Effective Remote Project Management

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF REMOTE PROJECTS
IN SRI LANKAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
AND APPARAL INDUSTRIES
DULANJANA KASUN WICKRAMASINGHE
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Management,
Asia e University in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science in
Project Management
April 2016

ii
ABSTRACT
Project manager is the person who drives the project from implementation to closing
the project by using his skills and managing and leading the project team. A project
manager should have several skills to drive the project, especially good influencing
skills, communication skills and the ability to organize the way he can handle the
project from anywhere. Nowadays, most of the people do not work from offices. With
new technologies and more organizations expanding their scope, project managers
need to travel or handle multiple projects even when they are away from the office
space. This is when remote project managers, who are working away from the office
and driving the project team, arrive at the scene.
The main objective of this research is to explore the evolving nature of remote project
management especially in IT and Apparel industries in Sir Lanaka. Then explore
different problems that occur in those industries and different remote project
management approaches to manage and resolve those issues within project teams
effectively.
The data gathered from the literature and interviews, Information on the project
managers experience gathered through interviews are analyzed and related to the
theories that are highlighted from the literature review to explore the issues involving
in remote project management.
As a remote project manager, one should follow different approaches to resolve the
issues involving in each stage of teams as ‘forming, storming, norming and
performing. Specially, when there is a remote working environment where people
have their comfortable zone around them.

iii
APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised / read this study and that in my opinion it
conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate,
in quality and scope, as a thesis for the partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Science.
----------------------
Supervisor
---------------------- -------------------
Examiner 1 Examiner 2
This thesis was submitted to the School of Management, Asia e University and is
accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science.
---------------------- ----------------------
Dean, School of Management Dean, School of Graduate Studie

iv
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the MSc degree is
my own work and that all contributions from any other persons or sources are
properly and duly cited. I further declare that the material has not been submitted
either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. In making this
declaration, I understand and acknowledge any breaches in this declaration
constitute academic misconduct, which may result in my expulsion from the
programme and / or exclusion from the award of the degree.
Name:
Signature of Candidate: Date:

v
Copyright by Dulanjana Kasun Wickramasinghe and Asia e University

vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank my supervisor Mr.Sivapalan Sivapirashanth for his
enormous support and assistance during my time at Global Institute of Project
Management. I gratefully acknowledge Dr.Madhu Fernando, Senior Lecturer and
the Chairman of Global Institute of Project Management and Mr.Amal Perera,
the Director of GIPM for their excellent guidance and caring providing me with
an excellent atmosphere for doing this study.
Many thanks also to those whom I had the opportunity to interview and for their
commitment and sharing of experiences that enriched this study.

vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Abstract ii
Approval Page iii
Declaration iv
Copyright v
Acknowledgement vi
Table of Contents vii
List of Figures ix
List of Tables ix
List of Acronyms x
01 – INTRODUCTION 01
1.1 Background 01
1.2 Problem Definition 02
1.3 Research Questions 03
1.4 Research Objectives 03
1.5 Significance of the Study 04
1.6 Scope of the Study 04
02 – LITERATURE REVIEW 05
2.1 Introduction 05
2.2 Management and new Workplace 09
2.3 Stages of Team Formation and Remote Management 15
2.3.1 Forming 15
2.3.2 Storming 15
2.3.3 Norming 16
2.3.4 Performing 16
2.4 IT Industry and Remote Management 17
2.5 Apparel Industry and Remote Management 18
03 – METHODOLOGY 20
3.1 Introduction 20
3.2 Type of Research 20
3.3 Research Procedure 20
3.4 Methods 21
3.5 Data Sources 23
3.6 Summary 23
04 – DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 24
4.1 Introduction 24
4.2 Interviews 24
4.2.1 Remote Project Experience 24
4.2.2 Employee Selection Criteria for Remote Projects 25
4.2.3 Problem Arrives in Remote Teams 26

viii
4.2.4 Methods Used to Overcome Those Issues 27
05 – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 29
5.1 Introduction 29
5.2 Findings 30
5.3 Discussions 31
5.5 Summary 32
06 – CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 33
6.1 Conclusion 33
6.2 Implications 33
6.3 Limitations 34
6.4 Directions for Future Research 34
REFERENCES 35
APPENDIX A 37

ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Country wise collaboration effect 13
Figure 3.1: Methodology Structure 14
LIST OF TABLES
Figure 5.1: Summary of Interview responds 45

x
LIST OF ACRONYMS
FIA - Framework for International Adjustment
CCSI - Cross Cultural Social Intelligence
SDU - Software Development Unit

1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The organizations are growing very fast globally in scale & scope with advanced
technology and complicated projects. So project management is becoming the most
essential and critical factor in many economies, with this competition, organizations
should incorporate the organization practice and tools for modern project
management in order to achieve the desired objectives. As it says in Project
Management Body Of Knowledge (5th
Edition).
“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills tools and techniques to
project activities to meet the project requirements”.
So it is a series of processes and techniques used to coordinate resources to achieve
predictable results. It largely consists of clear guidance and plan for how and what
will be done by whom and where.
A lot of people are getting to work without going to work. Instead of coming to
corporate workspace, they’re staying at home. Instead of separating their work lives
from their family lives, they’re blending them, or trying to. They start to think that
work is not where they go but they start to think work as their own responsibility
that something that they do.
With advance technology remote working is becoming far easier and the most
convenient way for most of the employees and the most of the organizations make
this as there standard as this is the more effective way to achieve the operational

