Module 3 – Background
PROJECT SELECTION AND INITIATION
The Required Sources with an asterisk (*) are linked
to the course, and can be accessed directly. You should read
through, and be familiar with, both sources in their entirety. For
this Module, however, you should study:
- Barron & Barron (2012), Chap. 22
- New York Guide (2002), Chap. 3.4
The Required Sources and the Additional Sources
provide good starting points; however, both the Module and the Case topics are
extremely well-documented, and you’ll be able to find many links to both
governmental and non-governmental sources. Feel free to use whatever
seems useful.
Be sure to provide citations and references
for whatever sources you use, preferably in APA format.
Required Reading
* Barron, M. & Barron, A. (2012). Project
management for all careers. Creative Commons. (the Text)
* New Your Guide (2002). Management’s
Guide to Project success. New York State Office for Technology.
(the Guide)
Woods, W. (2011). The Apollo flights: A brief history. How
Apollo flew to the moon (Chap 2). NY: Springer Praxis
Books.
Blash, S. (2011). Ten lessons for
leading during crisis. Retrieved on 14 April 2017 from www.projecttimes.com/articles/ten-lessons-for-leading-during-crisis.html
McConnell, E. (2011). Nine lessons of
effective crisis management for project managers. Retreived on 14 April 2017
from http://www.mymanagementguide.com/9-lessons-of-effective-crisis-management-for-project-managers/
Optional Reading
Madrigal, A. (2012). Moondoggle: The forgotten
opposition to the Apollo program. Atlantic magazine: Retrieved on
16 Apr 2017 from www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/moondoggle-the-forgotten-opposition-to-the-apollo-program/262254/
Discussion
“Do it, or write about it?”
PreviousNext
The word “report” has six letters, yet for
many project managers, it falls into the category of “four letter
words” – an epithet uttered in anger, derision, or disgust. A common
sentiment concerning reports is, “Do you want me to actually DO my job, or
spend my time WRITING about it? Just go away!”
In many instances, such as the corporate annual
report to stockholders, or the military efficiency report, writing the
report is a required exercise. Everyone knows how the game is played;
what is to be taken seriously, and what is mere boilerplate. But project
reports are a bit different. In most cases, they’re optional – which
makes them an even greater nuisance, when they’re seen to be performing no
useful function. Please see Wideman’s article, “Is it time to scrap
project status reports?” (Wideman, 2014; link below).
Please reflect upon your own experience as a
producer of reports. It would be a project report, an efficiency report,
or something as mundane as writing report cards for a class of
schoolchildren. Does Wideman’s (2014) critique resonate with your
experience? Why or why not?
Module 3 – Case
PROJECT SELECTION AND INITIATION
Case Assignment
Project execution and control can, and
should be, very procedure-based. Reports are written, information is
shared, meetings are held, milestones are met or not met, work schedules and
budgets are adjusted, etc. This is fertile ground for the project
management consultants, who specialize in making sure all the procedures work
as expected.
Procedures tend to go out the window,
however, when a crisis strikes. A crisis is, by definition, an
existential threat to the project; the whole thing is in danger of
failing. The Apollo Project encountered at least two. In the first,
three astronauts died on the ground. In the second, three astronauts were
in imminent danger of dying in space, as the world watched in horror.
For this Case,
- Describe the crises.
- Describe how NASA reacted to them.
- How did the NASA response either exemplify, or vary from, the
various recommendations contained in the background readings? Explain.
Resources for this Case are listed on the
Background Information page. These are starting points; feel free to
search the Web for additional information, and use whatever you think is
useful. Be sure to provide citations and references for everything you use,
including materials linked to this course.
Assignment Expectations
- Integrate your answers to the above questions into a
well-constructed essay. Feel free to use tables and
bulleted lists, if appropriate. - The readings do not provide specific answers to every
question. You will need to “fill in the gaps,” using your
understanding of the Project’s history, plus the Background Information. - Style and format must comply with the Writing Style Guide (TUI,
2014). - This is not an English course; however, errors in spelling,
grammar, and style will be penalized. - Provide citations and references. Use of APA style
(TUI, 2014) is encouraged, but not required. - There is no page requirement. Write what you need to write.
Module 3 – SLP
PROJECT SELECTION AND INITIATION
When a project falls behind schedule, the
possible “fixes” fall into two broad categories: crashing and
fast-tracking. Crashing involves adding resources, such as
manpower. Fast-tracking involves identifying two or more activities that were
scheduled to occur consecutively (that is, one after another) and performing
them concurrently (at the same time). Both approaches incur extra costs
and risks, and may not be possible in all situations.
PART I
Analyze the following situations.
Explain if, and how, crashing and fast-tracking could be used. Be sure to
address these two specific options, and not simply talk about
all the things you could try.
- Your teenager is going to see her grandmother, and has a
non-refundable airline ticket. She needs to be out of bed, washed,
fed, packed, and dropped off at the airport no later than 10 AM. The
alarm does not go off, and it is apparent that getting her onto the plane
is going to be a challenge. After fighting off the initial panic
attack, what do you do? - You are a general contractor. You have signed a contract
to have a new house ready for occupancy no later than July 1st,
or pay a penalty. It is the first of June, and the following major
tasks have yet to be performed:
- Lay carpeting in the living room, den and bedrooms.
- Paint the entire interior.
- Blow insulation into the attic.
- Install the cooker hood (vented through the attic).
- Sod the front lawn.
More labor is available, at extra cost.
What do you do? Why? (Obviously, you will need to make some
assumptions. State them.)
PART II
Refer to the project you described in SLP 1
and SLP 2. Did any part of the project fall behind schedule? If so,
how did you handle it? If not, what resources were available, and how
would you have used them, if the project HAD fallen behind schedule?
SLP Assignment Expectations
- Answer the above questions using short, well-constructed
paragraphs. Feel free to use tables and bulleted lists, if
appropriate. - The readings do not provide specific answers to every question.
You will need to “fill in the gaps,” using your understanding of the
questions, the Background Information, and whatever additional information
you can find on the Web. - Style and format must comply with the Trident Writing Style
Guide (TUI, 2014). - This is not an English course; however, errors in spelling,
grammar, and style will be penalized. - Provide citations and references. Use of APA style (TUI, 2014))
is encouraged, but not required. - There is no page requirement. Write what you need to write.
