Project managers are faced with making decisions daily, some are insignificant while some are critical and can cause a project to be successful or lead to failure. Decision making is a critical skill that a project manager must have in order to make a rational, unbiased decision. It is considered a critical skill because according to (Mendes) most people naturally think uncritically, making decisions based on personal biases, self-interest, or irrational emotions. A critical thinker must be able to analyze a concept objectively, consider the facts and different perspectives then make a sound, logical decision. Decision making is a process of selection or choice which changes the courses of action and arises only when more than one alternative exists for doing the work or completing a task.
In project management decisions can have an impact on cost, time and scope either negative or positively in a project’s life cycle. The first step in the process of making a rational decision is to gather information or know the facts. The second step is to consider the situation before acting, next is to analyze all the alternatives and chose the best option. Finally put the selected option into practice, control and evaluate the decision. A common tool that can assist in decision making is a SWOT analysis. According to (Haughey) a SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to a project. A SWOT analysis is done in the planning stage of project to identify strengths which can be aligned with opportunities and to identify weakness which can be aligned with threats. It is most useful when completed with an objective as it gives an understanding of the present situation and the options that benefit the decision-making process.
As a young individual I am faced with making decisions daily. Some are simple such as what is for lunch or what shoe to wear while some are life changing such as building a house or where can I invest some money. One major decision I have made in my life thus far, was the decision to construct my home. This for me was a life changing and learning experience as I had to make a lot of decisions that affected time, cost and scope. My first major decision was should I construct using my own finances which means I will build the house part by part and this may take five to six years or longer to complete. Should I seek financing from a financial institution and build the house in entirety. I decided to obtain the finances from a financial institution which approved my application for a home loan/mortgage.
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My time was limited to one year for completion of the house, as the financial institution gave me a bridging loan and I had to pay interest only for that period. Although I was given a year, I wanted to complete before a year, so I can convert the loan to a mortgage because the interest I was paying was a high amount. My second decision was to employ a contractor to start construction of the house. This decision was made by recommendations from past clients of contractors. The first contractor was chosen because it was recommended, that he can complete the house within six months, from start to finish and within budget. After seeing his work, he was hired. A few weeks into construction he was fired from the job. He was caught not following the construction plan with the depth of the pilings, the size of the matting and the thickness of steel to be used. A second contractor was hired and after a few months he was caught stealing material and was fired.
Rewind to the present if proper decision making was done such as taking into consideration other options or threats such as the downturn of the economy, the better decision would have been to build the house part by part. Another alternative could have been to obtain financing and construct one level of the house, make it liveable but leave room for future development. After analysing the situation with the contractors, the decision was made to complete the construction in phases using a different contractor for each phase.
I think the situation could have been avoided if I had hired a Site Manager/Supervisor to oversee the project instead of trying to be Site Manager and Project Manager at the same time. Someone external from the construction team was needed to ensure correct procedures was followed and the house was being built according to the approved specs. A SWOT analysis could have been used for brainstorming and to find the best possible option by considering all the factors to the objective of constructing the house within time, scope and budget.
The house was completed after thirteen months, over budget but according to specs. The reason for the project being over budget was because of wastage of material due to errors made by the contractor and the labour cost incurred to correct the mistakes.
