Reflection on ICT Project Management: Coursework Analysis

This assignment is a self-reflective analysis of a student's experience leading an ICT project, specifically the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system within a company. The reflection explores various aspects of the project, including the initial description of the project's goals and scope, the feelings and challenges encountered during the implementation process, and an evaluation of the successes and failures. The analysis delves into the importance of teamwork and communication, highlighting how these factors influenced the project's outcomes. The student discusses the challenges of change management, resistance to change, and the need for effective communication to ensure team participation and understanding of the new system. Furthermore, the reflection examines the benefits of the ERP system, such as improved efficiency, collaboration, and data accuracy, and provides insights into the student's personal growth and development as a team leader. The assignment concludes with an action plan for future projects, emphasizing the importance of communication, understanding, and adaptability in managing ICT projects successfully.

RUNNING HEAD: ICT Project management in practice
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ICT Project Management in Practice

ICT Project management in practice 1
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Description............................................................................................................................................2
Feeling...................................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation.............................................................................................................................................3
Analysis.................................................................................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................8

ICT Project management in practice 2
Introduction
The businesses are facing several challenges in the contemporary environment. The
individuals working in organizations are required to adopt such an environment (Deering,
Johnston and Colacchio, 2011). Teamwork and communication become much important in
the challenging business environment. Communication affects teamwork in positive and
negative ways. Whereas, the quality and quantity of communication within the team affect
the teamwork. I was working in a team from the last five years as a leader. As per the
changing requirements of the business, our company had to implement ERP (Enterprise
resource planning). ERP is business process management software which permits the
organization to practice a system of cohesive applications in order to accomplish the business
along with several back office functions concerning technology, services and human
resources.
Description
Since I was working as a team leader I have to take a decision regarding a process taking
place in the business. The ERP is business process management software used to manage the
office and automate business functions. ERP has a pronounced role in the development of the
company as it was going to change the whole process of the company. This software makes
the data effortlessly accessible and more practical in terms of the organization. It enables
accurate planning along with the result-oriented approach. The implementation of ERP was
possible only with the help of teamwork and communication (Elbardan and Kholeif, 2017). It
was required to communicate the benefits of ERP in the team. I tried to create an
understanding among the team members for the greater results. The execution of ERP in the
team I set clear goals, built trust, engaged employees and identified talent for tacking tasks.
The communication was focused more as part of the teamwork. ERP software solution also
makes possible scheduling of the routine activities. The record of the team along with the
plan of the growth can be easily maintained by the company. I decided to implement ERP as
it eliminates the requirement of several management software. It assists to assimilate
interaction between sales, marketing, quality control, supply lines, product processes,
customer relationship management, and many other functions. This software gives access to
the company for using single software and maintains one database for the whole organization.

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I sensed that the decision of implementing new software which was going to change the
whole process of the company was challenging. It was possible only with efficient teamwork
and communication. The team of the company has the ability to inspire along with the ability
to delegate. As a team leader, I was required to keep the team inspired and gelled so that they
would also have been a part of the implementation of ERP software (Costa, et al. 2016).
Feeling
I felt great as the functioning of the company is going to be uplifted. It is the cost-effective
solution enabling the team to widen its operations through the internet. This software
safeguards 100% of the data. As a result, the business will be able to better manage its all
sections. The progress of the company can even be monitored with the deployment of ERP
software.
Evaluation
ERP integrates the processes like finance, HR, manufacturing, supply chain, and procurement
into the single system. The evaluation of the software like ERP helped team for the
accomplishments. The implementation of ERP in the team once brought challenges in the
team like:
Communication: The team members were once interrupted when ERP was implemented.
There was regular silence from some of the members during the meetings. The lack of

