Introduction
In both intercultural and cross-cultural contexts, project management aligning with such environments has been on the rise. Project teams across the globe can now collaborate through virtual means as a result of globalization, digitalization, and virtual cooperation platforms. Thus, intercultural and cross-cultural project management entails the involvement of global mindsets and the emphasis on the multicultural project environment. Regardless of the context of a project being carried out, considerations of its life cycle are essential, which include five phases such as initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing (Wells & Kloppenborg, 2018). The list of project management principles expected to help reach success is not clearly defined in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK); however, according to PMI survey findings, essential principles for achieving success include a formal structure, engaged and invested sponsors, clearly-defined goals and outcomes, documented roles and responsibilities, strong change management, risk management, mature value delivery capabilities, performance management baseline, and a communication plan (Lock, 2014). Thus, a comprehensive project management plan accounts not only for the schedule or the assigned responsibilities but also considers the risks that may take place during implementation and notes strategies for addressing them.
The implementation of a successful project plan entails differentiating between factors contributing to project success and failure. The factors that help reach success in projects include proper planning, adherence to best practices, control and monitoring, effective communication, the use of professional technology tools, a systematic approach, as well as the presence of experienced project managers and team leaders. The factors contributing to failure in projects include the lack of clarity in goals’ definition, communication issues, limitations in planning, the lack of risk management, the absence of follow-up, unsuitable tools, as well as context and timing issues (Dandage et al., 2018). Therefore, processes that can help reach success in project management need to consider the risk categories, the impact of which should be mitigated.
Key risk indicators are metrics that project managers will use to assess and measure possible risks and their impact. Indicators used for avoiding project risks tend to be differentiated into financial, operational, and human resource categories. The economic indicators include the metrics that allow for quantifying market risks, any regulatory changes, or competitive risks. The human resource indicators are measures of employee satisfaction and retention, customer churn, and others. Finally, operational indicators are those concerned with day-to-day processes, such as technical malfunction or breaches in security.
Considering the theoretical background of project management laid out above, this report will focus on the presentation of best practices in the context of a given scenario. The aim of this report is to examine project management measures, including human and non-human aspects, as related to the construction of a one-hundred-bed special hospital to be located on a local government-owned plot in a suburban residential area. The scope of the report will include considerations of the human resources, such as stakeholders’ identification, project planning using appropriate tools, the creation of a budget, considerations of project risk analysis, and the overall breakdown of project management steps.
Project Summary
A project refers to an individual or collaborative enterprise that is planned for achieving a particular aim. In this project, constructing a 100-bed specialized hospital is the final goal, which is categorized as a construction project. Other types of projects include but are not limited to research, administrative, event, maintenance, new product development, computer software development, and others (Heagney, 2011). In a construction project, professionals from different fields with different educational, professional, and cultural backgrounds will come together to work on its completion. Challenges may arise among relevant stakeholders because of their backgrounds’ variability and thus the tendency to solve issues differently, which can lead to conflict and misunderstanding.
Project Stakeholders
In the project involving the construction of a 100-bed specialized hospital, key stakeholders include the government, which is the recipient or the customer of the project, regulatory bodies, union workers involved in the process of construction, and the project manager and the project team. The Project Manager (PM) is the core stakeholder responsible for maintaining a plan of risk management, providing risk management training to the team, facilitating risk assessments, and preparing relevant briefings to discuss implementation and reaching key objectives and outcomes. In the diverse intercultural context, the Project Manager will carry out diversity management and maintain the project’s adherence to common expectations of corporate social responsibility. The team of the project is responsible for reporting both successes and failures to the PM, ensuring the accomplishment of regulatory and mitigation activities, as well as liaising with other stakeholders to suggest any changes in the risk management plan.
The regulatory bodies in the project are responsible for managing and preparing documentation necessary for the construction to be commenced. For example, they will prepare Environmental Impact and Assessment reports for the construction, which may hold up the project as such reports are done involving many agencies issuing permits. Unions will represent the needs of workers engaged in the hospital’s construction, keeping employees informed on day-to-day processes. Finally, the government, which plays the role of the project’s customer, will be responsible for approving the budget, timelines and participating in quality management. The client will collaborate closely with the Project Manager regarding every aspect of the project that concerns them, with the expectation that an agreement on the future steps and outcomes is present. When it comes to the approaches relevant to the management of the project’s scope and stakeholders, the Project Manager will conduct regular meetings with relevant parties, ensure control over the construction, facilitate better documentation coordination, and control critical operations.
