Introduction
Effective project management is a crucial factor that determines the ability of an institution to meet its set goals and objectives. For management to be effective, it must meet the stipulated deadlines and stay within the assigned budget(Kerzner, & Kerzner 2017). Unfortunately, this is not always the case and projects, quite often than not, tend to lag behind. However, one must have impeccable skills to bring the project back to track once it lags behind. To pin-point this, the essay takes a look at a project pulled off by the municipal government of San Bernardino to lessen the rates of accidents that were really high, 16 per 100,000 deaths. $2.3 million was set aside to install units for an automated enforcement system within 14 months and Amanda Lancaster and Josh Cervantes were to oversee the success of the project. 11 months down the line though, only 8 units had been installed while the $2.3 million had been exhausted. Below is how they would have brought the project back on track.
Getting Project Back on Schedule
The first step to salvaging the project’s schedule is to determine the cause of the delays. As a project manager, I would first calmly examine the efficiency of the team, how complex the project actually is, and the working environment. When a member of the team fails to deliver then immediate termination and replacement will be emplaced. The second step would be to restructure and rescheduling of the project to enable delivery within the next 3 months. After this, I would implement presentation from the Iron Triangle for achievable goals (Harrison, & Lock 2017). Finally I would inform the team members of the changes and execute strict rules for adherence.
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Securing Additional Funds
Since the funds have already been exhausted, then it would be imperative that a request be made to the office of the mayor. With this, attachments of how the exhaustion occurred prior to project completion shall be explained to the letter. To ensure this does not happen again, I would revise the budget, create a plan on the use of the funds, baseline the created plan and ensure a balance in the quality, time and costs (Kerzner, & Kerzner 2017).
Key Stakeholder Wants Project Completed in 3 Months
With a total of 9 units to go, then it would only be sensible to ensure that at least 3 units are installed in a month. Focus will therefore be placed on the efficiency of the team and apt supervision. Rather than hire more labor, as it may raise the costs of the project, project tracking will be based on daily achievements (Williams et al. 2015). Inefficiency in the project will therefore be noted on time and swift measures taken to curb the issue.
Resources are Unavailable
Since the supplier of the equipment is not reliable, then a new supplier who is always available to deliver equipment will be hired. However, if it is imperative that the current supplier be transacted, then he or he has to conform to the new stipulation of always availing equipment failure to which he or she shall be held responsible. To those individuals who are unreliable to perform tasks, immediate termination shall be ensued since labor is readily available (Harrison, & Lock 2017). This would surely enhance the efficiency of the project.
Conclusion
From the dilemma faced by Amanda and Josh I have noted that, firstly, for a project to run on course with the stipulated deadline, then strict supervision must be imposed. Secondly, the competency of those hired, both employees and suppliers, must be researched thoroughly through tactful interviews. Thirdly, revision of the project budget prior to execution is vital so as to account for every probable outcome. Fourthly, as much as quality is key, the project should be cost-oriented (Williams et al. 2015). In this case, big decisions made on the project should greatly be based on costs. Lastly, planning is key to quality project achievements and time management. Therefore failing to plan is planning to fail.
References
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Williams, P., Ashill, N. J., Naumann, E., & Jackson, E. (2015). Relationship quality and satisfaction: Customer-perceived success factors for on-time projects. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8), 1836-1850.
