Proj 587 Entire Course Advanced Program Management

PROJ587 Entire Course / Advanced Program Management / Graded A
All weeks discussion questions


Week 3 and 6 Quiz

Week 5 UltraMAX Case Study

Week 8 Final Exam

Course Project

Course Project: Portfolio Management Plan

Your Professor will determine whether the Course Project is an individual or team assignment. If the project is completed as a team, your professor will assign teams promptly. (Watch for an announcement.)

Objectives | Project Deliverables | Schedule and Grading Rubric | Paper Guidelines | Best Practices

Objective

The project for this course is a portfolio management plan for a company of your choice. You may use your own employer or a public company you can research to provide necessary details. To get started, you need to know the company’s strategic plan and strategic capacity plan.

Project Deliverables

Your portfolio management plan should include the content below.

Organization’s strategic plan Organization’s strategic capacity plan Portfolio management process Project selection criteria Program management plan Plan to Identify and resolve possible areas/sources of conflict related to cost, schedule, or quality Change management plan: Develop a plan to manage organizational and cultural change and conflict that may occur due to project/program/portfolio implementation. Resource utilization plan: Analyze and plan resource utilization to achieve maximum/optimal capacity utilization.

Schedule and Grading Rubric

Week 2: Outline due (ungraded but required)
Week 4: Draft is due in class Week 4
Week 7: Final portfolio management plan
Week 8: Presentation

Grading Rubrics for Draft and Paper

Category

Points

Description (draft outlines these sections—9 points each)

Draft

45

Organization Strategic Plan Organization Strategic Capacity Plan Flow Chart of Portfolio Process Outline of Project Selection Criteria Program Management Plan

Category

Points

%

Description

Organization’s strategic plan

20

8%

Overall mission, long-term goals, and principal methods for attaining those goals for the organization

Organization’s strategic capacity plan

20

8%

How organization matches resource requirements with available resources

Portfolio management process

20

8%

Overview of the entire PPM process

Project selection criteria

20

8%

Addresses both qualitative and quantitative criteria for selection

Program management plan

20

8%

Overall plan for how projects in the program will be managed (especially Quality, Scope, and Schedule)

Plan to Identify and resolve possible areas/sources of conflict related to cost, schedule, or quality

20

8%

You you’ll ensure that your stakeholders will be “on the same page” regarding priorities of cost/schedule/quality among the projects in the portfolio.

Change Management Plan: Develop a plan to manage organizational and cultural change and conflict that may occur due to project/program/ portfolio implementation

20

8%

NOTE: This is not a scope change management plan but a plan for promoting, communicating, and gaining acceptance of PMO, PPM within the organization.

Resource Utilization Plan:

20

8%

Analyze and plan resource utilization to achieve maximum /optimal capacity utilization

Content Total

160

64%

Contains All Project Portfolio Management Plan Deliverables

Documentation and Formatting

40

16%

Follows APA guidelines for citing sources. Paper may be in a professional business format, using good design and attractive formatting. Use of tables, graphics, charts, and other PM communication elements are encourage. Paper MUST be in a single MS Word document!

Organization and Cohesiveness

40

16%

Good flow and clear presentation of the 8 required content Deliverables.

Editing

10

4%

Corrections made as suggested in the first draft and appropriate peer reviewed changes made

Total

250

100%

A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.

Grading Rubrics for Presentation

Category

Points

%

Description

Flow

50

20%

All parts of the presentation flow seamlessly from one presenter to the next.

Participation

50

20%

All members of the team present equally.

Professionalism

50

20%

Handouts, PowerPoint, participation, and so on are presented or conducted in an appropriate and professional manner. Includes actions of team members when not presenting.

Time Limit

50

20%

The presentation is within the 5–10-minute time limit.

Grammar

50

20%

All participants and materials use proper grammar.

