Promoting Project Team Coordination in Repetitive Projects

Authors

  • Lauri Vuorinen Tampere University, Industrial Engineering and Management Finland
  • Miia Martinsuo Tampere University, Industrial Engineering and Management Finland

Keywords:

coordination, maintenance projects, repetitive projects

Abstract

Interdependencies within and between project teams and changes occurring throughout a project’s lifecycle create a need for project team coordination. The existing research on project team coordination has mostly focused on large or innovative projects. In addition, the existing research has focused mostly on the ways project team coordination takes place in different projects, with less focus on how beneficial circumstances for coordination are created or promoted. This study contributes to these knowledge gaps by studying how a standardized project management methodology introduced by a parent organization can promote project team coordination in repetitive projects. An embedded single-case study design with qualitative interview-based data collection was followed. The case firm introduced a management framework in its service centers to promote project team coordination in repetitive maintenance projects. The interviewees perceived improvements in communication, visibility of project and portfolio status information, and information sharing. The improvements were enabled by two coordination mechanisms of the management framework: regular meetings and visual whiteboards. The perceived improvements were considered beneficial for project team coordination, both within and between project teams.

Author Biographies

  • Lauri Vuorinen, Tampere University, Industrial Engineering and Management Finland

    MSc (Tech.) Lauri Vuorinen works as a doctoral researcher at Tampere University. He is finalizing his doctoral dissertation on the management of value creation in temporary organizations. His current research interests include value creation, temporary organizing and multi-project management. His publications have appeared in International Journal of Project Management and International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. E-mail: lauri.vuorinen@tuni.fi.

  • Miia Martinsuo, Tampere University, Industrial Engineering and Management Finland

    Prof. Miia Martinsuo, D. Sc. (Tech.), is Professor of Industrial Management at Tampere University. Her field of research and teaching is project and service business. Prof. Martinsuo has over 15 years of academic experience in project and service business, and 9 years of industrial experience particularly in organization and process development in the metal and engineering industry. Her current research interests include: Project-based organizing; steering and selecting product development project portfolios; the autonomy and control of projects; managing manufacturing and process innovations; industrial service operations and innovations; and organizational transformation towards service business. Her publications appear e.g. in Journal of Product Innovation Management, International Journal of Project Management, Project Management Journal, Creativity and Innovation Management, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, and Studies in Higher Education. E-mail: miia.martinsuo@tuni.fi

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Published

2022-05-20

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2019): The Journal of Modern Project Management

Section

Articles-JMPM

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Copyright (c) 2022 Lauri Vuorinen, Miia Martinsuo

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Promoting Project Team Coordination in Repetitive Projects. (2022). The Journal of Modern Project Management, 7(1). https://journalmodernpm.com/manuscript/index.php/jmpm/article/view/JMPM01910

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