Challenging situations often arise during projects. Each of the scenarios below describes a different challenge. Choose 2 scenarios and describe how you would handle the situation if you were the project manager, reflecting on the project management skills you have learned in this course. Your responses should be about a half of a page. Submit your assignment by Sunday, September 4, at 11:59 pm. You should spend no more than 30 minutes on each scenario (so a total of an hour maximum). After you submit the assignment, you will be able to see an expert's answer.
Scenario 1
Imagine you work at an NGO and are the manager of a project for which one of the deliverables is to provide formula to infants being raised at an orphanage. The team members working on this project come from several different countries and cultures. A few months into the project, some of the team members approach you. They are angry that the people implementing the project, the orphanage staff, are not buying the formula, but instead giving the infants cow’s milk. When you ask the staff why, they tell you that infant formula is more expensive than cow’s milk and that they are saving the project money so that it can be spent on other things. Besides, they feed their own babies cow’s milk, they say, and their children are fine. Things become heated between some people on the team. Some think this is irresponsible, and the staff, who feel attacked, are defensive.
What would you do as the project manager to diffuse the situation?
Scenario 2
You have taken a job at an NGO in a country different from your own and, as part of your job, you will replace the current project manager. In reviewing the project timeline, you notice that some deliverables are already late. You also observe that morale seems low among the team members and that there are a lot of absences. You soon learn that the previous manager was very autocratic, and the team members had been nervous to speak up. In fact, there was very little communication between the former project manager and team members, so often the team had no idea what was happening.
Your management style is very different than the previous manager’s style—you value open communication and frequent meetings. What are some things you might do as the new project manager to re-build the team and re-motivate them. What strategies might you enlist that will result in greater success in meeting deliverables?
Scenario 3
Imagine that you are the project manager for a three-year provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling project in Zambia. Your scope of work includes developing the training materials and implementing training in three districts. Two years into the project, the training materials are finalized, and the project is 75% through its training targets. The funding agency has been pleased so far with the project’s accomplishments, and they request that you add an additional three districts to your project plan for a total of six districts. They don’t offer additional funds.
As the project manager, how would you handle this situation?