Week 7 Checkpoint Solutions
1. Will project management work in all companies? Why or why not? Provide examples of
companies or industries to support your answer.
Answer – Project management would be very useful to implement in companies that does their work as
‘projects’, where a project is defined as a well defined set of work with a start and finish date. However,
for companies or industries that do their work on an ongoing continuous basis, and have a very
functional focus, project management would not be the best approach to implement. Examples of this
include companies like Johnson and Johnson that is into research and development of new medicines or
industries like banks or insurance companies where majority of their operational work would be on a
transactional basis interacting with customers. In both these examples project management would not
work as the functional and business unit structures would help the companies bring in focus and
expertise needed that is needed to do well. However, even within these companies, there might be
need for project management in certain areas for instance of they are developing a new IT system or if
they are planning for a new office building, which are some initiatives that can be taken up as projects.
2. Consider a project in which all project planning is performed by a group. After all planning is
completed, including the program plan and schedule, a project manager is selected. Is there
anything wrong with this arrangement?
Answer – The project manager is one of the key stakeholders for effectively tracking and implementing a
project, and ideally he or she should be present right from the start of the project. If the project
manager is not there right from the start of the project, he would not have a detailed and overall
understanding of the objectives and scope of the project, and will take a lot of time to get the context of
the project. Moreover, he would not be able to bring in his planning inputs and ‘own the project plan’
that would be key to him owning full responsibility of project delivery. In this case, as the project
planning, schedule and other key aspects are already completed, the project manager is just being
bought in to implement someone else’s ideas, which can result in sub optimal implementation and lack
of ownership and full understanding of the project. Therefore, as per the right arrangement, the project
manager should have been identified early and should have been involved throughout the planning
process, as he would be the person who would be implementing and tracking it, and hence needs to be
involved in these activities.
3. The director of project management calls you into his office and informs you that one of your
fellow project managers had a severe heart attack midway through a project. You will be
taking over his project, which is well behind schedule and overrunning costs. The director of
project management then "orders" you to complete the project within time and cost. How do
you propose to do it? Where do you start? Should you shut down the project to re-plan it?
Answer – Given the situation, I would agree to take up the project but would try and set realistic
expectations with the director on what is possible and what is not. I would first try and take an
assessment and analysis of the current state of the project, what are the key issues, how behind is the
project on time and costs, and have a meeting with the team to discuss these. Post this, I would come
up with an assessment on current state and a plan how the project can be brought on track. It is possible
that additional resources and cost may be needed to bring it on track and to minimize impact on project
objectives. I would then have a meeting with the director, to discuss the plan, take his inputs, approvals
if any on things I may need and then implement the project. I would not shut down the project to re
plan it, as it might lead to further delays, but I would give priority to and expedite the planning and
analysis so that the action plan can be implemented as soon as possible.
4. Do cost overruns just happen, or are they caused?
Answer – Cost overruns are caused. There are multiple reasons that lead to cost overruns such as 1)
Incorrect estimations on the amount of effort needed to do the task, 2) Improper planning due to which
the work is not properly allocated or organized, 3) Delays in tasks on critical path leading to subsequent
delays and hence more time and cost needed, 4) People with insufficient or incorrect skills on the
project, 5) Lack of effective leadership by the project manager, and lack of coordination and
communication in the team. These and many such reasons all lead to costs being more than planned,
and by addressing these, and using best principles of project managed, cost overruns can be effectively
and efficiently managed.
5. Once the functional manager and project manager agree on a project schedule, who is
responsible for getting the work performed? Who is accountable for getting the work
performed? Why the difference, if any?
Answer – One the functional manager and project manager agree on the project schedule, the project
manager is responsible for getting the work performed and the functional manager is accountable for
getting the work performed. The project manager is responsible for end to end delivery of the project,
and would ensure that project tasks start on the right time, all the pre requisites and infrastructure are
available and people know what they have to do. He would also be tracking project progress and would
be responsible for ensuring that the tasks, activities and work has been completed as per plan and
schedule. On the other hand, the functional manager is more concerned about the effectiveness of the
work and the quality of the work that is performed, as he would be responsible for ensuring that right
skilled and trained people are able to deliver functionally and technically what is responsible from the
functional department. The functional manager would hence be accountable for the quality and
effectiveness of the deliverables, and ensuring that the activities being performed by the functional
team members are being done in an effective manner.