EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF REMOTE PROJECTS

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF REMOTE PROJECTS

IN SRI LANKAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

AND APPARAL INDUSTRIES

DULANJANA KASUN WICKRAMASINGHE

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Management,

Asia e University in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Science in

Project Management

April 2016

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ABSTRACT

Project manager is the person who drives the project from implementation to closing

the project by using his skills and managing and leading the project team. A project

manager should have several skills to drive the project, especially good influencing

skills, communication skills and the ability to organize the way he can handle the

project from anywhere. Nowadays, most of the people do not work from offices. With

new technologies and more organizations expanding their scope, project managers

need to travel or handle multiple projects even when they are away from the office

space. This is when remote project managers, who are working away from the office

and driving the project team, arrive at the scene.

The main objective of this research is to explore the evolving nature of remote project

management especially in IT and Apparel industries in Sir Lanaka. Then explore

different problems that occur in those industries and different remote project

management approaches to manage and resolve those issues within project teams

effectively.

The data gathered from the literature and interviews, Information on the project

managers experience gathered through interviews are analyzed and related to the

theories that are highlighted from the literature review to explore the issues involving

in remote project management.

As a remote project manager, one should follow different approaches to resolve the

issues involving in each stage of teams as ‘forming, storming, norming and

performing. Specially, when there is a remote working environment where people

have their comfortable zone around them.

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APPROVAL PAGE

I certify that I have supervised / read this study and that in my opinion it

conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate,

in quality and scope, as a thesis for the partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the degree of Master of Science.

---------------------- Supervisor

---------------------- -------------------

Examiner 1 Examiner 2

This thesis was submitted to the School of Management, Asia e University and is

accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of

Science.

---------------------- ----------------------

Dean, School of Management Dean, School of Graduate Studie

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the MSc degree is

my own work and that all contributions from any other persons or sources are

properly and duly cited. I further declare that the material has not been submitted

either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. In making this

declaration, I understand and acknowledge any breaches in this declaration

constitute academic misconduct, which may result in my expulsion from the

programme and / or exclusion from the award of the degree.

Name:

Signature of Candidate: Date:

v

Copyright by Dulanjana Kasun Wickramasinghe and Asia e University

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Mr.Sivapalan Sivapirashanth for his

enormous support and assistance during my time at Global Institute of Project

Management. I gratefully acknowledge Dr.Madhu Fernando, Senior Lecturer and

the Chairman of Global Institute of Project Management and Mr.Amal Perera,

the Director of GIPM for their excellent guidance and caring providing me with

an excellent atmosphere for doing this study.

Many thanks also to those whom I had the opportunity to interview and for their

commitment and sharing of experiences that enriched this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i

Abstract ii

Approval Page iii

Declaration iv

Copyright v

Acknowledgement vi

Table of Contents vii

List of Figures ix

List of Tables ix

List of Acronyms x

01 – INTRODUCTION 01

1.1 Background 01

1.2 Problem Definition 02

1.3 Research Questions 03

1.4 Research Objectives 03

1.5 Significance of the Study 04

1.6 Scope of the Study 04

02 – LITERATURE REVIEW 05

2.1 Introduction 05

2.2 Management and new Workplace 09

2.3 Stages of Team Formation and Remote Management 15

2.3.1 Forming 15

2.3.2 Storming 15

2.3.3 Norming 16

2.3.4 Performing 16

2.4 IT Industry and Remote Management 17

2.5 Apparel Industry and Remote Management 18

03 – METHODOLOGY 20

3.1 Introduction 20

3.2 Type of Research 20

3.3 Research Procedure 20

3.4 Methods 21

3.5 Data Sources 23

3.6 Summary 23

04 – DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 24

4.1 Introduction 24

4.2 Interviews 24

4.2.1 Remote Project Experience 24

4.2.2 Employee Selection Criteria for Remote Projects 25

4.2.3 Problem Arrives in Remote Teams 26

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4.2.4 Methods Used to Overcome Those Issues 27

05 – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 29

5.1 Introduction 29

5.2 Findings 30

5.3 Discussions 31

5.5 Summary 32

06 – CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 33

6.1 Conclusion 33

6.2 Implications 33

6.3 Limitations 34

6.4 Directions for Future Research 34

REFERENCES 35

APPENDIX A 37

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Country wise collaboration effect 13

Figure 3.1: Methodology Structure 14

LIST OF TABLES

Figure 5.1: Summary of Interview responds 45

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

FIA - Framework for International Adjustment

CCSI - Cross Cultural Social Intelligence

SDU - Software Development Unit

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The organizations are growing very fast globally in scale & scope with advanced

technology and complicated projects. So project management is becoming the most

essential and critical factor in many economies, with this competition, organizations

should incorporate the organization practice and tools for modern project

management in order to achieve the desired objectives. As it says in Project

Management Body Of Knowledge (5th Edition).

“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills tools and techniques to

project activities to meet the project requirements”.

So it is a series of processes and techniques used to coordinate resources to achieve

predictable results. It largely consists of clear guidance and plan for how and what

will be done by whom and where.

