Leading Lean Projects for FIFA World Cup 2018

This article discusses the implementation of Lean methodology in managing the complex project of FIFA World Cup 2018. It covers the voice of customers, quality parameters, assumptions, and the use of Agile and PMBOK methodologies. The article also highlights the importance of project management organization and Lean Six Sigma in optimizing project management.

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Leading Lean Project
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Introduction
Planning for a FIFA world cup can be one very complex project. One would prefer to
plan for only one sporting event rather than a FIFA world cup (Kerzner& Belack, 2010).
When coming up with a sporting event, one has to know how to provide security, prepare the
stadium, to arrange for the ticket and also to make some hotel arrangement (Schmidt, 2009).
A FIFA world cup requires that this is multiplied to the number of matches. Thus planning
for a world cup always calls for proper project management otherwise it can easily fail.
The voice of customers for the FIFA world cup 2018
The voice of customers can be explained as the requirements of customers in a
product. It helps the seller to know the views that customers have towards a project (Kerzner,
2011). Thus the voice of customers in the FIFA world cup 2018 can be explained as what the
customers expected from the world cup 2018. The following are some customers’
expectations for the FIFA 2018
World cup customers were worried about the data localization
Data localization in Russia requires that personal information for Russia citizens
should not be recorded using the non-Russian ICT system. However, FIFA and some other
agencies were given an exception.
Measures against counterfeit tickets
The customer's rights had to be secured by ensuring that proper legal requirement was
put in place. FIFA came up with a strategy to ban the sale of tickets without following the
appropriate procedure. The FIFA world cup trademarks had to be secured to.

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Simplified radio use permit
Due to customers, demand FIFA had to come up with a simplified formula for the use
of radio frequency spectrum. The application was easily made through online.
Change in climatic conditions
Russia is known for having cold weather. Football fans together with team players
who visited Russia this year did not come from cold climatic conditions. Thus many were
affected by the cold climatic conditions.
Beautiful stadiums
When a country gets the chance to host the world cup, it must make sure that it comes
with some beautiful decorations (Kerzner, 2011).Russia came up with 12 beautiful stadiums
which were located in 11 different cities across the country
Racism was also expected
Racism is a major challenge in the country of Russia. An issue that had been looked
into during the world cup season. The world cup attracted people from diverse background.
Thus Racism was much was expected
Crowding
Some teams across the world have a great supporter. Fans are known to come up with
songs, and funny habits. In fact, Russians alone are to be great football fans. Thus more was
expected from them given that the world cup was in their country
Critical for customer requirements
Sustainability

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After the games, it is very costly for the Russian government to keep the stadiums
running thus the government was expected to come up with new ways on how they can
continue sustaining the stadiums.
Stadiums
The world cup planners had to make sure that there were enough stadiums to hold the
world cup (Müller, 2014). There were about 64 matches which were to be played within a
period of 25 days. Every stadium was to be well designed and decorated to ensure that
football fans had the best tourist experience .The planning team had to make sure that the
foreign visitors get to have the best experience ever (Garcia, 2015). They needed to have
something else they were doing when they were not watching the football. Thus the planners
needed to make the people happy and busy. This would have contributed significantly to the
Russian economy. It would have kept public disturbance and violence at a minimum thus
improving the economy of Russia
Infrastructure
There were very many football fans that had gone to Russia to watch the world cup
(York, 2014). Therefore to make all these events successful the Russian government in line
with the world cup project managers had to make sure that infrastructure was in good
condition (Roudias, 2015). Otherwise, it was not easy to make the world cup event successful
with poor infrastructure and transport system. Local police were also of great importance to
ensure that the whole event run smoothly without chaos
Critical for quality parameter
The world cup happens to be one of the most important events which also attract a
huge crowd and spectators. People start having the world cup excitement even before the

