Advantages of Adopting the Project Management When Refurbishing a Hotel Organization - Term Paper Example

REPORT: The advantages of adopting a project management approach for the planning and control of a hotel refurbishment project Table of Contents 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 3 2. Advantages of project management…………………………………………….. 3 3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………. 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY REPORT 1. Introduction It is a relatively commonly-understood fact that the process of refurbishing a hotel can be a complicated process which involves many stakeholders, including customers, internal staff members, individual project leaders, and various construction staff and construction managers. In many cases, small- and large-scale refurbishment projects, from a project as simple as adding a new spa area for guests to a complete overhaul and renovation of existing architecture, can be disruptive to active guests and to the internal staff as well. Because of these difficulties, regardless of the scope of the refurbishment project, adopting a project management approach can streamline the renovation activities and ensure that all aspects of the project are coordinated from a management perspective. This report highlights the advantages of adopting the project management approach during the hotel refurbishment activity. 2. Advantages of project management During the refurbishment efforts, the needs of the stakeholders must be considered to ensure that the hotel still maintains competitive advantage (especially in terms of satisfying customers). Additionally, the entire refurbishment process requires the administrative efforts of a single individual (or a single group of leaders) who maintain responsibility for the entire project. Creating this type of hierarchical leadership scenario within the project will ensure that all members involved in the refurbishment process are accountable for the individual responsibilities and have a singular point-of-contact to report on their activities or communicate problems with the process in order to avoid miscommunication or project failures which are over-looked. Drescoll (2008) suggests that preliminary planning for the project is most crucial in the project management phases, by clearly establishing which stakeholders will be actively involved in the refurbishment process and the specific capacity of their individual or group responsibilities. The author suggests that an appropriate project management approach requires the project leader, prior to the actual start of the project, contact various departments and stakeholders to discuss the most appropriate channels of communication (Drescoll). These channels may include distribution of mobile devices for instant communication of project failures, internet and other online mediums, or any other method of communication which can provide instant opportunity for resolution or assistance in the face of problems. It appears that this aspect of project management maintains a significant advantage as it prevents delay in communicating vital issues between project leaders and ensures that the refurbishment project remains fixed against a set timeline for completion. Because the expertise of various construction experts will generally be required in a hotel refurbishment project, regardless of the scope, it is suggested that the construction manager is added to the team as quickly as possible during preliminary planning efforts (Stys, 2007). The construction manager is responsible for the efforts of any construction crew member assigned to the renovation project, therefore this is the most appropriate point-of-contact for handling issues with worker performance or failure to adhere to specific hotel expectations regarding the refurbishment. This suggests that the preliminary steps in the project planning establish the appropriate contacts, who will report directly to hotel leadership, to ensure that there are no misunderstandings regarding how to handle the chain of command on the project. A hotel refurbishment project which does not adopt the project management approach may not have a set group of accountable individuals and no preliminary communication channels set, thus the project can lead to cost over-runs due to inefficient channels of discussion which lead to project completion delays. Stys (2007) again suggests that preliminary discussion, as part of the project management approach, should involve discussing not only the most vital aspects of the project but also a communication of ambiguous details of the project. By ambiguous, the author is essentially suggesting that a successful project management approach takes a form of contingency approach by recognising issues such as construction crew/hotel staff interactions or the psychology of human behaviour expected during the process. Details such as whether or not the crew will have access to hotel facilities during the refurbishment process or how to handle staff disagreements during the project will identify potential roadblocks to successful project completion and create the appropriate policies and procedures necessary to handle these. A refurbishment project which does not isolate and discuss potential issues will likely have considerable staff performance issues which are not handled quickly and by the right parties until they become of crisis status. This preliminary planning event is supported by two project management experts who offer that “projects often have unforeseen