A lot of people are getting to work without going to work. Instead of coming to

corporate workspace, they’re staying at home. Instead of separating their work lives

from their family lives, they’re blending them, or trying to. They start to think that

work is not where they go but they start to think work as their own responsibility

that something that they do.

With advance technology remote working is becoming far easier and the most

convenient way for most of the employees and the most of the organizations make

this as there standard as this is the more effective way to achieve the operational

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goals such as cost reductions and expand the organization , also working from home

gives more benefits to the employees too , it will make their lives more easy as they

can balance the work and the personal life also they will be more focused and

productive than the office environment .

When we come to project management field remote working option is more

convenient than the other industries, this is more efficient and productive with the

new digital world , no barriers for communicating to the team even the project

manager is not at the office , most of them are using skype or Lync conference to

connect multiple locations , also this will be a more convenient way to reduce the

cost of the project rather than keep office space, when everyone has to travel to the

locations most of their office time therefore there are more benefits being remote

project managers

1.2 Problem Definition

Remote project managers in other words are project managers who are working

away from the office becoming new trend in fast moving economic world. With

expansion of industries, globalization and the more advance technologies this is

more easy, effective and efficient way of working for most of the project managers.

Remote working gives many benefits to project managers as well as for the

organization but first of all the remote worker should be more organized and willing to

keep his work more tidy and clean otherwise no point of remote working it will be just

an added advantage for the worker. Because different types of question sets arrive when

the project team isn’t physically around and with the time zone and cultural differences

remote management has become a challenge to the project manager as well as the

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project team. Everyone involved in the team, from project manager to all other

stakeholders will have to work hard to overcome the challenging situations present in

remote project management. It's through extensive effort alone, the team can achieve a

win-win situation for everyone. Therefore, it is very important to research and

understand the effective ways of managing remote project teams.

1.3 Research Questions

1. Nature of remote project Management in Sri Lanka

2. Comprehend the issues involved in a remote project Management

3. Produce a list of recommendation for the issues involving in remote project

management

1.4 Research Objectives

The primary objective of this research is to explore how to manage projects remotely

in a better way.

• To analyze the nature of remote project management in Sri Lanka

• To explore Problems in remote project management.

• To Identify and evaluate different tools and behaviors for remote project

management within project teams to overcome the issues.

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1.5 Significance of the Study

The purpose of this research is to build up a strategy on how to manage remote project

management by linking together theoretical models and hypothesis with qualitative

research.

The fact that the new world is moving fast with technologies, has made it easy for project

management and it always helps the workforce to be more flexible and beneficial in

working with the project team, uniting a project team dispersed in different time and

cultural zones, towards one goal, is one of the essential and hard task that project

manager has to do.

Further the study aims to be part of the project management 10 knowledge areas which

has connection with remote project management. Finally this thesis will expose the best

practice in enhancing remote project management. This will draw up a concrete analysis

on the findings and to recommend actions for developing a strong strategy to enhance

and sustain the remote project management

1.6 Scope of the Study

The research methodology is written in a qualitative manner and the data is gathered

from the literature review and through interviews of people representing the IT and the

apparel fields. The Literature review focuses on the issues addressed through the

research. Supplementary data is gathered by interviews of experts in the aforementioned

fields. The gathered accounts of experiences will be analyzed in accordance with the

theories that are pinpointed in the literature review to further explore the management of

conflicts.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

When we take a close look at our fast moving world, we cannot deny the fact that the

human world in its entirety is run by a series of projects. Starting from the basic social

units, we are serving towards our own co-existence merely being a part of our respective

projects. As an employee one may not realize this, but the individual work load one has

to deal with, is usually an essential part of a larger project that should be completed with

collective effort of a group of people. This collective effort or group work should be

carefully and wisely handled or lead by a person who is ingrained with profound

leadership skills, a person whose command will be obeyed and treated with respect even

without his or her physical presence. The above lines as you surely might have guessed,

describe an ideal project manager of all time.

The role of project managers has been an integral part in the proper functioning of

societies around the globe from the days of yore. Although the title or the post, "project

manager" was coined to our daily language in the recent past, the origin of the job runs

back to early civilizations of mankind. Discipline of organizing and managing resources

in order to deliver the work required to accomplish a certain goal or a project within a set

scope, time and cost constraints, is a valuable inheritance passed on from one generation

to another.

Richard L. Daft, Martyn Kendrick, Natalia Vershinina (2010) has mentioned “Walk into

the video conference room at Infosys technologies, a Leader in India’s outsourcing and

software industry, and the first thing you’ll see is a wall size flat screen television. On

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that screen Infosys can hold virtual meeting of the key players from its global supply

chain at any project at any time of the day or night. For example American designers

could be on screen talking to their Indian software developers and their Asian

manufactures all at once.”

So these technologies take project management into a new era where distance, Time

and other boundaries in industries, departments and organizations have become

irrelevant and Project management has therefore come a wide area with a scope of

more globalized projects that only target collaboration.

