Analysis of a Real Life Project: Victorian Desalination Plant, Wonthaggi

Introduction

The Victorian Desalination Project (VDP) is one of the largest projects invested in Australian water infrastructure. This project was established in order to provide better services through the extended water infrastructure. The other benefit of this project is to protect the uses of the marine environment as well as optimize energy efficiency. When completed, this project would be able to deal with water security, through the Transfer Pipeline. This report seeks to analyse the Victorian Desalination Plant by examining aspects of leadership theory, ethics, the place of diversity and individual differences, as well as idea of matching people to roles. The place of groups and teams, conflict management and negotiation, motivation and importance of strategy are also analyzed. In addition, the analysis looks into managing change in VDP as well as the place of work and employee well-being. A number of recommendations have been given based on identified issues.

Leadership Theory

Leadership can be described as an interpersonal process whereby people are involved in attaining a specific goal or motive. There are various types of theories that leaders can choose in order to lead effectively. However, all these theories have their pros and cons. It is therefore important for leaders to observe closely which type of theory best fits their organization (Turner, 2012). Examples of these leadership theories include trait theories, behavioral theories, contingency theory, charismatic leadership, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, as well as attribution theory.

Personal traits can be used to predict the leadership style used by leaders. For instance, leaders who use excessive extraversion portray ineffective leadership. Leaders can be selected to lead a team based on such traits (Andersen & Hansson, 2011).

Nevertheless, leaders can as well be selected according to their behaviors. This means that anyone can be trained to possess leadership skills. Effective leaders are able to set standards, as well as develop procedures (Fisher, 2011). They must also be friendly, supportive, and able to show trust as well as confidence in the team (Turner, 2012). As demonstrated by (Thomas & Robinson, 2010), this would not have happened if the leaders were in a position to uphold privacy. If leaders are able to portray good behavior, then workers would be more satisfied as well as motivated to perform their duties.

Authentic leadership shows that leaders are able to establish their stand. They know what they want and believe in certain values that bring prosperity to the organization (Turner, 2012) Effective leaders must be intelligent, outgoing and also possess strong verbal skills. All these features are portrayed in the attribution theory of leadership (Anantatmula & Shrivastav, 2012).

Ethics

Leaders can be effective in assisting a group of workers in a way that organization’s goals can be met, thereby performing successfully. Effective leaders do not use coercion in order to gain compliance from prospective groups. They must ensure that the group involved is willing and ready to work towards achieving organizational goal (use of force and or threats is not necessary). As demonstrated in the leadership pyramid, leaders must be in apposition to build vision, nurture collaboration, promote performance, cultivate learning, as well as ensure results.

In order for leaders to be effective, they must implement and share common vision as well as goals with the entire team. Both the leaders and the workers must come to a common understanding where goals can be achieved in a strategic manner. Collaborations must be nurtured in order to create synergy between the team and the leaders. This can only be done if the workers are motivated towards accomplishing whatever they think is impossible; this is where team building comes in.

Performance can be promoted if the leaders are in a position to create a working environment that is conducive to the workers. This can be done either on an individual basis or at the team level. Learning can be cultivated only if the leaders are available to receive as well as give feedback. This enables the team to explore new avenues, as well as learn from mistakes.

Effective leaders must also be in a position to deliver results. This is a prerequisite if the team has to be effective in producing positive results. Through their personal behaviors, leaders can set an example. It is evident that leaders are the main determinant of the organization’s tone (Turner, 2012). They should be able to deal with cross-cultural communication barriers caused by semantics, connotations, differences, and perceptions (Tuner, 2012).

Diversity and individual differences

Effective leaders must be able to manage diversity by acknowledging the differences in people as well as take these differences as valuable to the organization. If this was the case with Victorian Desalination Plant, then the problems stated by Schneiders and Millar (2011) would not have occurred. Leaders must be able to effectively manage diversity in order to increase the company’s access to wider skills as well as ideas (Turner 2012). Diversity can be well managed if the leaders are able to prevent discrimination by promoting inclusiveness. Since people have different abilities and skills, it is important for the concerned management to recognize these differences in order to avoid miscommunication and conflicts within the organization. Workforce diversity can be categorized by gender, religion, disability, or national origin.