interruptions that disrupt progress leading to uncertainty”, such as how to handle delays in the delivery of needed project materials (Hallgren and Wilson, 2007, p.92). What all of the aforementioned preliminary suggestions offer is that by taking a project management approach, both expected and unexpected situations can be considered ahead of time and allow for a concrete method to handle these problems can be established. Thus, when a project begins to experience delays due to materials delays, staff interaction problems or even customer-related complaints, there are as many potential solutions already on the table for how to handle these problems to avoid costly delays or budget crises. Additionally, Stys (2007) again offers that the project management approach, and its ability to establish the appropriate leadership responsible for managing the project, allows for a single individual (as much as possible) to be on-site during all phases of the refurbishment. This will provide a single individual or group to understand, first-hand, how the project is developing and discuss with the generic crew members or hotel staff any issues which are causing them concern. In many respects, the project management approach allows for more intensive human resources focus by allowing the leader to consider issues of human psychology and offer encouragement to those who might be frustrated or concerned about how the project is progressing. This individual can act as a mentor for not only the hotel staff under his or her responsibility, but also the construction crew or other external project individuals to create positive relationships and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Additional experts in project management reinforce the necessity for a project management approach when citing that “every construction project is unique with its own problems” (Matsumoto, Stapleton, Glass and Thorpe, 2005, p.84). Because of this, the authors suggest that the management of knowledge is key in the project approach to avoid continuous problems. It is suggested, from a senior executive perspective, that when selecting the appropriate project manager, issues of experience and knowledge should be considered prior to making the selection for leadership of the refurbishment event. Can the chosen project leader draw on personal experience and knowledge to elicit effective problem-solving techniques? This is a key factor which will determine whether or not the project can be effectively managed based on whether or not the chosen leader maintains skills related to human behaviour, managing external crew members or the ability to coordinate routine meetings to discuss potential issues in the project. A hotel executive who selects a project leader without recognising these factors will likely have significant problems, long-term, with getting the project completed successfully. Essentially, choosing a leader simply because they are a good hotel manager is not quality criteria for leading the refurbishment effort. The project management approach ensures that top leadership of the renovation is skilled in multi-disciplined knowledge and abilities. It is also possible that many people in a refurbishment project, which has not adopted a sound project management approach, will not clearly understand their roles, responsibilities and obligations during the course of the effort. The project management approach clears up these potential misunderstandings by clearly enacting a structured hierarchy of control by which all members are expected to comply. For instance, the leader may determine that only the construction manager should effectively handle the efforts of his or her own crew and should not involve themselves with internal staffing concerns at any capacity. The project leader may also create this hierarchical structure and post it for all members of the refurbishment project so that when a specific issue arises, each person on the team understands which channels to refer to for resolution or assistance. This project management approach avoids micro-managing or conflicting decision-making occurring which creates more conflict or problems in the long-run. This structured hierarchy is part of the knowledge management process and avoids gaps in communication between different project members (Lin, Yeh and Tseng, 2005). Another significant advantage of the project management approach for this type of project is that it elicits cooperative behaviour. One expert in this field suggests that “the best results occur when planners and other participants demonstrate respect for each other’s perspectives and priorities and thus are able to negotiate compromises (Lam, 2006, p.238). The aforementioned statement essentially suggests that by simply adopting a project management approach and continuously reinforcing the necessity for teamwork, it creates a sense of team unity whereby all members of the project realize that their own responsibilities are tightly-interlinked with other members. By respecting individual activities and cooperating, the project can be completed within the expected timeline, within budget, and avoids excessive disruption to any guests who might be impacted by refurbishment efforts. It is important to maintain, especially to the staying guest, professionalism in all phases of the project in order to not damage the reputation of the hotel or create negative word-of-mouth advertising against the facility. A hotel project which does not promote teamworking and cooperative behaviours will likely experience a wide