2
goals such as cost reductions and expand the organization , also working from home
gives more benefits to the employees too , it will make their lives more easy as they
can balance the work and the personal life also they will be more focused and
productive than the office environment .
When we come to project management field remote working option is more
convenient than the other industries, this is more efficient and productive with the
new digital world , no barriers for communicating to the team even the project
manager is not at the office , most of them are using skype or Lync conference to
connect multiple locations , also this will be a more convenient way to reduce the
cost of the project rather than keep office space, when everyone has to travel to the
locations most of their office time therefore there are more benefits being remote
project managers
1.2 Problem Definition
Remote project managers in other words are project managers who are working
away from the office becoming new trend in fast moving economic world. With
expansion of industries, globalization and the more advance technologies this is
more easy, effective and efficient way of working for most of the project managers.
Remote working gives many benefits to project managers as well as for the
organization but first of all the remote worker should be more organized and willing to
keep his work more tidy and clean otherwise no point of remote working it will be just
an added advantage for the worker. Because different types of question sets arrive when
the project team isn’t physically around and with the time zone and cultural differences
remote management has become a challenge to the project manager as well as the

3
project team. Everyone involved in the team, from project manager to all other
stakeholders will have to work hard to overcome the challenging situations present in
remote project management. It's through extensive effort alone, the team can achieve a
win-win situation for everyone. Therefore, it is very important to research and
understand the effective ways of managing remote project teams.
1.3 Research Questions
1. Nature of remote project Management in Sri Lanka
2. Comprehend the issues involved in a remote project Management
3. Produce a list of recommendation for the issues involving in remote project
management
1.4 Research Objectives
The primary objective of this research is to explore how to manage projects remotely
in a better way.
• To analyze the nature of remote project management in Sri Lanka
• To explore Problems in remote project management.
• To Identify and evaluate different tools and behaviors for remote project
management within project teams to overcome the issues.

4
1.5 Significance of the Study
The purpose of this research is to build up a strategy on how to manage remote project
management by linking together theoretical models and hypothesis with qualitative
research.
The fact that the new world is moving fast with technologies, has made it easy for project
management and it always helps the workforce to be more flexible and beneficial in
working with the project team, uniting a project team dispersed in different time and
cultural zones, towards one goal, is one of the essential and hard task that project
manager has to do.
Further the study aims to be part of the project management 10 knowledge areas which
has connection with remote project management. Finally this thesis will expose the best
practice in enhancing remote project management. This will draw up a concrete analysis
on the findings and to recommend actions for developing a strong strategy to enhance
and sustain the remote project management
1.6 Scope of the Study
The research methodology is written in a qualitative manner and the data is gathered
from the literature review and through interviews of people representing the IT and the
apparel fields. The Literature review focuses on the issues addressed through the
research. Supplementary data is gathered by interviews of experts in the aforementioned
fields. The gathered accounts of experiences will be analyzed in accordance with the
theories that are pinpointed in the literature review to further explore the management of
conflicts.

5
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
When we take a close look at our fast moving world, we cannot deny the fact that the
human world in its entirety is run by a series of projects. Starting from the basic social
units, we are serving towards our own co-existence merely being a part of our respective
projects. As an employee one may not realize this, but the individual work load one has
to deal with, is usually an essential part of a larger project that should be completed with
collective effort of a group of people. This collective effort or group work should be
carefully and wisely handled or lead by a person who is ingrained with profound
leadership skills, a person whose command will be obeyed and treated with respect even
without his or her physical presence. The above lines as you surely might have guessed,
describe an ideal project manager of all time.
The role of project managers has been an integral part in the proper functioning of
societies around the globe from the days of yore. Although the title or the post, "project
manager" was coined to our daily language in the recent past, the origin of the job runs
back to early civilizations of mankind. Discipline of organizing and managing resources
in order to deliver the work required to accomplish a certain goal or a project within a set
scope, time and cost constraints, is a valuable inheritance passed on from one generation
to another.
Richard L. Daft, Martyn Kendrick, Natalia Vershinina (2010) has mentioned “Walk into
the video conference room at Infosys technologies, a Leader in India’s outsourcing and
software industry, and the first thing you’ll see is a wall size flat screen television. On

6
that screen Infosys can hold virtual meeting of the key players from its global supply
chain at any project at any time of the day or night. For example American designers
could be on screen talking to their Indian software developers and their Asian
manufactures all at once.”
So these technologies take project management into a new era where distance, Time
and other boundaries in industries, departments and organizations have become
irrelevant and Project management has therefore come a wide area with a scope of
more globalized projects that only target collaboration.
As a historian Thomas L Friedman (2004) put’s it “where ever you look today,
hierarchies are been flattered and value is being created less and less within vertical
silos and more and through horizontal collaboration within companies, between
companies and among individuals”
So this is where the word remote come to the business world and where the project
managers just have to perform remote project management which connect
employees around the world to connect to one project team. Usually globalizing and
outsourcing expand a company’s option for finding workers but also potentially
expand the competition for them that’s why IBM (1998) has said that “on any given
day world-wide, one third of our people are not at IBM location. They are working
onsite with customers, Telecommunication or are mobile” according to CEO Sam
Palmisano in 1992 sales people were saying “ why do we have to be at the office to
answer customers questions?

