Effective IT Project Management - Case Study Example

? Apache Metals, Inc. Case Study Introduction Apache Metals is an incorporated company that deals with manufacturing metal equipment for different industries. The company has been facing issues with their project management team thus making it incapable of getting funds from donors for running their projects. The company’s production lines are tailor made to suit customer’s requirements, application and the industry, but because of inefficient team managers, the company has been failing to receive funding. The project managers for each of the production lines have been failing on their job and the senior management has contributed to the failure of the project managers. The fact that project managers can come from anywhere within the company is causing the problems experience in the company. Not everyone can act as a project manager because the work is technical and it requires special skills for a company to achieve excellence (Heerkens, 2007). The assigned project leaders in this company take care of too many projects at the same time, which causes inconveniences for the firm. It is not possible for a project leader to deal with as many as ten orders because each order requires considerable amount of time to be accomplished effectively. The company at one time appointed trainees to oversee the running of the operations leading to poor results. Financiers analyze projects and their management to determine the need to offer funding for the company. Therefore, it is important that directors of Apache Metals concentrate on project management to receive the funding. Literature and research review Apache Metals seems has been failing on its project management and it is only after failing miserably that the company began to take keen interest on project management. Project management involves planning, organizing, and managing resources in the most effective and efficient manner to achieve stated goals for the company (Lock, 2007). A company’s board of directors is involved in determining the best people that can execute the project and appointing the project managers. Successful project managers should ensure that they manage resources, time, scope, and the finance of the project efficiently (Lock, 2007). These elements are essential in ensuring the company gets funds other projects and renewed contracts because of good management of the above elements. The scope of the project involves the objectives of the project and the budget in terms of money and time for achieving the stated objectives (Rosen, 2004). Not every person in the company can be a project leader because of the skills required in the job. A project manager should have the right people and communication skills in order to achieve the stated goals effectively. The board of directors should scrutinize the existing personnel thoroughly in order to recruit the required people in the project management team (Rosen, 2004). A project is often a short endeavor and thus mistakes are unacceptable because they can ruin the image of the rest of the company. Project managers have a vision and their aim is to share the vision with other members executing the project. The company can improve the effectiveness of these project leaders through providing formal training for them and their members. In addition to training project managers, they also need to be at the center of the organization’s concern. Project managers have a greater task of defining the project and executing it and hence they require support from the entire organization to accomplish their goals (Rosen, 2004). Project managers need to have expertise and experience in the field and thus, junior trainees cannot work effectively as project leaders. Project managers need team building and problem solving skills in order to execute the project effectively. Thus, to achieve funding for other projects, directors should ensure they have a working project team in place. Analysis The board of directors of the company is responsible for electing the senior management that ensures that project management is effective for the overall success of the company. The board of directors should appoint the senior management based on merit to ensure that the right people are selected for the job and avoid mistakes and poor results as experienced earlier. The duties of the project management team will be to ensure that the overall project is effective and resources are utilized effectively. The project manager will carry out risk management to ensure that the company is on the right track. Project managers need to analyze various risks the project is exposed to and take on mitigation measures to prevent failure of the project (Lock, 2007). Project managers should always have a contingency plan to ensure that the project is not below its time and budget. Apache Metals deals with clients from many industries and hence its project managers should develop the right communication skills to deal with customers. Effective project management is necessary to ensure that the production of the working equipment is continuous. The sales department depends on the production of the equipment in order to achieve high sales margin. The departments in the company are connected and thus the project management team ensures the success of the other departments in the company. Failure of the company’s team management leads to poor sales as experience when the board elected trainees to carry out the project coordination. The board of directors in this company is responsible for the failure or success of the project management team. Plan of action The board of directors of Apache Metals should take the onus to ensure an effective project management team is in place. The board should ensure that one project manager is responsible for one purchase order so that the projects are effective. The board does not just need to select any person to be the project leader. The project leader chosen should be a good communicator, an effective time manager and a good organizer (Phillips, 2004). The success or failure of the project depends on the effectiveness of the project manager and thus he or she should communicate more often with team members and be honest with clients. The board should select a project leader that is a good problem solver and has excellent team building skills because the essence of success for the project lies in the team. To ensure further success for the project management team, the board of directors should put in place training programs for the team to guide them on the requirements of the project. Before commencing on any project, project managers should go through training because a project involves substantial amounts of resources in terms of money and people (Phillips, 2004). Training will ensure that the project managers utilize the resources allocated to the project effectively and win a proposal to receive extra funding for other projects. The company should ensure that it changes the current methodology of treating project managers. The project managers should be at the center of the organization because they determine the success of the company. If the client is to receive funding, the project management report will determine the amount of funding for the company. To avoid the mistakes done by trainees, the board should set up an apprenticeship program that will ensure training for future project managers. The program will be effective in nurturing young mangers that can run future projects for the company. In addition, it is essential for the project manager to associate with customers because they also determine the success of the project. Project managers should take the views of customers into consideration to ensure success of the company. The board of directors should remunerate the project managers sufficiently to ensure they carry out their duties effectively. Therefore, for the client to receive funding the company should consider these measures to convince the donor of the need for the funds. Anticipated consequences If the company considers the above measures, the client will receive the funding required in the proposal. The funding depends on how much convincing the report is to the donor and if it addresses how the project managers will use the funds. Thus, the client may receive the full amount of the needed funding if the report is convincing. The result of the apprenticeship program will be effective projects in the future because of the gained skills and knowledge in the training. The formal training for managers will assist them in planning and executing the project effectively because of extra knowledge and expertise from other project managers (Heerkens, 2007). The outcome of effective project management will be increased sales volume for the company and reduced costs for the production lines. These results are likely to put the company at an edge over others in the industry, which is good for the company. The board of directors anticipates that after reducing the number of purchase orders for the project managers, the work will be more effective. Project managers will be able to concentrate on specific orders and do their best on them. The customers will increase if the company appoints project managers with good people and communication skills. In addition, the project managers will assist in reducing the risks involved in the project because they are trained, have excellent team building skills, and problem solving skills (Lock, 2007). The company expects to complete their projects on time and within the budget if the right project team is in place. Overall, if the outline of the project is appropriate and identifies the uses of the funds, the client is likely to receive the full amount of the proposed funding. Conclusion Effective project management is necessary for a company because it determines if the company can qualify to receive funding for other projects that it encounters. The board of directors should ensure that they appoint the right blend of skills for the project managers to execute certain projects. One project manager should be in charge of only one project to ensure success of the projects. The company should provide outside formal training for project managers to ensure they carry out their duties effectively. Project managers should interact with customers to determine their needs and preferences and to carry out their duties in that manner. The overall result of effective project management will be increased sales volume and reduced production costs for the company. With a good outline of the uses of funds by project managers, the client is sure of receiving the proposed funding. References Heerkens, G.R. (2007). Project management: 24 steps to help you master any project. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lock, D. (2007). Project management. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Ltd. Phillips, J. (2004). IT project management: On track from start to finish. New York: McGraw-Hill. Rosen, A. (2004). Effective IT project management. New York: AMACOM. Read More