The stakeholders in Waterloo Regional Police Service and the CIMS Project case study were the police chief Larry Gravill and the individuals that supplied the software. Even though these are the two main stakeholders, there were a variety of others as well. Some of the other people who had a stake and were impacted by this project were the federal government, project, police service civilian employees as users of the Common Information Management System (CIMS), the seven other police agencies involved, and finally, the general public who will ultimately be affected when it comes to the tax revenue. In the end, we will go on and analyze the case in more depth but also talk about the five process groups and how they were applied.
In 1997, there were a variety of police services that co-operative in the Waterloo Regional Police Services and CIMS. Niagara, York, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Durham, Guelph, Stratford, Brantford, and Waterloo were vital participants of the given project, where Larry Gravill served as the key project manager. Mr. Gravill was also the police chief of Waterloo Regional Police until 2007, when he decided to retire. In order for this project to get up and run, they needed vendors; however, that took roughly two years due to the inability to comply with the proposal’s terms. After doing revisions to the proposal, a year later, they finally had a vendor response which was Integrated Technologies Group (ITG). By August 1999, CIMS group and ITG had signed a contract to install a new computer-aided dispatch and records management system.
Furthermore, there were significant issues regarding the functional responsibilities of the Federal Government after the principal representative signed the contract. In 1999, “when the original CIMS contract was signed, additional functionality for the RMS system had been federally mandated, and these changes were outside of the scope of the original ITG contract” (2001). It was reported that there were project implementation problems due to the ITG’s failure to deliver the functional system according to the deadline. Numerous changes to the project-specific details and requirement complexity were the primary reasons for non-delivery in December 2003, when the project was supposed to be integrated. Another critical factor was that the manager of the project had other responsibilities. Thus, he was not able to devote himself to this task (Movold, 2001) fully. Secondly, the company never truly thought through the funding aspect of the project. They were relying on grants from the federal government, which fell through and prohibited any action due to the lack of funds.
When it came to the CAD system, there were many changes that had to be made. Two of the most significant changes were increasing the compounding cost of the project and making a change to the CPIC. The agreement with Integrated Technologies Group (ITG) was canceled in 2005. However, there were several successful actions taken in order to integrate the CIMS project. For instance, Niche Technology and Versaterm were the key companies that were providing RMS solutions in the Canadian market beginning from the time when the contract of ITG was signed (Movold, 2001). After canceling the contract with ITG, the company faced some more significant issues. One of the biggest things that came about was determining what company would best fit their needs that would also keep them on a strict deadline to complete the project on time. Finally, Mr. Gravill noticed that each of these companies could fulfill the project’s needs faster and cheaper than ITG could have done.
It is clear that Mr. Gravill applied highly traditional approaches in order to manage and govern the given project by referring to the basic definition of conventional methodology. According to the Rational Plan website, traditional methods are defined as “Traditional project management is an established methodology for running projects in a sequential cycle: initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. For each of these five project steps, there are tools and techniques, such as the ones defined by the PMBOK®, the standard methodology for traditional project management” (2013). Looking at the overall success with ITG, it was a failure because of all of the changes that had to be made. According to Movold, the traditional method used to manage this project was not flexible enough to accommodate changes without causing delays and increased the project cost. The required updates to the project raised the cost estimate an additional $7,924,952. Also, the project deadline was rapidly approaching, and ITG had failed to deliver a functional system due to the complexity of the requirements and changes to the scope of the project.
It is important to note that there are two types of shareholders, which are categorized as primary and secondary. Primary stakeholders are the ones whose interests are fully aligned with the company’s goals. Investors and employees are considered principal shareholders because their financial gains directly depend on the firm’s overall well-being. Neighboring residents of the company’s location can be viewed as an example of secondary stakeholders because they might be concerned with some environmental impact of the organization, such as pollution (Gomez, 2017). It is also critical to note that Waterloo regional police service played an essential role in bringing all of the stakeholders together during the development of the CIMS project. It involved only two types of shareholders, which were direct and indirect. The chart above clearly illustrates that Mr. Larry Gravill, who is the Waterloo region’s chief of police, was the main stakeholder alongside the local police department.
Moreover, other primary shareholders, who were highly important for the project execution, included the federal government, the software vendor/engineer, and various technology groups. It is crucial to understand that stakeholders play an essential role in the CIMS integration because they act as the main source of funding, regulate completion of appraisals, monitor that the design is done properly, and evaluate the procedure of implementation. In other words, they are responsible for making sure that overall project planning and its execution are conducted correctly throughout the entire process.
Furthermore, it is highly essential to elaborate that Waterloo University, civilian staff, police officers, public intelligent community forum members, and police service representatives are classified as indirect or secondary shareholders. Although the given category of people might not possess any financial interest in the project’s competition, they are critical components of its implementation. Secondary stakeholders primarily provide essential suggestions, detailed feedback, and general recommendations for the project’s planning and execution. However, the members of the public group act as both final consumers and indirect shareholders; therefore, the project is not primarily impacted by this category. They are considered as a leading source for meaningful feedback on the police’s services and environment.