As a historian Thomas L Friedman (2004) put’s it “where ever you look today,

hierarchies are been flattered and value is being created less and less within vertical

silos and more and through horizontal collaboration within companies, between

companies and among individuals”

So this is where the word remote come to the business world and where the project

managers just have to perform remote project management which connect

employees around the world to connect to one project team. Usually globalizing and

outsourcing expand a company’s option for finding workers but also potentially

expand the competition for them that’s why IBM (1998) has said that “on any given

day world-wide, one third of our people are not at IBM location. They are working

onsite with customers, Telecommunication or are mobile” according to CEO Sam

Palmisano in 1992 sales people were saying “ why do we have to be at the office to

answer customers questions?

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So IBM created a global work/life flexibility project in 1998 as the catalyst for

enabling flexibility and addressing workload across the corporation. After this the

initial productivity of the mobile workers increased everywhere from 6% to 20%

and IBM realized initial real state saving of 68% million per year.

They have come up with few strategies to make over one hundred thousand

employee’s facilitation them with flexible working arrangement with satisfaction

very high. Like wise

• Compressed / flexible workweek

• Individualize work schedules

• Leave of absence programs

• Mobile /Telecommunicate facility

The most important ground rule s of remote working is that management must be

committed and arrangement must be a win-win situation for the employee and

management.

AT&T Corp.,(2001) originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company

multinational company has mentioned according to their servers that conference

calls, video conferencing, e- meeting and team rooms where the project managers

stay in touch with e-mails, cell phones, black berries and two different online instant

message tools called “same time” and “note buddies ” has a favorable effect on the

project management process where ,

• Cost reduction, where savings for 30 million per year

• Productivity at 150 million per year

• More effective and put it more hours

• High performances.

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So the past decades when the world has become more globalizing through the

internet the remote work force has grown rapidly. World has become more easy and

they are saying heading to the office is not necessary anymore that’s why even late

Fredric Winslow Taylor(1915) has mention “so things are different today, Many

organizations depend on employees mind more than their physical bodies, in

companies where the power of and idea determines success managers primly goal is

to tap into the creativity and knowledge of every employee” so that means company

doesn’t need a physical body they need the idea and knowledge of the employee

mainly in IT and apparel industry when it comes to project management. So that was

the first ever idea about remote working those days. They didn’t have the

technology to do the management remotely. After ages, when the internet came and

after the world became globalized, the remote workforce increased.

According to the Cisco study (2014) “organizations that has adopted a flexible,

mobile and remote work model has a competitive advantages over one that requires

to be in the office from 9am to 5 pm every weekday” and they say “at least 50% of

organization will made to shift by the year of 2020” for remote working facility

because of those advantages. They have also mentioned, “4 in 10 Netherlands and

India are currently employed by an organizations that allows them to work

remotely” so in near future the work place will be different and will be more

comfortable environment to the employees.

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2.2 Management and New Workplace

Remote workforce and remote office has become the newest trend in digital evaluation

so there are lots of studies carried out about this “Projects without pants”. The

following chart shows how personal space required by the workforce varies from

culture to culture. Congdon, C. , & Gall, C (2013) shows those figures

Figure 2.1: Country wise Collaboration effect

This shows that people are different and their needs too are different but studies

suggest that when people are at their comfortable zone they tend to be more efficient

on their work.

Mendenhall and Oddous FIA (1991) is a well-know research model that describes the

cross cultural adjustment process for expatriates. Because this study helped the project

managers to work with different people from different cultural backgrounds and do

the remote project management.

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“Domestic performances and overseas performances potential are not the same thing.

An executive who performed well in domestic setting may not be able to adapt to

managing the different cultural settings.”

Even though this study is about the expertise, also in remote project management you

have to deal with the cross cultural difference. A project manager should continue to

collaborate with different cultures and time zones.

Mendenhall and Oddou’s (1991) framework studies found that organizational

socialization the process by how the organization tend to recruit people with high

expertise adjustment because who ever join the remote work must give their 100

percent contribution to the intercultural adjustment. Mendenhall and Oddou’s

framework (1991) of international adjustment model has mainly aimed,

• Being made a group member

• Being taught how to communicate in context

• How to accomplish objectives

“Socialization of a new member into the group is also a benefit to the group as they

“resocialize” and adjust change that accompanies membership in a new organizational

culture”. So this model has come up with 4 dimensions to find out whether the new

team member is good for the cross cultural difference which matters in the remote

project management.

• Self orientation

They say this attribute of dimension will modulate the new team member's self-

confidence, mental well –being and self esteem. Because team members with these

qualities, as Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) say ”such individuals were able to adapt

to their interest in food, sport and music, had interest outside of work that could be

pursued (eg hobbies) and were technically competent” that states that remote

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management is easy if the people who are involved are interested in other cultures

and behaviors.

