PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

ASSIGNMENT 2
STUDENT NO.: 224015192
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Interviewer: James Amoah
Good afternoon, sir.

Speaker: Interviewee
Good afternoon

Interviewer: James Amoah

So, I'm James Amoah from GIMPA School of Business, studying master’s in project
management. I have some questionnaires that I’d want you to help me with in relation to Project
Management Information Systems. Question one is general information, can you please
introduce yourself? Provide some background, and experience in project management, your
name, role, your organization, website of your organization, location of the organization and type
of business of your organization.

Speaker: Interviewee
Okay, first and foremost I'd like to thank you for the opportunity. My name is Emmanuel Kojo
Damoah. I'm a project manager for Imperial Homes Limited, it’s located at No. 6 Sir Arku
Korsah Road, Airport Residential Area- Accra. We are into property development, construction
and project management. My role here as Project Manager is to lead the project team from the
planning stage to the end of the execution stage that creates the project deliverables. And so team
management and communication people talk to my role.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay. So I think that was question two, the background and experience, so we'll go to question
three that’s the software selection process. So when tasked with selecting project management
software, what criteria do you consider before making a decision?

Speaker: Interviewee
Alright, that's understandable, but before I proceed to your third query, let's go back to 2b of the
project management.

Interviewer: James Amoah

What project management software have you used or evaluated in your professional experience?

Speaker: Interviewee
Previously I’ve used Primavera project planner, and Microsoft projects. Now back to the third
query, in selecting project management software, you would like to consider the costs and value
of the software. The security, user interface and ease of use, and most importantly integration
ability.
Interviewer: James Amoah
So can you describe any specific challenges you have encountered during the software selection
process?

Speaker: Interviewee
Umm, the first issue and this is very common is that, with project teams, you'd have to do a
requirement analysis because especially for my current organization, we run a matrix; a kind of
weak matrix and it's functional. So the office of functional managers have a little bit of power
than the project managers so the requirement analysis would have to cover their needs to the
extent that the output of the software would have to be communicated to functional managers.
So, the best thing is the requirement analysis and then the evaluation of vendors. Usually, the
selection process, if you're not lucky and you're tied at the sites, then you might be forced to rush
through the selection process because you have a number of vendors trying to sell to the
company. So that's it.

Interviewer: James Amoah

So we go to the next question, which is the key features and functionality. So what are the
essential features you look for in project management software for your specific projects?

Speaker: Interviewee
Before because we run property development, construction and project management, you will
need a software that will facilitate time tracking, reporting, project planning and scheduling, and
most importantly project budgeting.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay, and how important is customization and adaptability of software features to your project
needs?

Speaker: Interviewee
Customized software is very important, because it's flexible and easy to operate as it is built
around once company's business goals and the security features are also better.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Then we'll go to question five which is integration with other software. One, how crucial is the
integration of project management software with other tools or systems in your work flow?

Speaker: Interviewee
Integration of project management software with other tools or systems is very crucial as it
enhances collaboration, streamline workflows and improve overall project efficiency.
Interviewer: James Amoah
Okay, and also, can you provide examples of successful or challenging experience with software
integration?

Speaker: Interviewee
Please can you say that again?

Interviewer: James Amoah

Can you provide examples of successful or challenging experience with software integration?

Speaker: Interviewee
[Inaudible 07:16]

Interviewer: James Amoah

User friendliness and adoption, so how do you assess the user friendliness of project
management software? And why is it important for team adoption?

Speaker: Interviewee
I’ll take it from the back because team adoption is important when adding new technology
because you don’t work as an individual, so you want to make sure that every team member is
brought on. You’ll first need to test the software. You run the tests, the vendor can help you to
run it. But in doing so, you want to ascertain the responsiveness of the vendor. A vendor who is
available, and ready to do the trials with you.

You want a software which gives options for customization, so customization options and you
want training resources to be available, and ease of onboarding. That is when you can infuse the
software into the operations of the company. That's it.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay. And b, what strategies have been employed to encourage widespread adoption of new
software within your team?

Speaker: Interviewee
So the first strategy is to effectively communicate on the benefits of the software for company
operations to team members. And if you establish key performance indicators and enforce
comprehensive training it is more likely you will succeed.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Mmm, okay. Then we'll go to item seven, which emphasizes on pain points. Can you share any
specific challenges or pain points you encountered while using project management software?

Speaker: Interviewee
Of course, first and foremost, the learning process. If you’ve been doing things manually, and
you have to shift and adopt technology you get a lot of benefits, but the learning process,
depending on your aptitude might not be easy. Complexity; if you have a complex program, then
it's obviously not easy to adapt. Again, you'd have to pay for the technology so the issue of costs
and because you're a team, you might encounter issues of unauthorized reading of important
project data.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay, how have you addressed or mitigated these challenges?