Total

100

100%

The presentation will meet or exceed the above guidelines

Paper Guidelines

Papers must be 10 to 15 pages in length (this would be roughly one page per area included in the report), double-spaced, and in 10-point font. They must include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, report body, summary or conclusion, and works cited. Even though this is not a scientific-type writing assignment, and is mostly creative in nature, references are still very important. At least six authoritative outside references are required (anonymous authors or web pages are not acceptable). These should be listed on the last page, titled “Works Cited.” Appropriate citations are required (in APA format). All DeVry University policies are in effect, including the plagiarism policy. Papers are due during Week 7 of this course. Any questions about this paper may be discussed in the weekly Q & A discussion topic. This paper is worth 250 total points, plus 30 points for the rough draft, and will be graded on the quality of the research topic, quality of paper information, use of citations, grammar, and sentence structure (see grading rubrics).

Best Practices

Below are best practices in preparing this paper.

Cover page: Include who you prepared the paper for, who prepared it, and the date. Table of contents: List the main ideas and sections of the paper and the pages where they are located. Illustrations should be included separately. Introduction:Use a header on your paper. This will indicate that you are introducing the paper.

The purpose of an introduction or opening is to

introduce the subject and why the subject is important; preview the main ideas and the order in which they will be covered; and establish the tone of the document. Include in the introduction a reason for the audience to read the paper. Also, include an overview of what you will cover and the importance of the material. (This should include or introduce the questions you are asked to answer in each assignment.) Body of the report: Use a header with the name of the project. An example is, “The Development of Hotel X: A World-Class Resort.” Proceed to break out the main ideas: State the main ideas and the major points of each idea, and provide evidence. Show some type of division, such as separate, labeled sections; separate groups of paragraphs; or headers. Include the information you found during your research and investigation. Summary and conclusion: Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and the major support points from the body of the report; minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of the ideas and how they affect the subject. Work cited: Use the citation format specified in the Syllabus.

Additional hints on preparing the best possible project are below.

Apply a three-step process to writing: plan, write, and complete. Prepare an outline of the research paper before going forward. Complete a first draft and then go back to edit, evaluate, and make any changes required. Use visual communication to further clarify and support the written part of the report. Examples include graphs, diagrams, photographs, flowcharts, maps, drawings, animation, video clips, pictograms, tables, and Gantt charts.

PROJ587 Week 1 DQ1 – From Corporate Strategy to Project Strategy

PROJ587 Week 1 DQ2 – Portfolios, Programs, and Projects

PROJ587 Week 2 DQ1 – Project Portfolio Selection

PROJ587 Week 2 DQ2 – Project Success

PROJ587 Week 3 DQ1 – PM, PgM, and PPM

PROJ587 Week 3 DQ2 – Project Cost

PROJ587 Week 4 DQ1 – Change Management

PROJ587 Week 4 DQ2 – Conflict Management

PROJ587 Week 5 DQ1 – Highly Effective Teams

PROJ587 Week 5 DQ2 – Leading Highly Effective Teams

PROJ587 Week 6 DQ1 – Ethical Behavior

PROJ587 Week 6 DQ2 – Value Management

PROJ587 Week 7 DQ1 – The UPC Model and The NCTP Model

PROJ587 Week 7 DQ2 – Trends in Project Management

1. (TCO B) Some believe that a project management office (PMO) is nothing more than yet another level of management with the associated added cost and bureaucracy. Project Management experts tell us that this is a good thing. Which of these points of view is correct, and how do you (in your own words, though you may cite your readings to support your view as necessary) justify your conclusion? Remember that business thinks primarily in terms of dollars and benefit/cost ratios. (Points : 20)

2. (TCO B) One of the most traumatic decisions a project manager must sometimes make is to cancel a project. In an article titled “How to Fail In Project Management without Really Trying,” Business Horizons Reprint No. BH010, the following (whimsical but true) reasons that projects go out of control were identified:

