HOW WICKED PROBLEMS IMPACT PROJECT MANAGEMENT CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT

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WHAT IS PROJECT?

A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim-Wikipedia

According to Project Management Institute-PMI Standard and Project Management Book of Knowledge-PMBOK Guide-6th Edition (PMI, 2008a, p. 434) , has its own definition and define project as ?“a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique project service or result.” Projects are temporary and close down on the completion of the work they were chartered to deliver. All projects have a beginning and an end.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT is define as a result of applying specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value to people or to the performing Organization to meet its strategic objective.

Every Organization aim is to plan and deliver their projects to meet the objectives for which they are been undertaken. This is done deploying?best practices in the implementation of project management to ensure successful delivery of their projects, using processes, methodology such agile and waterfall approach and techniques that work best for them, manage project and control the process involves.

How can we ensure execution of Project is cost effective, scope is maintain, and on budget? If wrong decisions are made problems arise and eventually cause delays and impediment to successful project execution. If not solved it might cause losses running into millions of dollars, not to talk of repetitional losses and severe consequences for some careers. In this article, I will highlight possible areas for project management practitioners to improve and optimize project execution, and eliminate losses due to poor project decision management.

With the availability of multiple resources,?project management tools , training materials, and flexible methodologies, companies are still wasting millions of dollars every year and are struggling to tackle the project management challenges and issues. Study published in the Harvard Business Review states that one in every six projects costs more than 200 percent of the estimated amount and almost 70 percent of IT projects face?project delays . It is the job of Project Managers (PM) to prevent that but in doing so they face a lot of challenges. 52% ?of project teams reported facing scope creep in 2021 and the trend is continuing upwards.

This study revealed that if all stakeholders are involved in the initial process, the project life cycle will become receptive to changes.

PROJECT METHODOLOGY:

Waterfall Project Management unlike the agile methodology, waterfall (or traditional project management) provides a more linear, approach that is less flexible once planning is completed. Basically, project team progresses from one phase to the other as they are concluded.

With this methodology, you rely on more detailed requirements as you move from the start of a project to its end. However, you don’t have the flexibility to make changes after your team starts working without carefully vetting them. For this reason, it’s a good choice you know how a project needs to go and what the outcome should be.

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??Waterfall Models

?1. SCOPE CREEP:

Is a natural and expected event that can occur in a project. Is a requirement that is added to the project during project execution or adjustment made to the original requirement documentation without following a define change control process of the Project management plan. These requirements were initially not documented, but it may appear beneficial, but the disadvantage or the risk of scope creep exceeds the advantage. These have an impact on project Schedule, Cost, quality and??Scope.?In 2020 only, about 52% of project team agree of facing and experiencing the problem of scope creep.?Stakeholders who do not know what they want, have vague requirements are one of the biggest project management challenges for Project Managers and the project team.

?How do we ensure this problem is solved, the solution is to employ proactively engaging with all project stakeholders, particularly during the planning phase, this can help and ensure you get their exact and proper requirements documentation as well as understand their expectations and needs. Additionally, planning both physical and human resource management accurately is key ensuring scope creep is control.?

?2. TOO MANY REPORT AND POOR PROJECT COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT:

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK??Guide –?6th?Ed.) states that “project managers can spend an inordinate amount of time communicating with the Project Team, Stakeholders, Contractors, Subcontractors, Customers, Business Representatives, Senior Leadership Executives and Sponsors. Is good to know that as a Project Manager, you spent 90% of time communicating to all Stakeholders and team members. What you communicate to Senior Business Executives will enable them make important and inform business decision. As a Project Manager you have to report project status qualitatively and on charts, do not bog your project down in paperwork with too many reports. Proper project Communication management is important for a successful project. You need to have timely and transparent methods of communication to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the process. You need to define all communication channels, all parameters, technology, tools, methods and techniques to carry everyone involved in the project. Because communication help to manage engagement and involvement of all project members. In a recent research conducted, Deloitte states that 32 percent of professionals believe that communication is the biggest issue of project management.

To ensure understanding of project communication, All Project Managers are advice to:?

·???????Avoid too many reports, this will mitigate miscommunication. ?

·???????Visit critical team members on regular basis and continue to do so.

·???????Motivate the Project Team members to make your message understood.

