Novopay project
Novopay project is among the projects that experienced hitches in terms of project management. Similarly, project management is meant to trigger some fulfillment. Therefore, the fact that all the essential aspects of project management were dully done and failure to confer with the agreed timeline means that there are no clear and pure intentions of the project manager. Thus, through critical analysis of the Novopay project, it can be seen the loopholes and place whereby the project fell short. Project management requires keen and elaborate measures that seek to ensure the smooth transition of projects from one phase to the other. The analysis will also focus on the project management theory as the basis for proper and critical analysis. Therefore, this report analyses the Novopay project from the inception’s stages of the BPO model to the loophole of not delivered as expected. The analysis will focus on the mistakes made by the sole project managers and the company responsible for the same.
Description
Novopay project is one of the projects undertaken by the ministry of education. The project was meant to introduce a payroll system for the various schools, and the project was undertaken by Talent as the main vendor. Also, the New Zealand government is the sole processor of payroll processing service through the ministry of education for teachers and support staff. Therefore, this project was meant to introduce new systems that would help ease the mishaps experienced during the payout. As can be seen, most of the staff either received their amounts in full, and others did not receive the full amount, which leads to protest among the staff.
Likewise, the Novopay project was to be undertaken by one Talent 2 company as the sole winner of the tender. However, the company could not directly affirm that it can undertake the project; thus, it sub-contracted some two companies to help them achieve their set milestone. The two subcontracted companies were Asparona and Asssurity. Moreover., the project had some loopholes that indicated the lack of proper planning and execution on the part of the Talent 2 company and the project managers for the Novopay project.
Theoretical Framework
Based on the project management theory, it indicates the level of assuredness and the extent to which a company is prepared. According to the PMBOK, there are useful readings that guide and even show how project management should be undertaken. The extent and the duration for the project under which the company should adhere to in most instances. According to Koskela and Howell (2002), there is a considerable amount of time that allows for proper ways that the project can run without any interference. The authors further argue that the observable that are put in place for any project management should be measurable and predictable in the period of the project. Thereby, this implies that the use of project management theory, the analysis of the Novopay project, can be complete, and the loopholes of the project visibly noted down.
Analysis
The Novopay project fell short on the expectation of many, as the case study shows. First of all, project lifecycle should be used to determine the effectiveness of the company. As seen by the lifecycle of the project, the Talent 2 company had already failed to honor the agreement put in place. The company had no set-out capacity building to foster the project’s growth and implementation from the onset. Secondly, the company knew that it could not deliver the said project, and thus, it should have let go of the project. Furthermore, the queue theory stipulates that if one cannot handle a project by virtue of magnitude, they should let the company next in line undertake the said project until the suitable candidate for the project is found. Moreover, the Novopay project did not perform proper governance and leadership skills, which made it vulnerable to public trust and confidence. The project also lacked proper ways of accessing the extent of success.
Generally, there is the rationale that the project managers used, which was quite simple rather than a complex idea. Since the ministry of education wanted to change the software so that they can address the issue of failures and wrong input and collection of monies by the employees, it would have tested the efficiency of the software before rolling it out. The crucial stage of any project is the ability to have proper strategic decision-making skills and techniques. If the skill involved is not viable, then the agreed decisions would not match the skills of a project manager. Likewise, the project had so many loopholes and a lack of professionalism that ensured that the software could not be delivered at the required time threshold. There was also the aspect of not analyzing the expectation of the ministry requirements. The education ministry sort of outsourcing the services to companies that deal with software creation without doing a proper fact check on the said companies. During doing a project, the success of any given company relies on its ability to deliver its utmost projects in time. Furthermore, milestone achievements should be the first criterion for checking and validating any company for being awarded any government tender and projects. For this, the project and the education ministry failed.
Additionally, the new payroll was supposed to be online-based systems and designs. The introduction of the online system meant that fewer people were working at any given stage and eliminated the need to have errors. For instance, motions of the online platform that Talent 2 has undertaken are meant to strengthen the digital platform’s existence, which is enabled by the continuous use of technology. Taking into existence the theory of project Talent 2 and the ministry of education had to ensure that the work is done delivered the purpose of the business. However, it can be noted that Talent 2 did not fulfill the business’s purpose, which was the timely delivery of the Novopay software. Moreover, the time frame for delivery is what makes the ministry of education in New Zealand to be daunted with questions and doubts as it Offred opportunity to a company that was not ready to implement a part of the project, and thus, it subcontracted the same.
