PROJ 430 Advanced Program Management
Complete Course
PROJ 430 Advanced Program Management
Complete Course
PROJ-430 Advanced Project Management
– All 7 Weeks Discussions, A+ Material (PROJ430)
PROJ430 Week 1 DQ1 Project &
Functional Manager Differences
PROJ430 Week 1 DQ2 Projects and
Organizational Structures
PROJ430 Week 2 DQ1 The Project
Kick-Off
PROJ430 Week 2 DQ2 Project Planning
Documents
PROJ430 Week 3 DQ1 Scheduling
Techniques
PROJ430 Week 3 DQ2 Adjusting the
Project Schedule
PROJ430 Week 4 DQ1 Quality
Management
PROJ430 Week 4 DQ2 Project Staffing
PROJ430 Week 5 DQ1 Project Risks
PROJ430 Week 5 DQ2 Procurement
PROJ430 Week 6 DQ1 Project Conflict
PROJ430 Week 6 DQ2 Variance
PROJ430 Week 7 DQ1 Managing Project
Trade-Offs
PROJ430 Week 7 DQ2 Change Management
ALL Weeks Checkpoints
PROJ430 Week 1 Checkpoint Solution
(Jones and Shephard Accountants (Chapter 3, pp 138 – 140)
1. Provide a synopsis of the Jones
and Shephard case.
2. Highlight three enterprise
management causes/considerations and three project management
causes/considerations for the situation. Include what seemed to be missing.
3. Consider that you are the systems
manager who is now responsible for redesigning the organizational structure.
What areas need to be addressed for the transition and how will they benefit
the company? How will you interact with the upper managers in the company? How
do you make this a transition with the least impact on the employees and the
customers?
4. How should the transition to a
new project management operation be accomplished? Consider what the enterprise
should need to know about project management and the new structure. How much
time do you recommend for the transition to the matrix organizations? Be sure
to include your rationale.
5. What other organizational changes
should be made? How do you work with the manager of operations to gain his/her
support for your organizational changes?
PROJ430 Week 2 Checkpoint The Trophy
Project (Chapter 5, pp 264 – 266) 100% Correct Answers
1. Provide a synopsis of the Trophy
Project case study. Highlight your observations about the project.
2. Did the project appear to be
planned correctly? Why or why not? Relate your answers to the expected
documents for proper project planning.
3. Citing evidence from the case, do
you think functional management teams were committed to the project? What
evidence do you have from the case study to substantiate your views?
4. Citing evidence from the case, do
you think senior management managers were supportive and committed? What
evidence do you have from the case study to substantiate your views?
5. What would you have done
differently?
PROJ430 Week 3 Checkpoint Habitat
for Humanity – Simulation
1. When the project first started,
you were asked to order the tasks to build the WBS. How did you decide the
order tasks should appear in for the WBS? In a typical project, how do you
think a WBS should be created, and what stakeholders or team members should be
involved?
2. What challenges did you face
during the simulation, and what solutions did you propose? Indicate any
research that you did In order to gain your own knowledge about remodeling a
bathroom and how it helped you.
3. When faced with the challenges,
what information did you use to make your decision, and what tradeoffs did you
contemplate?
4. How did your decisions impact the
project’s critical path? How was the critical path impacted as you tried
different options?
5. Based on the simulation and on
what we discussed this week in class, what additional information or resources
would have helped you make better project decisions?
PROJ430 Week 4 Checkpoint The
Reluctant Workers (Chapter 6, Page 294) 100% Correct Answers
Tim Aston had a normal expectation
to be the “best project manager” in his new assignment. What seems to have
caused him to change his outlook? What approaches would you take to improve
communications between Tim and the team members?If you were in Tim’s position
and were listening to his manager, Phil Davies, refer more than one time to the
average age of the staff, what would be your reaction? How would you use this
information to improve your working relationships with the staff?Tim seems
positioned to respect the customer’s wishes to attend a test. How would you (as
his manager) counsel him about honoring or rejecting that request? Support your
answer with examples of managing customer relations.Phil Davies said, “…people
think that they come first and that the project is second.” What message is he
really conveying? What does Tim seem to be missing in his next statement or
reply?
PROJ430 Week 5 Checkpoint Crosby
Manufacturing Corporation (Chapter 12, pp. 552 – 554) 100% Correct Answers
Livingston made some mistakes
initially. Describe at least two of them and provide how you would handle the
situations. How do you think the functional employees feel? Support how you
might feel if you were in their position by citing points from the case study?