7
So IBM created a global work/life flexibility project in 1998 as the catalyst for
enabling flexibility and addressing workload across the corporation. After this the
initial productivity of the mobile workers increased everywhere from 6% to 20%
and IBM realized initial real state saving of 68% million per year.
They have come up with few strategies to make over one hundred thousand
employee’s facilitation them with flexible working arrangement with satisfaction
very high. Like wise
• Compressed / flexible workweek
• Individualize work schedules
• Leave of absence programs
• Mobile /Telecommunicate facility
The most important ground rule s of remote working is that management must be
committed and arrangement must be a win-win situation for the employee and
management.
AT&T Corp.,(2001) originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company
multinational company has mentioned according to their servers that conference
calls, video conferencing, e- meeting and team rooms where the project managers
stay in touch with e-mails, cell phones, black berries and two different online instant
message tools called “same time” and “note buddies ” has a favorable effect on the
project management process where ,
• Cost reduction, where savings for 30 million per year
• Productivity at 150 million per year
• More effective and put it more hours
• High performances.

8
So the past decades when the world has become more globalizing through the
internet the remote work force has grown rapidly. World has become more easy and
they are saying heading to the office is not necessary anymore that’s why even late
Fredric Winslow Taylor(1915) has mention “so things are different today, Many
organizations depend on employees mind more than their physical bodies, in
companies where the power of and idea determines success managers primly goal is
to tap into the creativity and knowledge of every employee” so that means company
doesn’t need a physical body they need the idea and knowledge of the employee
mainly in IT and apparel industry when it comes to project management. So that was
the first ever idea about remote working those days. They didn’t have the
technology to do the management remotely. After ages, when the internet came and
after the world became globalized, the remote workforce increased.
According to the Cisco study (2014) “organizations that has adopted a flexible,
mobile and remote work model has a competitive advantages over one that requires
to be in the office from 9am to 5 pm every weekday” and they say “at least 50% of
organization will made to shift by the year of 2020” for remote working facility
because of those advantages. They have also mentioned, “4 in 10 Netherlands and
India are currently employed by an organizations that allows them to work
remotely” so in near future the work place will be different and will be more
comfortable environment to the employees.

9
2.2 Management and New Workplace
Remote workforce and remote office has become the newest trend in digital evaluation
so there are lots of studies carried out about this “Projects without pants”. The
following chart shows how personal space required by the workforce varies from
culture to culture. Congdon, C. , & Gall, C (2013) shows those figures
Figure 2.1: Country wise Collaboration effect
This shows that people are different and their needs too are different but studies
suggest that when people are at their comfortable zone they tend to be more efficient
on their work.
Mendenhall and Oddous FIA (1991) is a well-know research model that describes the
cross cultural adjustment process for expatriates. Because this study helped the project
managers to work with different people from different cultural backgrounds and do
the remote project management.

10
“Domestic performances and overseas performances potential are not the same thing.
An executive who performed well in domestic setting may not be able to adapt to
managing the different cultural settings.”
Even though this study is about the expertise, also in remote project management you
have to deal with the cross cultural difference. A project manager should continue to
collaborate with different cultures and time zones.
Mendenhall and Oddou’s (1991) framework studies found that organizational
socialization the process by how the organization tend to recruit people with high
expertise adjustment because who ever join the remote work must give their 100
percent contribution to the intercultural adjustment. Mendenhall and Oddou’s
framework (1991) of international adjustment model has mainly aimed,
• Being made a group member
• Being taught how to communicate in context
• How to accomplish objectives
“Socialization of a new member into the group is also a benefit to the group as they
“resocialize” and adjust change that accompanies membership in a new organizational
culture”. So this model has come up with 4 dimensions to find out whether the new
team member is good for the cross cultural difference which matters in the remote
project management.
• Self orientation
They say this attribute of dimension will modulate the new team member's self-
confidence, mental well –being and self esteem. Because team members with these
qualities, as Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) say ”such individuals were able to adapt
to their interest in food, sport and music, had interest outside of work that could be
pursued (eg hobbies) and were technically competent” that states that remote

11
management is easy if the people who are involved are interested in other cultures
and behaviors.
• Other orientation
This attribute will show how the team members ability of having more
comfortable environment and other nationals. The more effectively the
communication builds among the other team members the more the relationship status
has grows among them. Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) mention “two factors seems
to be particularly important here : Relationship development and willingness to
communicate”, Because building up a relationships step by step along with long-
lasting friendship with team members, belonging to different countries. One step that
shows the willingness of each team member has to communicate, is their attempts to
use other team members' languages. That doesn’t mean that they should be fluent in
that language but the trying itself is an achievement. That’s why they say “Making the
effort to use the language is what is important. Such a gesture tend to be rewarded
with greater cooperation by host country nationals”
• Perceptual ability
This will help in understanding the behavioral patterns of other team members more
clearly. Then they'll know why they are doing this and that. According to Mendenhall
and Oddous (1991) studies shows “ well adjusted expertise tend to be non-judgmental
and non evaluating in interpreting the behaviors of host-country nationals and willing
to be flexible in their management style, adjusting it as a cultural condition warrant”

