Assignment Part I -
Your teacher will organize your class into teams of three. Identify who will be Team Member (TM) 1, TM 2, and TM 3. Your assignment will be based on the following fictional scenario, which is an extension of the swing set project you analyzed in the Practice "Recommending Project Management Strategies":
Your colleague Joseph recently completed your company's first project for SmithPort Playgrounds. He fulfilled the original order for 60 swing sets. The people at SmithPort Playgrounds were so pleased with the swing sets, they began submitting additional orders. Because your company is relatively small, each team has to work as efficiently as possible to juggle the larger-than-usual workload.
Your three-person team is responsible for fulfilling two of the latest orders to come in:
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Customer
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SmithPort Playgrounds
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SmithPort Playgrounds
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Order Name
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Order A
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Order B
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Order Overview
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30 swing sets
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20 swing sets
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Specification
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- All swing sets should have two sets each
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- All swing sets should have three seats each
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Deadline
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5 weeks from today
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5 weeks from today
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In the contract, the customer states that they will not pay for any swing sets that do not meet the exact specifications requested.
Review the information from "Recommending Project Management Strategies" and jot down any observations regarding how Joseph's experience could help your team plan their own project. Discuss with your team's ideas for how to get the work done and come up with a basic project plan. To do this you will need to complete the following steps:
1. Review the instructions above and the Practice "Recommending Project Management Strategies" (specifically the Analysis and Synthesis sections).
2. Take notes on how your team can learn from Joseph's experience. For example, what can your team learn from the fact that Joseph's team struggled to meet their daily quotas?
3. If you are TM 1, gather everyone's email addresses and organize a face-to-face team meeting. At the meeting, initiate a discussion about everyone's ideas for what to "take-away" from Joseph's experience, including what risks your team should be prepared for. During the meeting, encourage team members to collaborate in order to determine possible solutions for any risks.
If you are not TM 1, make sure you come to the meeting prepared to share your suggestions, as well as your rationale to support your suggestions.
Someone on the team should volunteer to take notes during the meeting and then share a copy of those notes with the rest of the team via an email attachment or Google doc link.
4. If you are TM 2, create an email or Google doc that contains all the project information the team needs to know about the project. Share the email or Google doc link with the rest of the team. (Note: Make sure your team members are able not only to access the file, but also to edit it.)
If you are not TM 2, view the Google doc and add anything that TM 2 may have missed when compiling the project information.
5. If you are TM 3, create a basic table that your team could use to see how many swing sets need to be built each day in order to deliver 50 swing sets by the deadline. Consider making two tables that reflect different scenarios (e.g., how quickly can the team complete the work if everyone builds only one swing set per day? How quickly can the work be completed if your team is able to secure an extra team member to help with the workload?). Share the table with your teammates via an email attachment or a Google doc.
If you are not TM 3, view the table and provide TM 3 with feedback on whether your think the schedule is realistic or if you have alternative ideas about how to break up the work among the team members.
Although the tasks described above are often handled by just one person (the project manager), sometimes it's helpful to split up the work among the team, which can encourage team members to invest in the project and take pride in the project outcomes.
As you're talking to your teammates, observe how you and the different members of the team communicate. Are there lots of miscommunications between the team? What form of communication seems most effective for your team - face-to-face meetings? Email? Instant messaging?
As you are engaged in pre-planning, keep in mind what kinds of risks could arise for your team. What can your team do now to help mitigate those risks?
1. What are three "take-aways" you noted after reviewing Joseph's project.
2. What details did you enter or add to the project document?
3. If you are TM 3, what was the basic structure of your table? If you are not TM 3, share the feedback you gave to TM 3 on the schedule. (E.g., Did you think the proposed schedule was realistic? What alternative ideas did you provide?)