• Other orientation

This attribute will show how the team members ability of having more

comfortable environment and other nationals. The more effectively the

communication builds among the other team members the more the relationship status

has grows among them. Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) mention “two factors seems

to be particularly important here : Relationship development and willingness to

communicate”, Because building up a relationships step by step along with long-

lasting friendship with team members, belonging to different countries. One step that

shows the willingness of each team member has to communicate, is their attempts to

use other team members' languages. That doesn’t mean that they should be fluent in

that language but the trying itself is an achievement. That’s why they say “Making the

effort to use the language is what is important. Such a gesture tend to be rewarded

with greater cooperation by host country nationals”

• Perceptual ability

This will help in understanding the behavioral patterns of other team members more

clearly. Then they'll know why they are doing this and that. According to Mendenhall

and Oddous (1991) studies shows “ well adjusted expertise tend to be non-judgmental

and non evaluating in interpreting the behaviors of host-country nationals and willing

to be flexible in their management style, adjusting it as a cultural condition warrant”

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• Cultural toughness

This dimension refers to the fact that how well a team member adjusts his or herself to

foreign team members with cultural and social differences. Because different

countries have their own toughness in the cultural background. For instance,

Americans and British people easily get along because they have a lot in common.

But Americans find hard to get along with non-western cultures like Sri lanka, India

and middle east. They say “the reasons are many, including poor health care and

housing standards, inhospitable climate, lack of western entertainment and language

difficulties. Also many cultures are extremely male dominated” so these issues will

increase the other team members to adjust into the culture easily.

Given above are the Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) research studies and also they

have mentioned that the first three dimensions can be measured through a general

psychological test and comparing cultural different will give managers the idea about

the fourth dimension.

Even though those dimensions are applicable when it comes to remote working

facility Mendenhall and Oddous's (1991) way of finding those four dimensions was

not applicable when it comes to current practice. hung’s (2007) “only 5% of the firms

in her samples used forma procedures and psychological test to assess the personality

traits and relational abilities of potential expatriates”. where the research conducted by

International Orientation Resources shows (2006) that, selecting foreign employees

out of 50 fortune 500 firms, 10 percent have hired employees considering important

psychological traits such as adoptability, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, interpersonal

skills while,90 percent have hired employees over their technical expertness not the

cultural fluency.

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According to the finding of recent researches a spouse’s inability to adjust to the new

culture has come up as a major issue in moving to host countries. That’s why

Mendenhall and Oddous researcher has failed in the recent years. So in the meantime

several researchers review that the spouse issue should be included. Window

International, an HRM management consulting firm (2008), did a survey and

identified “spouse were included in preselecting interviews for foreign posting on 21

percent of the time and that only half of them receive any cross cultural training “.

Main issue come with the dual career families then the spouse tend to wonder “why

they should have to sacrifice their own career to further that of their partner”

Solving those problem in 2008, Bartel-Radic (2008) shows that, to solve all those

intercultural interaction issues can e solved through assigning the employees to the

virtual international teams. According to Bartel-Radic (2008) that putting the team

where they are located and interest as a virtual team it will faster “intercultural

interaction and learning, the desire to learn , positive emotions and a critical reflection

on one’s own culture are required” And also those , studies have mentioned that in the

virtual teams the project management “assignment to work on international training

teams and making short term visits to the host country prior to long term assignments”

according to that the initial stage of getting along with the team members can be done

by the aforementioned steps.

Along with those studies another came in early 2008 which is CCSI. Which is

combining cross cultural communication literature and intelligence. Ascalon,

Scheicher and Born (2008) developed a comprehensive situational judgment test

which will define “ability to understand the feelings, thoughts and behaviors of a

person including one self, in interpersonal situations and act appropriately upon that

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understanding Mabu (1986)”. So all these studies show that managers need training

and a team needs continuous guidance. Further studies show that there should be a

connection between “Individual needs” within the organizational responsibilities and

manager’s perfective within team members.

Remote management always allows the team members to work within their comfort

zone. Since the studies show that there should be diversity inside the workplace but

when u tries to achieve diversity, all the cross cultural problems occur around the

team. In The United States, immigration is more than 37.5 million that means almost

one in eight people living in united state was born in another country.

Recent studies show that issue involving in remote project management varies from

industry to industry. Example Marries Mayer (2002) the President and CEO of Yahoo

has stopped remote work at yahoo. She said “speed and Quality is often sacrifice

when we work from home” and also Reddit (2003) social news networking services

has forced their employees around the world to move to Sanfransisco .Becouse they

have hard time collaborating and communicating among the team members.

Ashfas Ahmed (2011) on his research study mentioned different difficulties faced

when it comes to remote project management.

• Different native languages spoken and used

• Different work culture

• Different time zones

• Different legal obligations specific to the country

• Contract agreements

• Communication and individual attention

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Those are the main areas which will directly impact on the remote project

management.

2.3 Stages of Team Formation and Remote Management

Bruce Tuckman (1965) defined the stages of teams as ‘forming, storming, norming

and performing. All these factors are used to build up the team and target towards one

goal. But when it comes to remote projects these stages will have a different view.

Peter Taylor (2014) is the author of two best-selling books on ‘Productive Laziness’ –

‘The Lazy Winner’ and ‘The Lazy Project Manager’. He Has shown how those stages

are different from virtual project management.