12
• Cultural toughness
This dimension refers to the fact that how well a team member adjusts his or herself to
foreign team members with cultural and social differences. Because different
countries have their own toughness in the cultural background. For instance,
Americans and British people easily get along because they have a lot in common.
But Americans find hard to get along with non-western cultures like Sri lanka, India
and middle east. They say “the reasons are many, including poor health care and
housing standards, inhospitable climate, lack of western entertainment and language
difficulties. Also many cultures are extremely male dominated” so these issues will
increase the other team members to adjust into the culture easily.
Given above are the Mendenhall and Oddous (1991) research studies and also they
have mentioned that the first three dimensions can be measured through a general
psychological test and comparing cultural different will give managers the idea about
the fourth dimension.
Even though those dimensions are applicable when it comes to remote working
facility Mendenhall and Oddous's (1991) way of finding those four dimensions was
not applicable when it comes to current practice. hung’s (2007) “only 5% of the firms
in her samples used forma procedures and psychological test to assess the personality
traits and relational abilities of potential expatriates”. where the research conducted by
International Orientation Resources shows (2006) that, selecting foreign employees
out of 50 fortune 500 firms, 10 percent have hired employees considering important
psychological traits such as adoptability, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, interpersonal
skills while,90 percent have hired employees over their technical expertness not the
cultural fluency.

13
According to the finding of recent researches a spouse’s inability to adjust to the new
culture has come up as a major issue in moving to host countries. That’s why
Mendenhall and Oddous researcher has failed in the recent years. So in the meantime
several researchers review that the spouse issue should be included. Window
International, an HRM management consulting firm (2008), did a survey and
identified “spouse were included in preselecting interviews for foreign posting on 21
percent of the time and that only half of them receive any cross cultural training “.
Main issue come with the dual career families then the spouse tend to wonder “why
they should have to sacrifice their own career to further that of their partner”
Solving those problem in 2008, Bartel-Radic (2008) shows that, to solve all those
intercultural interaction issues can e solved through assigning the employees to the
virtual international teams. According to Bartel-Radic (2008) that putting the team
where they are located and interest as a virtual team it will faster “intercultural
interaction and learning, the desire to learn , positive emotions and a critical reflection
on one’s own culture are required” And also those , studies have mentioned that in the
virtual teams the project management “assignment to work on international training
teams and making short term visits to the host country prior to long term assignments”
according to that the initial stage of getting along with the team members can be done
by the aforementioned steps.
Along with those studies another came in early 2008 which is CCSI. Which is
combining cross cultural communication literature and intelligence. Ascalon,
Scheicher and Born (2008) developed a comprehensive situational judgment test
which will define “ability to understand the feelings, thoughts and behaviors of a
person including one self, in interpersonal situations and act appropriately upon that

14
understanding Mabu (1986)”. So all these studies show that managers need training
and a team needs continuous guidance. Further studies show that there should be a
connection between “Individual needs” within the organizational responsibilities and
manager’s perfective within team members.
Remote management always allows the team members to work within their comfort
zone. Since the studies show that there should be diversity inside the workplace but
when u tries to achieve diversity, all the cross cultural problems occur around the
team. In The United States, immigration is more than 37.5 million that means almost
one in eight people living in united state was born in another country.
Recent studies show that issue involving in remote project management varies from
industry to industry. Example Marries Mayer (2002) the President and CEO of Yahoo
has stopped remote work at yahoo. She said “speed and Quality is often sacrifice
when we work from home” and also Reddit (2003) social news networking services
has forced their employees around the world to move to Sanfransisco .Becouse they
have hard time collaborating and communicating among the team members.
Ashfas Ahmed (2011) on his research study mentioned different difficulties faced
when it comes to remote project management.
• Different native languages spoken and used
• Different work culture
• Different time zones
• Different legal obligations specific to the country
• Contract agreements
• Communication and individual attention

15
Those are the main areas which will directly impact on the remote project
management.
2.3 Stages of Team Formation and Remote Management
Bruce Tuckman (1965) defined the stages of teams as ‘forming, storming, norming
and performing. All these factors are used to build up the team and target towards one
goal. But when it comes to remote projects these stages will have a different view.
Peter Taylor (2014) is the author of two best-selling books on ‘Productive Laziness’ –
‘The Lazy Winner’ and ‘The Lazy Project Manager’. He Has shown how those stages
are different from virtual project management.
2.3.1 Forming
In the Forming stage, most of the team members are positive, polite and simply
excited about the project while those who haven't understood the work properly are
quite anxious. In the virtual team envirment , according to Peter, this stage is going to
pass pretty quickly.
2.3.2 Storming
This phase normally tends to fail in normal project management. This is where team
members start to go beyond the boundaries. But in the virtual team envirment this is
the most challenging but can be successfully dealt with best project management
practices. According to Taylor studies “preparing the team for working together,
resolving character imbalances, sorting out territorial issues and generally getting
everyone to know everyone else. Without a face-to- face session (or two … or three)
this will be very challenging”

