Multi Projects, Inc. Case Study

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CRANEFIELD COLLEGE OF PROJECT AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

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Table of Contents                                                                              Page

1.        Multi project case study        

1.1        Executive summary        

1.2        Current challenges        

1.3        Multi-Project Management        

1.4        Proposed solution        

1.4.1        Strengthening of the organisational structure        

1.4.2        Project human resources management        

1.4.3        Installing teamwork        

1.4.4        Strengthening of leadership        

1.4.5        Establishing a proper project communication management        

1.4.6        Implementation of the Project Management Office (PMO)        

1.5        Conclusion        

1.6        References        

1. Multi project case study

Executive summary

Multi Projects, Inc. company is about a well-established consulting firm with good reputation employed 400 staff. The company deals with number of projects and has Matrix organisational structures.  It has shown growth in terms of obtaining new projects as well as increasing staff number by 33%.

The company is experiencing challenges with regards to the organisational structures, assignment of staff to certain projects, keeping old clients and attracting new clients, teamwork. The challenges were demonstrated more between two project managers whom one is enforcing that the system engineer to be reassigned to his project. The issue was badly managed and created conflicts between the project managers and also the manager of system engineer.

The purpose of this document is to evaluate the case study given and propose a solution that demonstrates multi project management understanding. The report details the approach taken to propose the suitable solution. The solution recommends the establishment of PMO as it will also assist in terms of managing communications among and between projects and other part of the organisation. It is also recommended that Multi projects utilise the Matrix structure properly so that line reporting between functional managers and project managers can be clearly outlined.

Current challenges

• Prioritisation of projects seems to be lacking as Jeff thinks his project is more important than other projects.
• There are no clear and appropriate balance of power between project and functional managers. It is not clear in terms of who has to decide which individual can be spared on which project. This lead to disagreements between Jeff,  and Jennifer This was illustrated when Jeff demanded that Tyler be part of his project.
• There are no formal communication lines between various stakeholders in the organization as some were communicating directly with Jeff.
• Tyler was not open that he no longer wants to work on the Goodold projects as he feels that he is not growing and the job is no longer challenging. This shows that there are no personal development programmes in place and the jobs are not assessed.

Multi-Project Management

In a multi-project environment the projects share resources, such as personnel, facilities, infrastructure and top management, with the base organisation and use the same administrative systems, communication systems and control systems. Project documentation and the generic project process are sometimes standardised (Macheridis & Carl-Henrik Nilsson, 2006/8: 1).

For successful project management and resource allocation, Multi Project Company should follow the four ideas described by Fricke & Shenbar (2000) on (Macheridis & Carl-Henrik Nilsson, 2006/8: 1) article for management consideration in a multi-project environment:

• Project selection.
• Project classification, priorities, and policies.
• Resource allocation,
• Management skills. Develop management skills is related to knowledge transfer between projects.

Proposed solution

Strengthening of the organisational structure

Multi Project Company utilises the matrix structure as it carries out several projects simultaneously.  This has created some problems for Multi Project Company as there are no systems in place which prioritise projects in situations where there is a shortage of resources or resource conflicts. This was outlined clearly when Jeff (Project manager) wanted Tyler (senior systems engineer) to be reassigned to the Growin Corporation project whereas Tyler was still working on the Goodold Project which was at a critical stage. It looked like Jennifer as a functional manager did not really have power of what needed to be done.