Project Management Problems and Possible Solutions

In Happy Life Organization, the project manager, Simon Chan faces multiple challenges. This paper will undertake an evaluation of the challenges facing the project manager to provide services to people with mental and physical disabilities. In this case, the report will identify the problems faced within and outside the organization and how they negatively affect the course of the organization’s project. The paper will show how problems exist between some of the project stakeholders such as social workers and project assistant. It will also reveal the challenges faced by the project participants such as the persons with mental and physical disabilities. In theory, according to Martinelli and Milosevic (2016), if the project sponsor gives less power and authority to the manager, negative project outcomes might be obtained.

The relationship between the immediate project supervisor and the manager is crucial towards the implementation of the project. In this case, it is worth to note that at the beginning of the project, the immediate project’s supervisor was highly involved in the provision of advice and expertise. However, as time goes by, the immediate supervisor stops advising the project manager. Even though this may not be viewed as a negative relationship because of the supervisor’s busy schedule, the lack of close relationship with the manager has an adverse outcome on the project. Further, the manager found it difficult to identify and obtain advice and encouragement from the top management in the implementation of the project. The other problem witnessed in the project is that of a negative relationship between the social worker and the project assistant.

In this instance, the aspect of people centric project management was ignored. The approach holds project management should be depended on dynamics, human psychology, and experience rather than on entirely on the processes (Eskerod et al. Project managers focus on learning and appreciating how humans function in the organization. Hence, the people with mental disabilities end up influencing one another in a negative way, an aspect which interferes with the implementation of the project (Eskerod et al. At the same time, the project assistant lacks knowledge and understanding to deal with epilepsy among the mentally and physically disabled individuals. Lack of Clarification for Project Objectives and Deliverables The other problem faced in the project is the challenge of convincing other individuals to take part in the project.

The primary issue faced is that some of the stakeholders had negative attitudes towards the project. They did not perceive the activities in a positive approach and as a result, they perceived that some of the activities were not appropriate for people with mental and physical disabilities. The workers failed to formulate a common culture to adapt to the needs of the participants. It thus had adverse influence on the communication process, negotiations, and decision-making. When performing the recommended activities during the project, the stakeholders felt discomfort and pain. Failure in Internal Processes The other problem occurring during the implementation of the project is caused by failure of the organization’s internal processes. For example, an outing tragedy occurred because of engaging a driver who was under the influence of medicine.

This is the phase where the entire project team starts to appreciates that there are risks to be considered in the project. This way, the risks might be pointed out by an external consultant or the project stakeholders. Since Simon Chan has been a project manager for a significant period, he can draw the risks on his individual experience and involve the other team members to assist. In addition to this, the ability of the project manager to work well under pressure and deal with changes in dynamic contexts will enable him identify the project’s risks. After the risk awareness phase, the project manager should undertake the step of risk identification (Kendrick, 2015). In project management, the behavior and expectations of people is uncertain.

This is propagated by the fact that human beings are unpredictable, complex, and difficult to handle. Building Relationships with the Stakeholders Based on the knowledge that the stakeholders held negative attitudes towards the project, one of the recommendation would be to build positive relationships with the people with mental and physical disabilities. The project manager, assistant, and the social worker should combine efforts to eliminate the negative attitudes among the stakeholders. Time should be allocated to identify the stakeholders and involve them in formulating certain activities which affect them. It is also vital to keep the stakeholders informed about the project’s activities. This can be achieved by sending the stakeholders regular updates. The updates should attempt to answer their inquiries promptly.

Regular communication to the people with disabilities is essential as it may soften their negative attitudes and transform them to view the project in a positive way. Taking Consideration of the Participants’ Financial Needs To reduce the issue of having less individuals with physical disabilities, the project manager should ensure that the financial needs of the wheelchair users are considered. The people with disabilities would be viewed as the learners and required to bring previous cultural aspects and experiences to current conditions. The theory is relevant because it embraces certain themes such as social interaction. Social interaction plays a significant role in the stages of cognitive development. The instance of proximal development is also incorporated and is the distance between a person’s capability to undertake a task through guidance.