There are major differences between primary and secondary shareholders, which can affect the flow of the communication process. The police department and the federal government are primary stakeholders who directly impact the project’s overall implementation procedures, such as planning, conceptualization, and execution. The main subject of communication among crucial shareholders should be focused on ensuring efficiency, speed, and eliminating communication barriers, which can severely hinder the information flow, such as feedback delivery. Real-life or face-to-face communication plays an essential role in allowing key stakeholders to be able to make deliberate choices and decisions.
Interactions among primary investors and representatives are done through various channels, which include Larry Gravill and the project team of CIMS. In addition, ITG conducts daily telephone calls and meetings with an email twice a month. Dispatchers, law enforcement officers, CPIC, and other indirect shareholders mostly use an email form of communication due to its overall convenience in acquiring updates. The formula [N x (N-1)]/2 should be applied by project managers in order to preserve the channels of communication open and free for exchange. There are 120 parallel channels in the CIMS project, which means that N value will be 16 because N is equal to the number of communication flows. The given formula is not difficult to integrate and calculate due to its simplistic and practical approach.
Project managers might face a certain amount of difficulties when using communication channels. One of the most challenging ones is the process of appointing in-person meetings. The main reason is that it is profoundly uneasy to assign the meeting time and date that would fit everyone’s schedule. In addition, there are people who will have a problem with attending this meeting because they have various responsibilities and duties outside the scope of the project. For instance, Mr. Gravill can be an illustration of a person with the given issue because he acts as both the project manager and the chief of police. Even if the meeting was attended by all of the members and involved parties, the overall result might not be satisfactory because some disagreements on one subject can hinder the flow of the conversation. This leads to more extended gatherings and numerous additional meetings, which might or might not accomplish the primary goal of solving the issues.
Furthermore, technical communication channels, such as phone calls and emails, can be problematic as well. The major issue with information exchange through emails is that they cannot be checked on a daily basis. Therefore, if a task requires an immediate response or clarification from the receiver due to urgency, and there is no answer, the overall process will be significantly slowed down. In addition, some emails can be considered as spam messages, which will result in an email being ignored, thus, no attention will be given to the content of the text. Emails also tend to lack the way to include a sender’s tone and intonation, therefore, the receiver might misunderstand information or find it disrespectful. Moreover, email services are not entirely safe from cyberattacks, which can result in the leakage of key data. Phone calls are imperfect communication tools due to the lack of guarantee of an immediate reply from the call receiver. Even if the call is successfully connected, a person might not give full and concise attention to the caller, which makes the overall conversation pointless and ineffective. These types of instances might occur because an individual is busy or has other important tasks to complete.
There are a number of unique systems that could be utilized in order to conquer these difficulties. One genuine model is using an instrument known as Trello. It is a coordinated effort device that sorts out the company’s undertakings into sheets. In a highly convenient manner, Trello reveals what is being chipped away, who is working on what, and where something is in a procedure. It is similar to an online whiteboard, which contains a series of arrangements presented through various sticky notes, and with each record, there is an undertaking for individual employees and a group.
This tool allows using sticky notes that have photographs, connections from other information sources like Salesforce and BitBucket, reports, and a platform to remark and work together with colleagues. It is also comfortable to use outside the office environment because it can be accessed from any device (Trello, n.d.). A subsequent answer to overcoming these difficulties mentioned above would be an online video meeting. There are various sites that offer this, some of them cost very little, and others are free. Utilizing video conferences can be advantageous when contacting individuals who are spread out in various locales. Some online discussions can be programmed to have a capacity for screen sharing, which could be utilized to give presentations.
The manager should ensure that the ten-project management institute or PMI knowledge fields are integrated in order to have a good project. First, the CIMS project collected all the data they needed to complete the project under scope management. It enabled them to set the original scope of the project after doing this. A demonstrative instance of using this was when they went for a while without hearing anything from the suppliers. Once the sellers realized that there was a problem somewhere in the range, they decided to revise it, leading them to receive vendor answers. By making these changes to the scope, the CIMS team worked on getting them incorporated into the project. Secondly, in the communication part, Mr. Gravill had this set. He made sure that there were bi-monthly meetings with the vendors that included key stakeholders.
On the other hand, if individuals were unable to make these meetings, such as key stakeholders, then teleconferencing was the last choice. However, on a daily basis, there were always forms of communication that were being implemented which were emails and phone calls. Thirdly, Mr. Gravill tried to implement stakeholder management by engaging daily with his vendor ITG. He made them aware of the changes in the requirements of the project. He also met with the management of WRPS to discuss the possibility of changing business practices to facilitate using software that was designed for a typical police agency. Fourthly, the risk management section I think Mr. Gravill excelled at. He noticed that ITG was unfit for the job and was unable to accomplish what needed to be done. Eventually, all of these doubts led him to cancel the contract with this vendor and hiring someone else.
