Project Case Study
Project Management serves an integral portion of the overall affluence attained by companies. Firms invest in the PMO to ensure timely completion of projects, quality provision, and overall success of both future and current undertakings. Global Green Books Publishing (GGBP) case study dispenses a sublime tool for learning the importance of closing projects.
Importance of Closing out a Project
Closing of projects gives a chance for companies to develop clarity on plans. When starting projects, companies go to great lengths to ensure that they achieve all prior set goals and targets. Leaving projects open makes it difficult for employees and stakeholders to understand whether specific projects are still ongoing or not. PMO close projects to eliminate uncertainty among employees; for example, employees can move on to other projects once they know that the project is completely closed. Furthermore, stakeholders avoid making suggestions on the projects since they have clarity over the closure of the project. Overall, the company moves forward and shuns dwelling on past projects once they are pronounced closed. In Global Green Books publishing’s perspective, the company would develop clarity over the status of specific projects, thus making it impossible for the company to receive backlog or revisions of projects previously deemed as closed.
Closing projects provide an opportunity for the company to learn about their progress and plan for future projects. Closing projects requires companies to assess their performance for them to continue to the next project. PMOs develop a learning experience for employees and stakeholders. Employers learn about new ways of increasing their efficiency while stakeholders learn about ways of expanding the company’s productivity. GGBP understood the importance of closing cases since it discovered novel ways of dealing with other similar projects. Assessments conducted at the end of each project identified a trend that stood out in each project that the company undertook. The Project managers had the chance to develop solutions that would cater to similar projects and streamline GGBP’s functions.
Consequently, GGBP developed the ability to avoid unfavorable conditions beforehand. The assessment produces historical data, which companies use when performing risk assessments. Individuals find it easy to deal with situations identified when completing other projects. The identification of risk areas prepares companies for adversity, thus eliminating possibilities of unfavorable conditions.
Benefits of Closing Projects
Managers find it easy to hand over projects from one department to another since they have definite starting and stopping points. Many companies find it challenging to move a project from one department to another because of the lack of fluency. Efficient handover avoids mistakes and the development of a blame game between the various departments involved. Smooth transition reduces the risk of obstacles and problems stemming from the initial projects. Managers release employees to perform other tasks after closing projects. Employees receive assurance over the closure of the projects. Employees do not have to second-guess the closure of projects. Lastly, managers avoid the scenario of orphan projects. Orphan projects develop because of companies refusing to assess performance to create exclusive steps for after sale-services. Orphan projects do not offer unique services despite taking time to invest in the development process of the company. The delivery of an orphan product makes the company seem incompetent and incapable of delivering a complete project that does not require changes. The closing of projects enables the company to assess and provide better projects that do not have issues post-delivery. Customers and managers enjoy delivered products since they portray quality and satisfaction.
Lessons Learned
An essential part of any project is feedback and final assessment, which provides an opportunity for individuals to review the progress of the overall project. The uniqueness of a project assesses lessons instrumental in diffusing knowledge learned throughout the whole project. Most companies breakdown large projects into sizeable chunks that different departments work on; as such, employees do not receive sufficient project knowledge. During the process of closing down projects, all employees learn about the various processes involved in the completion of the project (Meredith, Mantel Jr, & Shafer, 2017). An assessment provides an opportunity for collaborating departments to learn about the obstacles and the lessons learned along the way. The lessons learned streamline the process of completing future projects. Employees are fully aware of the barriers experienced by other departments in the completion of the projects. Each department avoids making mistakes as well as complicating the project for other departments set to work on the project (Meredith, Mantel Jr, & Shafer, 2017). Additionally, companies that take on recurrent projects get a chance to increase productivity by reducing the cost and production time. Using lessons learned from previous projects avoids similar mistakes and reduces expenses. Using the feedback of the last project, employees devise novel ways of making the project more efficient than the previous one (Meredith, Mantel Jr, & Shafer, 2017). Employees get a chance to assess their impact on the process and come up with new methods that will avoid earlier mistakes.
Use of Lessons Learned
Team members use lessons learned as an opportunity to enhance their activities in the company. Team members use lessons for risk assessment and anticipation of scenarios expected when performing specific functions; thus, team members avoid repetition of mistakes. Team members find it easy to start new projects since they have experience from previous projects. Team members also get a source of knowledge for shortening the time-span when performing projects. Documentation of lessons learned makes it easy to get a source of reference for new projects that the employees perform. Project managers and the organization use lessons learned as a tool for aligning the functions of the company towards the overall objectives of the organization. Project managers use lessons learned when making decisions for the next phase of the project (Meredith, Mantel Jr, & Shafer, 2017). Project managers also ensure that the project meets customers’ and the organization’s objectives. The organization also ensures that the project meets requirements, and the contracts follow set guidelines.
Celebrating Project Achievements
Closing projects provide an opportunity for individuals to celebrate the successes of the project. The action offers the opportunity to increase motivation for the company. Employees feel motivated to work harder than before when they see that the organization appreciates their efforts. Celebrations also provide an opportunity for the organization to re-evaluate their activities and devise new methods of performing similar operations. Above all, the celebration increases motivation and job satisfaction among employees, project managers, and the organization.
Rewards and Recognition
Mohamad & Chia (2018) suggest that rewards and recognition play an integral part in motivating employees in an organization. The researchers add that all employees are not motivated by similar rewards, although monetary gain accrues a higher percentage compared to other forms of remuneration. However, the source of motivation is likely to change once individuals attain financial security (Mohamad & Chia, 2018). At this stage, monetary gain does not increase motivation, and recognition for activities performed becomes a crucial source for motivation. Overall, reward and recognition highly increase motivation among employees working on a project.
Pareto Chart
A Pareto chart is a select type of histogram that is used to analyze the quality condition, problems, and causes of the issues to the organization (Neyestani, 2017). The purpose of the chart makes it suitable for analysis of the issues facing the case study since it analyzes areas of nonconformity and develops efficient methods for use in the organization. However, Pareto’s analysis does not focus on the source of the problem plaguing the company. According to the Pareto principle, the chart focuses on the 20% source of problems that affect the majority of the company (Neyestani, 2017). Furthermore, the analysis focuses on the past, making it hard to make predictions about future outputs.
After analysis, the PMO would have to develop recommendations that increase efficiency. One of the proposals would include limiting the number of sick days that individuals can have. The policy would avoid people calling in sick whenever they feel like it. Another recommendation would consist of a policy fining customers making recommendations after a stipulated time. The policy would limit the number of recommendations making it easy for GBBP to close projects after the lapse of a specified period. Lastly, GBBP would have to specify a period inclusive of the maximum time that the company would have to wait for permission from other publishing companies. It would make it easy for the company to conduct its projects. The policy would have to work to inform other publishing companies of their time frame required for acceptance of permission making it easy for the company to work with set deadlines.
References
Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Shafer, S. M. (2017). Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Mohamad, N. H., & Chia, K. V. L. (2018). Impact of Reward and Recognition on Employee Motivation in Local Creative Industry.
Neyestani, B. (2017). Seven basic tools of quality control: The appropriate techniques for solving quality problems in the organizations. Available at SSRN 2955721.