1) Discuss whether the functional managers risk a loss of employee loyalty with the new change.

Hyten Corporation was management to examine the idea of changing the organization structure from informal project management to formal project management. Many changes will have to be made when Hyten Corporation introduces formal project management for it to be beneficial. The main issue that would affect employee loyalty would be their appraisal or evaluation as this will be very crucial to the happiness of the employees and the success of projects. Employees must feel they are being given a square deal, especially in the evaluation procedure. This is where the role of the functional managers would collide with that of the project managers. In the formal project management model project managers would also be key players in the evaluation process. In fact in the formal project management structure, project managers would be responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. A functional manager is a person who has management authority over an organizational unit such as a department - within a business, company, or other organization. Functional managers have ongoing responsibilities, and are not usually directly affiliated with project teams, other than ensuring that goals and objectives are aligned with the organization's overall strategy and vision. Who will do the evaluation? If any given organization does not adequately define roles and ensure harmony, it will result in territorial struggles and other foolishness. For instance, both managers may feel its their role to give a performance evaluation and fight with each other. Approval for various things like replacement equipment, forms, etc. may become contentious. This question decides where the bias of the employee would be. Any
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disagreement between the two managers concerned would put the employee in a difficult position. The squabbling over the evaluation would lead to unhappiness on the part of the employee if he feels his evaluation are below his expectations. The movement of the employee to a higher grade level with a proportionate salary increase or promotion would be affected. This would demoralize the employee because the employees future is closely tied to his or her appraisal- promotions, pay raises, and continuation of employment are among the most obvious outcomes. Employee loyalty can be defined as employees being committed to the success of the organization and believing that working for this organization is their best option. Thus if in the transformation to a formal project management structure, the interface between project managers and functional managers are not clearly defined, then this could lead to lower employee loyalty. This in turn would mean that the employees would only plan not to remain with the organization. They then would actively search for alternative employment and would be responsive to offers from other employers.

2) Propose six (6) recommendations you would make to Hyten Corporation on the implementation of formal project management.
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The challenge in implementing formal project management in Hyten Corporation is bigger than just telling everyone on the team to do things a certain way. People who arent used to working within a formal structure and framework can sometimes rebel when they are asked to do it for the first time. These people will first tend to negatively view the new processes before starting to (grudgingly) see their value. If Hyten Corporation were trying to help implement a project management discipline throughout the entire organization, the job would be much more complex and timeconsuming. In that kind of initiative, Hyten Corporation would be trying to perform a culture change with project managers, team members, functional managers, and clients. I would make the following recommendations to Hyten Corporation before the implementation of formal project management:i)

Leadership

Hyten Corporation would first of all have to appoint a project manager, someone who is the primary person to lead this change. This project manager will have to set the priorities and the tone for how the project is run. It would be better if a capable candidate is chosen from within the ranks of the present qualified staff. If the project manager defines and plans the project well, and then executes and control the project using good techniques, the other team members should follow his lead. If project team members see that the project leader is not communicating well, or if they see the project manager accepting new scope requirements on his own, or if they see confusion on team members roles, theyll obviously question what theyre doing. This should not be allowed to happen. A project manager should talk the talk and walk the walk.
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ii)

Project management advocate

The project team leader or project manager would have to find someone on every team at Hyten Corporation who can be an inside partner. The teams at Hyten Corporation would accept the new processes more quickly if theres another team member on their side. This person should be a senior individual whom the rest of the team respects. The person doesnt have to be a cheerleader but will set a good example and encourage the rest of the team to follow the work processes established for the project team.
iii)

Communication

Introducing a culture change without a frequent, ongoing, and consistent message is difficult. Hyten Corporation and the project manager in particular should make sure the team is aware of what is being done and why. The perceived value and benefit of the project should be explained the teams and this message should be repeated often. This type of communication can take many shapes over time. For example, if any team members does something right regarding the project management procedures, they should be praised for their effort. The project manager should also track and publicize how the team is doing in terms of meeting commitments for schedule, cost, and quality.
iv)

Management fears the loss of control

If Hyten Corporation really want to effectively implement a project management discipline at their company, they must give a level of control and authority to the project manager. Some management, middle managers especially, dont want to lose that control. They may want people to coordinate the projects, but they want to make all the decisions and exercise
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all the control themselves. Project Managers should and have to change the attitudes of these people.
v)

Processes and procedures

Hyten Corporation cannot successfully introduce a good project management discipline without implementing a set of processes that everyone can see and understand. This starts off with the planning processes. With a project their size, I think it should be understood that Hyten Corporation need, for example, a Project Definition and a work plan. Hyten Corporation also need to have processes for managing issues, scope, risk, and communication. These dont have to be long, tedious procedures, but they have to be at a level where people understand what is expected of them and how the project management processes work.
vi)

Training

Finally, after Hyten Corporation have dealt successfully with the staff dynamics and the required processes, make sure that no one has difficulty understanding project management skills. Hyten Corporation must invest in a long term training regiment. They must think about providing short training to the entire team to familiarize them with project management processes, and then sending Hyten Corporationr team leaders or other project managers to more formal project management training.