1. Ignore the project environment, including stakeholders

2. Push a new technology to market too quickly

3. Don’t bother building fallback positions

4. When problems occur, shoot the one most visible

5. Let new ideas starve to death from inertia

6. Don’t bother conducting feasibility studies

7. Never admit a project is a failure

8. Over-manage project managers and their teams

9. Never, never conduct post-failure reviews

10. Never bother to understand project trade-offs

11. Allow political expediency and infighting to dictate crucial project decisions

12. Make sure the project is run by a weak leader

3. (TCO B) Your company has a PMO, and it has now decided to incorporate project portfolio management. Part 1: What is the difference between a PMO and a PPM? Part 2: Who should participate in implementing the PPM? (Points : 20)

4. (TCO E) Part 1: List the five levels of maturity in the Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM). Part 2: Describe each level and discuss whether each level can overlap with another level, and also define its level of risk. (Points : 20)

5. (TCO G) Part 1: What are the basic principles behind the AGILE process? Part 2: What is the PM’s role under the AGILE process? (Points : 20)

6. (TCO C) You have been hired to establish a PMO in your IT department. You will report directly to the CIO. You have been a member of a failed PMO. You understand why PMOs fail and what you will do to enhance the success of your PMO. Make sure to discuss at least four reasons that contribute to a failure and how you will overcome it. Also provide recommendations for assuring the success of a PMO implementation. (Points : 40)

7. (TCO D) Two of your best program managers are in a heated debate on the best way to resolve the situation to recover a project. Neither is willing to budge from his or her stand. What are some of the steps you will take to diffuse the situation? Explain your answers. In your answer, make sure you focus on the modes of conflict and conflict resolution. (Points : 40)

8. (TCO E) You have just been assigned to a program. Your team will be responsible for building a new financial system. You have just gone over the program charter and discovered that your program will have to integrate completely with another company’s customer service, network, marketing, legal, new development, procurement, and your own, IT.

The program must include a WEB-enabled customer interface that will allow for online bill paying, review, and changes. Your company does not currently have a corporate Web page. You know this will be new technology for your developers. Last of all, the implementation schedule for this program is very aggressive; you have 24 months from today to have the product up and running.

Fortunately, management is behind you 100% and willing to allow you to set up your team in any way you like. Let’s start with the organizational structure.

Would you recommend a pure project, matrix, or functional team? Why?

What are some important organizational considerations when forming the project team? What are the key advantages and disadvantages of your choice? (Points : 40)

9. (TCO F) Your company just finished delivering a software product to the client. In writing a summary report and checking a minor discrepancy, you uncover an error made by the testing team. It looks like an honest mistake. You realize that you could have caught it earlier had you checked out the discrepancy when it first appeared. You know enough about the software to understand that it will take approximately $30,000 to make the correction, making the project over budget and, of course, late. As designed now, there is the likelihood everything will perform successfully. If there would be a failure, with a remote possibility of patient injury, an investigation could reveal the obvious design error. How would you approach this problem from an ethical and code of conduct point of view? (Points : 40)

10. (TCO G) Critical Chain implementation requires a culture shift within an organization to make it successful. Part 1: Why is this statement true? Part 2: What about Critical Chain makes it unique from other scheduling techniques? Part 3: How does it address some of the “human nature” aspects of traditional project scheduling? (Points : 40)

1.

Question :

(TCO A) You work for Holt consulting company, which has been asked to recommend organizational improvements for CDC Software Company. You have been assigned to present PPM. Your boss has informed you that CDC Software Company knows nothing about PPM and you will need to cover the items below in your presentation.
• What is a PPM?
• Compare PPM, PgM, and Project level
• Benefits of each (PPM, PgM, and Project)
• Why should CDC Software Company implement a PPM?

2.

Question :

(TCO B) In project orientation it is important to determine both the project needs from the project’s perspective and from the organization’s perspective. From the project’s perspective, the main areas of concern are project scoping, project programming, and project autonomy. In your own words, explain what is meant by project autonomy.

3.

