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Course CONS 7200 Project Management Practice

Assignment number 01

Due date and time 14-06-2017, 16;00 GST

Delivery
Semester 1

Lecturer Neil Laing

Class time

Student details
Name Rakesh Saha

Student ID 1482137

Student declaration I confirm that:

Student signature
This is an original assessment and is entirely my own work.
Where I have used ideas, tables, diagrams etc of other writers, I
have acknowledged the source in every case.
This assignment has not previously been submitted as assessed
Rakesh work for any academic course.

Date of signature 14/06/2017

Office use only

Received
Date
NO TITLE PAGE
NO
1 INTRODUCTION 3

2 TEAM LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 4

3 PROJECT TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 7

4 COMMUNICATION 12

5 CONCLUSION 16

6 RECOMMENDATION 16

7 BILBOGRAPHY 17
No table of figures entries found.
INTRODUCTION
Valecha Groups ltd is awarded with a project. The Valecha group will be working as the main
contractor for the construction of high rise flat system in central city area of Navi Mumbai, India. The
clients objective behind construction of the building is to convert the barren land to a multi-story
apartment and sell it in public on demand. The stakeholders who are investing are few investment
firms which will hold 50% of income generated. The design department will be in house team.
Milestones of Project are

Project should be completed within 18 months

The project is going to be constructed in a very congested area
 A) Team Leadership and Management
Project management and traditional approach
The five main schools of management are explained as follows: -
1. Classical / Traditional School Management emphasis is given on the objective with less
attention over the people involved
2. Empirical School - Here the manager improves their ability to manage by learning lessons from
the previous manager experiences.
3. Behavioural School Interpersonal behaviour are given more importance between the
individual and their work. The management is involved in cultural relationships.
4. Decision theory school Management decision is taken rationally using mathematical models
and standardized processes.
5. Management System school Management follow the system of input, processing and output.
It takes account of flow of resources and utilizes it according to the objective function. (Kerzner,
2009)
Traditional Approach
The traditional approach is based on the line organisation which has a silo structure. This system follows
the ideology of first three management schools and performs better on routine work activity. It fails to
survive in a project type of work which has a definite start and end. The traditional system has fixed
rules and regulations and no duplicate position exist within the organisation. The hierarchal structure in
the traditional system is protected by a bureaucratic set of levels which are fragmented within separate
set of departments. The employees occupying higher position get more favour and award for the
accomplishment irrelevant to the labour done by ground staff. Generally, staffs are reluctant to take any
risk working under this organisation. (Kerzner, 2009)
Project Management Approach
Project Management approach is applied on the project work which is having a definite start and end.
The team leader is the project manager who have decision making power and the roles and responsibility
of individuals vary according to the type of project and the general constraints involved. The manager
follows the ideology of last two management schools and the decision is made using the mathematical
models and processes. The project runs on tightly calculated schedules and the resources allocation
varies complying with the need followed with the constraints involved. (Lientz & Rea, 2000)
Skills required for effective leader and manager
Behind every successful project a project manager plays a vital role in leading the project team to
success. Following the main soft skills which every Project manager should know and apply: -
Leadership skills Project manager must be capable to work with diverse team. In order to establish
team leadership the project manager must inspire the team members to work as a team for successful
achievement of objectives.
Communication skills A good oral and written communication is essentially required for a project
manager to maintain a respectable picture among team members. Along with the communication a
manager must maintain up to date track of resource utilization. (Gido & Clements, 2004)
Motivational Skills A well-motivated team will always give its 100% effort in the project
development. A project manager must know and recognise the needs of individuals working in the team.
This knowledge helps a manager to adopt suitable motivation plan varying with the needs of individual.
(Jeffery)
Leadership theory
In relationship with my project there are three major leadership styles are approached by a project
manager. These are: -
1. Autocratic.
2. Participative
3. Delegative
Autocratic The autocratic leaders establish a clear picture of objectives regarding what is needed to
be done, when it should be done and how. The attitude of the leader would be controlling, directing and
bossy. This kind of leadership is implemented if the time required for the completion of project is less.
(Trompenaars & Coebergh, 2014)
Participative The leader participates actively in the task assigned for the group. The participation helps
to identify the core issues faced by the team and are dealt with team effort. This leadership encourages
the team members to directly communicate with the leader but still the decision-making authority is
kept under managers control. (Kerzner, 2009)
Delegative Due to time constraints and complexity of project it is impossible to deal all of the activities
personally by the Project Manager itself. So, Project Manager delegates their certain tasks to their
reliable subordinates who are able to do that job but the ultimate responsibility of the activity would
remain of Project Managers. Before delegating the tasks, the project manager must consider following
advices: -

