholder engagement. A task force would represent every company department on which the project would have an impact. Chung sought the views of contractors on the project’s needs in terms of materials, costs and timeline. In addition, she organized a training workshop that would equip participants with essential skills and knowledge to make the project successful. When collaboration and communication problems got out of hand, Chung convened a meeting of all participants to address the weaknesses emerging in the implementation of the project. In so doing, she exhibited leadership by ordering team members to stop complaining and assume responsibility for the project. Chung asked the project participants to think about practical solutions that would ensure the rest of the implementation process did not fall behind schedule. She also demanded that team members collaborate to enhance the likelihood of completing the project. Problems during the implementation phase Unlike the planning process that was smooth, the implementation phase experienced challenges that threatened the execution of the project. Lack of collaboration and effective communication Two months into the project, problems began emerging. The participants were not collaborating effectively as they had learned during training. The conflict between the billing contractor and one of the task force members reflected a lack of teamwork and ineffective communication. The contractor refused to listen to the task force member, yet listening is a key ingredient of effective communication, which is equally essential for successful project implementation (Spencer et. al. 2011). The failure of one contractor to make and communicate his decision on coding caused further delay to the implementation of the project. Similarly, the billing contractor caused teamwork problems by refusing to consider the queries of the task force member. He ought to have listened to the task force member and allayed his fears by showing that they were unfounded. Alternatively, he could have asked the task force member for potential solutions to the concerns that he raised. Moreover, the consulting contractor could have discussed the problem with the project manager and other participants if he felt constrained to address the concerns of the task force member. Lack of teamwork emerged when one of the contractors in charge of consulting talked ill about the performance of a fellow contractor. The consulting contractor should have discussed the issue with the concerned contractor, as well as, the project manager instead of spreading gossip among the project participants. During Chung’s meeting with all participants, groups complained about one another, thereby, revealing disunity and lack of teamwork. The entire team had not met to discuss problems in project implementation. This reflected problems in collaboration, as well as, communication among the members of the project team. Ineffective leadership Perhaps, more significant is the fact that Chung failed to demonstrate active and effective leadership. She did not address the teamwork and communication problems the moment they arose. She showed concern, but did not take any action to solve them. For instance, when the task force member addressed his complaints to her, Chung referred him back to the concerned contractor. She did not investigate complaints by the consulting contractor when she heard him talking ill about a colleague’s performance. Instead, she avoided assuming responsibility for emerging weaknesses in the project. This is despite the fact that, as the project manager, Chung was in a leadership role, meaning that she was responsible for the ultimate success or failure of the project (Spencer et. al. 2011). Consequently, she had an obligation to assume the responsibility of her team’s inefficiencies. She also had the obligation to meet the project team needs, as well as, address their concerns. Chung’s ineffective leadership was also evident when she took no action on the accounting department’s report. The department’s supervisor informed her about the results of compatibility evaluations on the new software. She did not seek to know how the project team could upgrade the software. Equally, she did not consider replacing it to make it compatible with the accounting practices of Georgia division. Consequently, four months later, these issues degenerated into bigger conflicts that threatened to halt the implementation of the project. They were warning signs about the potential stagnation or collapse of the project. According to Kuen et. al. (2009, p.22), “The importance of top management support by being active shareholders throughout the project management and implementation state are strong factors that must be present to ensure a successful project outcome.” Chung should not have overlooked them because in so doing, she failed to demonstrate effective leadership. She took action extremely late, when the project was already two months behind schedule. She convened a meeting of all project participants. The meeting, however, revealed additional weaknesses in Chung’s leadership. For instance, there were complaints that the entire project team had never convened to perform risk assessment. This revealed a failure on the part of the project manager to meet all the participants and provide a forum for discussing the issues arising during project implementation. Another way in which the project manager had failed was in the delegation of authority. This led to the duplication of roles and