Managing Risk in the SR 520 Project

Project Team Pitfalls

A project manager’s job is to ensure that a project is completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. To do this, they must identify and avoid potential pitfalls that could cause the project to fail. One way to find potential pitfalls is to carry out a risk assessment. This involves identifying all the possible risks that could affect the project, and then assessing their likelihood and impact. The risk assessment will help the project manager to identify which potential pitfalls are most serious and need to be addressed first. Another way to find potential pitfalls is to talk to previous project team members. They will be able to share their experiences of what went wrong on previous projects, and how these problems could have been avoided. Overall, by being aware of the potential pitfalls before they happen, the project manager can greatly increase the chances of success. This paper will address the project pitfalls related to the SR-520 Floating Bridge and explain what I would do as Sponsor.

Some of the pitfalls of the SR-520 Floating Bridge project included a lack of oversight, a lack of adherence to standards, and a lack of engineering testing. In short, the pitfalls could have been avoided if the project had been managed more effectively from a risk point of view. Because there are so many stakeholders in the SR-520 project, it is absolutely important that waste not become a concern. No one wants to see billions more spent on a project that has already run over-budget and over its deadline.

Thus, when embarking on a new project, it is important to consider all potential risks that could impact its success. By identifying and evaluating these risks, project managers can develop strategies to mitigate their impact. One of the most common risks faced by new projects is the possibility of cost overruns. This can occur when unexpected expenses arise or when project scope creep occurs. To manage this risk, project managers need to carefully track project costs and ensure that adequate contingency funds are available. This, project managers did not do for the SR-520 project (Bonjukian, 2013). Instead, they allowed the project to run over cost, and now they face a new hurdle of securing another billion dollars to address project missteps. Good risk management would have ensured that funds were available for the entirety of the project. It would also have ensured that all steps taken were overseen by proper experts and that all standards were followed and adhered to throughout. This, project managers also failed to do.

Another common risk is the failure to meet deadlines. This can often occur due to unrealistic schedules or unforeseen circumstances. To avoid this, project managers need to create flexible schedules and build in buffer time to account for unexpected delays. When they do not add in delay times, stakeholders become upset and discouraged when delays do occur and the project runs over schedule, as happened in the case of the SR-520 project (Bonjukian, 2013). A good project manager must consider that delays may arise, and these will be factored in when providing stakeholders with a schedule. By managing risks effectively, project managers can increase the likelihood of delivering successful projects—and also the likelihood of keeping stakeholders happy.

Groupthink can also be a problem for a project team, and it did occur in the SR-520 project to the degree that people did not raise concerns because they figured that if no one else was going to then they would not either. In any team project, it is important that all members feel free to express their opinions and offer their suggestions. Unfortunately, groupthink can often prevent this from happening. Groupthink is basically a phenomenon that occurs when members of a group start to value conformity over creativity (Reaves, 2018). As a result, members become less likely to express dissenting opinions, and the group as a whole becomes less open to new ideas. This can have a negative impact on the quality of the project, as well as the morale of the team. In order to avoid these problems, it is important to encourage all members of the team to express their views openly and without fear of judgment. Only by doing so can the team hope to achieve its full potential.

Groupthink can lead to poor decision-making and a lack of adherence to standards, but there are a few ways to prevent groupthink on a project team. First, it is important to encourage open communication and different perspectives (Hart, 1998). Team members should feel free to share their ideas, even if they are contrary to the majority opinion. Second, the team leader should encourage debate and bring up different viewpoints. Finally, it is helpful to have someone who is not part of the project team act as a sounding board for ideas (Shirey, 2012). This person can help to provide an objective perspective and identify groupthink before it becomes a problem. By taking these steps, you can help your project team avoid the pitfalls of groupthink.