Besides the introduction of stages of a project, time management is among the factors that Talent 2 did not adhere to when delivering their work. As can be seen, although all the protocols were adhered to prior to the start of the project, there were still some loopholes that were not looked at by the contractor. A project such as Novopay is supposed to be scrutinized as well as analyzed throughout to ensure that it runs smoothly. However, this was not the case with the project handlers, the quickly and rationally chose to engage Talent 2 company without looking at their success levels and their deliverable timeline. Most of the projects do have milestones that are supposed to be met within the stipulated timeline, and if they are not met, then it sparks some fear of the unknown to the project managers. Thus, the failure to look at some of the desired outcomes proves that there was some form of bias in the project, and due diligence was not followed to the latter in this case by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Additionally, looking at the chunks of work as per the PMBOK guide, it stipulates that some activities and tasks are divided for ease of work. If the project’s deliverable is not adhered to, then there will be mitigation measures to ensure the smooth transition. Likewise, among the mitigation measures that the ministry of education had to undertake to ensure that failure is not appropriate, including but not limited to the fact that Talent 2 had already failed. For instance, the prolonging of the implementation program by a further eight months created confusion between the members, creating some hitches. Also, the introduction of two parallel programs running simultaneously made it possible for the whole project to delay. Although the mitigation measures were meant to create some form of time for the project, there was no clear motive for the delay as it contradicted the milestone achievements.
Consequently, the actions of having new measures that ensured the smooth transition of the new project failed to adhere to the timelines set. Further on, the was no need to engage in a new system as the existing system could be upgraded as in most cases. According to the oversight done by the PwC, there was no need to engage another business for the said project management as the initial one could be fixed and upgraded. In most instances, payroll is crucial for many governments, and thus, the creation of a new one has to be similar to the one in use. This is because a similar feature would be easier for employees’ to adapt to as well as learn. However, the inception of technology ensures that some of the feature shown by the payroll has to be futuristic and modern. The ministry decided to do a BPO (business process outsourcing) ensured that they had flopped the regulation set by PwC for in-sourcing system strategy.
Furthermore, time management is another set rule that the ministry did not foster much during the signing of the contract. The time stipulated for the delivery was supposed to be not later than a year, but that was not captured as Talent 2 failed to deliver in the said time. Thus, it becomes known that time had to pushed and extended to meet the new required estimated timelines. These changes further threatened the delivery of the project, and it sort to disrupt the project cycle. Time management in any given project is essential as it sets the record for any given deliverables. Thus, it rules out any form of incompetence on the business. However, the project lifecycle of the Novopay was marred by inconsistency to some extent. The findings of the project prove that there are so many discrepancies that the Ministry of education and the Talent 2 company did, and it affected the outcome of the project.
Nonetheless, from a theoretical point of view, there is so much that needs to be addressed by both the ministry of education and Novopay project management. The management and scope of management failed to adhere to the set-out guidelines by the PwC. The initial scope of management entailed the use of a perfect payroll that was timed and website based. However, failure by the company to adhere to the rules and guidelines created a need to revitalizes and improvise on the deliverable by the ministry. Moreover, the designs and operation by Talent 2 company were not marked out as they are good in making plans, but they are poor in implementing the same. The ministry also did not get a clear mandate and had a soft spot for Talent 2 company, which later on compromised the whole ministry.
In summation, the Novopay project had its fair share of failures and loopholes. If only the ministry could have held into account the recommendation made by PwC on why an upgrade and insourcing is better than outsourcing. Further on, insourcing provides better ways of enhancing business and also minimizes cost while outsourcing is costly and not time friendly. Thus, the PMBOK and the theory of project management have listed the possibility of time-based management as well as project-oriented strategy. Additionally, the queue theory stipulates that one company’s failure should allow the next in line to occupy the space left. Further on, the existence of the project as a BPO rather than an insourcing process is what made the delay in the project. Nonetheless, looking at how the business models are and the compromise of the ministry of education, there is a clear indication that the case study of the Novopay project never fulfilled the aims of project management. The analysis has shown the loopholes and the contradiction in the fulfillment and implementation of the project to the latter.