Are there any other alternatives? Explain at least three alternatives. Explain
your thoughts about the appointment of Tim Emary as project manager. Consider
what is expected of a project manager and senior managers’ support for
projects. How long do you think it should take to develop a detailed project
schedule and why?Is a completion date in as short as 18 months realistic? Why
or why not? Analyze this question using the information from Exhibit 12-2
(Typical schedule in months). Explain what other areas may suffer as time
constraints increase.
PROJ430 Week 6 Checkpoint The
Bathtub Period (Chapter 15, pp. 708 – 709) 100% Correct Answers
Should Jerry go to the General
Manager? Why or why not? Think back to what is expected of a project manager
and the project charter. Should the key people be supported on overhead? Why or
why not? If this were a cost-plus program, would you consider approaching the
customer with your problem in hopes of relief? Why or why not? If you were the
customer of this cost-plus program, what would your response be for additional
funds for the bathtub period, assuming cost overrun? Why or why not? Would your
previous answer change if the program had the money available as a result of
being under budget? Why or why not?How do you prevent this situation from
recurring on all yearly follow-on contracts?
PROJ430 Week 7 Checkpoint 100%
Correct Answers
Will project management work in all
companies? Why or why not? Provide examples of companies or industries to
support your answer. Consider a project in which all project planning is
performed by a group. After all planning is completed, including the program
plan and schedule, a project manager is selected. Is there anything wrong with
this arrangement? The director of project management calls you into his office
and informs you that one of your fellow project managers had a severe heart
attack midway through a project. You will be taking over his project, which is
well behind schedule and overrunning costs. The director of project management
then “orders” you to complete the project within time and cost. How do you
propose to do it? Where do you start? Should you shut down the project to
re-plan it? Do cost overruns just happen, or are they caused? Once the
functional manager and project manager agree on a project schedule, who is
responsible for getting the work performed? Who is accountable for getting the
work performed? Why the difference, if any?
3. PROJ430 All Weeks Course Project
on Customer Care Website Implementation
Course Project: Final Report
Objective
Each student in Advanced Project
Management (PROJ430) will choose a project that will be used to develop various
documents that are developed and used throughout the project lifecycle. The
project documents will be completed and submitted in eight parts due in each
week throughout the course.
Guidelines
The topic you select should be a
project that will take between six months to two years to complete. Choose a
business or community related project topic in which you are interested, and
have knowledge, to make it easier for you to complete these assignments.
The intent of the Course Project is
that the project will be sufficiently complex to require consideration of a
number of project management issues. In completing the sample project documents
for this course, consider the full breadth of the project work required, but
remember that you will develop the details to a lesser depth than would be
required in reality.
As a reminder, your project topic MUST
be a business or community-related project topic. This will allow you to
complete all sections of the project. Try to find a project at your workplace
or community organization that you can use as a basis for completing these
assignments.
You should keep in mind that your
project must meet all of the characteristics of a project:
A specific and defined objective A
defined life span with a definitive start and a definitive end Involving
multiple departmental organizations and professional staff members Doing
something unique, not having been done before Defined and specific schedule,
budget, and quality/performance requirements
Deliverable Schedule
Week
Project Lifecycle Area(s)
Information and Activities
Deliverable Directions
1 Initiate, Define, and Organize
Your Project
Establish the project organization,
Define Project Parameters, and Plan the Project Office and Framework
This week, you are defining and
organizing your project. This is the first step in analyzing your concept by
gathering information needed for all the project documents that are created
during the Project Management process. Often an organization will require
months to complete this work. For this course project, you will be creating
sample documents that give you an idea or example of the type of information
needed to create similar types of project deliverables.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_1.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_1.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 1 Course
Project Dropbox.
2 Continue to Define and Organize
Your Project, and Start the Planning
Define How the Project Team Will
Work Together, and Define Major Deliverables and Milestones
This week, you are continuing to
define and organize your project. Your focus will be on the project team
(members and team organizational structure), and how the team will function.
You will also define and describe the major project deliverables (and
sub-deliverables) and milestones.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_2.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_2.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 2 Course
Project Dropbox.
3 Define WBS and Work Packages
Develop the WBS with Schedule,
Resources, and Costs using Microsoft Project
This week, you will be using
Microsoft Project to develop the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and work
packages for your course project. You will also be developing the project
schedule and project budget. You can access Microsoft Project from theiLab
under Course Home.
You will submit your Microsoft
Project file to the Week 3 Course Project Dropbox.
4 Plan your Project by Analyzing
Resources
Analyze Resources and Optimize
Trade-offs
This week, your focus is on resource
planning. This includes work resources (people) and material resources. Being
thorough and complete is very important, and you need to analyze if you
identified all the resources you need and the workloads for each. You will use
your Microsoft Project file to perform the analysis and complete this week’s
assignment. You can access Microsoft Project from the iLab under Course Home.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_4.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_4.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 4 Course
Project Dropbox.
