Page 245 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Notes


Case Study A Tale of Two Projects

A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects.
The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy
is strong. Large businesses are committing large amounts of capital and resources to
implement new strategies, establish new capabilities, and open new markets. It was no
different at PintCo, where Jack works as a Director of Customer Relationship Management.
Jack walked into work on Monday morning like any other. He dropped his briefcase in his
office, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down the hall to meet with his boss, Brandon,
about one of the company’s troubled projects. Although Jack had substantial experience,
he had only recently joined PintCo after being hired away from a chief competitor. He
was still learning about some of the nuances of his current employer.
After the typical morning banter, Brandon and Jack got to the topic at hand. “Jack, I’ll get
straight to the point. I need to you to take over the Customer Master File project from
Paul.” Brandon said. He continued, “We hired you because of your significant project
management expertise. I know that you’ve turned around a lot more difficult situations
than this.” Over an hour later, Jack emerged from Brandon’s office and set out to learn
more about the challenge that Brandon had posed to him.
Jack was an experienced business leader and project manager. He had seen more than his
fair share of ugly projects; some he turned around while others had spun hopelessly out of
control. He would be able to tell very quickly how this one would go based on the
makeup and culture of the project team.
1. Trouble Waters
Over the course of the next few weeks, Jack took over the Customer Master File
project, met with key project team members, and conducted dozens of interviews
with key stakeholders. It was only a few weeks since Brandon had handed the keys
to him for this troubled project, and now Jack was back in Brandon’s office to give a
rather stark update on the situation.
“Brandon, I’ve talked to the project team and to key stakeholders, and I know why
this project is in trouble,” Jack started. “If you truly want me to turn this project
around, I’ll need your support to make some critical changes.”
Brandon, a 20-year veteran at PintCo, knew what was coming. He had seen too
many projects start, flounder, and then fail at the company. He didn’t want to hear
that another project was on the brink of failure, but he asked anyway, “What did you
find out, Jack, and what can I do to help?”
Jack drew a deep breath and began to explain his findings. “Brandon, as you know
this project has been in flight for nearly 6 months now and it is already behind
schedule and over budget.” Jack went on, “In talking to the project team and other
stakeholders, I don’t see the situation getting better without making some pretty
significant changes.”
Jack’s experience helped him to quickly identify a number of critical issues with the
project, which he carefully outlined for Brandon:

 “The scope of the project is not well defined,”
 “The IT architects are sitting in their ivory towers and disagree with the
project’s direction,”
Contd...

240 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY