Biswamohan.Routray

Project Termination Modes

by Biswamohan.Routray

Project Termination

Project Termination

All projects have fixed start date and completion date. Project termination is a process that occurs whether a project is successful or not. PMI strongly recommends to follow this process for each project. The  major aim is to document the “lessons learned” and store it in the organizational process assets.There are various business, technical and political reasons to terminate a project. In this post I will focus on the different ways to close or terminate a project. They are as follows,

  1. Extinction
  2. Addition
  3. Integration
  4. Starvation

The following are the possible reasons for which a project may be terminated

by Extinction

  • The project has successfully completed scope and the client has accepted it.
  • It has been superseded by the external developments like technological advancement, market crisis etc
  • It has failed to achieve it’s goal.
  • It has no longer support from the Senior Management.

It is also sometimes referred to as “termination by murder“. The important point to notice is that all project activity ceases in this kind of termination.

by Addition

  • The project is a major success. It becomes the formal part of the parent organization.

The transition or  transfer of the resources such as the project personnel, materials and equipment to the newly created unit within the parent  organization.

by Integration

  • The project is successfully completed. The  project product is integrated to the operations of the client.

This is the most common mode and most complex operation. The resources are  released  and  disturbuted in the parent organization.

by Starvation

  • The project is terminated by budget decrement.
  • It is also known as  withdrawal of “life support”.

The reason of this termination is generally to shadow the failure of non-accomplishment of the goals. This can save face of the senior management and avoid embarrassment.

{ 11 comments }

Resolving Conflict

by Biswamohan.Routray

When more than one person works on a project, then we consider the group of persons as a team. When there is a team the conflict is inevitable. This is because each one will have their desire and goals. When ones goal doesn’t coincide with the other members goal, at that point conflict arises.

Conflicts arise due to incompatibility of goals.

There are five ways of resolving the conflicts

  • Forcing
  • Smoothing
  • Compromise
  • Confrontation
  • Withdrawal

The most important and the effective way is confrontation.

Forcing:

The word itself speaks about the way you are going to resolve the conflict. Use force ! The conflict is resolved by applying force (though not physical force) on one party. The team members will go along the way because they are told to do so. Here it is a win-lose technique. The person who has used the force has won. The person who has followed the instructions has lost.

Smoothing:

It’s a temporary way to resolve conflict. Someone makes an attempts to make the conflict less important than it is. The team members during the meeting believe they have a solution to the conflict and they all agree to it. Later on when someone thinks over the conflict and discovers that it is more important than what they were told in the meeting , at that time the conflict will resurface. Here it is  a lose-lose technique.

Compromise:

In this technique, looking at the situation everyone agree to give up something. Initially these team members would have thought not to give up. As a result of which they come up with a solution which is  accepted by all. If the members have made firm commitments then then the  conflict will not resurface. In this technique neither one wins nor loses.

Confrontation:

It is also known as problem solving. Here the members try to find the root cause of the issue and try to  eliminate the cause. As a result of which the solution becomes permanent. This is a win-win technique.

Withdrawal:

Unlike compromise, here one member gives up and leaves the meeting. He refuses to discuss further. It will never results in a resolution. It is the worst kind of resolution technique. This is a lose-lose technique.

Finally, the project managers who are involved in the resolving conflicts will always be inclined towards the confrontation and never look towards the withdrawal technique.

{ 8 comments }