Project Management
10 Marks:
Q:- Discuss the project termination strategies
Ans:
Project Termination
Project termination is one of the most serious decisions a project management team and its control board have to take. It causes frustration for those stakeholders who sincerely believed - and in most cases still believe – that the project could produce the results they expected, or still expect. The project manager and his or her team members, very important stakeholders of the project as well, will feel that they personally failed. They also will be scared of negative consequences for their careers; their motivation and consequently, productivity will decrease significantly.
In contrast to that, we are convinced that conscious project termination at the right time, based on clear and well communicated criteria, profoundly discussed with the whole project management team, and finally mutually decided, is one of the boldest actions the involved or affected members of an organization can take.
What can we do to avoid those negative consequences? Here, we list what we hear in our training, consulting, and coaching sessions, together with our own experiences:
A clearly communicated strategy of the organization
Clearly communicated reasons why and how the project supports that strategy, and under what conditions it does not
Clearly set and communicated project success criteria (in terms of scope, schedule, and budget), if possible clearly set and communicated termination criteria
High level management attention, even for smaller projects, and even then when everything still seems to be on track
Periodical review meetings with the control board
Open discussions with the control board about problems and possible solutions or alternatives, including termination
In case the project has to be terminated, a clear commitment of the control board and high level management towards the project management team in order to enable the team to follow the project closure procedures
Upon
Q:- Discuss the project termination strategies
Ans:
Project Termination
Project termination is one of the most serious decisions a project management team and its control board have to take. It causes frustration for those stakeholders who sincerely believed - and in most cases still believe – that the project could produce the results they expected, or still expect. The project manager and his or her team members, very important stakeholders of the project as well, will feel that they personally failed. They also will be scared of negative consequences for their careers; their motivation and consequently, productivity will decrease significantly.
In contrast to that, we are convinced that conscious project termination at the right time, based on clear and well communicated criteria, profoundly discussed with the whole project management team, and finally mutually decided, is one of the boldest actions the involved or affected members of an organization can take.
What can we do to avoid those negative consequences? Here, we list what we hear in our training, consulting, and coaching sessions, together with our own experiences:
A clearly communicated strategy of the organization
Clearly communicated reasons why and how the project supports that strategy, and under what conditions it does not
Clearly set and communicated project success criteria (in terms of scope, schedule, and budget), if possible clearly set and communicated termination criteria
High level management attention, even for smaller projects, and even then when everything still seems to be on track
Periodical review meetings with the control board
Open discussions with the control board about problems and possible solutions or alternatives, including termination
In case the project has to be terminated, a clear commitment of the control board and high level management towards the project management team in order to enable the team to follow the project closure procedures
Upon