People working in a diverse environment need to understand and accept the available concepts. Leaders on the other hand must be willing to alter any organizational practices that might hinder or bar individual groups. Discrimination can be in form of mockery, exclusion, incivility, sexual harassment or intimidation (Turner 2012). There are number of consequences that might befall an organization if diversity is not well managed. It might have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the workforce, project delays, and increased conflict that might lead to loss of productivity. The organization can as well suffer from this mismanagement because it would be difficult to retain employees who are valuable. There are a number of situations that determine the behavior of a worker. Those who are open to experience are likely to be sensitive and curious about certain conditions. The culture people live in has a great impact on how people think, say and do. In this case, leaders must be in a position to respect different cultures represented in various teams. If leaders avoid confrontation, then they are likely to have major problems in making crucial decisions (Williams & Samset 2010).

Matching people to roles

One of the key contributors to inefficiency is failure to assign proper roles to people. Proper roles are simply responsibilities that best fits individuals. People are not the same and would perform better at certain field. Leaders are therefore required to learn every individual, establishing their weak and strong points. As stated by Thomas & Robinson (2010), there is lack of openness in terms of role establishment. The executives said that they were not briefed about the role of Mr. Townsend in the Pluto operations. This shows that there is need to define specific roles in an open manner in this project. Roles can be assigned in terms of action, according to personal skills, or even in terms of belief. Action oriented roles are better for those who have the capability to put ideas into action. They are simply known as the “finishers”. People oriented roles best fits those who tend to be team workers (Yang, Huang & Wu 2010). They are able to encourage people or the team to cooperate, as well as explore opportunities that might be outside the working environment. Roles assigned in terms of belief are known as though oriented roles. They can best fit people who act as supervisors or specialists. People assigned these roles are able to analyze the available options, present new ideas, as well as offer specialized skills (Turner 2012). There are those people who are highly competitive, and are able to create competition where necessary. There are people who are creative and work hard towards exploring new ideas. With this in mind, leaders are able to assign tasks based on personal traits as well as personal ability. As stated by Turner (2012), the personality of an individual tends to be unchangeable as compared to behavior. This means that an individual’s behavior can make someone to adapt to any working environment as well as different challenges in place, simply because it can change. All these aspects can only be made possible if the leaders are able to understand each individual, and establish effective relationship with the team.

Groups and teams

Effective leaders should be in a position to establish teams or groups in the organization so that individuals can be able to learn from each other and also share skills and knowledge where applicable. Teams have become popular because they are able to utilize each employee’s talents. A team can adapt or respond positively to the changing work environment as compared to individual basis (Yang, Huang & Wu 2010). A team is also important because it can help in facilitating employee involvement. However, effective leaders should be in a position to tell the difference between a team and a group. A group is a set of people who tend have mutual interaction when sharing objectives. A team on the other hand is an advanced group (set of people) characterized by coordinated interaction. As it is with the case of the Victoria Desalination Project, the leaders have been able to make use of teams. As stated by Aquasure (n.d), the teams work closely to minimize environmental impacts. Observing closely between a group and a team, there is a collective performance in attaining the goal in a team. The synergy in a group is neutral whereas in a team it is positive (Hitt, Black & Porter 2005)

In a team, there is demonstration of coordinated interaction as well as unique identification; individuals can identify themselves with a particular group. However, there are several implications that can befall the organization when developing these teams. One of the difficult challenges is when individuals tend to overcome or resist their personality in order to fit in a team. The team leaders should therefore come in and shape the team accordingly. They should engage in ethical practice of recruiting individuals who are able to execute the roles of the team. This is a good lesson that should be implemented by the Victorian Desalination Plant management. The leaders in this plant must also be able to develop group cohesion by strengthening attraction on an individual basis. They have been able to establish openness and engage the community effectively (Community Information Center 2011).

