INTRODUCTION:

The site assigned to me as a project manager is a three Km long tunneling site situated remote to the nearest town which takes about two days to travel. The remoteness of site being the most significant factor for the site personnel, supervisors, technicians and other skilled workers to get frustrated and involved in drinking and quarrels to great extent. Also improper hygienic condition has led to increase in sickness amongst the employees .The abovementioned causes is again incorporated with chances of occurring accidents on site. Due to above mentioned reasons the project could not be completed within the stipulated completion duration. As a result higher authority has urged the management to formalize the solution & recommendation to overcome such problems and complete the task within the target time of project as estimated. For a project manager this is an ultimate challenge. At such prevailing condition to get project back on track is difficult but not impossible for me as a project manager. To get satisfactory result, I have to motivate my subordinates and create a good atmosphere on site for them to compete and work hard for achieving the goal of completing the work within time schedule.

CAUSES LEADING TO DELAY OF PROJECT:

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The remoteness of site leads to a very different working environment than prevailing in the urban areas. The fact that it takes almost two days to travel to nearest town makes it mandatory to the working individuals to stay on site away from their family and friends for atleast few months before visiting home in an isolated site away from social communication. This may create homesickness amongst them leading to frustration. As a result to overcome this frustration and stress from the days hectic work schedule they get indulge in drinking habit for passing time, the second cause. Drinking indirectly leads to misunderstanding among them creating quarrels for one reason or the other.

Due to drinking habit, the workers and personnel mishandle the safety precaution to be observed on site leading to unintentional accidents on site. The occurrences of such accidents do have major effects on the progress schedule creating delay in project schedule.

The remoteness of site has led to poor accommodation facilities to staff personnel, poor sanitation & supply of low quality water has resulted in outbreak of epidemic of diseases on site

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causing absenteeism amongst the working personnel affecting the progress of work. This indirectly creates disinterest among the

individuals to continue work on site.

Basically the factors hampering the progress are remoteness, carelessness towards safety precaution due to drinking habits, poor standard of living (poor sanitation, water supply, food,

accommodation), indiscipline leading the working personal physically weak and mentally frustrated. The above-mentioned reasons have caused delay in progress of the said project, which has become difficult to complete within the stipulated duration mentioned in contract.

In order to get the project back on track, management has to create interest in individuals to compete by providing proper provision for food and accommodation, proper sanitation on site, compel proper safety principles to be followed on site and provide staff welfare (financial & non financial incentives), follow strict discipline.

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NEEDS AND THEIR FULFILLMENT ON SITE:

The primary task of manager is to get people to contribute activities that help to achieve the mission and goals of an enterprise
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or of any department or other organized unit within it. Human motives are based on needs whether consciously or subconsciously felt some are primary needs such as physiological requirements for water, air, food, sleep and shelter. Other needs may be regarded as secondary, such as self esteem, status, affiliation with others, affection, giving, accomplishment and self assertion. The basic needs placed by Maslow in an ascending order of importance are: a. Physiological needs: These are the basic needs for

sustaining human life itself such as food, water, warmth, shelter, and sleep. b. Security, or safety, needs: These are the needs

to be free of physical danger and fear of loss of a job, property, food, or shelter. c. Affiliation, or acceptance, needs: Since people are

social beings, they need to belong, to be accepted. d. Esteem needs: Once people begin to satisfy their

need to belong, they tend to want to be held in esteem both by themselves and by others. This kind of need produces such satisfactions as power, prestige, status, and self-confidence.

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e.

Need for self-actualization: The desire to become

what one is capable of becoming - to maximize ones potential and to accomplish something.

Above concludes that to achieve the goal of an enterprise it is necessary to motivate the working personal with respect to needs as mentioned above. Money does play a big role of the motivator in form of wages, financial or non-financial incentives or bonuses. These provide the source of motivation amongst the employees to perform efficiently towards one common goal of the enterprise. A manager can do much to sharpen motives by establishing an environment favorable to certain drives.

Herzbergs studies led to identification of a series of factors that influenced their attitudes and performance and whose intensity & duration affected the work behavior in the working environment of individuals. These factors could be summarized as: a. Maintenance or Hygiene factor: These include job,

job security, work rules, promotions, incentives, leaves. Their presence will not motivate people in an organisation; yet, they must be present, or dissatisfaction will arise.
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b.

Motivating factors: Attitudes, feeling about job,

desire to excel, care and concern about quality etc

The guidelines for proper motivation are: A positive attitude has to be adopted. The management has to be supported instead of

being criticized. Not making promises that cannot be kept. Every individual has to be praised for his work and

effort and entertained for his views in improving the management efforts. Every individual should realize that team effort &

teamwork would attain the objective of an enterprise.

