Managing Projects in the Organisation.

Task Description/Scenario:
In the last year, COVID-19 has radically redefined how we relate to space and to each other. Prior to March
2020, people were not required to wear face masks in public spaces and there weren’t any restrictions in
most countries in terms of how people conducted themselves in public spaces. Today, because of the nature
of the disease, governments have had to impose lockdown on their economies which have led many
organisations to switch to home based working. Several analysts have predicted that this work-from-home
phenomena is here for good and will continue for the foreseeable future. As part of this, several
communication technologies have been integrated into the new work systems and platforms like Zoom,
Google meets, Teams, etc have been quickly integrated in the work culture and are currently being used at
an alarming rate to manage work related engagements. Many individuals believe that even when the
COVID19 pandemic ends, these disruptions into the workspace will remain somewhat significant and many
of these organisations will never return to full office working.
Currently, several governments are carrying out mass vaccinations of people and there is an expectation
that people may return to the office in the near future and some of these restrictions may be relaxed. It is
important to recognise that because of public scepticism and cultural issues, not everyone have accepted
to be vaccinated. It is important to state that sustained period of hardship often affects human psychology
and behaviour and others may not want to alter the way they work moving forward. As a result of this, we
expect that in some workplaces, some organisations may still want to continue imposing pandemic
mitigation ideas in the workplace to protect those who may still be concerned that they may be contaminated
by the virus. All of these issues may affect workers morale in many ways and those managing projects have
to incorporate this into project planning and decision making. Project managers have to also test the ability
of organisations to effectively deliver projects. While in some occasions, some projects and programs have
adapted quickly and effectively, where managers and sponsors have been able to pivot to remote working,
others have had substantial delays or total cancellations. There is no evidence that even those managing
projects with organised and defined scope, schedules and governance structures have adapted better to
the current reality as opposed to other. All of these issues have posed significant challenges to the business
environment and to organisations. As the global business community and organisations start to return to a
new normal after the recent wave of vaccinations, it is important to understand that many project managers
will also need to adapt to these new changes, adopt short term or enduring strategies and also develop a
view about projects that are sustainable and adaptable to varying and unexpected business situations and
unexpected circumstances.
In light of the scenario above, identify an organization that you either work for at the moment or have worked
for in the past. If you have never worked for an organization, then you will need to choose an extracurricular
organisation you are involved in, or an alternative organisation that you know a lot about, in terms of what
happens within the internal organisation environment (e.g. an organisation your parent/partner works for).
If you are having problems choosing an organisation, please discuss this with your module lecturer.
TASK DESCRIPTION