16
2.3.3 Norming
Gradually the team will move to the next stage where they start to appreciate the
leadership and also the other team members and start to come under one authority.
Usually in general teams this is the best stage for the team to get to know each other
and become more comfortable according to bruce studies. But when it comes to
virtual team this is different. That’s why Taylor has mentioned that, “In a virtual
situation a lot of these issues can be hidden, so as the leader, a project manager almost
has to force the matter.”
During this phase, due to the hidden tensions aroused by reduced communication
process and lack of physical visibility, one can easily jump into wrong conclusions
and also attribute one's fellow team members with wrong stereotypes. One should
follow continuous guidance and keep the team spririt intact, during this phase.
2.3.4 Performing
After overcoming the frictions present in the norming stage, the team reaches a rather
smooth phase, the performing stage. This phase is lead by the hard work of team
members who are working towards the accomplishment of one goal.This phase is
same for both the general and virtual team. As a project manager you can concentrate
on improving the team members. All those cross cultural issues has been solved when
the team arrives to this stage. According to Taylor, in this stage “There is a focus on
over-achieving goals, and the team makes most of the decisions against criteria agreed
with the leader.”
Even though after this stage the virtual teams will reached the stage that the team will
face the challenges alone and solve them without the project manager. It shouldn’t

17
reach the stage adjourning because unlike in general teams virtual team will always
change the team members from time to time. That's why Bruce (2013), in his study,
has mentioned that “Team members who like routine, or who have developed close
working relationships with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if
their future now looks uncertain.”
2.4 IT Industry and Remote Management
At present, Information and Technology is among Economy’s largest and fastest
sources of employment growth. The job market for IT never seem to run dry, mainly
because while being a huge industry in itself. It is also a source of dramatic changes in
the practices of all other sectors. Like in all other industries, an IT project manager too
is assigned to complete a certain project with the resources he is given. Accordingly,
A project manager of the IT field should master the art and science of managing
software development projects, networking projects and IT installations or
conversions with extensive planning and coordination. An article published by the
Brandeis University, Project Management in the Information technology Industry by
Stephen Gentle says that, "Project management is both Art and Science." With Art he
incorporates Leadership whereas with Science he incorporates management skills.
Gentle further emphasizes that an ideal project manager is someone who is capable of
Innovation and someone who can push the boundaries of the Company he/she is a part
of.
When we try to compare and contrast the projects done in various industries, we may
gradually understand that the tools and techniques of project management can be
applied to any project in any industry. For instance a project of the construction

18
industry could be dealt with, using the same techniques that were used in a military
project. Although the field of the project may vary, It can be accomplished in the
same way. According to Stephen Gentile there are Three major challenges an IT
project should overcome, setting the Project Management of IT Industry distinctly
apart from other fields. They are,
1. The Rapid development requirements to meet rush- to market demands.
2. The short life of Technology.
3. Multiple dependencies with other projects.
2.5 Apparel Industry and Remote Management
According to a large number of research reports published by Economists and experts
in the field, The Apparel Industry of any country has grown or is rapidly growing to
be one of the leading contributors to its export revenue. For instance, the exports of
the Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka accounts for about half of the country's total
exports. And despite being a developing country, where the fashion industry is
relatively limited by its ideological and traditional norms, Sri Lanka is among the top
apparel producing countries of the world relative to its population. Along with this
rapid developments and the newfound demand in the export market, Apparel industry
has become immensely competitive. As a result of this, project management has
become an essential feature in delivering the projects of the Apparel industry in an
efficient manner.
"Efficiency" and "Innovation" are two major terms that should run hand in hand, in a
successful project. It is Innovation that helps companies gain and establish their
competitive edge while Efficiency make sure this creativity is made proper use of. As

19
H.R.A.T. Ranaweera (2010) rightly points out that "for innovation to take place,
leaders must actively implement strategies to encourage it" in his Article, Uplifting Sri
Lanka Apparel Industry through Innovation Management to face the challenges in the
post MFA era,”
Project Management in Apparel industry is more based on buyer winning strategies.
All projects from manufacturing sector to the advertising or marketing sector, focus
more on implementing ways of increasing the profit level through great management
skills. As Crft and Duin (2008) had rightly pointed out, managerial decisions are
essential within the scope of contextual innovation management. Although almost all
of the transactions and communications of the apparel industry function through
advance technology, The core or the most important part is played by human
resources. Unlike in IT industry, The Apparel Industry has placed "Innovation" as its
first dimension in the process of active functioning.

20
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter of the research synopsis will describe what research methods will be
used to investigate the aim and objectives. Rationales behind the use and any
limitations or deficiencies that will be encountered will also be described. Primary,
secondary and qualitative research techniques will be arranged in order to get factual
information and resourcing behind that information. Figure 3.1 below illustrates a
simplified overview of the structure and the research steps of this dissertation:
Figure 3.1: Methodology Structure
3.2 Type of Research
This research is a non-experimental attempt to find out how to do remote project
management efficiently. The data gathered from the literature and interviews,
Hypothesis and theories, reports of experiences gathered from experts in their
respective fields, will be thoroughly analyzed and evaluated.
3.3 Research procedure
Starting the research from gathering information from books, articles, previous research
reports, journals and magazines. Then these theories will be analyzed and written in
selected areas in the literature review. Secondly it will be designed according to the
pattern described in the Methodology. This will mainly target the two main industries

21
which is IT and Apparel. Interviews with project managers and project team members
of the respective industries, will be conducted asking about their experience in the
remote project management, if they ever come across or what is their opinion about
getting to work remotely. Finally the result of the interviews and literature will be
evaluated and analyzed to manage project remotely in an efficient and a better way.
3.4 Methods
Academic literature
Academic literature will be used as background reading to the subject of remote
working and also to gain insight into tools and techniques available. These sources
will be fully referenced in the bibliography section of the report, enabling the
literature review to be written and providing an insight into theories and case studies
concerning remotely managing project. Some book areas that will be used include:
• Employee Remote working
• Remotely working in projects
• Remote Project Management in Context
Interviews
The designing of the interview questions will take around two weeks to complete.
The questions will need to be formulated in such a way that will enable to gather all
areas of the nature of remote project management from the project managers. The
interviews will be designed to be semi-structured as it will allow in asking the
important questions but at the same time asking questions which will not be
included in the original research framework. In addition, it will be easier to analyze
it than that gained from unstructured sessions and allows a greater freedom of
response. It is also possible to ask other questions whilst the discussion runs as it
provides a method of interaction between the interviewer/interviewee. The draft

