The company ProCon is engaged by the Vella IT office fitouts for investigating the current status of the project. It is the responsibility of the company to identify and determine the corrective action required for improving the performance of the project team working for the Vella IT office. The major building or the construction project at Vella IT Office comprises of four levels that is designed in order to house 200 people, accommodating 50 people on each floor. The report incorporates the current status of the project including the variance in the cost and schedule of the project. The style of leadership of project manager of the Vella IT is autocratic and the report gives an overview of the leadership behavior and its impact on the project. The report further recommends a preferred leadership behavior of the project, which will be targeted or suggested for the recruitment of the new project manager (Burke 2013). He existing team environment and recommendation for the changes in the work processes and policies are discussed in the report. The detailed analysis of the current project situation is elaborated in the following paragraphs (Heagney 2016).
The project aims at developing a fitout of four levels for accommodation 200 people. The budget allocated for the project is $1.2M. The project schedule was of four months with the start date being 1 March and completion date being 30 June. However, on evaluation of the current status of the project, it is fund that still a lot of work is left unfinished. It is now 1st may and not even half of the work is done as per the plan and set schedule. There is a huge variance in the cost and schedule of the project. The Vella Office Fitouts are in charge of the developing the entire fitout, and the project consists of furnishing, plumbing, electrical, data and telecom infrastructure. According to the original schedule of the project, by this time, the major works should have been completed, which includes completion of the work on ground floor, completion of 50% work on first floor and second floor. The work on the top floor is yet to commence. However, on evaluation, it is found that there is a huge variation in the current project status with the plan (Martinelli and Milosevic 2016). The current project status states that only 75% of the work in ground floor is completed, which should have been completed entirely. The work on the first floor and second floor is 25% complete, which should have been complete by 50%. However, the work on the top floor is 50% complete ahead of the schedule (Larson and Gray 2013). Out of a budget of $1.2M, $675K has already been spent.
The schedule variance according to the status report collected on 1 May is as follows (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017)-
|
Scheduled Task |
Actual Completed |
Deficit |
|
Completion of works on ground floor |
75% works completed |
-25% |
|
50 % completion of the work on first floor |
25% completed |
-25% |
|
50 % completion of the work in second floor |
25% completed |
-25% |
|
The work on top floor is yet to commence |
50% work completed |
+50% ( ahead of schedule) |
Cost variance
|
Allocated budget |
Money already spent |
Money left |
|
$1.2M |
675K |
525K |
Although the top floor is ahead of schedule, overall not even the 50% of the works are completed. The data indicates that more than 50% of the allocated budget is already been spent, which indicates that the project might need a budget revision.
The project manager of the organization Tony Faultier was a belligerent and bullying project manager and was lazy in his work. The project manager was intolerant to his team members as well and was an autocratic leader who would not listen to anyone. The project manager has left very little reliable records and therefore, the new project manager would need to source some additional information in order to produce the detailed status report of the project. This information include the number of active members of the team, the rate of work completed each day, the amount of work that is completed each day in the past months, the amount of overtime work that is required to complete the project on schedule. Apart from this, the detailed information about the bonuses offered is necessary to manage the workers in making them work overtime (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). The work on the top floor is being initiated and implemented not in accordance to the scheduled plan of the project. This has resulted in a number of problems, such as accidental leakage from the plumbing causing damage to the fir out in the first floors. Therefore, proper information about the leakage and the damage is essential in developing a proper plan for mitigation of the damaged caused and the additional works that is needed to be completed due to the damage.
Apart from these initial requirements, it is essential to identify whether there is any communication and project monitoring plan. If not, the new project manager requires to develop a proper communication plan in order to effectively communicate with the project team members (Schwalbe 2015). Apart from this, proper monitoring of the project is required in order to keep a track of the daily project progress. The new project manager should make it clear to the tea, members that the daily project progress should be reported to the project manager via a preferred communication channel (Grunig 2013). This will not only help in keeping a track of the project progress by will also help in producing a detailed and a regular status report of the project.