·???????Receive/understand the intended message.

·???????Exerting some control over the flow of the communication.

·???????Project Managers should often rely on various collaborative and project management software which are available in the market in order to ensure that everyone stays updated.

·???????Meet with people informally and ask how the project is going.

·???????Unless you are in a meeting keep an open door

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Too many project reports and status updates from the Project Manager

3. LACK OF CLEAR GOALS AND SUCCESS CRITERIA:

Clarity is one of the most important requirements for the successful completion of the project and the lack of it creates several project management issues. A study states that about 39% of projects fail due to the lack of?project planning stage?and no clearly defined goal.

It is also important for a?Project Manger?to come up with a way of quantifying project progress by setting up milestones and quality tests. In addition to helping team progress, having a clear set of objectives will also help project managers defend their vision in front of the upper management and the customers.

Overcoming Unfocussed Projects Goals

Popular approaches to goal setting like SMART and CLEAR can help a Project Manager come up with a set of effective goals right from the start of a project. This can help overcome the barriers, impediments and obstacles in project management. Additionally, one must keep in mind that not clearly defining project goals and the objective which are the outcome of the project deliverable is consider a big project mistake. Therefore, once you create goals and define the project objectives, make them obvious to project teammates. ?

Project Manager should also be proactive to ensure they not commit to:

???????Impossible projects lacking sufficient requirements.

??????Projects stemming from poor plans or lack of support.

??????Projects already in the works that have no line of sight to completion.

??????Projects that assume you will fundraise for them.

??????? Projects in which Managers are fighting with upper management to cancel or significantly modify a project. ?

?4. OUT OF CONTROL COST MANAGEMENT AND POOR BUDGETING:

No performing Organization want to wash Billions of Dollars due to lack of improper project cost management and estimating techniques. Research have shown that 75% of project failure in the recent time is as a result of lack of resource estimation. Research has further proof that 85.7% of most Project Managers consider financial issues as one of the biggest hurdles in effective project management. A study in 2017 revealed that 50,6% of manufacturing managers report costs as the biggest project management challenge they face. By efficient project cost management, a Project Manager can avoid various common complications a project may face and strive for better and quicker results.

?Why costs spiral out of control?

?????????Lack of skill or discipline in estimating cost in the original project plan.

?????????Inadequate detail in the plan that results in vague or inaccurate budgeting.

?????????Schedule delays that eat up more resources than anticipated.

?????????Change in the project scope that is not reflected in the budget updates.

To avoid cost out of control and budget spiral out, it is reasonably necessary to adopt a proper budgeting procedure. Project Manager should be knowledgeable and develop the skills to accurately estimate project funds and make realistic assumptions to avoid cost overruns. Planning the scope of any project must be done keeping in mind the budget in hand. Else, budget limitations could threaten the very success of a poorly-budgeted project. Like everywhere else, cost project management documentation is key.

Project Manager lacking proper financial skills in managing project budget and not observing the four primary phases of cost project management.

?5. THE CLUELESS STAFF AND INADEQUATE SKILLS OF PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS:

?Having?a great people who know what to do will ensure project success, with the relevant skills, experience, project management training and knowledge, and having a great team members?who do not know what they are doing in the displaying the job responsibility will pose threat to the project timely successes and deliverable. It is the duty of the Project Manager to ensure the right people made up the project Team, they have cross functional skills for project success, they are T shape project professionals, self motivated, self organize and can work in a team environment. As a project manager, you create the most ideal environment but if the team does not possess the necessary skills to tackle the problem at hand, your project is bound to fail. This is a huge project management problem that can only be solved with proper experience and foresight. Project Manager can pre-determine individual skills level, competency and define resource requirement during project initiation process. This can be achieve by collaborating with Stakeholders and Functional Manager.?