efforts. One consultant complained that it was impossible to determine the persons in charge and their responsibilities. The implication was that the project manager did not assign roles clearly to team members, thereby, creating confusion about chains of command. This affected the effectiveness with which team members could communicate. Similarly, the lack of clear lines of authority may explain why team members did not get their complaints resolved quickly. Solutions Proper project management is essential to successful implementation. According to Kuen et. al. (2009, p.16), “If projects are applied and steps are not taken in order to manage them effectively and efficiently, the chances of failure are high.” The project team should have continued with the same spirit of collaboration, communication and effective leadership that they showed during the planning process. The project manager ought to have demonstrated good leadership to enhance collaboration and communication among team members. This is because the success of any project begins with the nature of leadership that the project manager exhibits. According to Spencer, Zimmerman and Abramson (2011, p.156), “Project managers must pay special attention to team building and effective facilitation of communication and collaboration.” In the case study, Chung ought to have been decisive and proactive rather than reactive. She should have addressed emerging problems early rather than waiting until they hampered the implementation process. In addition, she ought to have established clear chains of command by delegating authority and assigning roles to capable team members. Moreover, Chung should have convened the entire project team regularly to discuss their progress, in addition to, the challenges they were facing. Further, she could have fostered teamwork by organizing team-building and training sessions regularly. Such strategies enhance team learning through brainstorming and information sharing (Spencer et. al. 2011). Team members have to collaborate so that they can solve real or imagined problems. Consequently, the ability of team members to cooperate depended significantly on facilitation by the leadership of the project manager. Similarly, effective communication between team members depended in part on them, as well as, the project manager. In this light, the project manager had the obligation of encouraging team members’ freedom of expression, promoting knowledge sharing, creating communication channels and training them on effective communication skills. According to Kuen et. al. (2009, p.22), “Top management support is in the form of providing sufficient resources for the success of the project, sharing responsibilities with project team, communicating with project team authorities and responsibilities and supporting the project team in times of crisis or at unexpected situations.” The project team members were also to blame for the lack of teamwork and effective communication among themselves. Collaboration needs the coordinated efforts of team leaders and members to identify project challenges and solve them (Yang et. al. 2011). For instance, team members could have addressed their concerns through the established lines of authority, as well as, to the project manager rather than gossip among themselves. In addition, team members could have used informal meetings such as lunch breaks to share their project experiences, feelings, concerns, ideas and expectations. Such sessions would have fostered open information sharing in a relaxed atmosphere (Yang et. al. 2011). This, in turn, could have enhanced collaboration among project participants. Conclusion This report has shown that effective planning is significant but insufficient to guarantee the success of any project. Participants must support the planning process with effective implementation. In the case study analyzed in this paper, the planning process was smooth because the project manager and her team were able to collaborate and communicate well. Equally, the project manager exhibited good leadership. Unfortunately, the stakeholders did not carry the same spirit of effective collaboration, communication and leadership into the implementation phase. Consequently, the success of the project was at stake at only four months of execution. The project fell behind schedule due to the inability of participants to collaborate and communicate effectively. In addition, the project manager did not demonstrate quality leadership during the implementation stage as she did in the course of planning. Her leadership shortcomings aggravated the implementation challenges that emerged from the lack of cooperation and communication between project team members. The project manager ought to have exhibited effective leadership by addressing the team’s cooperation and communication problems early enough. This would have prevented their negative impact on the project. References Kuen, C, Zailani, S & Fernando, Y 2009, ‘Critical factors influencing the project success amongst manufacturing companies in Malaysia’, African Journal of Business Management, vol.3, no.1, pp.16-27 Spencer, D, Zimmerman, A & Abramson, D 2011, ‘Special theme: project management in e- science: challenges and opportunities’, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, vol.20, no.1, pp.155-153 Yang, L, Huang, C & Wu, K 2011, ‘The association among project manager's leadership style, teamwork and project success’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 29, no.3, pp.258-267 Read More