2.3.1 Forming

In the Forming stage, most of the team members are positive, polite and simply

excited about the project while those who haven't understood the work properly are

quite anxious. In the virtual team envirment , according to Peter, this stage is going to

pass pretty quickly.

2.3.2 Storming

This phase normally tends to fail in normal project management. This is where team

members start to go beyond the boundaries. But in the virtual team envirment this is

the most challenging but can be successfully dealt with best project management

practices. According to Taylor studies “preparing the team for working together,

resolving character imbalances, sorting out territorial issues and generally getting

everyone to know everyone else. Without a face-to- face session (or two … or three)

this will be very challenging”

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2.3.3 Norming

Gradually the team will move to the next stage where they start to appreciate the

leadership and also the other team members and start to come under one authority.

Usually in general teams this is the best stage for the team to get to know each other

and become more comfortable according to bruce studies. But when it comes to

virtual team this is different. That’s why Taylor has mentioned that, “In a virtual

situation a lot of these issues can be hidden, so as the leader, a project manager almost

has to force the matter.”

During this phase, due to the hidden tensions aroused by reduced communication

process and lack of physical visibility, one can easily jump into wrong conclusions

and also attribute one's fellow team members with wrong stereotypes. One should

follow continuous guidance and keep the team spririt intact, during this phase.

2.3.4 Performing

After overcoming the frictions present in the norming stage, the team reaches a rather

smooth phase, the performing stage. This phase is lead by the hard work of team

members who are working towards the accomplishment of one goal.This phase is

same for both the general and virtual team. As a project manager you can concentrate

on improving the team members. All those cross cultural issues has been solved when

the team arrives to this stage. According to Taylor, in this stage “There is a focus on

over-achieving goals, and the team makes most of the decisions against criteria agreed

with the leader.”

Even though after this stage the virtual teams will reached the stage that the team will

face the challenges alone and solve them without the project manager. It shouldn’t

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reach the stage adjourning because unlike in general teams virtual team will always

change the team members from time to time. That's why Bruce (2013), in his study,

has mentioned that “Team members who like routine, or who have developed close

working relationships with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if

their future now looks uncertain.”

2.4 IT Industry and Remote Management

At present, Information and Technology is among Economy’s largest and fastest

sources of employment growth. The job market for IT never seem to run dry, mainly

because while being a huge industry in itself. It is also a source of dramatic changes in

the practices of all other sectors. Like in all other industries, an IT project manager too

is assigned to complete a certain project with the resources he is given. Accordingly,

A project manager of the IT field should master the art and science of managing

software development projects, networking projects and IT installations or

conversions with extensive planning and coordination. An article published by the

Brandeis University, Project Management in the Information technology Industry by

Stephen Gentle says that, "Project management is both Art and Science." With Art he

incorporates Leadership whereas with Science he incorporates management skills.

Gentle further emphasizes that an ideal project manager is someone who is capable of

Innovation and someone who can push the boundaries of the Company he/she is a part

of.

When we try to compare and contrast the projects done in various industries, we may

gradually understand that the tools and techniques of project management can be

applied to any project in any industry. For instance a project of the construction

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industry could be dealt with, using the same techniques that were used in a military

project. Although the field of the project may vary, It can be accomplished in the

same way. According to Stephen Gentile there are Three major challenges an IT

project should overcome, setting the Project Management of IT Industry distinctly

apart from other fields. They are,

1. The Rapid development requirements to meet rush- to market demands.

2. The short life of Technology.

3. Multiple dependencies with other projects.

2.5 Apparel Industry and Remote Management

According to a large number of research reports published by Economists and experts

in the field, The Apparel Industry of any country has grown or is rapidly growing to

be one of the leading contributors to its export revenue. For instance, the exports of

the Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka accounts for about half of the country's total

exports. And despite being a developing country, where the fashion industry is

relatively limited by its ideological and traditional norms, Sri Lanka is among the top

apparel producing countries of the world relative to its population. Along with this

rapid developments and the newfound demand in the export market, Apparel industry

has become immensely competitive. As a result of this, project management has

become an essential feature in delivering the projects of the Apparel industry in an

efficient manner.

"Efficiency" and "Innovation" are two major terms that should run hand in hand, in a

successful project. It is Innovation that helps companies gain and establish their

competitive edge while Efficiency make sure this creativity is made proper use of. As

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H.R.A.T. Ranaweera (2010) rightly points out that "for innovation to take place,

leaders must actively implement strategies to encourage it" in his Article, Uplifting Sri

Lanka Apparel Industry through Innovation Management to face the challenges in the

post MFA era,”

Project Management in Apparel industry is more based on buyer winning strategies.

All projects from manufacturing sector to the advertising or marketing sector, focus

more on implementing ways of increasing the profit level through great management

skills. As Crft and Duin (2008) had rightly pointed out, managerial decisions are

essential within the scope of contextual innovation management. Although almost all

of the transactions and communications of the apparel industry function through

advance technology, The core or the most important part is played by human

resources. Unlike in IT industry, The Apparel Industry has placed "Innovation" as its

first dimension in the process of active functioning.