22
interview questions will most probably be sent via e-mail as an attachment, with a
covering note to the key stakeholders prior to the discussion. The key stakeholders
will involve project managers from the different functions sectors of organizations,
such as Information technology and Apparel. By sending the questions it will allow
the individual to be prepared for the interview and also ensure they bring any
relevant paperwork relating to the topic. Furthermore, these discussions will not be
recorded on the Dictaphone due to confidentiality and sensitive issues. The verbatim
comments will be typed up immediately after the discussion to limit inaccuracy. The
interview discussion will be valuable and will give opinionated and qualitative
information.
By interviewing the key individuals, it will allow ideas to be followed up in more
detail or clarified when appropriate and allows for body language and expressions to
be more closely observed. These benefits could not have been gained probably
through a questionnaire.
This part of the research process will be divided into two stages. First stage will be
conducted prior to the current project management nature and then the second stage
will be conducted remote project management nature if project managers allow
doing so. The same individuals will need to be picked for this exercise as this will
give an accurate form of analysis.
However, one may argue that this can be viewed as a limited form of analysis as
only a group of people will be interviewed, thus not giving an accurate picture as it
does not include all members of project team. Individuals will be picked randomly
and approached by sending an email and giving them an introduction as to why this
project is being conducted.

23
3.5 Data Sources
The main sources for collecting data are AeU Digital Library and online search tools.
Interviews will be recorded to be able to go through it again afterwards.
3.6 Summary
This chapter elaborates in detail on the type of research, research procedure and the
methods of data collection. It also focuses on the solutions for the research questions
and objectives of the research.

24
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Introduction
This chapter brings forward the answers obtained from the interviews, regarding the
following areas. The objective with the questions was to find out how the interview
participants have experienced Remote project work and their thoughts about presenting
methods, when problems occur in the workplace and how they overcome those
situations.
4.2 Interviews
As mentioned below, two project managers from Sri Lankan IT industry and two
project managers from Sri Lankan Apparel industry, were chosen for this study. The
interview questions can be found in the Appendix A respectively.
• IT Industry: A Project Team Leader from Virtusa PLC (Colombo)
• IT Industry: A Project Team Leader from UCSC Software Development Unit
(Colombo)
• Apparel Industry: Project Manager, Brandix Lanka Limited
• Apparel Industry: Project Manager, MAS Holdings
4.2.1 Remote projects Experience
Interviewee 1: Project Manager – Virtusa
In here, Virtusa, almost all our projects are remote projects where we have different
client bases and employees from different countries around the world. So we have an
Enviroment that has made it easier to conduct Remote Projects.

25
Interviewee 2: Project Manager – USCS SDU
Out of all the project in SDU, most of the local projects have remote teams while in
Foreign projects only the client communicates remotely. We have placed some of our
employees in the offices where we build the systems. So we usually don’t have proper
communication methods and group wear for remote projects. Most of the time we visit
the location and do the management.
Interviewee 3: Deputy General Manager – Brandix
We do have remote work here, but the starting phase and the ending phase of all remote
projects, is not always remote. We visit each location often. But all the work in between
is usually done remotely, through conference calls and emails.
Interviewee 4: Project Manager – MAS
Suppliers and clients are all remotely handled in our projects. we have a set of teams
that communicate with each other throughout the completion of a particular project. So
remote project management is kind of day to day work.
4.2.2 Employees Selection Criteria for Remote Projects
We usually have three interviews for selecting an employee. But for remote projects we
usually allocate people who have worked with us for more than 3 years. That is a
strategy we use to secure the reputation and demand for the company as these
Employees are more familiar with the company standards’ and procedures.

26
When selecting people for remote projects, we usually go with the technology experts
who can work alone. So we specially consider their technological expertness according
to the project technology.
In our company, we always select people who have over 5 years of working experience
with us. We believe that they have the best idea about Company procedures. We
usually target there personality and then about the industry knowledge.
We always select people for Remote projects, over their industry expertness. We
believe that people who work with us always find opportunities to mould their
personalities.
4.2.3 Problems arrives in remote teams
Since we have projects placed in multiple geographical locations, it sometimes creates
cultural and legal challenges which will have a profound impact on the project goals.
Most common issue that we have come across is effective and timely communication
barriers over the project time frame. As it is not always made of 'face to face' meetings,
it lessens the effectively.

27
In our situation, the most noticeable issue is productivity degradation. The lack of focus
while on task happens when it becomes hard to communicate among the team
members who are working remotely.
The most common issue we are involved in, is time zone issue and location distance.
Since our normal working hours are to round off, from 7.30 to 6.00, each time we want
to make a decision, we have to wait one day. Time zone's impact on fluctuating work
hours will cause prolems while working.
4.2.4 Methods used to overcome those issues
• We always try to gain critical local and international legal expertise in the initial
stage itself, before proceeding with the project. This helps a great deal in
decreasing the risk of the project becoming unprofitable.
• Furthermore, before starting a project, it is essential o research thorougly and
prepare in advance for any cultural or language obstacles that could arise in the
course of the project.

