Question

During his annual review meeting, Sam is asked by his leader to take on a new project. Involves revamping an employee-appreciation committee that has been dormant for a while. After a week, Sam emails the employees about an informal meeting to launch the project. A few promises to meet him at the meeting. Sam pays out of his pocket to brings snacks to the meeting. Sam brainstorms the reason behind the committee becoming inactive. A main theme emerged was that no one invested time or resources to the committee. Sam writes to the leader to update him about his meeting and his plan of action. No response from leader. Sam gets an appointment, explains what should be done. Leader acknowledges and promises to email some relevant/important information to Sam. Sam starts his work on the responsibilities of his new role. He could use some training and emails leader. His assistant emails that the leader is OK with Sam taking the initiative to talk to whoever could provide the training. Still no word on the strategic information the leader promised. Sam works additional hours, talks to people to get some informal training, emails employees, organizes one-two additional meeting. A few interested employees pitch in ideas, etc. Sam emails progress update to his leader. No response. He asks the assistant to bring it to the leader notice. After 2 months, Sam accidentally overhears that the project has been called off as it should have been completed in a month. Sam was unaware of the firm deadline. Sam asks the leader, no response.

What three things went wrong in the above case study? Elaborate your responses?

Answer 1

Three issues led to the project's failure: poor communication, a lack of clear expectations and support, and inadequate stakeholder engagement.

Step-by-step explanation:

Throughout the case study involving Sam taking on the revamping of an employee-appreciation committee, several issues arose that contributed to the project's ultimate failure. Among these, three stand out as particularly detrimental:

• Poor Communication: The leader failed to maintain open and regular communication, not responding to emails and not providing the promised strategic information. This includes not informing Sam of the critical one-month deadline, which is a key to meeting project timelines.
• Lack of Clear Expectations and Support: There was no clear directive or support from the upper management, including no training provided for Sam despite his request. This lack of support significantly hindered the project's progress.
• Inadequate Stakeholder Engagement: As the case with the substance abuse prevention program showed, successful projects rely on robust stakeholder engagement. In Sam’s situation, there was insufficient investment in time and resources by all parties, leading to the dormancy of the committee, and later to the abandonment of the revamping project.

To avoid such outcomes, it is important for leaders to establish clear goals, provide ongoing communication, and be actively involved in encouraging and supporting team members’ efforts.