Project Leadership in

Health Care
 

HEAL8140
Week 11
 Unit Outcomes
At The End Of This Lecture, Students Will Be Able To:
• Define project outcomes
• Evaluate project goals
• Interpret project failure
• Summarize features of a final report
 Good project management is about reflecting ‘How are we
going? What’s going wrong? How come that didn’t work? How
can we fix that?’ but you would do that as part of [the project
implementation]- and then when you finished you would all
come together and say ‘let’s apply some hindsight’ and we
look at what we would have done differently- but that’s part of
the project management process.
-Senior Health Manager
 Criteria of Project Completion
• Finished all tasks in plan

• Achieved planned outcomes

• Achieved deliverables

(Dwyer et al., 2019)

 Three Categories of Completion
1. Acceptance and Handover

2. Completion of Evaluation

3. Final Report

(Dwyer et al., 2019)

 Acceptance and Handover
• Present deliverables to project sponsor and get sign-off

• Complete all documentation

• Tying up loose ends

• Debriefing process (discuss experiences)

• Celebrate success

(Dwyer et al., 2019)

 Evaluating the Project
• Outcome Evaluation

• Impact Evaluation

• Process Evaluation

(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,

2013)
 Types of Evaluation: In Detail
Process Evaluation
• Measures the effectiveness of the strategies and methods
used in the project, and the skill of their execution
• Come up with a way to assess the project as it unfolds:
milestones, standards, criteria
• Example: Issues Logs
 Types of Evaluation: In Detail
Impact Evaluation
• Measures achievement of the project’s goals and objectives
• Identifies short-term impact
• Can assess unforeseen and unanticipated outcomes

Outcome Evaluation
• Measures the longer term achievements of the project

(Dwyer et al., 2019)

Program Logic and Evaluation

(Dwyer et al., 2019, p132)

 The Final Report
• A historical record of the project and what it achieved

• An opportunity for reflection on the project as a whole

• A comparison of the project at completion with the plan

• A way of informing stakeholders of the status of any

outstanding issues
 The Final Report Cont’
• A record of recommendations for future projects and
strategies for sustaining the outcomes of this project
• A summary of the project evaluation, and the learning from it,
with the aim of promoting enhanced capability for subsequent
projects

(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,

2013)
The Final Report - Template
The Final Report – Template Cont’

(Dwyer et al., 2019)

 Reflective Thinking: Project Failure
On your own, spend 5 minutes and come up with two reasons
why you think a project may conclude prematurely

Spend 10 minutes discussing these ideas with the person next to

you

Share some of your ideas with the class

 A Few Factors in Project Failure
• No link between project and organization’s key strategic
priorities
• Lack of ownership and leadership in project
• Lack of engagement with stakeholders
• Lack of project management and risk management skills
• Inadequate resources and skills for outcome delivery

(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,

2013)
 Why A Project May Conclude Prematurely
• Loss of interest and support by management / intended users
• Changing client requirements, workforce pressures,
community needs or market conditions
• Indecisiveness, lack of cooperation or strong resistance from
stakeholders
• Change in project itself (can’t achieve original goals)
• Chaos and discord from ineffective project manager / team
conflict
• Failure of project outcome
(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,
2013)
 Types of Project Termination
Meredith & Mantel
Extinction
• Project is stopped (whether successful or unsuccessful)
Addition
• Project is incorporated into ongoing operations as a distinct unit
or department in the organization
Integration
• Project disappears but elements of it are distributed within the
organization
Starvation
• Project still exists but budget cuts mean that no progress is
achieved
(Dwyer et al., 2019, p209)
The Completion Effect- Why Failed Project
Continue

Projects are more likely to continue when those making

decisions believe that they are so close to completion that
persistence is justified regardless of additional cost

(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,

2013)
 Process of Termination
• Articulate clear statement of reasons for termination

• Communicate this message to all concerned

• Recommendation for follow-up activity and evaluation (to

learn from experience)

(Dwyer, Liang, Thiessen & Martini,

2013)
 Unit Outcomes
Students Are Now Able To:
• Define project outcomes
• Evaluate project goals
• Interpret project failure
• Summarize features of a final report
 Next Week
• Review instructional plan for unit outcomes and required
readings
 References
Judith Dwyer, Zhanming Liang, & Valerie Thiessen (2019).
  Project Management in Health and Community Services :
Getting Good Ideas to Work: Vol. Third edition. Routledge.