Project Management BTECH 2007 - Case Study 2 A Nightmare project

Dear Students,
This is the second Case Study called " A Nightmare Project".Try your best.
Zainudin

Project Management

BTECH 2007

Case Study 2

A Nightmare Project

All in a day’s work!

One day the boss called me into her office and offered me the leadership of a high profile internal IS project. At first I was rather pleased with the offer but as I found out more about it I wondered whether it is such a good idea to accept it. The boss informed me about some of the background to the project.

"Look", she said, "it is a good opportunity to prove your project management expertise. However, there are a number of problems related to the project of which I should make you aware. In fact the project should have started a while back. The trouble is there was a major dispute that we were unaware of between the two user departments. The project failed to get off the ground because of a dispute between two user departments - yes you guessed it, it was finance and marketing. Both felt they should be responsible for it and because of personalities that clash the matter just got worse. There is, as you are probably aware a history of conflict between the two departments."

"Well, I see! Who will be the primary users of the system", I asked.

"The users of the system will be from marketing, but the thing is that the information produced by the systems will also be of use to finance and they will want to query the data," she continued.

"Before we go any further, can I ask what happened to Gerry, he was managing the project wasn't he?" I asked.

"Didn't you know? Gerry is off work with stress and won't be back for a good while, however it is not all due to managing this project so don't worry too much", she replied. "The project is really very high profile and is in fact critical to the company's financial success. Even the CEO has told the two departments to get on with it and sort out the problems. I know that if the project doesn't get moving he will be knocking on my door asking for an explanation."

I accepted the project position and was provided with a project update which is summarised below along with some of my own thoughts from personal observations.

The finance and marketing departments have now assigned someone to the project to define the business requirements. Although the two individuals are experts in their own domains and they appear to get on well together the key user has not been identified. In fact both Department managers still want to blame each other if anything were to go wrong. At this point no other resources have been allocated to the project.

I have been told that the systems should be completed by the end of the year. The problem is that this is only four months away. It seems impossible to have the system up and running in such a short time.

I have still have a number of concerns such as will I still have to oversee the maintenance of System Alpha which I have been looking after for the past year? This takes about ten hours per week to attend to but the work is spread over every day of the week. My planned leave later this month will have to be postponed.

The new project looks to involve the development of new software. It will also impact on existing systems and databases. A large number of screens will have to be updated so there is considerable interface work to be done.

The team allocated to the project consists of:

Two Analysts

Both seem competent and appear willing to do some programming if required. Their knowledge of systems development techniques is acceptable. Both are motivated and work hard.

Junior Programmer

Is enthusiastic but lacks the ability to work independently and so will need close supervision.

Contract Programmer

Was taken on a number of months ago to work on a different project. Has some ability but appears de-motivated due to uncertainties with his contract. He could be a real problem and be a threat to the project if his attitude goes any worse.

Overall, my guess is that I need extra resources but the project can be completed successfully. Any advice would be appreciated.

Questions :

1. What do you consider to be the major issues related to the project.

2. Can the project be made a success?

3. What action should be taken and what recommendations made?

4. Was I foolish for taking the project on?

5. What is your idea of a “Successful” Project Manager?

6. Do you think a Project Manager can make a difference to a given project? Why and how?