Thika Road Project Organizational Structure

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Introduction

To accomplish the intended goal, the Kenyan Government with consultation of the Chinese contractor has structured an organizational structure to manage the project. Roles, powers and responsibilities are shared among the various stakeholders or participants to ensure that the end structure of the project benefits the project. To attain project goals and objectives, the project management team needs to be constituted in the right for the benefit of the entire project. This segment defines the organizational structure adopted by the project.

Thika Road Project Organizational Structure, Roles, And Responsibilities Of Participants Within A Project

When constructing Thika Road, the management from donors, Kenyan Government, the contractors and the team on the ground need to effectively coordinate. When coordination lacks, the project is likely to be completed beyond the timeframe set and the cost of the project is likely to increase. Stakeholders should play their role effectively as failure to adhere to the promises or contracts they had enacted will lead to failure of the entire project. Different segments within a project have their role to play; management should ensure that all the roles have been harmonized for the good of the project (Newbold, 2007).

Organizational structure

Organizational structure refers to the manner in which command in a project is executed; in the case of Thika Project, it refers to the general management and lines of command that the project will have. For the success of the project the main stakeholders include the government who involves experts to work along with the contractor for the good of the project. The command of power allocates different stages different strengths and control over the entire project, it gives them their mandates, defined their roles and responsibilities. The chart below shows the organizational structure adopted by Thika Road construction project. From the chart, the command of power in the company can be examined as well as the direct subordinates of a particular level of command

The following are the roles and responsibilities of the different participants in the project:

Steering committee

Steering committee are the sponsors and the main contractors for the project; in the case of Thika project, the Kenyan Government ministry of Road and Public works is the steering committee; they have the responsibility of Planning the project and finally give the project managers a written document of the process that should be followed for an effective completion of a project. Steering committee form the budget of time and cost of the project; they are important in the attainment of project goals and objectives of the project. Steering committee are the main decision makers, they are responsible of the project; their main role is to guide and manage the project in the right direction.

Project director/project leader

Thika Road project managers and project directors have their major role as ensuring that the overall performance of the project is effectively undertaken. They are the people on the ground to ensure the directions given by the steering committees have been adhered to. They are guided by the project goals and objectives to ensure planning, execution, monitoring, control and closure of the project are undertaken according to the planned and predetermined manner.

Team leaders (they are at different levels but their tasks are the same)

Thika Road has the following classification of team leaders user-team leader, technical team leaders, and application team leader. The following are the roles and responsibilities of the project team leaders:

Management of project human, information, and physical resources are vested on the team leaders, they are expected to ensure that there is such a combination that offers maximum results.
Leaders are responsible of building orchestrates and winning team, such a team is dedicated and motivated to see the project successes; Thika road requires employees, both casual and permanent staff work for the good of the entire project.
They offer mentorship and leadership in the entire project and ensure that processes abide to the plan, work schedules and initiation documents are followed.
They are the point of communication to the management and advices the board on any changes that might have occurred in the project and needs the intervention of third parties.

Project managers and project directors role may vary with project, however, the most important factor is that they hold the project, thus, they are accountable of any occurrence in the project. At every stage, quantity surveyors, architects, and other related professionals give their report gauging the success and the level of completion attained. For example, at Thika Road, there are approximately twenty bridges (undergoing and fry-overs) that the road will have. Before any of the bridge has been completed, the management starts by undertaking feasibility.

Explain How The Project Was Controlled And Co-ordinate

At the feasibility study, the government started by giving the contractor a map of the designated road through which the road was expected to pass. Before the commencement of the project, there were numerous projects/houses and businesses along Thika Road, the challenge were that some of the structures were made on road reserves. To develop the road, the contractor needed to demolish to give pathway to the road.

Demolition was the first challenge that the project faced, it, thus, needs to collaborate and work closely with the Kenyan authority for security guidance and public education. At government offices, queues were seen as people tried to prove that their premises were not on road reserve. The go-ahead to demolish the properties was given by the government. When demolishing, the government gave security to the contractors demolishing machineries like tractors and offered security for the human capital used. This is crucial for the attainment of project goals.

Other than the grabbed land that the contractor was given security and go-ahead to demolish, there are other pieces of land that the project was to affect but they were private properties. The contractors had to serve notice of demolition but with compensation. Every action that the contractor undertook was closely monitored by the government, the contractor was advised to work with local government and administration before making a decision.

At professional level, the project was rated and certified in collaboration of architects from the government side, the contractor, and other private players. The quality surveyors are responsible for giving the pathway or the go ahead; when certifying the project, professionals and specialists of certain industries are included. For example, to ensure that water and drainage have been maintained at the best level, Aqua Plumbers were considered as the quality surveyors as they have wide experience in the area. Other than the private company, a map was given by Nairobi and Thika Water Company regarding where sewage and water line pass; the need for the same is to ensure that there is good collaboration among the two teams.

Identify Project Leadership Requirements And Qualities

To ensure that Thika Road project has been a success, collaboration of the government leaders and those of the contractor are crucial; at their different levels, they should share the following objectives:

putting all the logistics of a project into place so that there will be full attainment of project goals and objectives; for instance, the government through the ministry of road and public work ensures that the contractors get the required rights and licenses required to complete the project.
plan, organize and control activities; the activities are taken at different levels depending with the powers and influence that someone has.
Ensuring that the project is accomplished in time with the available resources and, if possible, have some new strategies of completion of tasks that is better than the original plan.

The leadership traits needed for the completion of the team needs charismatic leaders with high integrity and who are firm when handling issues. The multi-billion project was initiated at a time that Kenya was rated poorly as far as corruption is concerned. The leaders of the project should, thus, be very careful that public resources do not find their way to unwanted people. On the other hand, the demolitions that were to occur along the road needed a leader who knew how to control and manage people.

Leadership is an art of managing and developing strategies; Thika road leaders should be able to manage and organize resources for the benefit of the project. The leader should understand that the success of the project depends on the managerial decisions they make; they have the role of shaping and guiding the project to its path to success. The structure of well-organized organization has leadership at different levels, from the chief executive officer who can be seen as the entire organizational leader to micro teams leaders. When focusing on leaders, there is need to address the issue at all levels including team leaders; whichever the case leaders need to make decisions that are responsive to the situation and stage that the organization is; their decisions must be timely and effective. Other than making decisions at different stage levels, the leaders should assume the task of managing their team members to the attainment of the set team goals and objectives.

Plan And Specify Human Resources And Requirements For The Project

The completion of the project depends on the structuring of the human capital. Thika Road contractors have the main role of managing the human resources on the ground but at the management level the Kenyan Government is included. When managing projects, there are processes that need to take place before others, the allocation of human resources is crucial. For instance, in the construction, there are times that drainage system is hampered, in these times, the teams leaders should allocate the right number of human capital and expertise to rectify the situation. There are some projects that must be taken simultaneously, some can be delayed and others are predecessors of others; management of human resources for the project is, thus, important. To have a framework of the project, work breakdown structures are important as they assist making the right decisions as far as human resources are concerned.

Conclusion

To ensure that the project runs smoothly, the parties and stakeholders involve work in close relations to address foreseen problems and have contingency fund to cater for the occurrence of unseen things. The project leaders should manage activities and organize resources (both human and physical) for the project; contractors leaders have the role of ensuring that resources are well managed for the benefit of the project.

References

Hamilton, A., 2004. Handbook of Project Management Procedures. New York: TTL Publishing.

Newbold, C., 2007. Project Management in the Fast Lane; Applying the Theory of Constraints. New York: St. Lucie Publishers.

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