31 Jan SLP Assignment Expectations

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.