Critical Path Analysis, Gannt, WBS
Critical path analysis (CPA) represents a project management methodology intended for mapping out every essential task that is necessary to complete a project. The graph below (see Figure 1) identifies the sequence of crucial steps the project team will have to take when constructing the 100-bed hospital building. The most critical areas are determined to show the most emphasized areas, considering that there will be hurdles taking place along the way, which should not disrupt the main processes significantly. The three main focus areas of the project include pre-construction, construction, and finalization, as illustrated in the Gannt (see Figure 2) and WBS charts (see Figure 3). Besides, it is notable that the stage of construction cannot begin without the completion of the pre-construction stage, which entails one of the most crucial steps – obtaining permits to do construction work, which can take a lot of time considering the bureaucratic procedures of regulatory bodies.
Project Budget
A budget for a construction project represents an estimation of the amount of money necessary to carry it out from initiation to closure, taking into account all relevant costs and expenses accrued during implementation. It is important to have a detailed and appropriate structured project budget because money is a limited resource, and it is crucial that the final sum does not exceed the estimations exponentially. Besides, during project execution, a budget will allow the Project Manager to keep track of all the necessary steps – the more unaccounted expenses are in a project, the more time it will take for them to get accomplished.
Procurement refers to the act of obtaining supplies, goods, and services, which means that in construction projects, procurement entails the gathering of all materials and services required for constructing the building. The procurement manager in a construction project will be responsible for searching for the most cost-effective and appropriate materials for each job. Besides, effective procurement entails ensuring that the necessary materials arrive on the construction site on time and within the expected budget.
The following budget for the construction budget, estimated at €10 million, will include two major categories (see Table 1). They entail direct costs, such as expenses for handling heavy equipment, building materials, and workers’ labor. General conditions represent a category involving indirect expenses, such as pre-construction costs, costs for construction organization, and project operation costs.
Human Resources Plan
In construction, human resource planning (HRP) entails planning ahead to ensure that the organization’s human resource requirements can meet the project pipeline’s demand. HRP is intended to provide the best alignment between employees’ professional expertise and competency and the tasks being assigned to them. Because the construction project team is expected to be highly diverse, cultural considerations remain highly relevant. Notably, international projects tend to be more vulnerable to disputes, while cultural differences contribute to such conflicts and the strategies of their resolution (Chan & Suen, 2005). The Project Manager is expected to possess some background in cross-cultural communication to ensure that they can address the challenges arising between project participants. When managing construction projects, several issues related to cross-cultural communication between staff have been identified, such as team spirit, initiative limitations, different approaches to quality, various methods of communication among the representatives of different cultures, micro-management, and others (Chan & Suen, 2005). The following HR plan for the construction project will be broken down into six key steps such as determining human resource needs, determining a recruiting strategy, selecting employees, developing training, determining compensation, and appraising performance.
Determining Human Resource Needs
For this construction project, it is expected to involve skilled workers with years of experience in the construction field while allowing less-skilled professionals to participate in working under the guidance of their supervisors. The Project Manager is expected to be well-versed in managing a cross-cultural team and collaborate with other project participants, including those offering professional services in legal, accounting, engineering, and architectural services. Moreover, it is important to work with skilled and reliable contractors that have a track record of fulfilling their responsibilities.
Recruiting Strategy
The Project Manager is expected to outsource the recruiting process to a human resource specialist that will recruit project participants both nationally and internationally. Besides contacting potential workers remotely, the HR manager will meet construction professionals with high-level positions and present an offering to them. Gathering a larger resume pool is important for the project because it will provide more options for making a final decision and selecting the best person for each position.
Selecting Employees
After reviewing the applicants for relevant positions, the outsourced HR manager will present their findings to the Project Manager and the client that ordered the construction of the hospital to make the final decisions on the professionals who need interviewing. After the interviews are carried out, there may be reference and background checks, as well as any tests that have to be performed before an offer is made to new employees. Besides, at this stage, any considerations of the salary, benefits, and time off will be negotiated.
Developing Training
Ensuring the success of the project depends on whether the employees and higher-standing personnel will come with training. The culture of diversity is something on which the project’s participants will be trained. Within this context, the sharing of diverse perspectives is welcomed, with open discussions and exchanges of ideas on how to solve problems. Besides, project participants will have to get educated on how to handle conflicts that arise as a result of cross-cultural differences. Therefore, to achieve the success of the project, human relations skills represent the main focus of the training.
