Project Ajax

Project Ajax: DOD

Nicole A. Owens

Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze Project Ajax. Tran has been the project manager of this project since it has begun. There have been a few setbacks, both in the technology and in the moral of his team, which has call for the need to analyze whether or not Tran is able to handle this project as the project manager.

Project Ajax

Question 1

        Tran has proven himself to be a capable Project Manager. Coming into this project, Tran had completed 4 projects and had a 50% success rate. At the beginning of the project, Tran was able to identify the problems within his team; the different departments being split in two. This was a factor that Tran had no control over and was not anyone’s fault. However, Tran had the idea of taking them to a team building retreat before the project started. I think that was a great move for Tran to make. Being away at the retreat with each other allowed the team members to get to know each other outside of work, and find a common ground. Getting to know each other on a more personal level brought the moral of his team up considerably.  Tran’s team needs to complete 5 different phases in order for the project to become a success. The team went into day 1 with very high hopes and working together extremely effectively. The first phase failed and his team was discouraged, however, they were able to fix it rather quickly and worked diligently to make up for the lost time. Once phase 2 also failed, his team became extremely discouraged on the project. I think that Tran starting morning meetings to discuss the positive aspects of the project and what the team had accomplished was a great idea. Doing the meetings gave his team the recognition that I feel they needed in order to keep a positive attitude.

                Question 2

         Tran still faces many problems in regards to completion of the project. The failed phases and additional work thereafter have caused the project to fall behind schedule. The team has become very disheartened, and becoming more so with each failed phase. With his team moral being so low it will cause problems with the team overall working together as a team to get the project completed. There is likely to be fighting among the team and they might end up splitting in two again. One major incentive the team had to work hard to complete the phases on time was the bonus they were promised, with three failed phases in a row that goal is going to now seem unattainable.

Question 3

        One of the major problems Tran is going to face at this point in the project is his team’s disappointment. I think it would be imperative for Tran to hold a team-building session. It is important to bring the team back together as quickly as he can to try and avoid a rift forming between the team members. This could be something as simple as getting the team together to discuss the things they think they have done correctly up to this point and the things they think they could have done better. If he wanted to go a more serious route with the team-building session, he could have the team go to another two-day retreat to get away and spend a weekend getting his team back together. Another idea is that Tran could go to the upper-management and ask them to adjust the time schedule, or scope of the project, or even come up with a better way for his team to reach the goal incentives. Whichever way Tran goes about solving his problems, I think the biggest one is keeping his team from getting too discouraged.