Question :

(TCO C) The program management life cycle was developed to not only ensure successful realization of organizational/program strategies but also to create a process to plan, identify, and resolve specific cost, schedule, or quality problems associated with the program. The five phases of the program life cycle are formulation, organization, deployment, appraisal, and dissolution. In your own words, describe the appraisal phase and how it aids in planning, identifying, and resolving specific cost, schedule, or quality problems associated with the program.

4.

Question :

(TCO C) The following acronyms are used when working with project budget or schedule: PV, AC, EV, & BAC. Define these acronyms, explain how they are calculated, and how they are used to measure or explain the projects budget and schedule.

Purpose

The purpose of this case study is to get you used to incorporating Microsoft Project charts and reports directly into your project’s progress reports. By now you should be able to work through the mechanics of loading tasks, predecessors, resources, and costs into MS Project. But the real challenge facing project managers is how to interpret the data in MS Project and how to make it “useful” for you and your stakeholders.

In this case study you will be given a scenario and asked to load the project information into Microsoft Project. However, the purpose of this case study is bigger than just properly loading the Microsoft Project file. This case study requires you to interpret the MS Project results and incorporate the issues and results in your communication with key stakeholders. Your output of this case study explores the “softer” side of project management, including how to communicate your results to your key stakeholders in a clear and concise manner and to include MS Project views directly in the document to illustrate your points for your reader.

[NOTE: Please read carefully and plan ahead.Get am early start on this important assignment. It constitutes 20% of your entire grade for the course. It is very important that you understand that while the case study is broken into three sections, you will not be submitting your answer to each section separately, and you will not receive feedback from your instructor after each section. Rather, you will work through and submit your responses to all of the sections at one time--in a single MS Word document.] Also, take time to practice capturing images from the MS Project reports and pasting them as graphics into your single Word document (!!!) so that you submit just one self-contained document that contains everything your “manager” needs to know. Background

NutroBalance produces a line of weight loss supplements and nutritional snacks. A couple of years ago it introduced Ultra, a weight loss supplement geared primarily towards men who lift weights and do cardiovascular exercises. The Ultra pills have been a big success. Part of NutroBalance’s strategic goals is to build off of that success by formulating the Ultra pills to target other segments of the work-out population. NutroBalance’s board of directors has decided to invest in a pill called UltraMAX geared toward women who also lift weights and do cardiovascular exercises. Since the core of the product has already been produced, the project to introduce UltraMAX to the work-out world really boils down to seeing if UltraMAX produces as good of results in women as Ultra does in men.

You have been chosen to be the project manager of this weight-loss drug study. The board of directors has fast-tracked this project and have given you 175 WORKING days (NOT calendar days) to identify your target consumers, have them test the product, and then analyze and report on the results. Your project (i.e., Task #1) will commence on January 30, 2012. (NOTE: This 2012 date MUST be the start date for your project in this Case Study!)

You have been given a team of four individuals:

Leontyne, an analyst who is new to NutroBalance but who can help you recruit and screen test subjects Tristan, a senior level analyst who has conducted drug studies for NutroBalance before Rinaldo, an IT programmer Norma, a statistician who is highly competent at analyzing and interpreting results.

1.

Question :

(TCO D) As a project manager, dealing with conflict is part of the job. There are many sources of conflict; one source that is often overlooked is the manager. Based on the Week 4 reading and lecture, what major ways do people deal with conflict? Share a personal experience of conflict and how you dealt with the situation.

2.

Question :

(TCO E) In order to have a high-performance team you must first recognize the qualities of a high-performance team. Describe at least five qualities of a high-performance team and then what can be done to develop those qualities in a team.

3.

Question :

(TCO F) The PMI Code of Ethics is made up of four areas: responsibility, honesty, respect, and fairness. Discuss the area of respect and what it means for you, the project manager.

4.

Question :

(TCO F) Value management (VM) is the application of value methodologies with the purpose of improving organizational effectiveness. Value management is made up of five subprocesses: sensemaking, ideation, elaboration, choice, and mastery. In your own words, explain what mastery is and how it is used in VM.