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter of the research synopsis will describe what research methods will be

used to investigate the aim and objectives. Rationales behind the use and any

limitations or deficiencies that will be encountered will also be described. Primary,

secondary and qualitative research techniques will be arranged in order to get factual

information and resourcing behind that information. Figure 3.1 below illustrates a

simplified overview of the structure and the research steps of this dissertation:

Figure 3.1: Methodology Structure

3.2 Type of Research

This research is a non-experimental attempt to find out how to do remote project

management efficiently. The data gathered from the literature and interviews,

Hypothesis and theories, reports of experiences gathered from experts in their

respective fields, will be thoroughly analyzed and evaluated.

3.3 Research procedure

Starting the research from gathering information from books, articles, previous research

reports, journals and magazines. Then these theories will be analyzed and written in

selected areas in the literature review. Secondly it will be designed according to the

pattern described in the Methodology. This will mainly target the two main industries

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which is IT and Apparel. Interviews with project managers and project team members

of the respective industries, will be conducted asking about their experience in the

remote project management, if they ever come across or what is their opinion about

getting to work remotely. Finally the result of the interviews and literature will be

evaluated and analyzed to manage project remotely in an efficient and a better way.

3.4 Methods

Academic literature

Academic literature will be used as background reading to the subject of remote

working and also to gain insight into tools and techniques available. These sources

will be fully referenced in the bibliography section of the report, enabling the

literature review to be written and providing an insight into theories and case studies

concerning remotely managing project. Some book areas that will be used include:

• Employee Remote working

• Remotely working in projects

• Remote Project Management in Context

Interviews

The designing of the interview questions will take around two weeks to complete.

The questions will need to be formulated in such a way that will enable to gather all

areas of the nature of remote project management from the project managers. The

interviews will be designed to be semi-structured as it will allow in asking the

important questions but at the same time asking questions which will not be

included in the original research framework. In addition, it will be easier to analyze

it than that gained from unstructured sessions and allows a greater freedom of

response. It is also possible to ask other questions whilst the discussion runs as it

provides a method of interaction between the interviewer/interviewee. The draft

22

interview questions will most probably be sent via e-mail as an attachment, with a

covering note to the key stakeholders prior to the discussion. The key stakeholders

will involve project managers from the different functions sectors of organizations,

such as Information technology and Apparel. By sending the questions it will allow

the individual to be prepared for the interview and also ensure they bring any

relevant paperwork relating to the topic. Furthermore, these discussions will not be

recorded on the Dictaphone due to confidentiality and sensitive issues. The verbatim

comments will be typed up immediately after the discussion to limit inaccuracy. The

interview discussion will be valuable and will give opinionated and qualitative

information.

By interviewing the key individuals, it will allow ideas to be followed up in more

detail or clarified when appropriate and allows for body language and expressions to

be more closely observed. These benefits could not have been gained probably

through a questionnaire.

This part of the research process will be divided into two stages. First stage will be

conducted prior to the current project management nature and then the second stage

will be conducted remote project management nature if project managers allow

doing so. The same individuals will need to be picked for this exercise as this will

give an accurate form of analysis.

However, one may argue that this can be viewed as a limited form of analysis as

only a group of people will be interviewed, thus not giving an accurate picture as it

does not include all members of project team. Individuals will be picked randomly

and approached by sending an email and giving them an introduction as to why this

project is being conducted.

23

3.5 Data Sources

The main sources for collecting data are AeU Digital Library and online search tools.

Interviews will be recorded to be able to go through it again afterwards.

3.6 Summary

This chapter elaborates in detail on the type of research, research procedure and the

methods of data collection. It also focuses on the solutions for the research questions

and objectives of the research.

24

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter brings forward the answers obtained from the interviews, regarding the

following areas. The objective with the questions was to find out how the interview

participants have experienced Remote project work and their thoughts about presenting

methods, when problems occur in the workplace and how they overcome those

situations.

4.2 Interviews

As mentioned below, two project managers from Sri Lankan IT industry and two

project managers from Sri Lankan Apparel industry, were chosen for this study. The

interview questions can be found in the Appendix A respectively.

• IT Industry: A Project Team Leader from Virtusa PLC (Colombo)

• IT Industry: A Project Team Leader from UCSC Software Development Unit

(Colombo)

• Apparel Industry: Project Manager, Brandix Lanka Limited

• Apparel Industry: Project Manager, MAS Holdings

4.2.1 Remote projects Experience

Interviewee 1: Project Manager – Virtusa

In here, Virtusa, almost all our projects are remote projects where we have different

client bases and employees from different countries around the world. So we have an

Enviroment that has made it easier to conduct Remote Projects.

25

Interviewee 2: Project Manager – USCS SDU

Out of all the project in SDU, most of the local projects have remote teams while in

Foreign projects only the client communicates remotely. We have placed some of our

employees in the offices where we build the systems. So we usually don’t have proper

communication methods and group wear for remote projects. Most of the time we visit

the location and do the management.

Interviewee 3: Deputy General Manager – Brandix

We do have remote work here, but the starting phase and the ending phase of all remote

projects, is not always remote. We visit each location often. But all the work in between

is usually done remotely, through conference calls and emails.

