CMGT 410 Ver. 13

Project Planning & Implementation

Week 1:

DQ1 Integrative Project Management Process

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• What is meant by an integrative project management process andwhy is this so important? What are the pitfalls if such an approachis not taken?

DQ2 Project Characteristics

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• What are some of the characteristics that differentiate projectsfrom other functions carried out in the daily operations of anorganization? List some examples of work considered to be a projectand work not considered to be a project.

Individual Project Proposal:

Consider the following scenario:

You have been hired by a large company with branch offices aroundthe country to assist with rollout of a new companywide compliancesystem.

While initially the focus was on implementation of the technology,it was found that success will require at least 10 hours oftraining for all managers across the country on both the use of thenew platform as well as a host of new compliance policies beingintroduced.

Of the options discussed, it was generally agreed than the trainingshould be hands-on and conducted in person at a central location.This will obviously require getting organizational buy in as notall managers are going to be willing to commit to taking time outfrom their normal responsibilities just for some training.

In addition, such large scale centralized training has not beendone before by this company; therefore, the CEO wants feedback fromparticipants to evaluate the effectiveness of any trainingsessions.

As a result, your manager has given you the responsibility todevelop an outline for a proposed project that would meet thisupcoming need.

Submit a 2- to 3-page memo that does the following:

• Names the project

• Briefly describes the project

• Identifies potential stakeholders directly or indirectlyinvolved

• Specifies the overall objective and any outcomes for thisproject

• Details how success will be evaluated

• Highlights what is needed to ascertain the measurableorganizational value (MOV) of this project.

You will need to make some assumptions (it is even encouraged) butthe assumptions must be documented.

Week 2:

DQ1 Accurate Estimates

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• Why are accurate estimates critical to effective projectmanagement? What steps can project managers take to improve theaccuracy of estimating projects?

DQ2 Project Scope and WBS

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• What argument can you provide as to why a project’s scope must betied to the WBS? What are the implications are if scope is notadhered to closely?

Individual Project Task-List:

You have been tasked with the project of organizing a companyoffsite 2-day training session in which people are brought in fromdifferent parts of the country. This entails everything frompreparation, accommodations, and facilities.

Submit a 2- to 3-page executive memo summarizing the project’sobjective, any scoping boundaries used to define the project, andrelevant facts about the tasks or resources.

• Identify all related tasks and resources needed to complete thisproject.

• Highlight or specify any measurable deliverables relating to yourproject.

Attach a task list with assigned resources from a Microsoft®Project file that supports what you have outlined in your memo.

Learning Team Project Charter:

Choose a project involving an IT requirement with multiple tasksand human resources. This project must come from a businesssituation—for example, hardware procurement and installation,network acquisition, implementation, or expansion—in which eachLearning Team member contributes background details.

This is a consolidated source of information which lays thefoundation for successful completion of any project by identifyingyour project vision and communicating the overall approach for aproject to all key stakeholder audiences.

At a minimum the charter will contain the following:

• Background of the organization and any information or statementof needs that helps explain how the project came to be

• Goals and objectives of the project in language that is bothconcise and explanatory

• Project scope delineated so that all parties involved are awareof what the project includes as well as what it does not

• Budgetary limitations

• Explanation of sponsors, stakeholders, and as well as how theproject team is structured so that there will be no confusionconcerning roles and responsibilities

• Project approach your team intends to take to fulfill meetingdeliverables of the project

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Week 3:

DQ1 Cost and Time

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

While cost and time are critical components of projects, how wouldyou define the quality of a project? Provide some examples ofproject reporting metrics a project manager could use to measureand communicate the status of quality during a project.

DQ2 Dependency Types

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• Provide real-world examples of activities where each dependencytype is used: finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish,and start-to-finish.

Individual Project Budget

The project for the company offsite 2-day training session has beengiven a preliminary go-ahead. However a budget needs to besubmitted for approval.

Write a 2- to 3-page memo explaining the financial implications ofyour project that does the following:

• Adds costs estimates to your resources (both labor and material)– Refer to websites like the United States Department of Labor forestimates.

• Adds estimates for all task duration and sequencing of tasks(including precedence relations)

• Summarizes any relevant facts about the project duration, numberor type of resources, critical task sequencing, and how durationestimates were arrived at

• Highlights if there are any milestones for your project

Include a Microsoft® Project Gantt chart, as an attachment, showingthe WBS of tasks (with dependencies) and task sequences, along withany budget or cost reports to support your memo.

Learning Team Project Schedule

This is the core of any project plan used to communicate what tasksare needed and the order of sequence to be done to meet deadlinesand deliverables.

At a minimum the section will contain the following:

• Business requirements document (BRD) that provides additionaldetails regarding the expectations (such as user, system, andfunctional) that must be met for achieving goals of the project

• Work breakdown structure (WBS) showing discrete work tasks andgrouped hierarchically that helps to organize and define the totalwork scope of the project

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Week 4:

DQ1 High Performing Teams

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• Since the success of a project rests largely on the performanceof the team, what are some techniques a project manager can employto foster a group of individuals in becoming a cohesive andhigh-performing team?