variety of issues which could have easily been handled with a team-focused attitude. The management of risk, additionally, is another significant advantage of the project management approach, including any potential risks such as cost, time, quality or the impact on hotel reputation (Smith, 1999). A solid leader who understands the practical implications of a project of this magnitude will recognise that human attitudes and individual motivation to perform will impact the project significantly. The leader of the project should also be versed with the skills necessary to coerce or convince others on the team that certain financial expenditures related to the refurbishment project are solid investments and maintains the expertise necessary to promote his or her logic on the issue. A project management approach identifies risks, both tangible and human-related, and consistently takes a systematic approach to identifying risks and convincing others on the team that these risks are either acceptable or unacceptable whilst achieving compliance against their own judgments. A hotel refurbishment project which does not identify risk or have the leadership necessary to spot these issues will likely have considerable conflicting viewpoints leading to excessive expenditures or project completion delays. Finally, the project management approach allows a leader to consistently scan the project environment and determine whether or not certain roles should be combined during the project (Haynes and Robin, 2002). For example, even though the architect and the construction manager are generally independent of one another in different project phases, the leader may determine that a meeting should be scheduled with both parties to isolate any concerns about the design of the project. This is also inter-linked with clearly communicating status so that each project team member recognises the scope and importance of their unique role function (TenStep, 2009). The leader can properly engage both the architect and the construction manager to reinforce their leadership importance in the group, but also clearly establish that despite their management of their own crews, they each ultimately report to the leader as the final decision-maker. Both blending and segregating roles, when appropriate, appears to be a very large advantage to the project management approach. 3. Conclusion Clearly, there are significant advantages to adopting the project management approach when refurbishing a hotel organisation. This approach allows for preliminary discussion of potential issues, as part of contingency awareness and contingency options, in the event of expected or unexpected problems which might occur during the renovation phases. It is likely that without such an approach, the project will be plagued with one problem after another which can only lead to budget failures and human resources issues due to ineffectual communications or unclear leadership hierarchies. The project management approach also appears to create value in relation to the impact of customer perceptions on the professionalism and expertise of the hotel crew by avoiding potential publicised behavioural issues which might lead to reputation damage or a dissatisfied guest stay. The project management approach takes into consideration all of these risks and works consistently to promote respect, unity and cooperation during all phases of the refurbishment to make sure that goals are aligned with renovation strategy. It appears that there are so many advantages to adopting the project management focus in a project of this magnitude to ensure that financial concerns are kept to a minimum and that there is a solid plan of action already in place for contingent situations. By adopting a singular individual who manages all of these functions it avoids miscommunication and ultimate confusion about where to turn in the event of frustration or confusion about a project phase or event. A hotel which does not adopt a project management focus for refurbishment is likely only setting themselves up for one disaster after another, in a variety of situations. Bibliography Drescoll, Michael. (2008). ‘Your Route to the Top: Maintain Momentum’, Management Today, London. Feb 2008: 15. Hallgren, M. and Wilson, T.L. (2007). ‘Mini-muddling: Learning from project plan deviations’, Journal of Workplace Learning, Bradford. 91(11): 54-56. Haynes, P. and Robin, Allison. (2002). ‘Microsoft Solutions Framework’. White Paper. http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/7/e/87eeff7e-05d2-418a-900d- 4896ae4e20db/MSF%/20Team%20Model%20v.3.1.pdf. (accessed 8 Mar 2009). Lam, Louisa M.C. (2006). ‘Meeting the challenges of expansion and renovation in an academic medical library: A case study of the Li Ping Medical Library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’, New Library World, London. 107(5/6): 238. Lin, C., Yeh, J. and Tseng, S. (2005). ‘Case study on knowledge management gaps’, Journal of Knowledge Management, Kempston. 9(3): 36-50. Matsumoto, I., Stapleton, J., Glass, J. and Thorpe, T. (2005). ‘A knowledge-capture report for multidisciplinary design environments’, Journal of Knowledge Management, Kempston. 9(3): 83-85. Smith, Nigel. (1999). Managing Risk in Construction Projects. Oxford, Blackwell Science. ISBN 9780632060092 Stys, Brian. (2007). ‘Build it right’, Restaurant Hospitality, Cleveland. 91(11): 54. www.proquest.com. (accessed 9 Mar 2009). TenStep. (2009). ‘Manage Communication’. http://www.tenstep.com/open/6.0ManageComm.html. (accessed 9 Mar 2009). Read More