5 Plan your Project by Analyzing
Project Risks
Develop a Risk Management Plan
This week, you will develop a risk
management plan for your course project. This portion of the planning process
includes analyzing potential risks that could impact the project, determining
who is responsible to manage the risk, and what actions should be taken to
minimize the risk.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_5.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_5.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 5 Course
Project Dropbox.
6 Plan your Project by Defining how
to Track, Manage, and Report Project Status
Collect Status Information and Plan
how to Take Corrective Actions
This week’s focus is on project
information. As a project manager, you will need to keep your finger on the
pulse of the project. You need to identify the information that you are
monitoring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting. Based on the information, you
and others will need to make decisions regarding the project.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_6.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_6.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 6 Course
Project Dropbox.
7 Close the Project
Close out the Project and Archive
Project Documents
This week’s focus is project closure,
with the assumption that your project will go through execution as planned and
will be formally closed. While the project has been the project manager’s focus
since project initialization, it is also very important for the project manager
to help transition team members back to their functional organizations as well
as assure that all project documentation is archived. A significant final
deliverable of the project is a Lessons Learned document and meeting.
Download the
Course_Project_Week_7.docx from Doc Sharing to start this assignment. The
Course_Project_Week_7.docx template contains all the sections that you will
need to complete, including instructions to help you work through this part of
the course project. You will submit this deliverable to the Week 7 Course
Project Dropbox.
8 Course Project Report
Formal Report that is a Compilation
of All Planning Documents from Weeks 1-7 plus Change Management
The Final Report for your Course
Project will be a formal report that you will present to the Project Sponsor
(your Professor). You will be using the information that you have been
preparing each week of the course. You will prepare the report using excellent
report writing skills and with content that would be read by an executive of an
enterprise. Now is the time to organize and present the information in a way
that is understandable and meaningful to your Project Sponsor.
Write the report as though the
Project Sponsor is reading the planning details for the first time. You have
prepared information each week during the course, and that information will
form the foundation for this report. For the Final Report, you should augment
that information with further explanations to facilitate the comprehension of
what you are presenting. You will need to demonstrate in your report that you
have thought through all that is required to manage your project successfully.
Continued funding and resource assignments will depend on how well you have
planned, estimated, and communicated all aspects of your project. You will
submit your final report to the Week 8 Course Project Dropbox. See the course
Syllabus for Due Date requirements.
Submit your Assignments to the
Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page. For instructions on
how to use the Dropbox, read these Step-by-Step Instructions or watch this
Dropbox Tutorial.
Grading Rubrics
Section/Category
Points
Description
Executive Summary
10
Concise, no more than a half to
three quarters of a page.
Integration Management
10
The information for each of these
sections comes from what has been developed in Weeks 1 – 7 plus Change
Management. It needs to be organized according to the course textbooks and the
PMBOK Knowledge Areas.
Report contains more content than
the Weeks 1 – 7 submissions. It reflects further explanation to demonstrate
your communication skills.
Scope Management
10
Time/Schedule Management
10
Cost Management
10
Quality Management
10
Human Resource Management
10
Communications Management
10
Risk Management
10
Procurement Management
10
Conclusion and Recommendations
10
Concise, no more than a half to
three quarters of a page.
Format and writing quality: Title
Page, Page Numbers, Headers, Font Type and Size, Length, and APA Compliance
15
Report is formatted using this
Rubric as a guide for content and sections. Tone addresses the Project Sponsor
directly and professionally.
Table of Contents shows each section
with at least two outline levels. Each section is clearly labeled in the body
of the report.
Core report length 1,500-2,000 words
(no limits on appendices, charts, graphs, supporting documentation). Report is
APA-compliant with accurate in-text citations supporting full citations on the
reference page.
Report contains no spelling,
grammar, typographical, or formatting errors; all links functional; graphics
and charts are clear and legible. Writing quality is excellent – clear,
organized, and professional.
Total
125
A quality paper will meet or exceed
all of the above requirements.
Project Tutorials
Tutorials
Project-2010-quick-reference-guide
Getting-started-Microsoft-Project-basics
Getting-started-with-Project-2010
Best Practices
The following 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. Executive Summary: Use a header on
your paper. This will indicate that you are introducing the paper.
1. Introduce the subject and why the subject is important;
2. Preview the main ideas and the
order in which they will be covered; and
3. Establish the tone of the
document.
Include in the executive summary 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,
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 effect the subject.Work Cited: Use the citation format
specified in the Syllabus.
Additional hints on preparing the
best possible project follow.
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.
