HospEquip Ltd - Situation

Business was good: so good that ​HospEquip Ltd decided to recruit a new project manager to cope
with the demand for sales and manufacturing of hospital equipment and furniture. However,
Joanne – already in the small, entrepreneurial-minded company for a year – picked up the job
description on the internet and decided to apply for it before it went external. After interviews with
the department director, Greg Fox, and the department teams’ manager, Gwen Rostrum, she was
taken on. Joanne immediately left her old department and joined the new team.

Joanne ’s mission was twofold: manage and coordinate a number of external suppliers who
assembled their products and then ensure final quality control before announcing availability to
sales and marketing. As part of her induction, she was given two nearly-completed projects to
manage over the next three months. She felt comfortable with this and enjoyed the new
environment and fresh challenges.

However, three weeks into her new job, Gwen announced a change of plan. The company had just
won a new contract from a new and important client. The existing product, however, would have to
be substantially updated to suit customer needs. If they got it right, there were potentially huge
orders awaiting them at the end. Gwen wanted Joanne to take the new project on. In an initial
meeting, Joanne reminded Gwen that during the recruitment interview Greg had assured her there
would be no more than two projects at a time to handle. Things were already complex as they were.
Moreover, given the importance of the project, why hadn’t it been allocated to other, more
experienced team members? It was then that Joanne learned two colleagues had recently decided
to leave the company. The other project managers were taken up at 150% and Joanne was the
only one whom Greg and Gwen could turn to. Despite initial doubts, Joanne accepted, seeing it as
a way to increase her skills and value to the department.
Under normal circumstances, projects were 100% managed by their dedicated project managers all
the way to final quality where either Greg or Gwen would step in and assist with last-minute advice
or minor changes. Much to her dismay, Joanne soon learnt that this project was different.

She sensed that Greg and Gwen were extremely sensitive to the project stakes, especially because
top management was closely following this one too. Her immediate boss, Gwen, began enquiring
about updates more than usual and urged Joanne to keep a tight rein on the project so that
nothing went wrong. Several times a day, Gwen actually began to sit behind Joanne as she worked,
commenting progress and data and giving her extra actions to undertake concerning the project. It
became rather annoying, especially as Joanne had other things to finish too: the new project was
eating away into her time. At one point, jokingly, Joanne asked Gwen if she wanted to manage the
project herself. This did not please Gwen too much and for the first time since her arrival, their
communication became icy for the rest of the day. That evening, returning home, Joanne began
wondering when the next surprise would come.

Joanne ’s instinct proved right. The surprise came when a month into the project Greg and Gwen
called her to a meeting to announce a new, improved and very stringent quality process. She
listened as Greg explained the large and complex Excel sheet he had projected onto the screen. Her
directors’ tone was reassuring – it was all in an attempt to tighten up the nuts and bolts of the roll
out process and eliminate risk of mistakes and non-qualities. Joanne , however, felt a twinge of
alarm. Increasing the number of steps, checks and contacts in the project would surely make it more
complex not less? At one point, Greg stopped his presentation, obviously irritated.

“Look, Joanna. Just ​trust me ​– all right. The end aim is to provide our client with a
top-quality, watertight product. Don’t you want that?”
Joanne was trapped. Of course she wanted that. Everybody in the team did. By speaking up
in front of everyone, Greg was now making her feel as though she was lacking conviction and
determination and worse – it was making others think that way too. She nodded and tried as best
she could to refocus on the rest of Greg’s presentation.
Things first began getting out of control when Joanne completed one of the new product updates
and sent off her report, as was normal procedure, to Gwen. The same afternoon, towards 5 pm,
Gwen came to see her. She had read the report and looked at the updated product specifications
herself. It wouldn’t do. There were “a couple of points” that could be pushed even further in terms
of quality. Gwen handed back Joanne ’s report – there were at least a dozen elements highlighted
in yellow, not just two.
“You can do better, Joanne . I sense you’re not putting in everything you can. Be more
demanding. Push your quality even further, Joanne – follow it through to the end.”
“Sorry Gwen, but can I remind you of the other projects?”
Gwen smiled. “Come on, Joanne . How much is there left to do on those? Not much, I see.
Easy stuff. Trust me. The priority is the ​new project​. It’s extremely important for us all.”

But Joanne ’s predicament seemed to go from worse to worse. Two days later, after implementing
Gwen’s requests for modifications, Greg came to see her.
 “I looked at your report, Joanne . Good stuff.”
“What report, Greg? You do know that Gwen already asked me to put in further
modifications.”
Greg looked surprised. “Really?” He hesitated for a moment then gathered his wits. “Well, if
that’s the case, then I’m reassured myself. You see, I’ve been thinking – have you really followed
things through, Joanne ? I read the report and contacted the product guys – as well as your
suppliers…”
“Production? The ​suppliers?​” Joanne was nonplussed. “But it’s ​my job ​to coordinate them.
Anything that has to be checked or questioned comes through me.”
“This is an extremely important project, Joanne . It’s just that I came up with a few
modifications I want you to integrate. It won’t take long – half a day…or maybe a day?”
“You hired me as a project manager, Greg,” replied Joanne angrily – it was all too much. “If
you won’t let me manage it, then what use am I?” Greg’s resulting silence to her last remark wasn’t
at all reassuring.
“Quality isn’t up to standard, Joanne . Do you think I – or Gwen, for that matter – actually
want ​to come back and check what you’ve done all the time? We’ve wasted tons of time just
basically keeping a check on what you’re doing – it’s a pain for us too, don’t you see? And as long as
you haven’t reached the level of quality we’re looking for, we’ll just have to do it this way.”

Joanne did not sleep well that following night. It was a clear vote of no confidence in her. And all
the extra work, going back over things that had already been finished days or even weeks before,
just made that hill of work that much more of a mountain.

In the morning, however, she arrived at work determined to take her performance up a notch. She
wanted Greg and Gwen to trust her and recognize her capacities for the job. And it was also a
personal challenge. She’d always obtained good results through her hard work and resilience to
setbacks.

However, her positive attitude didn’t have time to express itself. No sooner had she sat down when
Gwen arrived, enquiring about her two other projects.
“Well, of course they’re still in progress,” said Joanne . “You advised me to put them in
second position behind the new project. I suppose you could say they’re late.”
“But the client’s just phoned me – they’re shouting at me to deliver the goods. Joanne –
you really have a problem of organisation. Because one thing is priority doesn’t mean you have to
leave everything alone. What am I going to tell the client? What am I going to tell Greg? Sometimes,
you know – I wish we hadn’t let you take this job.”

Three more weeks passed and Joanne had the impression that her workload had doubled since the
beginning of the new project. She always seemed to be running after additional requests and
modifications from either Gwen or Greg. It became so complex what with all the various exchange
of information and requests for validation that Joanne made silly mistakes. She began to doubt
herself. Even her role – that of project manager – had seemed to become just one of someone who
executed the next new order and counter-order. It was almost like being in the middle, trapped
between her suppliers and her management. She had no scope for decision: the new control and
validation process had stifled that. Ultimately, she felt trapped. Her health began to suffer. One
morning, after a night spent worrying about the project and Greg and Gwen’s distrust in her, she
decided to resign.