The Hydroelectric Dam Project in Laos
The report is based on managing human resource and encouraging team effectiveness. The report discusses issues that were faced during the development of Hydroelectric Dam in Laos. The Hydroelectric Dam is one of the most significant dams in Laos. It provides a technical exploitable capacity of 18,000 MW. The power plant in Laos generated about 15.5 billion kWh from September 2013 to October 2014. In order to complete the dam in a successful manner, employees were divided into groups that provided with opportunities to work together in an effective manner. Group dynamics is important in order to succeed in business. According to George (2016), proper interaction between employees can help in building coordination between teams. However, certain challenges also exist particularly during the initial team building stage that needs to be managed by the organisations. This is an important factor in any team as the opinions regarding strategic decisions are divided among the team members.
The report discusses these challenges and provides a brief analysis of the project. The application of theories such as Kubler-Ross change process and Boud’s Triangular representation. Apart from this, the strategies adopted by the managers in order to mitigate the work-based problems and the evaluation of the actions are analysed in the report.
The project was constructed in order to ensure that the livelihood of the people living in the region improved. As stated by Sri-aroon et al. (2015), hydropower can be used to derive sufficient power from energies of falling water or fast running water. This power can be stored and implied during useful purposes. It can also be used for generating electricity. The project in Laos regarding the construction of hydro-electricity aimed at setting up a proper livelihood for the people residing in the region. The project conserved water from the rivers and the rains so that electricity can be generated in order to aid the people of the region. Apart from this, the dams have also become a recreational and tourism destination in Laos. The project has seen the build of lake houses in order to attract tourists from different countries.
According to Wallet et al. (2016), the conversion to a recreational area is an important strategic step as the economy of the country can increase. The project was successful as currently 16 hydropower projects have been developed in Laos. This hydropower uses dams to store and divert water for future use in the region. Polimeni, Iorgulescu and Chandrasekara (2014) observed that the project on hydroelectricity has improved over the years. In the present day, the Government of the country has aimed to build the biggest hydropower station in the country. The construction of this is scheduled to end in 2019. In this regard, relevant theories can be used in order to understand the level at which the construction of the dams has been a learning experience for the people involved in the construction.
Group Dynamics and Team Effectiveness
According to Yang and Carless (2013), learning is never a complete process unless it can be reflected different contexts. In order to understand the learning concept, it is necessary to apply the theory proposed by Boud. Boud’s triangular representation demonstrates the fact that learning leads to an experience that can be gained reflection of the events. This is a two-way process as all the processes are connected to one another and an individual needs to apply the three concepts individually in order to learn in the society.
Figure 1: Boud’s triangular representation
(Source: Leybourne 2016)
Apart from this, the use of the change process that can be associated with the grief of individuals can also be analysed. This model deals with five stages of grief help organisations to deal with changes within the organisation (Kübler-Ross and Kessler 2014). The changes brought about by the policies of an organisation need to be communicated to the employees. At first, there remains a resistance to change from the employees due to factors such as loss of job and change of workflow. Hence, it is important to ensure that the employees are also in lieu of the changes made in the organisation. The five stags in which the transformation in an organisation takes place include shock, denial, frustration, depression, excitement, decision and integration. These stages can be related to the emotions that an employee feels during the time when changes take place in an organisation.
In the case of the Laos project, the changes that are needed in the project management involve changing the behaviour of the team. Employees need to work together in order to ensure that the project is completed in a successful manner. Thus, the application of Kubler Ross theory can help in analysing the team effectiveness that can be building in order to complete the project successfully within 2019. Certain changes are also required in order to solve the challenges that may occur while developing the project.
Application of Kubler-Ross Change Process and Boud’s Triangular Representation
Figure 2: Kubler-Ross Change Curve
(Source: Cameron and Green 2015)
While working on a huge project, it is evident that problems will appear that may disrupt the flow of work. It is the duty of the managers to ensure that these problems are mitigated so that the work can be continued in a proper manner. However, Galegher, Kraut and Egido (2014) stated that a systematic process is needed in order to solve the problems related to work. Proper strategies need to be developed in order to mitigate the challenges that exist at work. The first step to solve the problem is to clearly identify the problem and structure the problem in a proper manner. This is required in order to ensure that proper strategies can be applied that suits the problems. For example, while completing a project the basic problem that is faced by most managers is the management of time. Time management is always considered as a huge issue in cases of big budgets.
