Cleo S.

Villanueva

DITCC111 Advanced IT Project Management

A. What do you think the problem was in the case?

In my opinion, the real problem in this case was the lack of communication between Nick and top level
management because it takes more than a talented and motivated person or team to make a successful
project; lack of leadership can be the main reason of a project failure. Another problem that Nick faced was
the lack of plan including poor requirement definition, scope control, test, poor defined estimation process
and scope. It is very important to have a good plan in which activities are well defined and documented,
adequate decisions and commitments are highlighted, risks identified and lifecycle defined. I also think that
the fact that Nick did not have any experience in managing a project before made him focus on the role of
software integrator and troubleshooter instead of performing the work of project manager. He did not have
the required skills to lead the project the way the top management was expecting, the communication is
usually the achievement of a common understanding and if there is no communication there is no
understanding. As a project manager, Nick had to ensure that the communication was going through the
team and top level management
B. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?
The case does present a realistic scenario which a project has been underway for three years because of
previous management problems (it has already gone through three different project managers). It is common
to come across unfinished projects due to scope creep, lack of users or management involvement, long and
realistic time scales and poor requirements. According to a survey (Frese, 2003), three out of ten IT projects
fail on average and some of the problems are:
Incomplete requirements and specifications: creation of a comprehensive requirements document is
necessary,
Poor communication: inconsistent or inadequate communication among stakeholders,
Lack of users involvement and resources
Executive support,
Scope issues: inconsistency in cost and delivery time
Technical incompetence: changing requirements and specifications; unrealistic expectations.
Every project involves risks, the risk that the technology will not work as planned or needed is the one of
main concern, again, it is necessary to emphasize the need of a scope management involving the five main
processes that are: planning, definition, creation of WBS, verification and control (Sliger, n.d.). The lack of
good communication can easily turn an organization strategy.

C. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?

I dont think Nick Carson was a good project manager, the fact that he finished the project delivering the
product on time does not mean that he performed his duties the way he should have. Good project
management is a process of continuous improvement, learning and study, it is a process of making mistakes
and learning from those mistakes and in order to have success, managers have to dedicate themselves to this
never-ending process. IT technical project managers usually come from some technical background (Tucci,
2007) that means they could have possibly worked as system administrators, network operators or
programmers and conquered their promotion through their struggle and skills. From their experience, they
have learned how IT teams work and in my point of view, it was exactly what happened to Nick Carson. He
had the skills needed for the project but because of his lack of experience, he did not deliver a good job. A
manager is viewed by different ways inside an organization, for example, to an employer, a good project
manager is the one who delivers projects on time and on budget giving the right feedback, but to the team
he is the one who maintains a good working environment. I think Nick needed to be trained to be a good

project manager to know how to sell the project, deal with changes, demands and report back to upper
management.
D. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?
Nick could have planned the project better, analyzed the risks, monitored progress, reported project status,
assessed performance of the team and its members, interacted with users, management and the team
(Ramirez & Meyer, 2004), communicated better and he should have had a better leadership to be able to
make people do the job and not to perform their jobs himself. He should have been able to define stages for
each interaction of the project because checklists, documents and templates are all designed to assist project
managers at each stage. The top management knew that Nick was managing his first project, so they should
have interacted more with Nick and his team, instead of just asking him to perform the job on time, they
should have supported and communicated better. Managing a project is a very difficult job, and without
support, makes things even harder for someone who does not have experience.
E. What should top management have done to help Nick?
Overall, project managers need experience or support from those who have to make a project succeed;
leadership and management are very important roles that a project manager has to play. They have to
determine the exact needs of a company, defining a precise and clear scope, they need to communicate well,
be organized, have problem solving skills and know how to deal with teamwork