Introduction
Managing a project means being able to coordinate the work of several teams and make sure that every single member has unique roles and responsibilities (Sanghera, 2014). Apart from the aforementioned element, the process of project management involves the need to manage the communication processes that occur at different stages of the key tasks completion (Schwalbe, 2013).
Despite the fact that the project had clear goals and a rather cohesive measurement system, the lack of control over the organization behavior, and the communication process has led to drastic changes in the project development, therefore, triggering the concerns that jeopardized the success of the project.
Project Schedule and Cost Management
Schedule Compression
Although the first several stages of following the stages outlined in the schedule were quite successful, Vagra still failed to attain any significant results, as the second part of the schedule was compressed in an unreasonable manner. Seeing that the compression was a response to the fact that the project members started defaulting on their deadlines, an improper scheduling strategy should be named among one of the basic issues within the project.
Cost and Schedule Variances
Much to Vagra’s credit, the approach developed for addressing the schedule variances can deemed as fairly reasonable. Allowing Vagra to handle changes in the deadline for various stages, it created the flexibility that the project needed. The cost strategy, however, did not include the possibility of delays, which caused major losses once delay started occurring.
Project Conflict and Team Management
Project Conflict
The communication processes, which occur in the environment under analysis, are clearly the weakest aspect of the project. Indeed, a closer look at the subject matter will reveal that the conflict management issue leaves much to be desired. Not only do the project managers fail severely at deriving essential lessons from the communication issues that the staff faces, but also are incapable of resolving a basic conflict (Brown, 2013).
The communication mismanagement, therefore, can be viewed as the primary problem of the organization. Seeing that a proper information transfer is crucial for maintaining the project’s viability, the lack of decent communication skills posed a threat to the existence of the project.
As the case study shows, the conflicts between the team members have never been addressed, which has led to people bottling their emotions and focusing on their personal issues instead of striving to attain progress within the project.
Team Management
As it has been stressed above, the conflicts that emerged in the team were handled very poorly, which means that the team management within the organization was extraordinarily bad. The specified feature of the company can be interpreted as the key stumbling block to the project’s progress, as the mismanagement a the team members’ actions triggered an immediate streak of arguments among the project members.
The fact that Vagra, the project leader, does not like being involved in a conflict, aggravates the situation to an even greater degree, leaving the staff to handle the emerging communication issues on their own. While it could be argued that team members should address communication issues independently, the team leader still has to provide them with a model for the problem-solving and peace-seeking processes. Vagra, in her turn, uses the avoidance tactics for handling a conflict (Binder, 2012), which affects the entire team in a very negative manner.
Stakeholder Engagement and Resource Allocation
Project Manager Communication and Stakeholder Engagement
The incorporation of IT tools for improving the quality of the communication process between the project stakeholders could be viewed as a major improvement of the situation that Vagra found herself trapped in. However, introducing these tools to the team members is not enough for making the project processes flow in a more elaborate manner (Baugh, 2015).
Human Resource Allocation and Management
Even though the case study does not provide any actual data regarding the problems of the current HRM processes within the organization, the project obviously lacks a proper allocation of its resources. Although the staff can be deemed as rather qualified and, therefore, knowledgeable enough to deliver good results, the project still fails. The problem in question can be attributed to the wrong concept of roles and responsibilities distribution (Management Association, Information Resources, 2013).
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the overall approach adopted by Vagra could be deemed as viable, the project cannot be considered successful and needs major changes, as its communication strategy is deplorable. By creating the environment, in which the team members had little to no idea of how to carry out basic communication processes, Vagra set the premises for the project’s untimely demise.
It could be suggested, though, that the overall course of the project could be changed and that the situation could be improved with the establishment of a different leadership strategy. By assuming the role of a transformative leader, Vagra could set the model for the team members to comply with when they face a complicated dilemma or find themselves in a conflict.
Additionally, a more coherent information management approach could be viewed as an improvement. Having modern IT tools for getting data across is not enough; the team members must be taught to use these tools efficiently.
Reference List
Baugh, A. (2015). Stakeholder engagement: The game changer for program management. Roca Baton, Florida: CRC Press.
Binder, J. (2012). Global project management: Communication, collaboration and management across borders. Burlington, Vermont: Gower Publishing.
Brown, D. M. (2013). Designing together: The collaboration and conflict management handbook for creative professionals. San Francisco, California: New Riders.
Management Association, Information Resources. (2013). Software design and development: concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications. Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
Sanghera, P. (2014). CAPM In depth: Certified associate in project management study guide for the CAPM Exam. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.
Schwalbe, K. (2013). Information technology project management. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.