Project analysis

Below you find some feedback to the project group from different perspectives.

A project management perspective

• They did not see the differences between routine work (i.e. weekend trips they were used to arranging) and the more comprehensive and complex event. The situation implied a higher degree of uncertainty and need of more knowledge and skills in project planning and management.
• The short planning time to deliver an offer to the travel agency gave the project poor preconditions from the beginning.
• They had no formal project organization and structure, including roles and responsibilities. When arranging smaller weekend trips this was not a problem, but when complexity and magnitude increased, this made communication and collaboration difficult.

A stakeholder perspective

• Due to different reasons, some of the tourist were satisfied with the arrangement, and some not.
• The travel agency has not (yet) order any more similar arrangements, which NATURE desired.
• They had no direct communication with the group of tourists (the end customer), only the travel agency. Consequently, they could not understand the customers’ needs and expectations.
• Lack of specified goals (based on the SMART-principle), opened up for different views and expectations in the team regarding project direction and results.

An effectiveness perspective

Effectiveness, which is doing the right things (fulfilling needs and expectations), is closely related to the stakeholder perspective.

• Effectiveness in this kind of project, where the project results/outcome is in the form of a service, value has to be created together with the customers. Hence, very important to understand the customers’ needs and expectations, from start to end.
• Their weekend trips (with other tourist groups) suffered when resources was transferred to the project.
• They did not set specific goals, or requirements, regarding project and impact goals. Therefore, it became difficult to measure progress or goal fulfilment, and if and in what way the project generated value for the customers and other stakeholders.

An efficiency perspective

• The project scope was not clear, and more or less a combination of work packages planned for when arranging weekend trips.
• They managed the project according to time and cost constraints, even when the scope became larger. Hence, they succeed to manage the project according to these constraints, but created dissatisfaction among several stakeholders.