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world cup events start (Hahn, 2011). The event usually attracts huge media coverage from all
across the board. Because of this quality parameters have to be continuously checked. Below
are some of the quality parameters that must be continuously checked
Meet project requirements
One of the most important goals of a project is being able to meet the requirement of a
project. Being able to meet the requirements of a project usually means the standards that a
project must meet to have solved the problem of the user (Kerzner, 2011). One of the major
goals of the FIFA world cup was to inspire and connect people through football. Besides the
world cup leaves a legacy in every country where it is hosted
Stay within the budget
The project planners must make sure that whatever they do is within the budget. The total
budget for the world cup 2018 was about 11.8 billion. Thus every project managers goal is to
stay within. They should also let the government and private companies to access whether the
project budget has some errors.
Deliver value to customers
Some projects are thought to be within the budget, completed on time, but they do not
make the customers happy (Roudias, 2015). The major goal of project managers is to make
sure that customers are happy and that the project is delivered on time. The FIFA world cup
meant to deliver value to all its customers. Delivering value usually include giving free travel,
visa waivers and some fan guides(Lester, 2013)
Finish on time

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A project must be completed within the stipulated time(Lester, 2013). A project is
usually a temporal activity, and it usually has the time by which it should be completed
(Zirin, 2016). Sometimes planners and team members are unable to finish a project on time
because of some change in the requirements. When a project is based on the agile
methodology, such changes have a great effect on a project (Hahn, 2011). To see the FIFA
world cup, 2018 finished on time is one of the major goals of the project planners (Sy, 2012).
A world cup is usually based on some fixed dates thus it must be completed on time.
Maintain happy team members
It is usually very essay to achieve some project goals especially when project managers are
working with happy team members (Garcia, 2015). Project managers need to make all the
teams happy by creating an environment where every member know about his role in the
team (Sy, 2012). The FIFA world cup planning and project management teams work under a
local organising committee. During the world cup, 70% participants had a chance to
participate in it. A lot of resources had been invested in this project. Thus it was easy to make
the team members happy.
Assumptions of the world cup project
Assumptions
All resources needed to accomplish the FIFA world cup project were available.
FIFA was responsible for the all the world cup arrangements.
The FIFA world cup was to be held in Russia.
Only the 12 stadiums were to be used for the world cup events.

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32 teams were also expected for the world cup event.
Implementation of Lean in FIFA world cup project management
Lean is one of the most effective methods of managing teams when delivering
complex projects (Frawley &Adair, 2014). However Lean methodology is one of the simplest
methods to implement and brings about a huge impact while implementing it (Wysocki,
2012). Lean management methodology is usually based on 5 principles (Frawley &Adair,
2014) (see appendices A). Before the project managers can implement this principle, he has
to inform the team members about . He also has to start small and later spared the lean
practices across the different departments (Wysocki, 2012). After preparing the team one also
need to take specific steps to apply the principles. One also needs to tell his team members
where every step in lean management is important aiming at making lean management an
organisation culture
 Identify Value
After preparing the team for the expected changes, lean managers also need to know the
importance of teamwork. One has to differentiate between those activities that add value and
those that are a waste (Garcia, 2015)
. Thus in FIFA world cup project managers needed to identify some activities that are just a
waste to resources and those that add value to football sponsors and fans
 Map Value stream
After knowing the value that the team is supposed to produce, the other step is knowing the
path it happens to get to the customer (Cottle, 2011). This is usually through the help of
Kanban boards. Thus after the project team has come up with the best way it can offer the

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FIFA world cup 2018 it was supposed to come up with the best plan in which waste will be
avoided.
 Create Flow
Lean management flow is very important because any sought of waiting is a waste. One has
to ensure smooth delivery of the product to the customers. Thus the project manager has to
avoid any bottlenecks. Thus as a project manager, one has to be watchful of how projects
flow. One has to check where projects are getting stuck and solve the problem (Cottle, 2011).
Thus the project teams had to ensure that the FIFA world cup 2018 was delivered smoothly
without fail one process getting stuck
 Establish Pull
After coming up with a flow of work one also needs to come up with a pull system. These
means that new work has to be started when the team is ready and overproduction should be
avoided (Garcia, 2015). The FIFA world needed to be delivered based on the needs of
football fans across the world
 Seek Constant Improvement
Lean management always seeks to improve each process to avoid wastage. Thus The FIFA
world cup project would have been effectively improved to meet the needs of the football
fans and sponsors.
Project management organization and Lean methodology
Project organization is a process concerned with coming up with decisions and
arrangement that affect the whole process of a project (Westland& Kogan Page, 2010). This
task usually involves organizing the method of the projects, the framework involved in the

