Scribd
Upload
246 views

MBO - CASE - How MBO Helped Fix A Troubled Project - 4 PDF

The project manager implemented Management by Objectives (MBO) to address challenges with a project that had a large team supporting many applications. MBO was typically used for performance reviews but not project management. The manager categorized team members, set targets for each project phase in consultation with the team, and monitored progress daily. Over two years, this approach improved productivity by 17%, client satisfaction, team morale, and reduced defects by 66%. The case study showed that MBO can be effective for project management by providing clarity of expectations and motivating teams to achieve targets.

Uploaded by

Saketh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
246 views

MBO - CASE - How MBO Helped Fix A Troubled Project - 4 PDF

The project manager implemented Management by Objectives (MBO) to address challenges with a project that had a large team supporting many applications. MBO was typically used for performance reviews but not project management. The manager categorized team members, set targets for each project phase in consultation with the team, and monitored progress daily. Over two years, this approach improved productivity by 17%, client satisfaction, team morale, and reduced defects by 66%. The case study showed that MBO can be effective for project management by providing clarity of expectations and motivating teams to achieve targets.

Uploaded by

Saketh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

How MBO helped fix a troubled project - A Case

Study
As a project manager, one has to work on various projects and each of them come with
unique challenges. I am presenting a case study where I managed to overcome the challenges
by using Management by Objectives as a project management style instead of a performance
appraisal model.

The key challenges faced during the project:

 30 member team was supporting a suit of more than 40 applications, with 42000
function points.
 Client satisfaction rating for the project was below organization's target satisfaction
rating.
 Quality of the delivery was not meeting the client expectations.
 To deliver quality deliverable and the challenge was to have the team take ownership.

On evaluating various approaches, Management by Objectives (MBO) was considered a


suitable model. However, MBO was considered successful only for Performance appraisals
and not as Project Management style. This model has certain limitations as a management
style.

Failure of Management by Objectives (MBO) as a Project Management style:

 Positive and active participation from subordinates is not easily forth forthcoming.
 Truly verifiable goals are not easy to formalize
 Emphasis is put in short-range goals, whereas long-range goals are avoided
 Goals remain inflexible and rigid.
 Over-use of quantitative goals jeopardizes the qualitative aspect.
 Time-consuming nature of management by objectives.

However, the team decided to go against the tide to achieve something significant. I decided
to come up with key objectives to be achieved using this approach.

Key Objectives identified are:

 Expectations of the client needed to be streamlined as individual goals for the team
members.
 A Continuous assessment methodology was needed to revisit individual goals.
 The team members needed specific goals to focus on their performance.
 Open communication channel needed to be established to gain the trust and set
expectations to the team members.
 Need to improve the quality of deliverable delivered to the client.

1
 Need to improve the customer satisfaction by meeting client expectations.

After much introspection and discussion, I arrived at the following approach and presented
the same to the team and higher management. After getting a buy-in from the team, I used
MBO as a project management style using the approach given below.

Application of MBO as a Project Management style:

 Categorization of Team Members based on experience and performance.

 Set project targets for each phase

 Discuss and agree on targets with the team members.


 Set daily individual targets mapped out of targets of each phase

2
 Daily achievement checkpoint (not more than 15 minutes per day)
 Monitor and track the progress of the project based on targets achieved in each phase.
 Revisit the phase-wise targets weekly to manage any deviations.
 Evaluate the closure of each phase.
 Closure of the project

The project performance was monitored over period of 2 years to verify the sustainability of
this model over a longer duration. The results were consistently positive and the team was
able to appreciate the change in the climate.

Achievements from the Case study:

 Productivity of the project had increased by 17%


 Significant improvement in client satisfaction index. Organization's target client
satisfaction index was achieved.
 Significant improvement in team morale with 0% attrition rate during this project year
and 5% attrition rate for next 4 years.
 Significant improvement in the quality of deliverable, with 66% reduction in defects.

3
Conclusion on MBO as a Project Management style:
As a conclusion to the case study, I realized that MBO is not only a good model for
performance appraisal, it also provides a very good results if used as a project management
style. I am listing down some of the key outcome of this case study below.

 A simple method which can be applied to any project.


 Helps motivating the team to attain their agreed targets.
 Provides clarity to every team member on the expectations.
 Provides an open communication and coordination channel to all the stakeholders.
 Can achieve best of the results in challenging scenarios if applied in a systematic and
constrained approach.

You might also like