SUGGESTED

METHODS

FOR

HYGIENE

FACTORS

AND

MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS:

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As discussed earlier, the site being remote the first step to be taken is to look after the physiological needs to be fulfilled on site. Management requires creating and maintaining an environment in which the working personnel work together towards achieving the common objective. Firstly proper accommodation facility has to be made on site. This could be achieved by building housing colony located near the site and properly designed for proper sanitation facility and proper water supply on site. This housing colony should have lodging facility according to rank of employees and fully furnished with the basic requirement of a person. A clear and proper access has to be made to reach site with all the transport vehicle facility throughout the day so that quick access to site and lodging could be facilitated. This will reduce a lot of time for access to site. The prime importance has to be given to make sure that quality of food & water consumed by the working staff is of good quality. This has to be given serious consideration, since overlooking this factor will lead to series of outbreak of epidemic diseases like cholera, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea etc This will lead to sickness among the employees and to their absenteeism. Proper periodic testing of water for its pH value, chloride & sulphide content has to be undertaken. Company has to recruit a small dispensary on site or
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in the housing colony to take care of the sick personnel or the injured working staff or workers who has met with an accident on site. The management has to provide a transport facility to the nearest town on a weekly basis so that the employees could have a feel of near by areas and get settled on site. This housing colony has to be also felicitated with a small market of the same company where the basic requirements for a person will be available at a reasonable rate. It has to be incorporated with small libraries providing literature related to same field and magazines and newspapers so that the working personnel could pass their time after work in gathering knowledge and know what is happening in world instead of spending time in drinking habit. This will indirectly create discipline amongst the individual. Also small recreational center or clubs has to be built where the employees could entertain themselves by listening to soft music or watch movies. They could even indulge in playing games like carom, cards, billiards or snooker. This will make them freshen up for the upcoming days work.

In regards to safety on site management has to provide seminars on necessity of safety on site, proper standard of safety to be followed. Hoarding showing safety precautions has to be
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placed on site. It has to be made mandatory for company employees to follow safety strictly or else will be penalized for mishandling safety provisions provided to them. Proper access to working site from site access has to be made by providing tracks and wagon cars operated electrically. This will provide less exertion to officials to reach the working site and in case of an emergency they could evacuate the site within no time. Proper safety gears has to be provided to each and every employees and laborer, failing to wear this, should not be allowed to enter site. Also certain incentive like following the safety guidelines thoroughly without any accidents and increase in progress for certain period of time say man-hours will gain certain benefits and bonuses to each and every working personnel. Failing to do so even by one will not provide any benefit.

The project manager has to undertake special motivational techniques to complete the project on schedule. Of course money is the important motivating factor in the form of wages, incentive pay, bonuses, stock options, company paid insurance, it could be used as a means to keep an organization adequately staffed.

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All the personnel appointed on site first has to be cleared of their job being secured. For this every individual has to be assigned job in accordance to his capabilities, designation and qualification. This gives a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Job enrichment could be an another attempt to make a job more varied by eliminating dullness associated with repetitive operations. The views and suggestions from a sub ordinate has to be entertained for the well being of the project and speed up progress, but Project Manager decision is the ultimate one. The freedom to every sub ordinate has to be given in formalizing his way and technique towards his job but within the discipline and regulation of the enterprise. Money could be another motivating factor in the form of wages and incentive. Proper wages has to be deployed to the employees for the amount of work they execute. The financial and non-financial incentives should be complementary and must go in accordance if satisfactory results are to be desired. The financial incentive has to be supported with non-financial incentives, since only cash wages can not help in solving problems. In order to create interest in an individual for greater and better output, non-financial incentives must also be enforced and the employees will also enjoy richer and fuller life.
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Some of the chief non-financial incentives are: Personal interest and pride in work to be created

in employees. employees. Security of employment and hopes for reward. Provision of children welfare, maternity and other Fair and sympathetic treatment with the

medical aid etc

The employees working on site away from their families even get frustrated and homesick. The first thing to get in their mind is to be free of tension of what their family might be doing, whether everything is fine at home or not. This thought could be erased from their mind if the management will provide certain schemes like club membership to their families in accordance to the rank of employees, which his family can enjoy back home. Also certain provision for help in emergency at home should be looked after the H.R.Department back at home, such as medical attention and facility, children welfare in education, and funds in case of emergency similar to L.I.C. policy. By providing such benefits to the
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employees they will be free of tension for the well being of their family. Also free transport facility to home has to be made to the employees in case of emergency or even when their leave has been sanctioned. Proper facility of communication has to be deployed on site for employees like telephone connections, Internet facility and others. This would help them to be in regular contact with their families. Also certain gift packages should be provided to the personnel back at head office on return to home which will keep his family interested.