Speaker: Interviewee
The first thing we've done is to fall on resource persons from the vendor for the initial training.
Okay, and then the issue of costs, because we run a matrix organization and if you want to
acquire the software at the project level, it means the best thing to do is to bring the cost to head
office so that it's added to the overheads at head office. And then regarding the unauthorized
reading of important project data you ensure controlled access to the software usage.

Interviewer: James Amoah

So we emphasize on item 8 which is impacts on project success. In your experience, how has the
choice of project management software impacted the success of your projects?

Speaker: Interviewee
A good project management software give us a holistic view of all the tasks and resources
required to complete tasks. It helped the gangs to collaborate better and reduced costs. Time
overruns due to variations were easily identified for application for extension of the anticipated
completion date. And this happened on EC2, MiDA contract in 2009 and 2012. We used
Microsoft projects.

Interviewer: James Amoah

So that will be like specific examples?

Speaker: Interviewee
Yeah, yeah. We used Microsoft projects to analyze the critical path for extension of time
application. There were lots of variations and so we impacted the variation instructions on the
baseline program, and the critical path is really what drives a project ending. So once we
impacted the very big items, the critical paths and formulated the critical path, the project
endings just came up. The new project came up and we were able to convince the client as to
how much extension of time we merit. You see, it’s a proof, it comes out clearly. Because you
have complex activities going on. If the activity is not on a critical path, then let’s say, increasing
the web load or quantity for that activity will not drive because that activity will have a lot of
floats. So, if you don't have the requisite software, it might never show and you'll find it very
difficult to convince the client rep why you merit the extension of time. Microsoft projects, it's
very simple. It's simple.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Item 9, when evaluating project management software, how do you conduct a cost benefit
analysis to justify an investment?

Speaker: Interviewee
So, we have two factors, costs, and benefits. So first, you identify and detail or potential costs of
implementing the software. That is initial purchase or subscription fees, training and
maintenance costs are calculated. Next, you calculate the potential benefits of the software such
as time savings, increased productivity, or improved accuracy in project tracking. The two
factors are then compared to provide an overall value.

Interviewer: James Amoah

And what consideration weigh most heavily in your decision process regarding software costs?

Speaker: Interviewee
In my experience, it’s the maintenance. You need to know whether it’s hooked to the cloud, or
not. If it’s hooked to the cloud, things get updated automatically when new versions come.
Luckily, depending on your agreement, you'll just get a new version. Otherwise. if you want an
improved version, you might have to [Inaudible 18:12].

Interviewer: James Amoah

So item 10, security data privacy concerns how do you ensure that the project management
software you use adheres to security standards and address data privacy concerns?

Speaker: Interviewee
So first and foremost, use strong passwords and change them regularly. That will be in
collaboration with your IT tool, and then you back up your data regularly. You also keep your
software up to date with the latest security patches.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Have you encountered any specific challenges related to security or data privacy using project
management software?
Speaker: Interviewee
Yes, it's risk of data breaches. We discussed that before.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay, so now we have training and support, how do you approach training team members on
new project management software and what level of support do you expect from the software
provider?

Speaker: Interviewee
Can you say that again?

Interviewer: James Amoah

How do you approach training team members on new project management software, and what
level of support do you expect from the software provider?

Speaker: Interviewee
First, you have to assume that the software is new to all team members. So you provide an
overview and demonstration of the software, explaining its purpose and benefits. Following, you
start using it for a few simple functions and then gradually increase the complexity of managing
workflows. Throughout this period, you want the vendors’ representative or trainer to be in
attendance.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay, so can you share any experience related to the effectiveness of training programs provided
by the software vendors?

Speaker: Interviewee
I previously worked for Taysec construction, so in the early 2000s, they hired a Primavera
Planner trainer from London to train the company's potential project managers over a period of
one month, the company paid for that and it was very successful.

Interviewer: James Amoah

Okay, thank you.
The last item which is future trends and innovations. In your opinion, what are the emerging
trends or innovations in project management software that will shape the future of project
management?
Speaker: Interviewee
It’s tax automation and predictive analysis as artificial intelligence, but it doesn't take away the
human factor anyway. We still have to work.
Interviewer: James Amoah
And how do you anticipate these trends will impact your organization's approach to project
management?

Speaker: Interviewee
Okay, so for Imperial homes, we are looking at this situation where we can approach project
management with increased speed and accuracy for complex activities.

Interviewer: James Amoah

I believe we’re done with our interview, Thank you very much Mr. Damoah.