Project Woody 2000 - Case Study Example

Executive Summary A comprehensive analysis of problems and issues encountered during the project Woody 2000 at Custom Woodworking Company as a result of poor planning is contained in this report. In many organizations, planning a project is not given due importance and Woody 2000 was no exception. Project Manager should develop detail plans for managing the project and make sure what needs to be done to accomplish the project objectives. It is considered good practice to make separate plans for scope, time, cost, quality, human resource, communication, risk and procurement, and integrated these into main project management plan. Introduction Custom Woodworking Company is small to medium sized furniture and cabinet making company. Considering lack of manufacturing space for efficient production, possibility of a major airport expansion and free trade opportunities, company initiated a project Woody 2000 with a vision of growth based on computer controlled automation. During the entire project effort, absence of systematic, methodological and detail planning, non-realistic and unachievable project budget and scheduled posed a number of risks and finally money was thrown in the project to somehow accomplish the project through crashing (Wideman 2002). Woody Project Failures During Woody-2000, systematic methodology for project selection was not followed. Scope of the project was neither clearly defined nor agreed upon and approved. No project management plan was prepared for any knowledge area. The catalogue descriptions and specifications for equipment selected, knowledge and awareness on local regulation and standards was lacking in the project. The schedule of the project was unrealistic and unjustified because no analysis was made considering the actual project requirements and on ground realities. The total project budget was not realistic considering the project scope. Funds for office renovation were not included in project budget whereas it was part of the project. The assumption that expenditure would be one million in each of the first and last months, with an intervening ten months at £1.4 million neither was verified nor planned to control cost. Project organization, roles and responsibilities, acquisitions, development and management of the team members was not planned resulting in restrained relationships among team members at the project site. Selection methods for hiring contractors, types of the contract and their implications were also not understood properly at Woody. During the project, risks were neither identified nor responses were planned to mitigate or eliminate their effects. Procedures to verify project scope, and formal acceptance and handing off of final product were not formulated. Recommendations Net present value, Cost to benefit ratio and IRR are good measures to select a project. All stakeholders, their tolerances and expectations should be identified. Scope of the project be clearly defined and planned and Work-Breakdown-Structure created. Based on WBS, an activity list should be formed and sequenced using PDM. Then resource and time estimates can be made using Resource Breakdown Structure and Resource Levelling to develop final schedule. Earned value techniques can be adopted for effective control. Work Breakdown Structure is a graphical picture of deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work. This does not mean that only customer deliverables are included in the WBS. All deliverables are included. WBS sorts out the project scope and divides the entire work into smaller, manageable parts. The details of work are more elaborated as we move down the levels of WBS. The lowest work in WBS is called work packages. An example of WBS is given below, which explains different levels of WBS achieved by decomposing the entire project work. In figure below, Project was divided into phases and subprojects each defined to appropriate level of work packages based on its deliverables required to formulate the final product, result or service. In Project Woody 2000, no WBS was created which is a required element in project management planning. It is worth noting that WBS is a basic tool for project managers to plan, organize, manage and control a project. Because of absence of the project, not all the deliverables of Woody 2000 were identified and thus project scope was not properly managed. Since no WBS was made so no work packages were identified, as a result project staffing, cost and schedule requirements could not be properly, realistically and confidently estimated. Since there were no work packages identified thus it made more difficult to identify risks and quality requirements for a deliverable. OBS provides a hierarchically organized depiction of the project organization arranged so that the work packages created in WBS can be related to the performing organizational units. Following is an example of OBS, which can be thought of a standard company organizational chart which includes company department heads and company structure. Such an organization chart is important for project organization to effectively manage a project. In Woody 2000 Project, no project manager was formally assigned to manage the project. Also no OBS for the project was made there position of any member in the project team was not explained and thus it hindered proper definition of roles and responsibilities and resulted in conflicts at the project site. After the OBS made, work packages identified, and job descriptions of the project team members have been clearly illustrated. Another important function is to develop a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM). RAM is a tool which assigns responsibilities to team members in accordance with the work to be done. Example below shows a table which is a type of RAM called a RACI chart because the names of roles being documented are Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform. The work that is required to be accomplished is shown on the left of table in first column while team members are shown in top rows. In Woody 2000, neither any project manager was assigned nor any project OBS was made to illustrate the roles and responsibilities of all the team members. Also absence of work packages failed to identify the deliverables and what exactly needs to be done and by whom to accomplish the work. As a consequence, no RAM was developed. This resulted in conflicts at the site when Leadbetter dealt directly with Amos Dent of Tinknockers Associates, the mechanical sub-contractor. Communication requirements, technology, methods and record keeping should be identified. Quality control and quality assurance tools would ensure conformance to the project quality standards. Risk identification, categorization and urgency should be assessed. Qualitative and quantitative risk analysis conducted and Risk Probability and Impact Matrix formulated to prioritize the project risks. Primary, secondary, contingency and fallback response should be planned. Risk re-assessment, risk audits and reserve analysis conducted. A risk register should be maintained to record all risk related information. Purchases and acquisitions, requesting and selecting the most appropriate seller should be planed. Administration of the contract and its subsequent closure procedure is important. Procedures for formally closing the project should have been defined. This includes verification of project scope, and formal acceptance and handing off of final product to the customer. Conclusion The main reason for the project failure at Custom Woodworking Company was acknowledgement and appreciation of the project management as distinct and essential skill for managing projects. Effective management plans for scope, time, cost, quality, communications, human resource, risk, process improvement and procurement and their re-verification throughout the project through continuous updates arising from changes in the project might have ensured success. An efficient and effectively designed change control system with features of integrated change control, realistic and achievable budget and schedule is must which was found missing. Risk identification, management and monitor and control, Communication requirements, human resource management, identification of regulatory requirements, quality management, product verification, formal approval and handing off to close the project should have been planned thoroughly. Reference List Wideman, RM 2002, ‘The Custom Woodwork Company- Woody 2000 Project Case Study’, AEW Services, Vancouver. American National Standard 2004, A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2004), Project Management Institute Inc., Pennsylvania. Mulcahy, R 2005, ‘PMP Exam Prep’, RMC Publications Inc., New York. Thomset, R 2002, ‘Radical Project Management’, Prentice Hall, New Jersy. Read More