04 Jan Some project professionals

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 1 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1 Imagine that you are a project manager (PM) working on acquiring a project team for a software installation project. Which process group are you in? What are some of the characteristics you would look for in your team? Where might you find a quick reference within the PMBOK® Guide regarding the connection between knowledge areas and process groups?

OR

Option #2 Describe the differences between a phase, project life cycle, and the project process groups, and list examples of each.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 2 Discussion

What, in your opinion, is the role of scope management in improving customer or team satisfaction? How might the value of integrity add to the level of customer satisfaction? Where might you find the four main components of scope management within the PMBOK® Guide?

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 3 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1:As a reminder, you are the project leader for the Genesis System Upgrade project to replace the monitoring system. Alpha Technologies, the major security firm for whom you work, is concerned with three major priorities related to securing a major airport in the U.S. The system must:

• Comply with complex airport and government security requirements

• Ensure passenger safety from parking to plane boarding

• Improve operational efficiencies and reduce security costs

Considering this additional information, discuss who might be your primary and secondary stakeholders for the project. What expectations might your secondary stakeholders have? What tools might you use from the PMBOK® Guide to aid in project stakeholder management?

OR

Option #2Of the three Project Management Office (PMO) types (Supporting, Controlling, and Directive), have you seen either of these being used in your organization or in another business organization? Search the web and identify an organization that currently has a project management office. Describe the type of organization and why they may have chosen that type.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 4 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1:On any project team, the project manager might face challenges in both time and communication management. A time management issue that you should be familiar with is the concept of a time-robber. This refers to activities that take away from the focus on project activities located on the WBS. How would you as a PM, discover and address the time-robbers of a virtual team as opposed to a collocated one? Explain how you would communicate necessary changes to mitigate or eliminate such time-robbers.

OR

Option #2Section 1 of the PMBOK® Guide identifies a few competencies like the following: Knowledge, Performance, Visionary, Collaborative and Personal. Which of these competencies have you personally applied, and what was the outcome? Explain your response.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 5 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1:Describe the difference between project risk mitigation and risk avoidance. Take one side of the debate on which is a better strategy to circumvent variances in your planned project schedule. Name at least one input in the PMBOK® Guide for planning risk responses.

OR

Option #2:How do you identify relevant assumptions and risks for projects, tasks, and/or activities? Explain your response.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 6 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1:Your procurement team is planning to buy low light, network surveillance cameras and digital video recorders (DVRs) for the Genesis System Upgrade project. You must choose between using existing equipment from your internal inventory (several cameras older than five years) to create the network on your own and purchasing new equipment as a bundle from an outside supplier or set of suppliers. Use the Internet to determine a beginning supplier list to answer the following:

• What should go into the make-or-buy analysis?

• What are your seller selection criteria?

• Using cost benefit analysis, what are the pros and cons of sole source procurement versus competitive selection?

• Does the PMBOK® Guide provide guidance on make-or-buy analysis? If so, share at least one insight.

OR

Option #2: What if you spot a trend which indicates that most projects are initially very optimistic in their cost and schedule estimates (during the Initiating Phase), and when they develop a bottom’s up estimate (during the Planning Phase), it tends to be much higher (i.e., greater than 10% )? What conclusions would you make about your organization’s internal project performance management systems, and what courses of actions would you take in future projects? Explain your responses.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 7 Discussion

Choose one of the following:

Option #1:Based upon this week’s reading in the AMA textbook and information provided in the PMBOK® Guide, what does effective project integration look like in practice? Provide specific examples from previous projects or hypothetical based upon your class project.

OR

Option #2: Do you think most successful project mangers are more or less risk tolerant? Explain and justify your response.

PRM524 Applied Project Management Case

Module 8 Discussion

Some project professionals feel that blurring the lines between the traditional boundaries of project management, quality, and other management disciplines will help companies achieve excellence in quality. Others believe that excellence is achieved through emerging technologies, such as process modeling or process automation, since they allow organizations to receive information for real-time measurement, process execution, and task management. Which side of the debate do you favor? Why? Explain in terms of improving quality with an emphasis on product-based projects. Feel free to use the PMBOK® Guide as a reference.