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process. Basically, the project management organization usually requires structuring,
configuration, and organization (Westland& Kogan Page, 2010). If this is implemented
together with the lean methodology, it will make sure that the decisions made for the
execution of the project are proper.
Implementation of project management organization together with the lean project
management in the FIFA world cup 2018 would have ensured that good arrangement and
decisions that pertain to each team and every match are made (Burton, 2011). This would
have ensured that no inconveniences are encountered during the project processes
How Agile would have been combined with Lean project methodology In the FIFA
world cup 2018
A project manager must handle all challenges have come about in a project. One
needs to deliver quality based on the budget and the given time. Agile and Lean
methodologies are commonly being used by the modern day project managers. Agile is not
usually based on any specific approach or practices .Some methodologies like Scrum, XP,
and Kanban are classified as agile project methodologies (Cottle, 2011).
Agile usually divides the project into small processes, therefore, minimising a lot of
work planning and design. Instead of working for the whole project, agile usually break this
project into small processes (See appendices B). Each process is usually assigned to a certain
team to work on it. Agile methodology commonly promotes better communication. It helps
people to stay updated when delivering a certainly given peace of value.
Agile was developed for optimized software development while lean came about to
help optimize manufacturing value streams (Maylor. & Dawsonera, 2010). It is very much
common today to find both of these methodologies being used together. Using his projects

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together helps one to break down the whole project into small measurable and manageable
processes (Ellis, 2016). This makes it easy to deliver a project fast, within budget and of high
quality
PMBOK and Lean project management
This process also breaks down a project into five processes. These processes include
Initiation, planning, executing, controlling and closing. However, PMBOK cannot be thought
to be a methodology rather it more of conventions and standards of managing different
projects (Kerzner, 2011). Thus implementing Lean methods together with PMBOK will see
the division of the entire project into the five projects (Frawley &Adair, 2014). Each stage
will call for data analysis just like the lean methodology requires it and to makes sure that
waste is eliminated it will be carried out based on the interests of the customer (Burton,
2011).
The implementation of the lean methods together with the PMBOK would have seen
the FIFA world cup 2018 project divided into five stages since when the idea was conceived.
Just like Prince 2, in PMBOK every step must be carried out based on the needs of the
football fans across the world.
Lean Six Sigma
Lean six sigma usually help to optimize the way different companies do their jobs. It
was first used in manufacturing companies. They are commonly used by companies to
improve the quality of a product by reducing the non-value added activities and processes so
that efficiency and customer satisfaction will be improved in a project (Burton, 2011). It also
referred to as DMAIC which stands for define, measure, analyse, improve and control. This
method could effectively be used in the past world cup. It would have assisted in knowing the

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needs of customers. It would have also assisted in defining the borders of a project.
Generally, it would have been used effectively to know the needs of the customers
PRINCE2 and Lean project management in the FIFA world cup 2018
PRINCE2 usually stands for projects in the controlled environment. This method has
principles which govern the entire projects. These principles include
 The responsibility of every team member should be well defined
 The operations of the project should be based on the requirement of the customers
 The project team is supposed to learn at every stage
 They should be planning at each stage of the process
 Teams must ensure that they offer the quality to customers
 Project managers usually put exceptions on the project
This method is also made up of seven steps (Maylor. & Dawsonera, 2010). Which are the
startup, directing, initiation, controlling, managing the delivery of the project, managing the
stages and closing the project? These methods must be implemented by project managers
who are well familiar with it (Snyder, 2018). It is very easy to implement lean together with
the PRINCE2 methodology. When these methodologies are used together the needs of
customers will be met at every stage because of the presence of data. If lean was used
together with PRINCE2 methodology it would have assisted by dividing the world cup
projects into seven stages in each stage there was data analysis which would help to execute
the given phase based on the needs of customers.

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Conclusion
Combining methodologies is one of the major techniques being used in the various
project. To deliver a perfect world cup, there was the need to combine different
methodologies (Ellis, 2016). At times it might seem challenging, but it is one of the best ways
to ensure that a project meets quality time and budget

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References
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economy. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Pub.
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Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/05/11/405955547/brazils-world-cup-legacy-
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Newton, R. (2013). The project management book. Indianapolis, IN Wiley.
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APPENDICES A
Figure 1; Lean Project Management (Frawley &Adair, 2014)
Continuous improvement cycle
Value Stream Map
Spaghetti diagram

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Process map
Root cause diagram

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