To What Extent Were the Problems Facing the Notebook Computer Development Project Avoidable?

1. To what extent were the problems facing the notebook computer development project avoidable? What could have been done to avoid these problems?

Senior management had unrealistic expectations

Very low team member involvement

Integration with other departments was not planned out ahead of time

Management did not manage the project

Right off the bat, Steve should have done some project planning. It seems like there was an idea of how everything needed to be done but it wasn’t very secured and planned with deliverables and prearranged timelines. In the term of product launch and product developing a mix up of dates could really influx the completion and release date. This can also cost a lot more money and show that he doesn’t have a lot of experience managing projects.

Second, Steve could have created an opportunity to get the team on the same page by sitting down and working on a work breakdown structure together. Instead, he kind of made himself a micromanager/dictator that wasn’t open to other ideas from his team. The WBS gives members of the team an opportunity where they could have learned what was expected of them, identify their strong points and areas where they need additional help or resources. Because Steve didn’t structure the project this way it opened up issues when it came to the hinge system which could have been identified within the work breakdown structure.

A WBS also identifies people outside of his team and lets them know what they need to do for the project. This happened when the manufacturing team participated in the project before they were even needed. A project should have an intake meeting where everyone is involved from the get-go. There is nothing more frustrating than being looped in the project at the end and then having to play catch up.

A big foundation of the problem is the lack of a process and the possibility of corrective actions along the way. Without a formal system and when changes were needed it created project creep and causes ripples throughout the whole project. If Steve would have created a systematic change process this would have helped his project and then the Vice President may not have requested a complete redesign of the computer and PDA integration feature. The lack of management, attention to detail and control really set the project into chaos.

If management had proper planning, was involved throughout the whole project, and allowed team collaboration this project would have been more successful.

...