Multi Projects Inc. Case Study

Executive Summary.

This submission is based on a case study of Multi Projects Inc. Multi Projects Inc. is an organization with 400 employees, has many projects going on at the same time for various clients most of its clientele come from previous business and the success has been great. The organization operates in a Matrix organizational structure yet it does not utilize this type of organizational structure to its fullest potential. Multi Projects Inc. has two projects that been awarded namely the Goodold Company project and Growin Corporation project, both these projects are at different stages in the project lifecycle.

The Goodold project is at implementation phase and the Growin project has just been awarded.

The project manager of Growin project; Jeff Armstrong does not display the characteristics  of a team player which is one of the possible causes of the problems, there is also a lack of leadership, no formal system to facilitate an effective problem project organization and no formal communication lines between various stakeholders in the organization.

In this particular scenario other problems identified are;

1. Lack of project priotisation,
2. No clear and appropriate balance of power between project managers and fuctional managers,
3. There is inefficient utilization of resources,
4. There is a great display of dysfunctional behavior by individuals.

Possible recommendations as to what and how change should be affected are provided in order to drive conducts which are favourable when considering effective project leadership.

Introduction.

In the case study of Multi Projects Inc. The organization presented is a company that provides consulting services and has employed 400 people it has a Matrix organizational structure,  the company has a number of projects going on at the same time and in this particular scenario the company has been awarded two projects;

The Goodold project which is currently in its implementation phase, the project has a very good project team and amongst them is Tyler Bonilla, a systems engineer with a very credible record and the project manager, Julie Capriolo who has been with the firm for 2 years.

The Growin project has just been awarded to the company its project manager is Jeff Armstrong who has worked on the project’s proposal with Tyler Bonilla, Jeff Armstrong has been with the company for a year.

Jeff Armstrong displays unfavorable behaviour when it comes to the selection of his project team and there are also a number of factors contributing to his behaviour, the contributing factors are;

• Lack of project priotisation,
• There is no clear and appropriate balance of power between the project managers and functional managers,
• Inefficient utilization of resources,
• Lack of team building strategies,

The possible causes of these factors are;

• Lack of leadership,
• No formal system to facilitate effective project integration,
• Limited or no operating guidelines,
• No formal communication between various stakeholders in the organization.

Possible solutions to address the organisation’s dysfunctionality and to conduct solid project leadership are;

1. The creation of a Project Management Office (PMO)
2. Team building and development,
3. The effective utilization of the Matrix Organisational Structure
4. Communication.

The creation of a Project Management Office (PMO).

The Project Management Office is an organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of the PMO can range from providing project management support functions to being responsible for the direct management of a project.

The establishment of a PMO will help Multi Projects Inc. in the following ways;

1. It will reduce of projects failing to deliver to time, cost and quality targets.
2. Will increase the success of projects and programs in delivering the business value expected.
3. Make more efficient use of project resources by utilizing a “shared service”
4. To make use of scarce skills and resources across projects and programs

According to Dai and Wells, the six main functions of a Project Management Office are but not limited to:

• Creation and maintenance of standards and methods,
• Centeralised archive of lessons learned,
• Project Administration support – facilitation of project website, special meetings, war room, Project Management software support etc.
• Providing Human Resources (HR) and staffing assistance such as identification of proper person for the project,
• Project Management consulting and mentoring on methodology and dealing with expectations,
• Providing or arranging Project Management training.

The Project Management Office must not be expected to be a standalone unit, for there must be a strong links between the objectives of the PMO and other Management function outside the PMO.

A typical risk when implementing a Project Management Office is the possible resistance of managers who hold some or part of responsibility of the functions that will be assigned to the PMO. Managers and employees who own and organize budgets and have their own managing process may not want to transfer their responsibilities to the PMO. The timing, communications and format to be used in the development of the relation between the PMO and functional management is very crucial when managing tensions.

Functional Managers should be re-assured in their responsibilities and areas of collaboration with the PMO, whatever the desired resulting structure needs to be by all parties as of benefit to their own functions and to the final objective of improved project performance.

Before moving ahead with the planning process, Multi Projects Inc. must firstly set the priorities of the deliverables and services of the PMO, assemble a planning and implementation team that must include all stakeholders.

Laying down project management processes will be the next major task. Project management processes should be designed to guide the project managers in the performance of the project, project management processes need to adoptable to meet the needs of any project. The project management processes of the organisation’s PMO must be based on the standards or best practices such as PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a very vital function that must be adopted by the PMO. Multi Projects Inc. will turn to project portfolio management to manage their entire portfolio of projects.