Project manager must keep those tasks in which they perform best.
Before delegating the tasks should be clearly understandable to the person and ensure it is fully
briefed regarding the deadlines, issues, complexity, information and the objectives.
Project Manager should not keep those tasks with them which are on critical path as these tasks
require time devotion and it may hamper the other activities which the Project Manager is bound
to perform.
Motivational Theory
There are different authors illustrate different theories, but the most useful theories in our case are as
below:
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor suggested this theory, where he states that there are two different pairs of human
behaviour according to his assumption where different motivational theories are applicable. Author
suggested that the people working in organisation, which falls under category theory X, are financially
stable and the people in this category try to escape from their duties, try to avoid work until the end,
and are less motivated to share their efforts towards companys goal. Author suggests that such
employers a lot of motivation, direction and control by the management team to get their duties fulfilled.
(Trompenaars & Coebergh, 2014) (Kerzner, 2009)

Image source:
(Trompenaars &
Coebergh, 2014)
The employee, who falls under category Theory Y, is highly motivated. They also knows there
responsibility and complete their job by the period provided. The people falling under this category are
seeking the opportunity to get more work and responsibility. Author suggest that for the employee in
theory y are highly motivated and needs less attention as they are focused for their duties to be fulfilled
by the given time. (Trompenaars & Coebergh, 2014) (Kerzner, 2009).
Two-way theory of motivation

Frederick Herzberg suggested the two-way theory in 1987, which was the most printed article.
The two-way theory emphasise on relationship of hygiene factor and motivation. Author
suggests that if the hygiene factor taken for granted by the organisation then it might affect
negatively on motivation and the employee may get demotivated. On the other hand, Author
suggests that if the hygiene factors are fully satisfied it will not help in motivating the
employees. It is clear by the two-way theory; employees satisfaction is interrelated to
motivation. Author also suggest that it is not employee behaviour related theory, instead it is
job related and it is more emphasised on problem related to work environment. (Trompenaars
& Coebergh, 2014)
B) Project Team Effectiveness

Project team and traditional team.

A group of individuals who are working together to achieve a common goal is termed as a project team.
Following are the key characteristics of the Project team which is different from the traditional one:-

The Project team works under pre-specified deadlines and milestones.

Member of teams work under collaborative culture and mutually they distribute their
responsibilities.
Project team develop their plan effectively from the start.
The project manager in the team promotes effective two way communication with
collaboration.
Stake holder Management

Stakeholder is an individual or a
group of individuals who are
directly or indirectly affected by
the project establishment or
contribute in terms of knowledge
and support and the outcome.
The stakeholders are further
classified as: -

Primary Stakeholders (The one who are directly affected by or have direct contribution on the
project or organisation).
Secondary Stakeholders (The one who are indirectly affected by or have indirect impact on the
project or organisation).
Key Stakeholders (They are the influential and have decision impact over the project).
Understand the key Stakeholders
There are some key questions to be identified with answers which helps to understand about the
stakeholders and how to connect with them

What are their prime motivators?

From where their opinion get influenced?
If their opinion is very negatively influenced then how to manage their opposition??
Who else is influenced by their opinion?
After assessing the stakeholders, they are further separated into two groups: -
1. Complete Opposition Groups
2. Complete Supporting groups

The opposition group are the key hindrance for the project and can pose threat to the progress. They
are generally assessed and marked in the stakeholder assessment matrix.
It is important to keep the stakeholders to positive side and to bring the one having negative opinion,
they must be approached directly and try to mitigate their issues honestly by explaining the positive
benefits they will receive.
Destructive and supportive roles
Destructive role

In any organisation, both the types of employees are always present and project manager has to deal
with both in a different manner. Destructive types of roles are demotivated and will always try to seek
opportunities to demotivate the team members as well. (Kerzner, 2009)
Supportive roles.

Supportive roles are self-motivated and always seek opportunities to give high performance.
Supportive role employee will try to motivate other employee and encourages them to give positive
response to any challenge faced by the organisation. (Kerzner, 2009)

Tuchman Model

B. W. Tuchman has provided with four stages of team development.

Forming- This is the initial stage of team development process. The process proceeds with transition of
individual to a team member. Under this period the team individuals would be at a high moral status to
start the project. The team members are not fully aware about their responsibilities and control over the
project which creates a cloud of confusion among them. Most of the individuals are dependent over the
guidance of project manager. Project manager must clearly specify the objectives of the project and the
future benefits for the best performing individuals.

Storming- This second stage of team development process is one of the hardest among the whole period.
This stage witnesses unprecedented levels of dispute and issues associated with the work. Some of the
members would struggle to carry on with the constraints and direction fixed by the Project manager.
Project manager must not take the confrontation personally and should try to resolve their problems
with professional attitude.

Norming- After passing through the storming stage the situation changes and normalise. The project
team works under accepted operating environment and the Project manager needs to provide very few
directions and basically provide supportive role to the team. At this stage the Project manager needs to
transfer some of the decision making controls to the team members. The conflicts are significantly
reduced and team member will work with more confidence and decision making capabilities.