28
• Prior to initiating the project, it's a must for the team members to find out more
about each other as this helps in creating a common ground for a more cohesive
team.
• After the initial kick-off, we encourage remote project teams to hold meetings at
least bi-weekly via video conferences because people tend to feel more
connected when they are communicating with a visible figure.
• Rewards when tied to team performance rather than individual performance,
results in a more efficient team.
•
Interviewee 3: Project Manager – Brandix
• We make sure that all the team members are fostered with exceptional
organizational and management skills.
• It is also very important to set strict and clear schedules, defining the roles
of all team members. The status of activities and progress should also be
regularly monitored to ensure the impending success of the project.
• Clear policies and protocols should be established to ensure the availability of
team members throughout the life of the project.
• Trying to move into shift base protocols.

29
CHAPTER FIVE
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1 Introduction
This chapter shows the findings of the research mainly focusing on the research
questions and the objectives. It also presents the data gathered through interviews and
literature review in a comprehensive manner. The table 5.1 summarizes the responds
obtained from the interviews.
Table 5.1: Summary of interview responds
Project
Manager
IT Industry
Project
Manager
Apparel
Project
Manager
IT Industry
Project
Manager
Apparel
Literature
Review
Remote
Project
Experience
Almost all the
projects.
Beginning and
end is not
remote, the rest
is.
Only few
projects and all
local.
Every
project has a
remote part.
All the
countries are
moving to
remote
workforce.
Employees
Selection
Criteria for
remote
projects
People who
have
experience
inside the
organization.
People who
have
experience
inside the
organization.
Technological
expertise.
Industry
experience.
Interpersonal
skills and
secondly
technology
expertise.
Main
problem
arrives
Cultural and
legal
challenges.
Productivity
degradation.
Effective &
timely
communication
barriers.
Timezone &
Location
distance.
.Instant
communication
barriers,
cultural
differences.
Methods
used to
overcome
those issues
In the initial
stage, gather
legal and
cultural
information
from the team
members.
Foster
exceptional
organizational
skills and
clearly define
the roles of the
team members.
hold Video
conference
meetings once a
month to build
trust among the
team members.
Moving into
shift base
protocols.
Define
communication
methods in
each stage of
team formation.
team gathering
in host country
and work with
them for
sometime.

30
5.2 Findings
After considering the answers from the interviews, The conclusion, that everyone of
them is using remote project management in their day to day work, was arrived at.
Objective 1: To analyze the nature of remote project management in Sri Lanka
According to interviews, Sri Lanka is still in the formative stage of Remote project
management. Specially the local companies are still afraid of moving to remote
projects. Most of the multinationals established companies are engaged in remote
management in their day to day work.
Objective 2: To explore problems in remote project management
In The Literature it is mentioned that there are few issues involved in remote project
management. They are,
• Different native languages spoken and used.
• Different work culture.
• Different time zones.
• Different legal obligations specific to the country.
• Contract agreements.
• Communication and individual attention.
Apart from the issues addressed in the interview sessions they have found out four
other different issues which are also mentioned in The Literature.
• Cultural and legal challenges.
• Productivity degradation .
• Effective & timely communication barriers.
• Time zone & Location distance.

31
Objective 3: To Identify and evaluate different tools and behaviors for remote
project management within project teams to overcome the issues.
The interviewees have mentioned few solutions to overcome the above issue. Mostly
the effective communication methods among the team members. And the importance of
giving more attention at the beginning of the project, to gather information on the
cultural backgrounds of the respective team members in order to build the team spirit.
To overcome the time zone issue they have suggested the shift base working hours
where every team member is active at one point.
5.3 Discussions
Mendenhall and oddous (1991) has come up with the frame work which identified the
attributes around a remote team member. Whether they are good with Self orientation,
Other orientation, Perceptual ability, cultural toughness should be considered when
someone needs a cultural adjustment. In the interview of IT industry, the project
managers have mentioned the issue with cultural difference in their organization. But
with cross cultural social intelligence by Ascaban, Scheicher and Born (2008), they try
to understand the individual persons feelings, thoughts and behaviors and act
accordingly. One interviewee from Apparel industry mentions that Productivity
degradation needs individual attention as in the literature rearview. To solve this
problem the situation judgment test can be used.
Bruce Tuckman in his studies show that they have four stages of team formation. So
recent study of (2008) Peter Taylor has mentioned that there should be a set procedure
to consider each stage of team formation in Remote project team management. The
interviews from two industries mention that effective & timely communication barriers
and time zone and location distance should be considered in the first two stages of the

32
team formation. And out of the four interviews two of them prefer to recruit remote
work force out of the people who have worked with the organization for sometime.
That’s why, in Sri Lankan Apparel Industry through Innovation Management article
(2015) says that "leaders must actively implement strategies for innovation". This can
also be a applied in remote project management. Most outstanding strategy is that at
least for one month the members from the remote project should be placed in one
location.
5.4 Summary
According to these research findings from interviews and literature, there are specific
issues involving each stage of team formation stages and they should follow specific
strategies in each stage to overcome the issues involved in remote project management.