Interviewee 4: Project Manager – MAS

Suppliers and clients are all remotely handled in our projects. we have a set of teams

that communicate with each other throughout the completion of a particular project. So

remote project management is kind of day to day work.

4.2.2 Employees Selection Criteria for Remote Projects


We usually have three interviews for selecting an employee. But for remote projects we

usually allocate people who have worked with us for more than 3 years. That is a

strategy we use to secure the reputation and demand for the company as these

Employees are more familiar with the company standards’ and procedures.

26


When selecting people for remote projects, we usually go with the technology experts

who can work alone. So we specially consider their technological expertness according

to the project technology.


In our company, we always select people who have over 5 years of working experience

with us. We believe that they have the best idea about Company procedures. We

usually target there personality and then about the industry knowledge.


We always select people for Remote projects, over their industry expertness. We

believe that people who work with us always find opportunities to mould their

personalities.

4.2.3 Problems arrives in remote teams


Since we have projects placed in multiple geographical locations, it sometimes creates

cultural and legal challenges which will have a profound impact on the project goals.


Most common issue that we have come across is effective and timely communication

barriers over the project time frame. As it is not always made of 'face to face' meetings,

it lessens the effectively.

27


In our situation, the most noticeable issue is productivity degradation. The lack of focus

while on task happens when it becomes hard to communicate among the team

members who are working remotely.


The most common issue we are involved in, is time zone issue and location distance.

Since our normal working hours are to round off, from 7.30 to 6.00, each time we want

to make a decision, we have to wait one day. Time zone's impact on fluctuating work

hours will cause prolems while working.

4.2.4 Methods used to overcome those issues


• We always try to gain critical local and international legal expertise in the initial

stage itself, before proceeding with the project. This helps a great deal in

decreasing the risk of the project becoming unprofitable.

• Furthermore, before starting a project, it is essential o research thorougly and

prepare in advance for any cultural or language obstacles that could arise in the

course of the project.

28


• Prior to initiating the project, it's a must for the team members to find out more

about each other as this helps in creating a common ground for a more cohesive

team.

• After the initial kick-off, we encourage remote project teams to hold meetings at

least bi-weekly via video conferences because people tend to feel more

connected when they are communicating with a visible figure.

• Rewards when tied to team performance rather than individual performance,

results in a more efficient team.

•

Interviewee 3: Project Manager – Brandix

• We make sure that all the team members are fostered with exceptional

organizational and management skills.

• It is also very important to set strict and clear schedules, defining the roles

of all team members. The status of activities and progress should also be

regularly monitored to ensure the impending success of the project.


• Clear policies and protocols should be established to ensure the availability of

team members throughout the life of the project.

• Trying to move into shift base protocols.

29

CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter shows the findings of the research mainly focusing on the research

questions and the objectives. It also presents the data gathered through interviews and

literature review in a comprehensive manner. The table 5.1 summarizes the responds

obtained from the interviews.

Table 5.1: Summary of interview responds

Project

Manager

IT Industry

Project

Manager

Apparel

Project

Manager

IT Industry

Project

Manager

Apparel

Literature

Review

Remote

Project

Experience

Almost all the

projects.

Beginning and

end is not

remote, the rest

is.

Only few

projects and all

local.

Every

project has a

remote part.

All the

countries are

moving to

remote

workforce.

Employees

Selection

Criteria for

remote

projects

People who

have

experience

inside the

organization.

People who

have

experience

inside the

organization.

Technological

expertise. Industry

experience.

Interpersonal

skills and

secondly

technology

expertise.

Main

problem

arrives

Cultural and

legal

challenges.

Productivity

degradation.

Effective &

timely

communication

barriers.

Timezone &

Location

distance.

.Instant

communication

barriers,

cultural

differences.

Methods

used to

overcome

those issues

In the initial

stage, gather

legal and

cultural

information

from the team

members.

Foster

exceptional

organizational

skills and

clearly define

the roles of the

team members.

hold Video

conference

meetings once a

month to build

trust among the

team members.

Moving into

shift base

protocols.

Define

communication

methods in

each stage of

team formation.

team gathering

in host country

and work with

them for

sometime.

30

5.2 Findings

After considering the answers from the interviews, The conclusion, that everyone of

them is using remote project management in their day to day work, was arrived at.

Objective 1: To analyze the nature of remote project management in Sri Lanka

According to interviews, Sri Lanka is still in the formative stage of Remote project

management. Specially the local companies are still afraid of moving to remote

projects. Most of the multinationals established companies are engaged in remote

management in their day to day work.

Objective 2: To explore problems in remote project management

In The Literature it is mentioned that there are few issues involved in remote project

management. They are,

• Different native languages spoken and used.

• Different work culture.

• Different time zones.

• Different legal obligations specific to the country.

• Contract agreements.

• Communication and individual attention.

Apart from the issues addressed in the interview sessions they have found out four

other different issues which are also mentioned in The Literature.

• Cultural and legal challenges.

• Productivity degradation .