?Clueless Staff

?6. THE LIMITED ENGAGEMENT OF?PROJECT STAKEHOLDER?MANAGEMENT:

It is important that Stakeholders analysis is conducted at the start of the project to help the Project Manager determine the best way to identify, prioritize, engage, classify and manage the involvement level, interest, needs, expectations, those who will support the project to successful end, those will lead the project, those who are unaware of the project activities and those project Stakeholder that will be resistant to change. It is the job responsibility of the Project Manager to plan and define each Stakeholder communication method and requirement. It is also important for Project Managers to ensure that all the Project Stakeholders are on the same page and have a clear vision of the project. An uninvolved Stakeholder can cause a lot of problems in the final stages of a project so it’s important to consider the customer’s feedback and keep them updated throughout the project.Invite your client and other stakeholders to your project management kick-off meeting so they can actively participate in shaping the project and providing regular and periodic feedback. This further, ensures that you keep all internal and external stakeholders in the loop right from the project planning stage. Schedule regular meetings with all stakeholders and address their concerns as required and as needed.

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?Stakeholder Mapping Diagram

?7.?CHALLENGE OF?PROJECT UNREALISTIC DEADLINES

Having an impossible deadline is another project management challenge that can severely affect the quality of the end product or deliverable. Effective Project Manager knows the capability of the project team and negotiates the project schedule and timeline by prioritizing deadlines and project tasks. If project deadline is unknown to the Team members it can eat up more resource, and impose major risk to the project end date.

To overcome this project challenge, Project Manager can use tools and techniques as well as historical records to get more project insights into the end date.

?????????Implement a crash schedule to get tasks done faster.

??????Always consider faster alternatives when necessary. This ensures that any increase in scope (scope creep) during the execution of the project is either avoided or timelines modified as required.

??????????Consider the trade-offs in terms of other business priorities, use of resources and the cost of getting things done faster.

??????Frequent monitoring and controlling of deadlines by the project manager is a must.

The Project Stakeholder is reminding the Project Manager the deadline is soon.

?8. INSUFFICIENT PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT:

Is a subcomponent of the project management plan, which is define as the process of identifying,?planning for the risk, qualitatively and quantitatively rank the risk base on probability and impact analysis, manage the risk,?implement plan response, monitor and review the risk in the event it occur. Poor risk management?has the ability to cause a substantial impact on the organization. Whether it's the delay in the project schedule or not taking necessary steps in coping up with the threats – one way or the other?is something that no company, organization or firm can afford. The Project Manager need to define the type of reserve analysis of the identify risk. This could be contingency reserve which the project team has control over. The Team does not need to fill out the request form to access this kind of fund, basically is part of the project budget and cost baseline. The Management reserve, the project need to submit a formal request to be review by change control board. The risk identify in the life cycle of the project is escalated to the upper management. Project Team do not have control over this fund, thus need approval to access it.

The basic?methods?for?risk management include risk avoidance, risk acceptance, risk sharing, risk transfer, risk enhanced, risk exploit and risk escalate method.

To?identify project risks, project Team often employ best project tools and technique such as:

??????Interviews

??????Brainstorming

??????Checklists

??????Assumption Analysis

??????Cause and Effect Diagrams

??????Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

??????Affinity Diagram

Common examples of project risk include:?

Cost?Risk, which research has shown is probably the most common?project risk, which occur as a result of poor or inaccurate planning, cost estimation, scope creeping and not observing the primary phases of project cost management. Others include:

Schedule?Risk, Performance?Risk, Operational?Risk, Market?Risk, Governance?Risk, Strategic?Risk and Legal?Risk.

It is therefore, the job of all Project Managers to come up with alternate plans that the team may adopt if the project begins to spiral out of control. Having a proper project risk management system helps in identifying the types of risks and mitigating them. Having a contingency and management reserve plan in place is critical. This plan should identify all risks that the course of action to be taken if they materialize.

Tips to reduce the impact of common project management problems

??????Ask questions, listen and observe.

??????Communicate clearly and honestly.

??????Get a life, if the project life cycle is really a hell, step down from the project.

CONCLUSION ON THIS ARTICLE: ??

The techniques described here compels project leaders to identify and support the interest of the key groups . When interests that cannot be supported arise, the knowledge that they exist and what level of influence the stakeholder may impose can be a great asset to the project team. The difference between success and failure can be simply in knowing project advocates and opponents, understanding their respective needs and levels of influence and aligning the project accordingly?

This article further revealed that if all project stakeholders are involved in the initial stage of the project, during requirement documentation, and periodic review, employing lesson learnt, the project will become receptive to making change request.

Which other wicked problems in project management this article did not cover, please drop your comment on the comment session, do not forget to like, and share.

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