project management case study

The Case of the Troubled Health System Implementation

at Healthcare Unlimited, LLC

The Confidential Memo

Along with you welcoming papers, you received the following confidential memo from the PROJECT

SPONSOR:

From: Project Sponsor, Healthcare Unlimited, LLC

To: IT Project Manager (you)

Date: September 4, 2015

Welcome to Healthcare Unlimited, LLC and congratulations on accepting the project manager

position for the Medical IS project. It is my sincere hope that your tenure with Healthcare

Unlimited, LLC will be both productive and rewarding. In this letter you will find a list of several

critical barriers you need to consider and address as you take charge of this troubled project.

1) Both your Architect and the Database Administrator representative on your team

are very competent employees. Unfortunately, during the past two months they

have created a difficult environment on the team that spurred higher level of

conflict.

2) Senior management is quite unhappy with the dynamics of the team and its

inability to address the internal conflict. The rest of the organization has already

expressed concerns over the lack of motivation and tangible results with the

team. As a result, you must take this into account if you choose to restructure the

team.

3) The strategic plan for our company highlights the importance of quality and time-

to-market of all our services. The board of directors is anxious to see results with

the Medical IS project since it will have a large impact the strategic direction of

the company.

My door is always open and I look forward to a productive relationship.

Regards,

Your PROJECT SPONSOR

After reading the memo, you contact the PROJECT SPONSOR’s administrative assistant to request your

first meeting with her as the new project manager of the Medical IS project.

Meeting the PROJECT SPONSOR

During your meeting with the PROJECT SPONSOR you realize that her job security hinges on your success

with the project.

You also find out that your team is not fully dedicated to the project, but team members still spend half

of their time working on other duties in their departments. Moreover, each one reports to a separate

manager in addition to you. The PROJECT SPONSOR notes:

“The first project manager never considered negotiating with the various managers to acquire

additional team members from the legal, marketing, and operations departments to be assigned

full time. He also didn’t consider the early warning signs that the team conflict was escalating as

a result of their other duties. Projects do not start as ‘red’ and if they do, they are doomed from

the start. I have to admit, I expected a lot more from him, but instead felt mislead. At this point,

the board of directors is really unhappy with the lack of progress on the project. We all need

someone who can take charge, motivate the crew, make any changes necessary to set this

project on the correct path and ensure its success. I know this will be a difficult task, but I am

confident in your ability to resolve the conflict on the team.

I also have to be honest with you. The previous project manager complained about not having

control over the decision-making process in the team, because of the conflict between the

Architect and the Database Administrators’ representative. In fact, he mentioned that their

competitive and stubborn attitudes about who should actually make decisions on the project

were ‘out of control.’ As a result, the morale of the team is low. There is no sense of belonging.

I will support any changes you decide to make, but I want you to be cautious and think several

moves ahead as to how each of your decisions will impact your team and our organization. Also,

keep in mind, if you need to train any of your staff, I will approve the training budget. You just

need to act soon.”

You ask about the skills of your team members. Your PROJECT SPONSOR informs you that:

1) The Architect has the most technical expertise among the rest of the team and has

been on several prior system integration projects. He was on the original Medical IS

project team;

2) The Database Administrators’ representative has well established political

connections in the organization, but lacks credibility among the rest of the team

members. He has background in project management, but this is his first technology

project at our company and he is the most recent addition to the team;

3) The Operations representative has great initiative and ambition to be on the project,

but her availability is very limited. She is well respected in the organization for her

ability to round-the-troops behind a common vision. She was on the original team

that procured Medical IS system contract and knows the most common issues that

can occur with modifications to such systems. Her current direct supervisor is flexible

when it comes down to ‘loaning’ her full time to the project, but he needs to be

informed;

4) Your Marketing representative has great problem-solving skills and an excellent

attention to detail. She was on several prior system integration projects with our

company. She has previously worked in the Legal team for 3 years before moving to

the Marketing team.

You ask what immediate changes would you like your PROJECT SPONSOR to see. She reflects:

“One of the most important things is to make sure that before the project starts, you have a

good plan since a project that is off track costs more to recover than later. At the present time,

the company is not capable if designating any more resources. The way I see this, the number

one challenge is the team. You won’t be able to start this project in isolation. The team is the

key! Yet, since the morale is low that by itself can kill the project.”

You thank her and promise to provide her with status as soon as you meet with your team and make a

decision. Next, you schedule a meeting with your team.

Meeting the Team

At your first team meeting, the Database Administrators’ representative show up late. Before you even

start the meeting, the Architect comments how important it is for all to show up on time.

Database Administrators’ Representative:

“From the start, I know this is going to be a team-roast meeting for me. Before you even start, I

have to say one thing, how do you expect me to make it on time when yesterday I was handed

ten new requests and had four back-to-back meetings since 8AM this morning? I can’t clone

myself and you know we are understaffed. This isn’t my first team meeting and I understand the

importance of being here on time. Perhaps, you can speak with my Manager next time and ask

him to take away some of these requests.”

Architect:

“We all have other responsibilities, but if we are not here on time, we can’t finish on time and

then we are late for our other tasks. You were aware that the meeting starts at 10AM. You knew

about it since yesterday. Also, this is not the first time you are late-”

The Marketing Representative cuts the Architect short:

“I think we should hear what our new project manager has to say. So perhaps you two can table

this discussion for later.”

The Database Administrators’ Representative:

“I am getting really tired of this. I can’t stand each time either of you two (the Architect and the

Database Administrator’s Representatives) come into my office and tell me what I should or

shouldn’t do. We already had this discussion once and I don’t want to repeat myself. When I

have a priority request, all else is set aside. I don’t think this is going to change, considering how

important some of these requests are for the future of the company.”

The Marketing Representative:

“I have to say that without many of the software initiatives, the company will have a hard time

retaining qualified staff to assist with the work on the requests. The same is true for the

architecture design and for functional units such as Marketing and Legal. Now, the Medical IS

project is not less important than your requests. In fact, it is strategically aligned with our fiscal

year’s growth projections and if it fails, none of us will be around to have this discussion again.

Architect turns to the Database Administrators’ Representative:

“The Design department is in the middle of system design for an application to assist them with

the software roll-out process. I have been involved with it from the start and can tell you that no

other member of that team is as problematic and as self-centered as you. In fact, when the

schedule began to slip on that project, all team members hunkered down and worked extra hard

to meet the established deadlines. We all pitched in and acted as one unit. No other task was

more important than the project-”

Database Administrators’ Representative interrupts the Architect:

“Wait a minute! You are misleading the rest of us again. ‘We’ on that project was you, the

Architect, and a member of the Documentations department plus the complexity of that system

was so low that it hardly mattered to the company. It certainly is nowhere near the caliber of this

project. Besides, if you knew anything about project management, you’d know that the intent is

to break down the work into smaller packages and estimate it properly. Your project manager

had no experience with this and he underestimated the work. As a result, you all had to work

crazy hours to meet the deadline. I can’t stand incompetence when it comes to project

management.”

At this point the Database Administrators’ Representative turns to you and smirks.