Determining Compensation
The payment system will be developed so that employees feel motivated to fulfill their responsibilities effectively and in a timely manner. A significant part of the budget (see Table 1) has been allocated to pay workers, which allows for some flexibility in paying out bonuses and any pay increases. A recommended strategy is paying out premiums when the workers complete their job ahead of schedule, which is a rarity for construction projects. These premiums will motivate employees to avoid unnecessary stalling and work proactively to complete the project as soon as possible without compromising quality.
Appraising Performance
A performance appraisal is necessary for measuring job performance during the project. It will act as a measure for motivating and rewarding the workers involved in the project. At this point, the Project Manager will delegate the responsibility of appraisal to the HR Manager, who will carry out a performance review and present its findings to make conclusions. Short surveys on a performance fit the project the most because they will not take a lot of time and will not disrupt the process of construction in any way. It is essential to evaluate performance because the project is expected to take a year to accomplish, and there may be different curves in performance depending on the season, any arising hurdles, as well as employees’ engagement overall.
Potential Project Risks
A construction project entails risks of any kind, which can occur at different times of implementation. It is important to implement project risk analysis as it will help Project Managers determine the strengths, weaknesses, as well as potential opportunities associated with completing the construction project. Therefore, the purpose behind differentiating between the potential project risks is to establish a proactive approach toward management so that stakeholders are assured that the objectives are met despite the possible challenges (Shenhar et al., 2001). The categories of risks that may occur during construction may be linked to human resource challenges, including human error, any schedule-related constraints, technological problems, and unforeseen circumstances. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on delaying the timeline of the construction’s completion because of workers having to comply with quarantine measures (Aslan & Hürol Türkakın, 2022). In the context of such unpredicted events, it is imperative that a Project Manager accounts for their possibility and schedules the completion accordingly (see Table 2). The table breaking down the potential risks that may occur during the construction project includes the categories of risks, the level of risk in regards to its potential to occur, its effect in case if it occurs, and strategies for mitigation.
Conclusion
To conclude, the project involving the construction of a 100-bed hospital is a complex and multidimensional endeavor that requires the collaboration of multiple specialists under firm leadership. The Project Manager is tasked with leading the project team throughout the pre-construction, construction, and finalization stages of building the hospital and will manage any risks, monitor whether the schedule is met, as well as delegate HR responsibilities. A significant part of the project is the HR plan aimed at finding the best pool of contractors and construction workers whose professionalism and competence align with the construction and engineering requirements of the project. The success of hiring will directly impact the project’s outcomes, including the quality of construction, the adherence to the schedule, the likelihood of quick approval by the client, and the subsequent commissioning of the building. Ineffective staff will likely delay the construction project, leading to further complications for the Project Manager and administrative staff.
In the diverse, multicultural context within which the team will operate, conflicts are inevitable because of workers’ differences in professional, educational, and cultural backgrounds. Because such conflicts will take place, it is expected to implement diversity training among the team as one of the critical aspects of the proposed Human Resources plan. While the team members will be encouraged to share their diverse opinions on solving problems and carrying out construction processes, they will be trained on how to handle the difference in perspectives so that it does not disrupt the schedule and critical tasks and responsibilities.
The project plan laid out the prioritized tasks using the Critical Path Analysis tool, developed an estimated schedule with the help of a Gannt chart developed on Project Libre software, and provided a hierarchy of core construction steps using a WBS framework constructed on Project Libre. The visualization of the project makes the process of planning more detailed and task-oriented, and it is easier to make adjustments to the schedule or the hierarchy of steps once the significant points are identified and established as crucial parts of the plan. It is expected that additional actions that can be taken simultaneously with others will not affect the schedule significantly, while unpredicted events will prolong completion times and move the day of the building’s commissioning. The Project Manager will prepare a list of possible unforeseen events that could disrupt the construction process to establish a system of back-ups and have an insurance plan in place to cover for any financial loss due to such events. In the context of COVID-19, it is important that the construction plan aligns with the recommendations for construction work during times of outbreaks of the virus. Overall, this paper covered all of the major considerations of project development, ranging from defining key terms to identifying risks and measuring their management.
Reference List
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