Conflict and Negotiation

The Victorian Desalination project has affected both the workers and the community as a whole. However, there are a number of steps that have been put in place to resolve some of the issues. There are a number of strategies that have been put in place especially in dealing with the local council (Capital Projects Division, 2009). However, it is not possible to deal with conflicts if the management cannot establish the source of conflicts. Conflicts can be experienced in the context of cultural differences, personal or even transactional. Other conflicts can also be as a result of disagreements between the lower and the higher managerial levels. Robbins et al (2011) have identified different types of conflicts as task, relationship and process. Task conflict arises when there is no understanding over the goals of the work. Relationship conflict occurs when there is a disagreement in individual differences. Process conflict is a clash over how work has to be done.

There are a number of conflict-handling strategies that can be practised by the management at Victorian Desalination Project. One of them is creating room for competition. With this in place, workers would be able to satisfy their personal interest. There is also the act of collaborating; this is where different parties satisfy the intentions or the concerns of the other parties. Conflicts can also be dealt with through avoidance or through compromising (Robbins et al 2011). In accommodating conflicts, each team member should have the willingness to place the interest of other parties above personal interests.

In project management, leaders are expected to negotiate at each stage. Negotiation can be linked to team members or stakeholders. Project managers should therefore possess better negotiation skills in order for them to be effective leaders. They must also have the bargaining strategy that boosts the goal of the project (Turner 2012).

Motivation

As explained in Schneiders and Millar (2011), workers held a strike that was as a result of forced redundancies. The move by Serena Middleton, the spokeswoman of Thiess Degremont to uphold the highly skilled employees is seen as the source of conflicts thereby promoting the employee strike. The move is also seen as provocative by some of the union officials. The plant officials should be in a position to define strategies of motivating employees in order to establish job satisfaction. Motivation is normally seen as a goal-oriented behavior, whereas job satisfaction is the result of performance (Clark 2003). It is normal that people work in order to gain money, power, prestige, social status, recognition as well as satisfy their personal interests. Having all these in mind, the management should be in a position to ensure that the workforce performs effectively. The terms and conditions set by the organization is also a motivating factor. The salary scales must reflect the nature of work fulfilled by the team.

The leaders at the Victorian Desalination Project must have a well defined organizational culture that supports every individual. This is a system where there are shared beliefs, values and norms in the organization. A well defined organization culture enables the team members to have a sense of identity. It also helps to legitimize the system of the management as well as support and strengthen behavioral standards. There are certain advantages that can be experienced if an organization has its culture in place. A well defined and strong culture can influence the members’ behavior, increase cohesion and can also results in lower employee turnover. The first characteristic of an organizational culture is that it defines boundaries as well as enhances social stability. It also generates commitment past oneself. The socialization process chosen by the management will determine the success of the employees. This means that the management should focus more on rewarding the workers, rather than punishing workers (Wong et al 2008).

Strategy

Projects with well-defined strategies have long-term goals (Turner 2012). Projects can be used as a channel of achieving the strategic goal of the organization. However, there are a number of considerations that must be adhered to when defining these strategies. Market demand, business needs, customer requirements, technological know-how, as well as legal requirements must be considered.

The Victorian Desalination project has been able to define a number of strategies that benefit the interest of the public. One of the strategies is “Our Water Our Future – The Next Stage of the Government’s Water Plan” (Capital Projects Division, 2009). The main aim of this strategy is provide water security due to the growing population in Victoria. The Victorian Government is also dedicated to engage in community talks that will benefit the community as a whole. Given the available projects, the defined strategy can fail if the organization doe not meet the expected deliverables. This means that when the choice of concept is wrong, more problems are expected. It is therefore important for the project managers to have strategic planning. Some of the important issues to consider include the available expertise as well as the adaptability of the workforce. The strategy defined must be able to place the company in the forefront in the market place. Effective leaders are able to outline the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, as well as possible threats that might be experienced in the organization. They must also be able to avoid or deal with potential stresses that might as well affect the workers. Possible threats can be classified as environmental, organizational, or individual. Stress can be dealt with through establishing proper time management or by expanding social support association.