Performing- This is the fourth and final stage of team development. Under this stage the team will
engage itself with high level of commitment and diligence to complete the complete the project. The
project manager completely assigns the control over the project team and he or she will concentrate
over the other activities related to the planning, budgeting, scheduling and the cash flow. (Gido &
Clements, 2000)

High Performance Team

To create a high performance team the project manager must strictly follow and implement the tools
and techniques provided by the Project Management Institute. At every stage the project manager
must monitor and assess the performance of a team and implement counter measures to any issue
persists in the system. The Project Manager must have complete knowledge about the characteristics
of an effective team.

Barriers to effective team development-

Even though the highly effectiveness, every project team has to face some barriers which undermines
the efficiency of the team member and thus creates hindrances to the team achievement. Following
are the barrier which prevents the project team effectiveness including the suggestions to overcome
them.

Unclear Goals It is the sole responsibility of a project manager to develop and promote a coherent
project object and ensure every team member should understand their responsibilities and the
activities they must perform.

Poor Communication Sometimes the individual member is not well informed by their counterpart
and due to lack of information they were unable to impart their knowledge over the activities required
to perform. Project manager must communicate with member individually to motivate them
considering their performance in the ongoing activities.

Dysfunctional Behaviour Some individual may exhibits certain behaviour which is disruptive and
could pose as a clear threat to the effectiveness of team activities. Project manager must make clear
guidelines supporting zero tolerance over such kind of behaviours and offer some counselling to the
individual if appropriate. (Gido & Clements, 2000)

RACI
RACI is a responsibility assignment matrix chart represented by a grid which explains the allocation of
resources in a project assigned to each work packages. On larger projects where the organization
structure is very complex the RACI matrix chart simplifies the explanation by mentioning basic key
ingredients. (Paul Snijders, 2013)
Responsible One who is performing the task.
Accountable The one who has control over the decision-making.
Consulted Who should consider taking guidance from.
Informed Who will be updated with the information regarding the progress .

Following are the advantages of RACI which makes it a vital resource for efficient team performance.
1. The matrix helps to identify the job assigned for every individual associated.
2. Helps to ensure that the work load is equally distributed with clear accountability.
3. The tasks goal comprehensively specified on the chart.
4. An increase project efficiency by identifying key roles, responsibilities and sets the expectation
limits.
C) COMMUNICATION
Communication Planning
Effective and proper communication is very important in keeping the project functional and always
remains on track. Specifics of communication differ depending on the need of project and by
understanding the purpose of communication plan; a manager can identify the project goals. (Frost,
2016)
The communication plan must ensure that correct information must be shared with correct individual
during the correct period of time and must be mutually acceptable. All the stakeholders must be
regularly updated on any changes implemented on project work and should remain productive. (Frost,
2016)
Communication model ( Barnlunds Model)
Communication is defined as the transfer of verbal and non-verbal symbols and signals between the
recipients. The interpretation of signal is randomly generated considering the weight of value being
assigned to them.
During 1940-1950s initially most of the communication models presented Shannon and Warren
Weavers model, De Fluers mass communication system and David Berlos SMCR model etc. were
eccentric to linear communication and emphasis are given on reduction of noises.

Later arrived is the interaction based model in the mid-1960s portrayed by Willbur Schramm where
two-way verbal and non-verbal interactions are given recognition including the feedback from the
receiver.
In 1970 Dr Burnland came with
transactional model. The transactional
model depicts both sender and receiver
as a communicator with having their
own field of experience which overlaps
with each other while transfer of
information undergoes. The model
follows the five principles of the human
communication process. (Mortensen)
1. The communication is a self-
developing process which begins with
the experiences, skills and
characteristics of the people involved.
2. The communication is circular in nature
which implies that every individual is both receiver and
sender.
3. The communication process is involved
with complex negotiations.
4. Once the message is sent and interpreted it
cant be reversed.
5. The personality also plays a major role in the
process of communication. (Mortensen) (Andrew
Dainty, 2006)
Media and Network
A communication network is about flow and direction of instruction from sender to receiver and vice
versa. While communication media is about platform used for message or way of presenting the
message, for example graphical presentation, words, audio, video etc. (Gorse, 2009)
The media and network are interconnected to each other and also both are important in their own way.
For an effective communication in any team, network plays an important role in creating a framework
to communicate among the team members. Media is way of presenting the message; the most recent
useful media these days is web communication which can be converted to hard copy. (Gorse, 2009)
The type of communication method chosen to be used depends on the agreement made between the
stakeholders based on the time and cost constraints and their requirements.
There are three methods of communication which are used to share information among project
stakeholders. These methods are explained as follows:

1. Interactive Communication- Communication initiates with interaction between two or

more parties with the exchange of information in a multidirectional pattern ensuring that
all the parties have clear understanding and also includes meetings, instant messaging,
video conferencing, meeting etc.
2. Push Communication This method serves as a mean to carry information from the source
to the recipient who needs it but does not guaranty any meaningful interpretation. The
medium of push communications includes letters, emails, memos, faxes, voice mails, blog
press release etc.
3. Pull Communication This method is used when the message is required to be conveyed
to a very large group and the recipients have freedom to access the information at their own
will. They include e-learning, knowledge database and intranet sites. (Project Management
Institue, 2013)
Elements of communication management plan.