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communication between me and them led to confusion concerning the benefits of the
software(Altamony, et al. 2016).
Resistance to change: The team in the organization do not like changes mainly the senior
employees as they are not resistant to change. Initially, it even caused delays from the team.
It took plenty of time in order to train the team before implementing ERP (Florea, Duica, and
Duica, 2016). I focused more on communication to make the team understand that ERP
makes the task easier than making more complicated.
Lack of participation: The problem of the lack of participation was realized while
implementing ERP. There was poor attendance at the team meetings. I tried to communicate
team and conveyed them the benefits of ERP. Initially, it took time to comprehend the whole
process to the team but as soon as they started getting output, their participation level got
increased (Baskerville, Pawlowski and McLean, 2016).
Using key features: The team was made aware of the features available to them of ERP. They
were consistently given the chance to understand the business processes and accomplish
assigned activities. The team was communicated from time to time so that costly mistakes
could be avoided. It made communication in the team seamless (Abdel-Haq, Chatti and
Asfoura, 2018).
Compatibility: The implementation of ERP even led to compatibility issues. But these
compatibility issues were easily tackled by the company one the basis of the competency.
Efficiency: The ERP system eliminated the repetitive process and significantly abridged the
need to manually enter information. It streamlined the business processes and made easier to
collect data of the team members.
Forecasting: Being a team leader, ERP gave me the need for creating more accurate forecasts.
It is believed that the information with ERP is accurate which helped in making accurate
approximations and more operative forecasts.
Collaboration: Being a team leader it is challenging to manage departments functioning
separately. ERP made collaboration between the departments which is a essential part of the
business. The data entered into the ERP systems is centralized and consistent which makes
the department work together easily. It even touched every aspect of the business and
encouraged collaborative and interdepartmental efforts (Wong, et al. 2016).

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The execution of ERP even benefitted me personally as it reduced the tasks to be conducted.
It helped in maintaining the record of the team in the single application and made decision
making convenient. It helped me in knowing the problem that team members might face in
managing the tasks allotted to them (Ghaferi and Dimick, 2016). I learned why working in a
team is essential and how this could help me in making better decisions. I felt that it was
communication which let the activities conduct successfully.
Analysis
The ERP process was implemented step by step in the organization. It redesigned the whole
process. For tackling these challenges the best and the most widely used tool is the teamwork
and communication. Both of them are highly essential for improving the efficiency of the not
only individual but also the overall organizations (Rajhans, 2012). I also felt that taking the
help of the team not only organization not only improved its functioning but at the same time
it enhanced my own decision-making skills. Being the time when my performance was
manacling I felt that everyone helped me in improving my skills and helped me in learning
and managing my task. In a team, I have learned from the skills of others and this helped me
in countering the challenges that I am facing in my professional career.
The ERP process successfully managed financial information of the company like assets,
accounts, and budget. The ERP software supported the company in managing internal and
external factors affecting it. The ERP saved a great fund of the organization and improved the
productivity of the organization. ERP get rid of the time-consuming activities like paper
management. It neglected manual functioning (Gharaveis, Hamilton, and Pati, 2018). It even
enabled the company to study its processes, performance, and earnings by assimilating
operational information with financial information. It is believed that synergy is a significant
part of the ERP solutions which combines the multiple processes into the single. It has
important role in becoming successful in the long run. The process of buying materials and
maintaining was also tackled by ERP. This process comprises modules which track the
supplies which are purchased and made the calculations regarding the distribution.it even
made possible for the company to predict demand on the basis of history, economic statistics
and employees’ data (Saade and Nijher, 2016). The company even came in the condition to
purchase a product at the proper timings based on the available raw material. The ERP

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offered total accessibility to every significant aspect of the business by making data
accessible to every department. The availability of the company’s information in the
centralized location enabled increased collaboration and more restructuring completion of the
tasks. The teamwork and communication assisted implementation of ERP by the following
points:
Encouraged dynamic change: The business world is consistently changing so it leads to
adopting software like ERP. The communication in the teamwork helped me to encourage
the dynamic change caused by the implementation of the ERP process (Rodrigues, 2018).
The effective communication in the team stands with the changes taking place in the
organization. The information of ERP was communicated to the team members. It even
helped to reach team members quickly (Valentine, Nembhard & Edmondson, 2015).
Created understanding: A team in the organization consists of several members. People
belong to different backgrounds and such people can bring together through communication
only. The teamwork was also conducted in the organization to comprehend and implement
the process. The cultural diversity also becomes a benefit as teamwork can be contributed
easily as per the mutual understanding (Martin and Ciurzynski, 2015).
Encouraged input: effective communication in the team fostered to open communication. It
resulted in fewer issues with the data spread across the departments in the organization
through ERP software. The platforms like CRM software was integrated with the ERP system
(Rajhans, 2012. It kept data consistent, accurate and unique. It even encouraged input from
the whole team. The team was also capable of utilizing its internal resources to solve the
issue.
Efficient action: It is believed that individuals communicate effectively if the teamwork is
managed effectively. The ERP system enabled the addition of new users and implementation
of solution grown over time. It even assisted the organization in facilitating growth.
Employee’s work better and faster: ERP not only made information accessible but made their
work better and faster. The information was accessible in one place. It was proper
communication which made information available to the employees. The team could even
perform its tasks faster (Migdadi and Abu Zaid, 2016). It minimized time wasting and
misunderstandings.