Managing change

Leaders as well as the team must be in a position to accommodate change. It is evident that almost 85% of enhancing corporate change in an organization fails. Examples of forces that contribute to organizational change include technology, economic impact, competition, social trends, politics, as well as the nature of the workforce. As stated by Aquasure (n.d), the Victorian Desalination Project has been able to define strategies that can deal with traffic impacts. This strategy is developed in order to deal with certain areas that might affect the construction process either in terms of traffic or roads. However, Kotter’s steps for implementing change can be used by the project management for better results. Since there are certain people who perceive change as a threat, leaders are supposed to outline the need or importance of change. Some can change minds through influence because they do not focus on the goal of the change. Communication is therefore important in implementing change. The workforce should feel informed of the happenings and should also have the opportunity to participate in making decisions. Effective communication is characterized by its form or presentation. It must be simple to understand, it involves repetition and communicated via different channels.

Work and well-being

Any given work can greatly affect the health as well as the well-being of the workers. In this case, the management must put in place strategies that can minimize work-related stress. It is also the obligation of the management to ensure that workers stay healthy in order for them to be productive. Employees who are motivated tend to be more productive, which in turn benefits the organization in terms of effectiveness. However, not only are the managers responsible for establishing health and we-being, but also the workers. There are certain factors that can determine the well-being of workers either negatively or positively. The nature of the managerial relationship to the employee is one of the most important values that must be emphasized on. The nature of the job (job design) is also another factor that can determine the well-being of a worker. It is therefore important for the project managers to establish flexible working conditions, where employees can rest or work in turns. The organization must also emphasize on awareness of health issues.

Assumptions

The Victorian Desalination project has a number of assumptions that relate to the costs incurred during construction, maintenance, costs of operations, working capital, as well as taxation, just to mention a few. The Victorian Government will consider all matters that are discovered after investigation so as to evaluate proposals in an effective manner. This State is also evaluating any possible conflicts that may arise and define appropriate and effective strategy that can deal with them. The Desalination Plant has had troubles with faulty valves that have made water control to be difficult (Drill 2012). This issue has contributed to significant delays in terms of operations. These water valves can control the flow of water in a hundred and fifty gigaliter osmosis plant which is a reverse. Consumers who will benefit from this project will have to pay as much as $24 billion over twenty eight years through hefty water bills.

Recommendations

In order for this project to work effectively, the leaders involved must possess traits that are in-line with the goal of the project. Leaders should observe closely which type of theory best fits their organization; whether it is trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory, charismatic leadership, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, or attribution theory. In this case, the best recommendation would be for leaders to observe behavioral theory. Leaders in this project should also have strategic planning, especially when considering issues like skills and the adaptability of the workforce. They should also be in a position to avoid or deal with potential stresses that might affect the workers. They must be able to create a working environment that is conducive to the workers in order to eliminate or reduce work-related stress.

Conclusion

The Victorian Desalination Project is one of the largest projects invested in Australian water infrastructure. This project was set up for purposes of providing improved services through the extended water infrastructure. In addition, this project aims protect the uses of the marine environment as well as optimize energy efficiency. When completed, this project would be able to deal with water security through the Transfer Pipeline. However, with all these positive prospects, there are a number of issues that have been identified as barriers to smooth success. Examples include, poor planning, lack of motivation, and lack of know-how when it comes to dealing with conflicts and resolving problems. However, leaders have been advised to have strategic planning as part of their project processes. When defining these strategies, leaders are also supposed to outline the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and possible threats.

List of References

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