4. What are some possible risks you think your team should be prepared for?
5. What are possible solutions for these risks?
6. For Part I of this project, assess your and your teammates' performance in each of the following areas:
a. Organizational skills:
b. Note taking/outlining:
c. Reasoning skills:
d. Problem-solving skills:
e. Decision-making skills:
7. Identify strategies you could implement to improve your and your teammates' performance.
Assignment Part II -
Now that you've thought about how your team should prepare for the project, you will consider how well your team worked together on this project based on the following fictional scenarios:
- TM 1 is designated as the project manager overseeing the fulfillment of Order A and Order B. TM 1 holds a kick-off meeting to walk the team through the key points of the project and makes sure that everyone knows where to find the Google doc that contains all the details they need. TM 1 requests that everyone submit a daily report via email, describing how many swing sets they completed that day. As the project gets under way, however, TM 1 finds that she does not typically have time to review everyone's daily reports carefully. She assumes that as long as everyone is submitting a report, they are probably getting the work done just fine. TM 1 plans to check in on everyone's progress at the end of Week 2, leaving what seems like plenty of time to deal with any schedule problems, should they arise. TM 1 feels that because she did such a good job setting up the project and meeting with the team, it is highly unlikely that anything will go wrong.
- TM 2 is a cautious worker. TM 2 reviews the Google doc multiple times before beginning work on the first swing set. After TM 2 completes a swing set, he checks the specifications yet again to double-check that he did the work correctly. By the end of the first week, TM 2 realizes that he takes almost twice as long as the other team members to build a swing set. However, the project manager (TM 1) hasn't said anything about the daily reports he's been submitting. Perhaps one of the other team members is making up for TM 2's slower pace.
- TM 3 is nervous about the schedule. In TM 3's estimation, the time-on-task simply isn't realistic. TM 3 is afraid to say anything to the project manager about it. Last time TM 3 mentioned a schedule-related concern, the project manager became defensive and insisted the schedule was fine. So instead of talking about it with anyone, TM 3 decides to work overtime and get as much done as possible. At the end of the first week, TM 3 meets with TM 2 to see how he is doing. As they are talking, TM 3 realizes she forgot that the seat color requested for Order B is different from the one requested for Order A. TM 3 made at least four swing sets for Order B that have the wrong color seat. Now, TM 3 is going to have to work even more overtime to fix them. TM 3 is also dismayed to learn that TM 2 has been moving at an extremely slow pace. TM 3 is now even more convinced that the schedule is in jeopardy.
Open a new word processing document and write a formal assessment of how effectively the team members worked together, based on these scenarios. Mention both what the team members did well, and what they did not do well. What should TM 1 have done differently? What about TM 2 and TM 3? What kinds of technology were put to good use for this project? What kinds of technology appear to have been underutilized, especially by the project manager (TM 1)?
As you write your assessment, be sure to maintain a positive attitude and show respect for your team members. Sometimes, when writing about how a project did not go well, it is easy to speak in negative terms that reflect poorly on your colleagues. For example, instead of saying, "Joe was terrible at remembering the specifications provided by the customer. His swing sets were a pain to fix." You might say, "At times, team members struggled to remember the specifications provided by the customer, which required re-work and created a delay in the schedule. To help ensure each team member was familiar with the specifications, we should have . . ."
Assignment Part III -
Now you will have the opportunity to design your own project. What need do you see in your everyday life that you could provide a solution for? What goal have you always wanted to hit? For example, perhaps you've always wanted to find an app that could make some part of your life easier. Why don't you be the person to create that app? Perhaps you have strong ties to the local artist community, but notice that there isn't any online forum where those individuals can connect. You could be the person to set up a blog or website that serves as forum for that community.
This is your chance to be creative.
Before you begin working on your project, draft a design for your project. Explain what your project is and how you plan to complete it. You must have the design approved by your teacher before you begin.
Once you have completed your project, submit the following to your teacher:
1. An artifact from your project (e.g., a link to the blog you created)
2. A record of the sources you used to design and carry out the project (e.g., books, websites, communication between you and a mentor, emails, etc.)
3. A list of five things you learned about project management as a result of completing the project
Tips for Success -
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you write your evaluation.
- Present your thoughts in a logical manner. Use headings and lists as needed to organize your ideas.
- Use specific examples as part of your analysis.
- Do a final edit, including checking spelling and grammar, before turning in your assessment.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you design your project.
- Consider completion criteria, possible budget, schedule, critical path, and key milestones.
- Consider if you will need to work with others as part of a team to complete your project.