- Has anyone documented what the project needs to deliver?
The project objectives were documented clearly and a delegated individual had been recording the weekly meetings, which proved to be an excellent method of keeping on top of things.
3.Is the team working together productively and does everyone know what they’re expected to deliver?
In terms of getting things done, productively, the majority of the group collaborated well together. Various jobs and tasks were distributed amongst the members of the group i.e. Owen had been delegated to prepare an account budget. Since our expenditures are a direct result of our project, we are held accountable. We had chosen Owen to carry out this duty, as he is good with figures and a reliable person to work with. If we hit a wall at any point it was under this category, because I felt there was tendency to work independently as well as collaboratively. Part of this issue was the fact that key members did not attend the meetings, and by key members, I mean the individuals who are key to the decisions made. Without the involvement of every team member it is difficult to push the project forward at a steady pace.
I felt to some extent my own role in this project was dented, due to the independent nature of particular individuals, however, I contributed to the project by promoting the event on my social network pages i.e. Twitter and Facebook and by word of mouth. I always tried to be fair in my decisions made and tried to look at things objectively in the best interest of the groups work ethic and grade.
Looking back on the event, I strongly feel we should have had a more personal impact as a unit i.e. performing a live music set collaboratively. This would have saved college funds, as we would have used a significant part of the night, thus not leaving enough time for the both acts to perform at the end of the night. This could have been a potentially and significant part of the event and due to my lack of experience within event management I was submissive in my request and did not push it further. What more, we had a deadline to work towards and perhaps this seemed unachievable in such a short period of time. We had introduced new angles and opinions into the project i.e. performing ourselves on the night, however, this was completely overlooked and therefore the project were lacking a different perspective of ideas in re-capturing the interest of the group.
I took time to research personalities within social groups as I felt that this played a huge influence on the groups dynamics. In any group collaboration there is a tendency for one or two individuals to take control of the matter independently shutting any contrast of opinions.
‘..Inevitably there are subtle bids for leadership, and the ideas of certain members are likely to prevail over others’. Paynter, John. (1992) Sound and Structure. P.27
I must stress, that, despite there being individuals more dominant than others, it must be mentioned that approximately half of the group became unsettled due to two individuals taking control of the assignment into there own hands for the benefit of their personal promotion label. The collaboration aspect, personally I feel, was destroyed the second two individuals injected £750.00 into the project, matching the colleges budget. The situation saw a divide amongst the group who shed resistance towards this idea of being two separate events. The creative collaboration process was in danger of being thrown off task and became an issue, a problem that required an immediate solution as our grades were at risk.
One aspect of the project I would have changed is the diversity of music that was offered for the major part of the event. Gavin had suggested broadening the musical flavour on the evening, however, once again, this was overlooked. Despite the night being dominated by Dub-step music, even so, we were not effective in planning a serious promotion campaign for the event. Our key demographic was not thoroughly researched and the numbers we had pulled in on the night reflected this.
‘Problems begin with attempts to identify needs. One common difficulty is determining who the customers are’. () (Accessed on 02/05/2012)
Where the music style was mostly Dub-step, it was difficult for certain members of the group to promote the music event to their respective social groups and felt this was part of the problem for why we didn’t receive the turn out expected.
Conclusion
‘The leadership, Integration, Involvement, and Ingraining achieved by the organization are reliable factors of how effectively the organization is pursuing its stated eventual end’ J.D, Frame. (2002) The New Project Management. P.183
I have included this quote in my essay because I agree with the statement that the way the members treat and deal with the problems or how the teamwork together will be a true reflection on the outcome of the end product. Not all the deadlines were met and I felt this was partly due to the reasons that at times the project was at risk of derailment where myself, and also other members felt the project was being constructed without their input. I discovered that it is in fact the meetings, preparations and the recording of the minutes which form a solid foundation to a robust project and the. When working with several people with different personalities on a project, it is inevitable, that, at least one time, you will be faced with a group of different views, and at the same time, under extreme pressure to reach a quick solution.
Overall I have enjoyed working on this project with my fellow members, and relished the challenges that it sprung upon us. We all must look at this as managing a project collaboratively because that is what we had done throughout this development. I will observe this project as a significant experience and a lesson learned. This is about identifying the good practice and learning not to repeat any bad decisions made, until that happens, any return on an investment will be slim.
‘If you want your project to be productive and creative it’s inevitable that mistakes will be made. Once you accept this, you’ll see that managing a project is not about avoiding mistakes at all costs, it’s about learning from them and not repeating them’.
Barker and Cole. (2007) Brilliant Project Management: What the Best Project Manager Know, Say and Do. Pearson Education. P131
Bibliography
Barker and Cole. (2007) Brilliant Project Management: What the Best Project Manager Know, Say and Do. Pearson Education.
Paynter, John. (1992) Sound and Structure. Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. Great Britain.
Frame, J.D. (2002) The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. Jossey-Bass
(Accessed on 02/05/2012)
available at (accessed on 03/05/2012)
Badiru, A.B. (1993) Quantitative Models for Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. Quorum Books