As a project manager and a leader of the project team, Tony Faultier was seen as a belligerent and bullying. Furthermore, he was lazy in his own work and was intolerable and impatient to the team members. He showed autocratic leadership behavior (Ojokuku, Odetayo and Sajuyigbe 2012).
Organizational Zoo model helps in preselecting the behaviors of the appropriate and the desired outcome associated with leadership. The model states that it is important to have a proper communication with the team members in order to enable stronger relationship development. The different stages of the organizational Zoo model includes reflect, plan, do and observe.
Tony Faultier showed autocratic leadership style and never participated in active communication with the project team members and the stakeholders associated with the project. Tony Faultier’s behavior was completely different from that stated in the organizational Zoo model (Bhatti et al. 2012).
The recommended leadership behavior for the new project manager is democratic and strategic leadership behavior. Democratic behavior is suggested as according to the organizational zoo model, it is essential for the project manager to have active communication with the project team members and the conversation is very essential in every step of the project cycle (Sanders 2016). For that, the project manager needs t develop a proper communication plan for the project team members. This should be coupled with regular project meetings (Roche 2013).
Furthermore, the project manager needs to show strategic leadership as well in order to complete the project within the set schedule and the allocated budget (Schoemaker, Krupp and Howland 2013).
The suggestion of following an organizational zoo model in the project leadership is enables the project leader and the team members in preparing a proper and effective project plan. The recommendation of the democratic leadership for the new project manager to be recruited is justified as the previous project manager was autocratic in nature and for that, the entire team and the project are largely affected. The major consequence of autocratic leadership is that the project was not executed according to the project plan. Therefore, the new project manager should incorporate the views and ideas of the project team members in the decision-making process.
The current team environment is not suitable for successful completion of any project. Tony Faultier never involved the team members in decision-making process associated with the project leading to the execution of the project outside the project plan causing damage to the project. Furthermore, a former senior manager of Vella Office paid the project manager for completing the work on the top floor. This is illegal and therefore, it can be safely presumed that the working environment of the VellaIT office is not suitable at all.
Recommendations
A complete change in the working structure is recommended for the organization. A proper communication plan will help the team members to engage in a proper communication with the project manager. Regular meetings and conferences can be held where the team members are able to share their problems with the entire team. Furthermore, regular monitoring of the project is essential for improving the project performance.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the Vella IT should hire a democratic project manager who will guide the entire team in successful completion of the project. The report identified the loopholes in the project and variance of the cost and schedule. The report discusses the different changes that is required in the project team and recommends the solution for ensuring proper project environment for successful completion of the project within the schedule.
The scenario highlights one of the major causes of the project failure that is improper leadership and project management. I think it was not appropriate for the project manager to work out of the plan for his own personal benefit. Use of the organizational zoo model for analyzing the current situation of the organization is a good approach. The autocratic leadership behavior shown by Tony Faultier was not acceptable. It is the quality of a leader to lead the team for successful completion of the project. The new project manager should understand the importance of the democratic leadership and its importance in successful management and implementation of a project. I believe that it is an essential quality of a project manager to be fair towards the team and the project. Tony Faultier thus failed as a project manager and therefore finding a proper replacement of Faultier is an essential need.
References
Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G.M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M.A. and Shaikh, F.M., 2012. The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction. International Business Research, 5(2), p.192.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Grunig, J.E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C., 2013. Project management: The managerial process with MS project. McGraw-Hill.
Martinelli, R.J. and Milosevic, D.Z., 2016. Project management toolbox: tools and techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.
Ojokuku, R.M., Odetayo, T.A. and Sajuyigbe, A.S., 2012. Impact of leadership style on organizational performance: a case study of Nigerian banks. American Journal of Business and Management, 1(4), pp.202-207.
Roche, H. ed., 2013. Successful Knowledge Leadership: Principles and Practice. Ark Group.
Sanders, M., 2016. Leadership, partnerships, and organizational development: exploring components of effectiveness in three full-service community schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 27(2), pp.157-177.
Schoemaker, P.J., Krupp, S. and Howland, S., 2013. Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard business review, 91(1), pp.131-134.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
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