Page 190 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 11: Future of Project Management-I

Notes
5. Got the team talking, regularly and frequently!
6. Attacked the most important issues and most critically behind challenges first

7. Quickly and honestly reset any customer expectations, if necessary
8. Communicated regularly and directly with the team and with project stakeholders
Of this process, there were really two critical success factors:
First, he needed to push the long lead time items that had been missed, getting them in
motion with expedited speed and escalated priority. In this case, that was circuit orders
and equipment budget approval and orders.

Second, we needed to start communicating. The team wasn’t talking amongst itself, no
one was talking to the customer and vendors, and it was killing the initiative. Establishing
a project team e-mail chain, twice-weekly brief status & problem solving meetings and
customer-focused status summaries made a huge amount of difference! The team grew to
understand the big picture and was more productive with group accountability for their
deliverables.
There’s a fine line that a project manager must walk with customer communication. On
one hand, I believe in honesty and transparency related to project status. On the other
hand, he feel that alerting your customer every time there is an issue can be
counterproductive, it creates a Chicken Little “the sky is falling” mentality. My choice is
to maintain issues documentation that customers can review if they choose to – but I only
alert them of the issues that have a high probability of impacting the end result – time,
scope, quality or budget.
Was the rescue effort successful? The project is still unfolding, it’s due to wrap up at the end
of the month. At this point, it seems to be back on track, with all planned components
scheduled to complete on time. The customer is happy with progress and the project team
members are pleased to be part of the effort.
Question

Analyse the case and discuss the case facts.
Source: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/rescuing-a-small-project.html

11.6 Summary

A particular and major breakthrough was the development of “network analysis” and the
concept of “critical path”.
Today, we have a much better understanding of the holistic aspects of project management.
Over the last two decades, there has been much study and discussion on the contents of the
project management process.
While both craft-work and brain-work projects encapsulate all the attributes of project
management, brain-work projects such as software and management systems nevertheless
require a different focus.
In short, there is a split between thinkers and feelers and the impact on project work should
not be underestimated.
Today, the pendulum of management thought has swung towards “participative
management” which is the buzz word for corporate management’s attempt to bridge this
gap.

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