Project Procurement Management involves the procedures required from outside the project team to buy or obtain goods, services, or outcomes. This project began with ITG in August 1999, and their agreement was terminated six years later. They were unable to successfully install and maintain the CAD and RMS systems, resulting in CIMS entering into a fresh deal with one of two potential new suppliers, Niche Technology or Versaterm. Looking at the project’s expense was an enormous problem they faced. Project Cost Management involves the procedures engaged in estimating, planning, financing, handling, budgeting, and controlling expenses in order to complete the project within the authorized budget. The reason for this is because, for this project, they were supposed to receive these federal grants, but that did not occur. Mr. Gravill had to decide that this price in the project would be offset by the loss of financing at the last second.
Also, Larry Gravill started reassessing the project and evaluating alternative suppliers that could fulfill the demands of the project. These occurrences led Larry Gravill to exceed expectations when it went to the quality administration area. The last two areas are the planning angle and the asset among executives. Project Schedule Management incorporates procedures required to deal with the auspicious consummation of the venture. Project Resource Management includes methods to recognize, obtain, and deal with the assets as is necessary for the fruitful fulfillment of the task. I did not find any instances where Larry Gravill effectively executed both of these regions of activity. The purpose behind this is the project’s due date, which was set early, and Larry Gravill spent the next six years realizing that ITG was highly inactive. These things ought to have been dealt with sooner than later, and that way, the due date for this task could have been met.
The five process groups are known as the Planning Process Group, the Initiating Process Group, the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group, the Executing Process Group, and the Closing Process Group. Looking at the first group, Larry Gravill applied this well to the project when it came to the team needing the CAD and RMS systems updated. Secondly, they created the CIMS group, which would set them up for the following step in the process. The planning portion was met when the initial request for the proposal for existing vendors. In this step, they identified the requirements and set the scope of the project. With the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group, Larry Gravel didn’t seem to apply this process successfully. ITG was consistently late with deliverables and going over budget. Mr. Gravill should have either pressured ITG to work more diligently on the project or terminate the contract with ITG and use another vendor. In the end, when ending the contract with ITG, this is where Larry Gravill implemented the closing process, which made sure both parties were aware of the termination of the contract.
In the wake of doing some examination, the best suggestion for Mr. Gravill would be the Agile technique approach. As indicated by Rouse, the system can be characterized as a programming application improvement, which is a procedure that envisions the requirement for adaptability and applies a dimension of practicality into the conveyance of the completed item. Coordinated actions require a social movement in numerous organizations since it centers on the perfect transfer of individual pieces or features of the product and not on the whole application (Rouse, n.d.). One advantage of utilizing this kind of system would be the ability to separate the more significant bits of the venture into something smaller. In this way, it would permit the organization or project group to achieve these errands in a promising way on the grounds that the work would be disseminated alongside it winding up increasingly sensible to finish inside the given time allotment. The second advantage of this more subtle technique would make the group ready to be ready for the new changes that they would face.
The most profound recommendation includes informing the personnel and paying attention to the primary goal. Another suggestion is to reduce the amount of online or video communication channels and significantly increase the number of face-to-face meetings among CIMS teams in order to be able to clarify the most important issues. Both telephone calls and online emails have a tendency to cause a series of delays, which greatly hinder the project’s implementation timeframe. If the given strategy had been used by ITG, the company would not have missed the deadline, which was the biggest failure during the project’s development. By conducting face-to-face meetings in a regular manner, management representatives will be able to closely monitor and correct emerging mistakes without significant delays. These types of frequent and efficient conferences can act as a crucial factor in determining and ensuring that the outlined plan is being followed strictly and without various error, which naturally arises during the project of this scale.
Although CIMS was able to complete the planned undertaking after they changed their previous vendor, the entire execution process could have been done in a highly smooth and delicate manner. It is important to note that the overall plan was done properly and according to the highest standards, but the execution was a major failure, which led to the project’s ineffective integration process. The management representatives also performed in a highly unprofessional way because they were not fully committed to the implementation due to the lack of frequent monitoring and constant governance. I firmly believe that the main cause of these delays and failures was the lack of periodic meetings, which must be done in a face-to-face approach with the occasional use of email and telephone calls. Therefore, it is clear that the given project had the potential to be done successfully and without a missed deadline if these recommendations were implemented.
References:
Gomez, C. (2017). Why Are Secondary Stakeholders Important to a Company? Web.
Movold, Jane, Waterloo Regional Police Services: The CIMS Project, Ivey Management Services, 2001, Web.
Rouse, M. (n.d.). What is Agile Software Development? – Definition from WhatIs.com. Web.
Traditional and Agile Project Management in a Nutshell. (2013). Web.
Trello. (n.d.). What is Trello? Web.