Graded Assessment Report

Leatty Shanghai Construction Project Assessment Report

To:                  Board of Directors of Leatty

From:             Alina B. – Project sponsor

Date:              13.12.2011

Subject:         Strategy to rescue the construction project of Leatty Shanghai

Introduction

On 13 December 2011 a meeting was held by Joyce B. and Ziyu X. (Project Managers, Shanghai) and Jeanine O. and Alina B. (Project sponsors, Leatty) to develop a new strategy to rescue the Shanghai construction project. A new strategy needs to be devised in order to improve the construction project making up for a delay in time in prior working sections. Agreements were set on the following plan of action to evade project problems and to avoid obstacles in upcoming future projects.

Findings

Improving information exchange and co-ordination of tasks

Firstly, in order to improve the exchange of information, e-mailing will be the only medium of information flow among employees. To ensure that every worker is well informed about the current situation, secretaries of Leatty are going to collect and note down the latest news and changes within the project creating a newsletter and send it to every employee at the end of each month. At the beginning of every hiring, employees will receive a profound introduction into their spectrum of tasks. However, in the event of uncertainty they can contact the help desk or an additional coordination manager resident in Shanghai. These measures will avoid co-ordination problems of tasks, which arose in the past and will finally create a safe atmosphere so that team members will talk openly about problems and risks.

Creating better communication

Secondly, agreement was set on face to face meetings more frequently. Meetings will take place in Germany every second month due to the fact that it is located in-between Canada and China. Furthermore, in order to evade project problems through improved communication, sponsors from Canada should send an inspection team to Shanghai to examine the progress. This inspection team, in which the project manager also takes part, will give a short but detailed presentation about the movement during the meetings in Germany. Thereby, proposals for potential improvements can be discussed directly.

Establishing team morale

The third point on the action plan deals with the attainment of a strong team morale. For this purpose, employees are going to be divided in teams, each with different tasks in order to achieve special goals. If the employees accomplish their goals in the stated time period they will be rewarded with a financial bonus. Through this reward strategy they might be more enthusiastic and willfully to work together.

Improving working practices

Another point on the action plan which has to be improved are the working practices. At the first meeting in Germany the multinational team of Canadians, Germans and Chinese is going to create a handbook with rules and working conditions. Hence, the working schedule will be bated to a 40 hour week in order to progress the working practices of the staff. Moreover, in summertime working is not allowed from 12 to 2 a.m. because of the potential heat. On the staff’s behalf, there will be a canteen for them to come together so as to communicate about things referring to the project or private issues.

Suggestions to be considered in the future

Finally, in order to learn from the first phase of the project and to rescue the construction project of Leatty Shanghai every employee should read the handbook carefully. In addition to that, they are expected to be conscious about the stipulated rules and working practices and are able to apply to them.

Conclusion and recommendation

Due to all discussed issues the whole team of Leatty Shanghai should aspire to implement the improving solutions. Aside from that, the sponsors have to know that the innovations involve some deal of expense but it can be assured that they will be considerably improving the project and that the outcomes will be satisfying. Eventually, there is the opportunism that a good team communication as well as an improved working morale and appropriate working practices can be achieved in the long term.

We look forward to your reaction.

Alina B

Project Sponsor