Challenges in Project Management
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Introduction
Since time immemorial, project implementation has never been an easy task to perform; however, the project managers and stakeholders are skilled (Rose, 2013). Although there are experts in studying project projections, it is still a challenge to come into smooth completion of the project since most of the obstacles are inevitable. Therefore the project managers opt to contain the issues. These arising challenges can either be staffing issues, the geographical location of the project, poor planning, poor leadership support and government policies on the project. According to the case study on the project in the Northern Jersey- Access to the Regions Coe (ARC), the stakeholders together with planning staff initially thought that the project could successfully come to a completion. After successful planning of the project, rambles set in and it later made the stakeholders call for a cancellation of the project. From the case study is noted that it is impossible to predict the successful completion of a project until you begin doing it because;
Inefficient guide on predicting required finances. During the planning phase of a project, it is easier to give an estimation of the required amount of money. The primary issue related to investments is when the project requirements are broken down, and resources are allocated (Pinto and Slevin, 1987). These will eventually contribute to cost overrun that might not have been catered for in the plan. The main reason behind cost overrun is
Design errors
Proper presentation of clients’ needs and blueprints of the project is often the most important base of the project design. Therefore, if the wrong project designs automatically result in the false presentation of project deliverables. Another cause of design errors is the fact that project design is done based on the produced models, which might also be having mistakes.
Administrative errors
Even with proper designs, it is still possible to have cost overruns if the administrators are not speeding to with the project progress. Similarly, if lines of communication among the administrators are limited, then issues that may arise will be noted when it is too late.
Hiring the wrong team
In other situations, it happens that the people who have been awarded the contract may not offer the right deliverable. This can be observed using the Work Performance Report generated from the Work Performance Data of the project. The clients will eventually opt for hiring new people who can offer better services (Rose, 2013).
Lack of a plan for change design orders
A change order may be necessary when the contractor realizes that the design they had initially made is not working as per the requirements of the expected deliverable. Such changes may call for additional finances and hence the cost overrun
Inaccurate estimation of the project
Since the project stakeholders are always eager for the project to start, they often make underestimation of the fund required for the project to come into successful completion. Due to the competitive nature of the process of bidding, the estimation may lead to the wrong scope of the work. Therefore, the planning staff needs to make an informed estimation to avoid extra costs.
Why Christie had to kill the ARC project
For a project to be complete, there should be a collective effort from the stakeholders, the staff, financiers and favourable government policies. For the case of the ARC project, it was wise to terminate the project because;
There were expected overrun as US transporters secretary Ray LaHood had pointed out using the experience of Big Dig project in Boston. The Federal Government, which had contributed more than four billion dollars for the project, made a declaration that they could no longer give any contribution towards the project again. This would eventually make the project to come to a standstill as the New Jersey Turnpike authority would be left to cater for the overrun on their own.
Similarly, the project planning had been revisited by US transportation secretary, and he had found out that the project could need more than one to four billion extra. Since the planning phase does not recognize possible overrun, the final cost of the project will lead to contradicting the initial planning.
It is getting out of control. According to the case study given, it is clear that the project was going out of control. It was therefore wise for the Governor to terminate the project. It is often difficult to contain a project which has already gone out of control. Their financiers on the other side had suspicion over the funds quoted by US transportation secretary.
How extensive infrastructure should determine the costs and needs before approval
All large projects such as ARC has to have criteria for determining the costs and necessity of the project before it is approved. However, the requirements should be within the scope of the project to avoid unnecessary evaluations (Pinto and Slevin, 1987). For that reason, the stakeholders should classify the costs of the requirements using relevant dimensions such as
Direct costs
This is costs that are directly related to the final deliverable of the project. They include the cost of raw materials, team wages, fuel for required equipment, and any other expenses that may address the specific risks.
Indirect costs
This is costs that are not directly attached to the final output of the project. They include the cost incurred in; project management, hiring security personnel and transportation costs. Indirect damages may vary even if the figures have been directly lifted from plan documents of other similar complete projects.
There is another cost, such as selling and distribution, which includes advertising and storage costs. These costs are often omitted since they may not seem to be relevant at the initial stages of the project.
When these criteria are taken into consideration, the future the project will come to successful completion as long as the need for the project is well defined.
Conclusion
From the case study on the ARC project, it is noted that it is not possible to predict the successful completion of a project until it is done. The project managers should, however, anticipate changes and be ready to cope up for the changes to avoid incidences where the project comes to a standstill. There should be proper planning that highlights the challenges that might arise right from the start to the end. The financiers, on the other hand, should be willing to finance the project in the event of an overrun. Similarly, if the implementation of the project plan gets to a point where the managers together with other stakeholders cannot proceed, then it is wise to terminate the project to avoid further waste of time and resources as well.
REFERENCES
Pinto, J. K., & Slevin, D. P. (1987). Critical factors in successful project implementation. IEEE transactions on engineering management, (1), 22-27.
Rose, K. H. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fifth Edition. Project management journal, 44(3), e1-e1.