DQ2 Outsourcing

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

• Under what circumstances is it ethically or not in the bestinterest of project morals to consider outsourcing parts of aproject? Provide examples illustrating both and discuss why.

Individual Project Controls

The company offsite 2-day training session project is about readyto enter the execution phase. However, management has a history ofbeing surprised with projects that finished over-budget, did notadhere to the timeline, evinced waste of resources, or did not meetexpectations.

Address your strategy for the following in a 2- to 3-page memo togain their confidence in your project management abilities:

• Analyze and report unplanned changes

• Evaluate project quality

• Procedures you plan to implement for handling change controlissues

• How you plan to communicate whether the project is meeting anystated performance and quality objectives

Learning Team Project Costing

The allocation and cost of resources need to be carefully monitoredif a project is to be delivered on-time and on-budget.

At a minimum this section will contain the following:

• Allocation of resources to project tasks (both labor andmaterial)

• Cost estimates for project resources

• Gantt diagram showing duration estimates for all tasks and theirsequencing (including precedence relations) and highlighting anycritical path(s) arising from task dependencies ultimatelydetermining the minimal duration of a project

In addition summarize any relevant facts about the projectduration, number or type of resources, critical task sequencing, orhow duration estimates were arrived at, and any financialimplications (for example, budget or cost reports of the project aswell)

• Develop a baseline for your project plan so that all futurevariances are captured. Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Week 5:

DQ1 Change Requests

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

How should a project manager respond to a change request from asponsor that is clearly beyond the scope of the project?

DQ2 Successful Project Risk Management

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to thefollowing:

What can be done to ensure effective and successful project riskmanagement?

Individual Project Postmortem

Now that the company offsite 2-day training session project isover, conduct a postmortem review.

Submit a 1- to 2-page memo that does the following:

• Details the benefits and drawbacks of a postmortem review

• Lists who should partake in this meeting,

• Indicates what you hope to discover at the conclusion

Learning Team Project Evaluation and Control

Complete a 12- to 16-page paper. Include the following componentsin the paper:

Choose a project involving an IT requirement with multiple tasksand human resources. This project must come from a businesssituation—for example, hardware procurement and installation,network acquisition, implementation, or expansion—in which eachLearning Team member contributes background details.

Project Charter (Due in Week Two)

This is a consolidated source of information which lays thefoundation for successful completion of any project by identifyingyour project vision and communicating the overall approach for aproject to all key stakeholder audiences.

At a minimum the charter will contain the following:

• Background of the organization and any information or statementof needs that helps explain how the project came to be

• Goals and objectives of the project in language that is bothconcise and explanatory

• Project scope delineated so that all parties involved are awareof what the project includes as well as what it does not

• Budgetary limitations

• Explanation of sponsors, stakeholders, and as well as how theproject team is structured so that there will be no confusionconcerning roles and responsibilities

• Project approach your team intends to take to fulfill meetingdeliverables of the project

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Project Schedule (Due in Week Three)

This is the core of any project plan used to communicate what tasksare needed and the order of sequence to be done to meet deadlinesand deliverables.

At a minimum the section will contain the following:

• Business requirements document (BRD) that provides additionaldetails regarding the expectations (such as user, system, andfunctional) that must be met for achieving project goals

• Work breakdown structure (WBS) showing discrete work tasks andgrouped hierarchically that helps to organize and define the totalwork scope of the project

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Project Costing (Due in Week Four)

The allocation and cost of resources need to be carefully monitoredif a project is to be delivered on-time and on-budget.

At a minimum this section will contain the following:

• Allocation of resources to project tasks (both labor andmaterial)

• Cost estimates for project resources

• Gantt diagram showing duration estimates for all tasks and theirsequencing (including precedence relations) and highlighting anycritical path(s) arising from task dependencies ultimatelydetermining the minimal duration of a project

In addition summarize any relevant facts about the projectduration, number or type of resources, critical task sequencing, orhow duration estimates were arrived at, and any financialimplications (for example, budget or cost reports of the project aswell)

• Develop a baseline for your project plan so that all futurevariances are captured.

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Project Evaluation and Control (Due in Week Five)

A project must be executed effectively and with minimal waste toestablish confidence. A plan for performance measurement requiresidentifying which critical element should be measured, how they aremeasured, and when they are measured to communicate if the projectis on track.

At a minimum the section will contain the following:

• Measurable objectives identified as milestones on the Ganttchart

• Risk mitigation strategy for analyzing and reporting unplannedchanges as well what procedures you will plan to implement forhandling change control issues

• Description of project reporting regarding the on-goingevaluation and status of project efforts to stakeholder andparticipants on the project team

• Method for determining whether the project has met its objectivesand how the project is terminated

Write 3 to 4 pages on your findings.

Learning Team Instructions Team Project Presentation

Prepare a 10- to 12-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation ofthe entire Learning Team Project, as completed in Weeks Two, Three,Four, and Five.

Include detailed speaker notes.