In other words the employees has to be provided with such facility that he should think being in this company he will rise to the peak of his opportunity and well being.

Also shifts have to be maintained on site for achieving progress and completion of project on time. But this shift has to be incorporated with proper dayoff facility to the subordinates. Also they should be provided with a week leave duly paid to visit their family every three months. This will create interest in them to work hard for the betterment of the project.

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The enterprise even after providing facilities as mentioned above should not compromise to the discipline that has to be followed towards achieving the common goal. A human being is after all a human. Providing so much amenities will just increase his will for more. The employees have to be clearly instructed, after provided with the above said facility, to control their urges and co operate for the common achievement. Failing to do so the management will take strict actions. The management has to curb the indiscipline followed on site quickly and actions has to be taken immediately in order to prevent its adverse influence on others. Initially warning would do, but with increase of indiscipline, punishments or penalization is the only solution.

Employee discontents, gripes and complaints will certainly arise in even a best managed company. An employee may feel that his boss assigns him the dirty and heavy jobs to him to do. A myriad situation can give rise to employee anxiety and complaint. For the sake of justice to the individual and the smooth functioning of the whole orgnisation, it behoves the management to get to the root of the employees dissatisfaction and take corrective action wherever possible. Such should be the attitude at present to be developed on
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site for quick progress. Handle the grievances very tactfully towards the interest of the employee and crate such an environment suitable for smooth operation of the progress of project.

Adopting such steps for progress as discussed above doesnt mean to compromise discipline. Discipline is essential to the function of a company. The employees must control their urges and cooperate for the common good. In other words they must reasonably conform to the rules adopted by the company so that the agreed upon goals can be accomplished. The term indiscipline can be described non conformity to formal and informal rules and regulations. It is necessaryto correct discipline in an organisation as soon as it is observed because of its adverse effects on the morale and motivation of employees as well as organisation. So the drinking problem on site has to be cleared off soon before its influence on the personnel. This can be achieved by creating an environment of housing colony as explained above. Counseling and educating the employees are added means that can be effectively and positively used to check indiscipline. Management can also adopt strategies like job enrichment to develop commitment to work, sets up effective grievance handling machinery, evolve proper induction and
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training programmes for new entrants and develop a system which provides sufficient scope and opportunity to develop employee potential, it would leave little room for the growth of grievances which could lead to indiscipline. The essential using this approach to manage indiscipline are: Reasonable, regulations. Workers should be involved in framing rules and regulations so that they willingly accept the rules. Prior notice of the consequences of breaking rules. Consistency and uniformity of punishment. Respect for the human personality. Management personnel should set high standards. legitimate and clear rules and prerequisites for

RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT:

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The project being a prestigious one for me as a Project Manager as well as for my companys management has to be completed on schedule which is not at all impossible. It is my prime responsibility to complete the project on schedule keeping in mind the huge amount of progress to be achieved in less time towards the interest of my company. Following the normal trend would have led to delay in completion. To speed up the progress I have to get work done on shift basis asking my subordinate to spend even more time of work on site. But accordingly the personnel have to be rewarded. The management will have to spend money for the benefit of my subordinates amount of work. He will have to be provided with overtime and special incentive bonuses for his family like club membership, medical incentive, and childs educational welfare during the tenure of the project making him free of tensions of his family and allow him to concentrate more on work. This incentive could be provided to him even after the completion with respect to his performance on site. The company will have to provide all the working personnel with extra bonuses on completion of project on schedule. This will create an interest amongst them towards their work. Also the accommodation facility, food and sanitation has to be provided as discussed earlier. Transport facility to home and back
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during emergency has to be provided for the employees. The employee will have to be provided with paid leave under such circumstance accordingly. It is my responsibility to get work done in the interest and profit of my company. The subordinates I have are capable of doing miracles out of such impossible situation. For that the management will have to provide with the provision

recommended earlier to the fullest towards the interest of my subordinate. Its just a matter of time for me and my colleagues to work towards the accomplishment of common objective of completing the project on schedule. For this the management will have to spend some investment. But the recommended methods will not increase the project cost; instead it will earn us more profit, as penalty imposed on delay in project completion will lead to heavy losses. The entire decision depends upon the management. The faster the actions implemented sooner will the results be obtained

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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 Essentials Of Management Koontz

Harold

Cyril O Donnell Heinz Weihrich

Personal Management

Nicmar

Management in organization

Nicmar

Industrial economics

organisation

and

engineering

S.C. Sharma T.R. banga

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