Assignment: Addressing Project Challenges
Overview
In this course, you have explored tools and techniques that can be useful when effectively managing a project. But what should you do when everything does not go according to plan? There are steps you can take to help adjust for unexpected project challenges as they arise, but you should also be proactive about anticipating issues whenever possible. To be proactive, you need to know about areas where pitfalls often occur in projects. Being informed will enable you to make better quality decisions during the project planning phase to prevent potential issues that could develop later.
In this assignment, you will be analyzing projects that have struggled to meet their goals; you will find common themes that can inform your own work. Here you will extend your knowledge from the Project Two milestones and begin thinking more deeply to prepare for Project Two. This will be particularly useful when you look at how scope creep can negatively impact a project. Scope creep occurs any time the original requirements of a project increase, and it is one challenge you will witness in numerous types of projects. As you begin looking at example projects from many different disciplines and industries, you will start to see more commonalities. Ask yourself why this is consistently happening. How can you plan in advance to mitigate the impact of those issues?
Prompt
After reading the "Why Do Projects Fail?" resource, linked in the Reading and Resources section in Module Six of your course, select three example projects that you believe demonstrate similar themes that caused their projects to fail. You will use the themes you identify to formulate responses to the critical elements for this activity. Referencing the additional articles linked in the Reading and Resources section in Module Six of your course will help you further consider ways to overcome challenges in project management.
You must address the critical elements listed below.
1. Case Study Analysis
i. Discuss the common themes that caused three example projects to fail.
ii. Analyze how time may have impacted the outcome of the example projects.
iii. Analyze how budget may have impacted the outcome of the example projects.
2. Case Study Approach
i. Explain what was successful about the organizational response to the example projects.
ii. Analyze areas for improvement in organizational response for the example projects.
iii. Discuss strategies the organizations could have used during their early project planning that would have helped mitigate the challenges they later faced.
3. Application
i. Explain the strategies from the example projects that you could apply to your own project management practices.
ii. Discuss how you can anticipate scope creep in the three risk domains (people, process, and technology).