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Increased employee satisfaction: ERP fostered pleasant relationships at the workplace and it
was promoted by communication within the team. When the concerns are brought bythe team
than being a team leader I listen to them properly and responsibly. The effective
communication broke down the barrier of communication and ERP embraced the diversity of
employees. Along with this, high-quality service is also provided by ERP. The team interacts
with the customers and the relationships can be improved through the ERP. It resulted in
accurate access to information and history. ERP even gave accessibility to the marketing
automation and contactcenter software. It ensured that customers interact with consistency.

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References
Abdel-Haq, M.S., Chatti, H. and Asfoura, E., 2018. Investigating the Success and the
Advantages of Using ERP System in KSA Context. Engineering, Technology & Applied
Science Research, 8(6), pp.3631-3639.
Altamony, H., Al-Salti, Z., Gharaibeh, A. and Elyas, T., 2016. The relationship between
change management strategy and successful enterprise resource planning (ERP)
implementations: A theoretical perspective. International Journal of Business Management
and Economic Research, 7(4), pp.690-703.
Baskerville, R., Pawlowski, S. and McLean, E., 2016. Enterprise Resource Planning and
Organizational Knowledge: Patterns of Convergence and Divergence. Systèmes d'Information
et Management, 11(4), p.2.
Costa, C.J., Ferreira, E., Bento, F. and Aparicio, M., 2016. Enterprise resource planning
adoption and satisfaction determinants. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, pp.659-671.
Deering, S., Johnston, L.C. and Colacchio, K., 2011, April. Multidisciplinary teamwork and
communication training. In Seminars in perinatology (Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 89-96). WB
Saunders.
Elbardan, H. and Kholeif, A.O., 2017. Enterprise Resource Planning, Corporate Governance
and Internal Auditing: An Institutional Perspective. Springer.
Florea, N.V., Duica, A. and Duica, M.C., 2016. Using models and evaluation planning to
improve corporate training activity and trainee performance. Valahian Journal of Economic
Studies, 7(1), p.45.
Ghaferi, A.A. and Dimick, J.B., 2016. Importance of teamwork, communication and culture
on failure‐to‐rescue in the elderly. British Journal of Surgery, 103(2), pp.e47-e51.
Gharaveis, A., Hamilton, D.K. and Pati, D., 2018. The impact of environmental design on
teamwork and communication in healthcare facilities: A systematic literature review. HERD:
Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 11(1), pp.119-137.

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Martin, H.A. and Ciurzynski, S.M., 2015. Situation, background, assessment, and
recommendation–Guided huddles improve communication and teamwork in the emergency
department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 41(6), pp.484-488.
Migdadi, M.M. and Abu Zaid, M.K.S., 2016. An empirical investigation of knowledge
management competence for enterprise resource planning systems success: insights from
Jordan. International Journal of Production Research, 54(18), pp.5480-5498.
Rajhans, K., 2012. Effective organizational communication: A key to employee motivation
and performance. Interscience Management Review, 2(2), pp.81-85.
Rodrigues, A.C.M., 2018. Human resources management practices in micro-firms in the
enterprise resource planning selling and consulting sector.
Saade, R.G. and Nijher, H., 2016. Critical success factors in enterprise resource planning
implementation: A review of case studies. Journal of Enterprise Information
Management, 29(1), pp.72-96.
Valentine, M. A., Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2015). Measuring teamwork in
health care settings: a review of survey instruments. Medical care, 53(4), e16-e30.
Wong, A.H.W., Gang, M., Szyld, D. and Mahoney, H., 2016. Making an “attitude
adjustment”: using a simulation-enhanced interprofessional education strategy to improve
attitudes toward teamwork and communication. Simulation in Healthcare, 11(2), pp.117-125.

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