The Franklin Equipment Ltd Case Study

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Specific prioritised steps (Solutions)

- FEL Selection Criteria Problem

Franklin Equipment Ltd (FEL) assigns team members based on availability and expertise to work on a project. Utilizing the availability of time as the criteria that will help in evaluating a person for a project is considered to be the best way of allocating the available resources. Avoiding disputes between tasks that may contend for the time of an individual is very important with international tasks, since the difference in time zones might require members to work during hours that would conflict with domestic events. Selecting people to projects based mainly on their accessibility FEL has failed to recognize that it is vital that all project members work well on a project.

For a project to succeed, it needs members who can work well together as a team regardless of their personal differences. FEL top management must include team managers in the selection process in order for them to assemble a strong team that will be able to achieve the project’s goals with little hiccups. The project managers’ inputs are very important because they have experience working together and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This process will assemble the most effective team to make project Abu Dhabi a success.

It very important that project members work well together on international projects such as Project Abu Dhabi because a major goal of the project is to build a culture of cooperation and collaboration that will be long lasting after the project is complete. Incentives must also be given to team members in order to help them perform at their best for the successful completion of the project. One of the main problems in international projects is that not a lot of members will understand all of the cultural differences, so the need for cooperation and collaboration between members is very important.

FEL’s higher management also needs to reverse their ultimatum because it will contribute a lot to having Rankins and Perry not to work well together. It is like they are sending Perry to sabotage the project so that he can get rid of Rankins. They need to send a strong message to the two to encourage them to work well together because it will be beneficial to them, the team as a whole, the company (FEL) and the client.

- Charles Gatenby’s problem

Gatenby has a positive attitude towards the project and he has a good relationship with the client. He is more focused on the project and is neglecting the people that have to make the project a success. The feud between Rankins and perry needs to be resolved if Project Abu Dhabi is to be a success. Jobe will have to have another interview with him in order to help him see that if the issue is not resolved the project is bound to fail. Conflict management and team building techniques must be applied in order to iron out the differences between the two.

- Elaine Bruder’s problem

Jobe needs to go back and have another interview with Bruder in order to establish the root of her disinterest on the project. He needs to find out if her negative attitude can be changed and get her to focus on the project because her performance is vital in realising the project’s goals. If her problem is due to the feud between Rankins and Perry he needs to put her at ease by assuring her that the problem between the two has been solved and she must not feel that it will affect her work in any way. One of the strategies he can use is to bring forth the fact that good performance on the project will have incentives for her.

If her attitude cannot be changed he will have to recommend that she be removed from the project because her performance will hinder the success of the project. She will have to be replaced by someone who is also well equipped to handle the tasks perfectly and who will be able to work well with the team.

- Rankins and Perry’s feud

Much of the success of the project relies heavily on the two of them being able to work together effectively and be able to put their personal differences aside. Jobe must go back to them and have other individual interviews with them. He has to establish the extent to which their problems reach. They have to understand that the successful completion of the project is more important than their egos and they have to learn to work together without allowing their personal problems affect their performance.

Jobe will have to go back to Gantby and show him that the fact that Perry knows that Rankins will be fired if they don’t get along is not helping matters between them and Perry has to be told that if they fail to work together FEL will have no choice but to let both of them go. If Perry knows that Rankins will be fired if they don’t work well together he will intentionally sabotage the project in order to get Rankins fired. The two need to be motivated to work together and not help fuel their feud.

They also need to have joint interviews together with Jobe so that a way can be found to help resolve their differences, they need to know one another and face their demons head on. It is also very important for them to get along and make the project a success because there will be incentives for them if they can do so. The successful completion of the project depends on them getting along.

If this does not work one of them has to be removed from the project team. Rankins can be removed and replaced with someone who has the expertise to match his or if no one is available at the time then Perry must be the one who has to be removed, for the greater good of the project.

The two of them have to understand that their actions will affect the whole team and ultimately affect the success of the project which is why it is very important for them to be able to work together.

Conclusion

A great project team is one that is able to perform its duties well together and be able to successfully finish a project within the specified time frame and also within the specified budget with minimal hiccups. When team members do not get along the whole team is affected and it will be unable to function as a team. A good project manager must always have a positive attitude towards the project and also make sure that all the project team members understand their duties and their personal differences must not interfere with their ability to perform their tasks.

Team bonding exercises are very important to the wellbeing of a team and a team needs to have a code of conduct