33
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
6.1 Conclusion
What was found out from this research is that, project managers should be more
focused and involved in the specific strategies with each stage of the team formation
when it comes to managing remote projects. These stages are forming, storming,
norming and performing. Forming is a quick stage and norming is the stage when the
project manager should give more attention towards the strategic plan Because all the
questions mentioned in the literature and the interviews are based on communication
barriers in an environment where people are more used to coordinate face to face with
each other. So to have a successful remote project management there should be
effective communication strategies inside the organizations. The better the
communication strategies and practices the better the project team will achieve the
organizational goal as well as the individual goals.
6.2 Implications
This study emphasizes that unlike general projects, remote projects need more attention
towards the individual team members till the Norming stage since that’s when the
project team members are adjusting themselves for the team environment. Moreover,
it’s good to have the forming stage together without staying as a remote team. That
will be a limitation for the remote project management but it will come as a good
approach for better remote management.
In Sri Lankan context, people mostly give up on remote project management when they
go through the storming stage. In IT industry it is always used and easy since it’s all

34
based on IT and individual work. But in apparel industry it's always hard to achieve
that because in Sri Lanka, they always do the remote part only in the performing stage.
But with better communication, and right team members with good interpersonal skills
we can move towards good management in each stage of Remote team management.
6.3 Limitations
This research topic is based merely on two industries in Sri Lanka. So, the research is
narrowed down for only two industries. All theories, practices and frameworks are not
directly linked with the research. and also journals, articles and books only have the
ground theory of the remote project and remote work force but not with remote project
management.
The Literature is reviewed, having the research issues and research questions in mind.
Due to the lack of relevant literature written on the Sri Lankan context, The Literature
of this research is reviewed solely from sources based on other countries. Therefore,
some of the points may not conform with the Sri Lankan scenario.
6.3 Directions for Future Research
For future researchers, it is important to note that this is only based on two industries in
Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka there are many major industries which haven't still considered
engaging in remote project management. So future researchers can focus on an industry
that has never tried out remote project management or remote workforce, the reason for
that and how to find a way to initiate remote workforce in those industries and also
Where they can continue a quantitative approach to find more information about
remote work force and remote project management.

35
REFERENCES
Aubry M,(2015). Project Management Office Transformations: Direct and
Moderating Effects That Enhance Performance and Maturity, Project
Management Journal , 46(5)
Bell J, 2014. Doing Your Research Project: A Guide For First-Time Researchers. 6
Revised Edition. Open University Press.
Berner, J. (1994). The joy of working from home: Making a life while making a
living. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Chuan, P. (2013). Innovation in the high-tech economy. Korea.
Cisco. (2014). Cisco Connected World Technology Report: Working from Mars with
an Internet Brain Implant: Cisco Study Shows How Technology will Shape the
"Future of Work",SAN JOSE, Calif
Congdon, C. , & Gall, C. (2013). ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE :How Culture
Shapes the Office, HBR May 2013, Harvard Business Review
Corwin V, Thomas B, Lawrence P.F , “Five Strategies of Successful Part-Time
Work” October 2015,(23). Print
Daft, R. & Marcic, D. (2011). Management : the new workplace. Mason, Ohio
Andover: South-Western Cengage Learning distributor.
Daft, R.L. , Kendrick, M. ,Vershinina, N.(2010). Management. New York, NY :
Cengage-Learning-EMEA
Dychtwald, K. , Erickson, T.J, Morison, R. (2013) .Workforce Crisis: How to Beat
the Coming Shortage of Skills And Talent, Boston , Massachusetts: Harvard
Business Press

36
Fried, Jason, and David H. Hansson. Remote : office not required. New York: Crown
Business, 2013. Print
Futrell, Robert T., Donald F. Shafer, and Linda Shafer. Quality software project
management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.
Project Management Institute, 2013. A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge: PMBOK(R) Guide. 5 Edition. Project Management Institute.
Strubler, D. Park, S. ,Agarwal, A. (2011). Journal of International Business Research
:Revisiting Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou (1991)'s Framework for
International Adjustment model: a prescriptive approach. 10 (2) ,4- 8
Thomas, C. (2015) .Working Remotely: 11 Project Management Experts Weigh In
on the Pros and Cons Retrieved from
http://plan.io/blog/post/127144381963/working-remotely-project-
management-experts-weigh-in
Turner J.R (2015),International Journal of Project Management,33( 7 )pp. 1417-1636

37
APPENDIX A
Interview Questions
Date: _______________
Name of respondent:_____________________________
Name of Industry:_____________________________________________________
Designation:_____________________________
Remote Project Management Experience
1. Describe the current situation of Remote projects in your Organization?
2. Roughly how many remote projects are there in your Organization?
3. How are the projects, client base and the main office located? and where all
the project team members are from?
Employees Selection Criteria for remote projects
4. What is the interview process for Project selection?
5. Are they considering the Technology expertness or experience with the
organization and projects?
6. How many usually working remotely whom not from the host country?
Problems arrives in remote teams
7. Mention few of the problems that could arrive when handling a remote project
in your organization?
8. Mention one major problem that occurs often?
Methods they used to overcome those issues
9. In which way do you think those issues can be overcome?
10. In which way will those methods help in the work place?
11. Is there any need for a special training in order to overcome those issues?

Effective Remote Project Management

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (14)

Similar to Effective Remote Project Management

Similar to Effective Remote Project Management (20)

Effective Remote Project Management