However, the reason behind struggling with maintaining time is the fact that resources become short. Hence, it is important for managers to identify the problems before trying to formulate a solution. In this regard, it can be said that in the case of the Laos project, it is necessary that the project managers identify the basic problems that rose during the team works of the employees. The employees were from diverse backgrounds and as a result, it is imperative that the employees work together (Valentine, Nembhard and Edmondson 2015). Thus, this proved to be a problem during the project. The strategies applied in order to mitigate this involved delegating specific rules to the team members. The application of this strategy helped in identifying the talents and skills of the employees. However, certain actions were also taken in order to improve the team building and team cohesion process.
In order to mitigate the problems, the actions taken as a manager were to ensure that the employees did not have any problem while trying to complete the project. In order to ensure this the first course of action that was taken, as a manager was to implement changes in the process involved. Salmon, Stanton and Jenkins (2017) stated that the changes need to be implemented based on the reactions of the people. The application of Kubler-Ross theory was applied in order to understand the emotions of the emotions with the implication. During the time of depression of the employees, it was imperative that they remain motivated in performing the work. Hence, proper motivation and encouragement were provided to the employees in order to make them understand about the requirement for change.
Strategies for Mitigating Work-based Problems
The biggest action that was taken was to incorporate a good team. The employees needed to understand that working as a team can help in improving the efficiency of work. Hence, every manager needs to consider this as an important factor in order to ensure that the efficiency of an organisation prevails. Another important action that was taken by the manager was the fact that the employees were given proper knowledge about the importance of the project and the benefits that can be gained from the successful completion of the project (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). This was needed so that the employees have an objective and aim to provide efficiency in work.
One action that was not taken by the managers was the fact of interfering with the work of the employees. Every employee was given proper freedom in order to continue with the work provided to him or her. The reason behind this was the fact the in bigger projects such as the construction of dams, it is essential that no external pressure is provided to the employees (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016). The employees need to relax and form personal plans so that they can work together as a team and complete the successful manner.
One of the biggest challenges that every manager has to face is bringing about coordination between the team members. This can be a huge problem for the managers as the employees normally come from diverse backgrounds. The diversity of the culture, thoughts and processes of the employees differ and as a result, it becomes problematic for them to work as a team. However, Beardwell and Thompson (2014) stated that in order to be successful in business it is necessary that employees work as a team. The trust of the employees is an important factor for every team to consider. Hence, for this reason it is important to understand each member of the team before assigning specific roles to the employees. It has been seen that due to the actions were taken by the manager, the team members have been able to work well together. The manner in which the team members were analysed helped them to provide specific roles to each employee. Thus, the conflict related to roles and responsibilities as a team were mitigated due to the understanding of the skills of the team members.
The duty of an HR Manager in an organisation is to ensure that every employee is treated in an equal manner. Records need to be maintained and strategies need to be formulated so that the internal problems in the organisation can be recognised. In the case of undertaking bug projects such as the Laos hydropower construction, the HR Manager of an organisation needs to identify every possible challenge that may be faced by the employees. They need to document the challenges and ensure that proper mitigation techniques are applied so that these challenges can be overcome. Thus, the benefits that an HR Manager provides to the employees are the smoothness in which a job can be conducted (Marchington et al. 2016). One of the important routines that were established by the HR Manager is the communication between the employees. In the case of big projects, the communication pattern between the employees is an important factor as it is necessary to provide instruction to the people in the field. Any important updates that need to be provided are also done with the help of communication. Thus, this is an important plan that every business manager need to apply. Planning for the simulation of the project need to be such that it provides a proper solution in case of any challenges that are faced during the completion of the project (Purce 2014).
Conclusion
Conclusion
Thus, after the analysis of the effectiveness of the team and the importance of constructing big projects, it can be said that it is necessary for every employee to work together and aim at the success of an organisation. The experience gained with the analysis can help in the future development of career. The importance of the project as an HR Manager helped in improving the skills. The reason behind the importance of this project as an HR Manager is the fact that a huge number of employees needed to be managed as well as important and quick decisions needed to be taken in order to complete the project successfully.
Reference
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Sri-aroon, P., Chusongsang, P.C.Y., Limpanont, Y., Surinthwong, P., Vongphayloth, K. and Brey, P.T., 2015. Malacological investigation of the fully operational Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam project in Khammouane Province, Central Lao PDR. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 46(5), p.866.
Valentine, M.A., Nembhard, I.M. and Edmondson, A.C., 2015. Measuring teamwork in health care settings: a review of survey instruments. Medical care, 53(4), pp.e16-e30.
Wallet, F., Lambrozo, J., Sicard, D. and Brey, P., 2016. Health impact of Dams: lessons from a case study. Environnement, Risques et Sante, 15(5), pp.419-425.
Yang, M. and Carless, D., 2013. The feedback triangle and the enhancement of dialogic feedback processes. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(3), pp.285-297.
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