Project is a distinct or combined enterprise which is planned and designed to achieve certain goals.
I think the real problem was the poor management. As described in this Case, the biotech project was the company’s biggest project, it had been ongoing for three years and had already gone through three different project managers. Nick Carson, who has been the main software developer on the project, has now been appointed as the project manager and also the management has made him to deliver the first version of the software. From this, it is clear that the company is totally in the lack of a Top management support and was desperate for version of this software. It is difficult to achieve a goal if a management fails to realize the scope, make proper decisions and take the correct path. Just a temporary outcome is not the basis on which a company can measure its success, but the main thing is the track it is on to the future endeavors. The decision of the management to assign Nick Carson as the project manager as well as the Top management losing its patience for the product is the main problem in this case. This project had tremendous potential for future growth and revenues but the manager assigned for this project was new with no past management experience and gave all the problems over him. Nick was new and expectation was a lot. As being new in management & without having the proper managerial skills its difficult handle a large project like this. The Top management should have known the capability of its staffs and decide whether a person is suitable for a particular task or not.
This case represents a realistic scenario. This project ha
A good project manager must organize all of the knowledge areas throughout a project’s life cycle. Thus, it’s clear that Nick Carson was not appropriate for the post. He lacked the quality of a good project manager, because of the fact that he had no proper planning, scheduling and communicating with the top management. He should have reported about all the tasks that were done and to be done to the top management, which he failed to do. The problems that he is having could be solved in presence at that specific time with the help of top management, or at least they he could get some alternative ways to solve those problems. A Good project manager should always take proper steps to handle the set of tasks at a particular time. If one of the steps gets neglected, then undoubtedly the entire project will lose the proper track, and hence, the project will never be a successful one. On the other hand Nick didn’t act as project manager. He was always doing others work & started solving others problems. He had taken the role of troubleshooter for others. He didn’t realize that he is now project manager, now it’s important to act as manager rather than software developer. Thus, it can also be said that Nick was not a good project manager.
To be a good project manager, Nick could have focused on his main weak points. For example, he should focus on the team communication. Further, he needs to give to concern on communication with all the stakeholders so as to keep the team binding. Apart from this, he needs to have coordination of all the project management knowledge area throughout the project life cycle. Nick should have perform project management job functions as follows to make his work better:
Define scope of project
Identify stakeholders, decision-makers, and escalation procedures
Develop detailed task list
Estimate Time requirements
Develop initial project management flowchart
Identify required resources and budget
Evaluate project requirements
Identify and evaluate risks
Prepare contingency plan
Identify interdependencies
Identify and track critical milestones
Participate in project phase review
Secure needed resources
Manage and change control process
Report project