Tactic Purpose People involved Timing Accountable

Phase 1: Initiation
To collect the information
Project Case required for further process
Proposal and understand client Client, stake
requirement. holders. Initial stage .Client, project sponsors
To provide a overview of
Project Concept activities to be done to Client, design
Establishment accomplish the project engineer. Project
objective managers Initial stage Main contractor
Client, stakeholders,
To analyse and discuss design engineer,
Project Kick off stakeholders expectations project manager,
Meeting and introduce the project contractor, sub-
team contractor Initial stage Project team
Phase 2: Planning &Design

Scheduling, Provision of total budget and

Budgeting and expenditure of the total Quantity surveyor,
Cost Estimation project design team, client Design stage Quantity surveyor

Pre week meeting To understand the work Project manager,

before standards and objective of design team,
commencement of the client before planning team, Design and
construction. commencement of project. client, stakeholder. planning stage Project team

Phase 3: Construction Execution

Client, Project
manager,
Reporting the progress every contractors, sub-
Coordination and week to the project manager contractors, site
Status Report and client for update. engineers Construction stage Project team
Project manager,
For checking the progress of construction
work. If the progress is not manager, site
Monitoring and as planned, controlling engineer, site co
controlling actions are applicable coordinator Construction stage Project manager

Final stage report for Project manager,

Ground Team commencement of inspection contractor, sub-
Progress Report stage contractor Construction stage Main contractor.

Communication Monitoring
It is essential for a project manager to know whether the communication among the team members is
effective, for the scope of improvement. Every project is unique with different team involved at different
locations, for different types of project different communication plan will work for diff scenarios. By
the pervious data collected the project manager has to identify in which communication network or
communication channel, it is lagging and then give them a rating to understand the scope of
improvement in each. The project manager needs to understand from pervious collected data the scope
of improvement in the communication channel. For example if the rating shows 1, that means the scope
of improvement and need is less than the one which has 5. PM need to identify the critical parameters
which are lagging in the communication channel as shown below:

Category Description Rating

(0-5)

Accuracy The precision of information received from the 3

Celerity in information
sender. (example : incomplete information,
drawings)
Sometimes language becomes a barrier and also 3.5
clear messages. There are messages which has
two meanings because of it the receiver becomes
confused.

Procedures, media A corrective media shall be used which is easy to 1

understand for the receiver

This method is effective for monitoring the communication as the project manager will know where
the scope of improvement and by doing so is, actions can be taken in taken in right direction. (Dainty
& Murray, 2006)
CONCLUSION
The above theory used of leadership and communication model are most suitable for our scenario
suggested. As the main contractor, the suggested theories are beneficial for a unique project. The
motivational theories which we used is theory x and theory y which is the most common and useful
theory used by project managers. Leadership skills highlighted are very essential for this project as
due to overspending and time wastage it is very important to manage the team efficiently. The most
useful and fast communication is also important for the success of the project therefore we used web
words as the media and email us the network to send our messages or commands to our teams on
regular intervals to keep the team and key stakeholders updated.

RECOMMENDATION
The above theories included in this report are highly recommended for a unique project like this. The
theory shared above are uniquely chosen for this and will change on different projects due to the
different site conditions and different teams.
Bibliography (Andrew Dainty, 2006)
Andrew Dainty, D. M. (2006). Communication in Construction. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Dainty, A., & Murray, D. M. (2006). Communication in construction. USA : Taylor & Francis.

Frost, S. (2016). Importance of communication plan for prject managers. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-communication-plans-project-managers-
37520.html

Gido, J., & Clements, J. P. (2000). Successful Project Management. Canada: ITP.

Gido, J., & Clements, J. P. (2004). Project Management (A practical guide for Managers). sorthern
western college publisher.

Gorse, C. A. (2009). Construction communication . Wiley.

Jeffery, K. P. (n.d.). Leadership Skills for Project Managers. Project Management Institute
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Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management, A system Approach to plannnig, scheduling and controlling
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Lientz, B. P., & Rea, K. P. (2000). Project Management . New York: Harcourt Professional Publisher.

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Project Management Institue. (2013). PMBOK. New York: Public Management Institute.

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