• Effective & timely communication barriers.

• Time zone & Location distance.

31

Objective 3: To Identify and evaluate different tools and behaviors for remote

project management within project teams to overcome the issues.

The interviewees have mentioned few solutions to overcome the above issue. Mostly

the effective communication methods among the team members. And the importance of

giving more attention at the beginning of the project, to gather information on the

cultural backgrounds of the respective team members in order to build the team spirit.

To overcome the time zone issue they have suggested the shift base working hours

where every team member is active at one point.

5.3 Discussions

Mendenhall and oddous (1991) has come up with the frame work which identified the

attributes around a remote team member. Whether they are good with Self orientation,

Other orientation, Perceptual ability, cultural toughness should be considered when

someone needs a cultural adjustment. In the interview of IT industry, the project

managers have mentioned the issue with cultural difference in their organization. But

with cross cultural social intelligence by Ascaban, Scheicher and Born (2008), they try

to understand the individual persons feelings, thoughts and behaviors and act

accordingly. One interviewee from Apparel industry mentions that Productivity

degradation needs individual attention as in the literature rearview. To solve this

problem the situation judgment test can be used.

Bruce Tuckman in his studies show that they have four stages of team formation. So

recent study of (2008) Peter Taylor has mentioned that there should be a set procedure

to consider each stage of team formation in Remote project team management. The

interviews from two industries mention that effective & timely communication barriers

and time zone and location distance should be considered in the first two stages of the

32

team formation. And out of the four interviews two of them prefer to recruit remote

work force out of the people who have worked with the organization for sometime.

That’s why, in Sri Lankan Apparel Industry through Innovation Management article

(2015) says that "leaders must actively implement strategies for innovation". This can

also be a applied in remote project management. Most outstanding strategy is that at

least for one month the members from the remote project should be placed in one

location.

5.4 Summary

According to these research findings from interviews and literature, there are specific

issues involving each stage of team formation stages and they should follow specific

strategies in each stage to overcome the issues involved in remote project management.

33

CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

6.1 Conclusion

What was found out from this research is that, project managers should be more

focused and involved in the specific strategies with each stage of the team formation

when it comes to managing remote projects. These stages are forming, storming,

norming and performing. Forming is a quick stage and norming is the stage when the

project manager should give more attention towards the strategic plan Because all the

questions mentioned in the literature and the interviews are based on communication

barriers in an environment where people are more used to coordinate face to face with

each other. So to have a successful remote project management there should be

effective communication strategies inside the organizations. The better the

communication strategies and practices the better the project team will achieve the

organizational goal as well as the individual goals.

6.2 Implications

This study emphasizes that unlike general projects, remote projects need more attention

towards the individual team members till the Norming stage since that’s when the

project team members are adjusting themselves for the team environment. Moreover,

it’s good to have the forming stage together without staying as a remote team. That

will be a limitation for the remote project management but it will come as a good

approach for better remote management.

In Sri Lankan context, people mostly give up on remote project management when they

go through the storming stage. In IT industry it is always used and easy since it’s all

34

based on IT and individual work. But in apparel industry it's always hard to achieve

that because in Sri Lanka, they always do the remote part only in the performing stage.

But with better communication, and right team members with good interpersonal skills

we can move towards good management in each stage of Remote team management.

6.3 Limitations

This research topic is based merely on two industries in Sri Lanka. So, the research is

narrowed down for only two industries. All theories, practices and frameworks are not

directly linked with the research. and also journals, articles and books only have the

ground theory of the remote project and remote work force but not with remote project

management.

The Literature is reviewed, having the research issues and research questions in mind.

Due to the lack of relevant literature written on the Sri Lankan context, The Literature

of this research is reviewed solely from sources based on other countries. Therefore,

some of the points may not conform with the Sri Lankan scenario.

6.3 Directions for Future Research

For future researchers, it is important to note that this is only based on two industries in

Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka there are many major industries which haven't still considered

engaging in remote project management. So future researchers can focus on an industry

that has never tried out remote project management or remote workforce, the reason for

that and how to find a way to initiate remote workforce in those industries and also

Where they can continue a quantitative approach to find more information about

remote work force and remote project management.

35

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APPENDIX A

Interview Questions

Date: _______________

Name of respondent:_____________________________

Name of Industry:_____________________________________________________

Designation:_____________________________

Remote Project Management Experience

1. Describe the current situation of Remote projects in your Organization?

2. Roughly how many remote projects are there in your Organization?

3. How are the projects, client base and the main office located? and where all

the project team members are from?

Employees Selection Criteria for remote projects

4. What is the interview process for Project selection?

5. Are they considering the Technology expertness or experience with the

organization and projects?

6. How many usually working remotely whom not from the host country?

Problems arrives in remote teams

7. Mention few of the problems that could arrive when handling a remote project

in your organization?

8. Mention one major problem that occurs often?

Methods they used to overcome those issues

9. In which way do you think those issues can be overcome?

10. In which way will those methods help in the work place?

11. Is there any need for a special training in order to overcome those issues?

Documents

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF REMOTE PROJECTS