Project Management - I

BMGT-487 (3)

See Week 1 Group Assignments and Week 1 Individual Assignments

Text: Review Table of Contents and Preface of your book
Module: Review the Module Structure and take the pretest linked to Module 1.
Student Companion Web Site for the Text: Review the structure of the Companion site.

Turn In & Participate:

Practice basic protocols. Complete Week 1 Assignments. Survey Library resources.
Confirm books have arrived.
Explore Internet Resources.
Explore the UMUC Databases/sources and other web sites for databases with resources relevant to Project Management.
Get acquainted with fellow learners; post a course specific bio-sketch to share with others (this is to complement you general WT bio-sketch).
Complete the WebTycho tutorial and a review of my general and specific course guidance.

Week 2 (16 - 22 June. '02) (Module 1) Overview & Project Initiation

Many of us participate or lead project activity regularly. We do not stop to analyze and understand the degree to which project activity differs from our "normal" job - but we know we have to do both.

The first chapter of the text gets us oriented. The second chapter allows us to look at several project selection models. It also introduces us to the issue of risk and uncertainty which are much more common for projects than for routine organizational activity.

Topics:

What is Project Management
Project Management Life Cycle
Project Selection
Project Proposals

Study: Text: Chapters 1-2. (Note: Assignments include the Directed Readings at the end of each chapter.)
Course Module 1
Student Companion Site: Chapters 1-2

Chapter Project Management in Practice
Chapter Class Discussion Questions
(Note: I will specify which students need to turn in this work; however, all students are expected to complete the work.)

Use the UMUC library on-line database.

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Text Chapter Incidents for Discussion

Week 3 (23 - 29 June '02) (Module 2) Project Initiation (continued)

** Journal.1 due NLT 29 June '02 **

By now everyone should have your textbook and be well into the course. If you do not have your text by now, please send me an email.

Module 2 has a simple title - People. Pay close attention. People make all the difference.

Project Managers are not always around for the selection phase of a project. But hopefully they come on board very quickly after that at least. Chapter 3 explains many of the issues activity leaders must consider when selecting a project manager.

You have seen in your prior course work how organizations structure themselves to carry out their normal functions. Chapter Four shows you how project organization is different.

Government organizations, particularly the DoD, have long been help up as the model for one of the most complex types of organization - the matrix. This chapter will perhaps help you understand why this structure has evolved and why projects seem to fit so easily into our method of working.

Topics:

The Project Manager
Cultural Differences
Environmental Factors
Project Organization
Different Organizational Structures
Matrix Organization
Project Team
Human Factors
Probability & Statistics - Review of the Basics

Study: Text: Chapters 3 & 4; Appendix B.
Course Module 2
Student Companion Site: Chapters 3 & 4

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions
Complete and submit Part 1 of your Journal.

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Incidents for Discussion

Module Cases 1-4

Week 4 (30 June - 6 July '02) (Module 2) Project Initiation (continued)

Some of you may have thought that we would start the course here. After all, planning comes first, right? Not really. First comes preplanning as you have seen in the prior chapters. If the preplanning is good, then you can move on the the planning.

Chapter Five introduces you to a key concept - projects do not exist in a vacuum. Projects are typically part of complex systems and must be tied into the environment via a complex web of communications.

Also in this chapter you see one of the guiding tools for the project manager - the Work Breakdown Structure. This highly structured document, key to organized activity and audit trails, actually flows from a more narrative document called a Statement of Work which is often provided by the customer with a Request for Proposal.

If you have been avoiding charts and graphs up to now, please dive in head first. We use graphical aids extensively in project management. You need to learn how to make them your best friends.

Negotiations are central to project management - as is conflict. Your authors present an excellent review of both in Chapter Six.

Topics:

Project Planning
Initial Project Coordination
Systems Integration
Work Breakdown Structure
Linear Responsibility Charts
Integration Management
Nature of Negotiation
Conflict and Project Life Cycle
Basic Principles of Negotiation

Study: Text: Chapters 5 & 6.
Course Module 2
Student Companion Site: Chapters 5 & 6.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Module Cases 5-7 & Exercises A & B

Week 5 (7- 13 July '02) (Module 3) Project Implementation

Show me the money. More correctly, show me what you plan to do with my money. A budget is a plan and project managers live by plans and controls.

The section on improving cost estimation takes you into some quantitative methods that will be useful in other applications as well.

Topics:

Budgeting
Cost Estimation

Study: Text: Chapter 7.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 7.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Module Case 8

Week 6 (14 - 19 July '02) (Module 3) Project Implementation (continued)

Performance, time, cost - the three bywords of the project manager. This week we look more closely at how to keep time on track. But of course we find that time, cost and performance are all interrelated.

You may have seen the PERT or CPM method in another course. You will get a strong dose of both here. It is time to break out your Microsoft Project 2000 disc and become familiar with it. Your 120 day trial will take you past the end of the course. Use the tutorials. Visit the web site.

Topics:

Scheduling
PERT/CPM
Gantt Charts
Microsoft Project 2000

Study: Text: Chapter 8.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 8.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Module Cases 9 & 10

Week 7 (20 - 26 July '02) Midterm Exam "Week"

** Journal.2 due NLT 26 July '02 **

Review for the Midterm Exam.

Midterm will be posted on WebTycho in the study group area by 0000 GMT/UCT, 20 July '02 and is to be returned to the Assignment area of WT by 2400 GMT, 21 July '02.
Complete and turn-in midterm by deadline.

Complete and submit Part 2 of your Journal.

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Welcome back. It is now time to start our course project. You have enough tools and you have completed more than half the text. See my separate message on this tasking.

Chapter Nine shows us that there is more than one way to skin a cat - or complete a project on time, under budget, with a happy customer. Well, perhaps just a little over budget - a little late - and with a few frowns all around.

One thing you can count on - change. Your plan will be adjusted many times and often not because you want to make the changes. So you need to learn how to react to change in an effective manner. Plan ahead. Know where you can save time and money. Know where you cannot.

Topics:

Crashing a Project
Resource Allocation Problem
Tradeoffs
Resource Loading
Resource Leveling
Constrained Scheduling
Multi-project Scheduling

Study: Text: Chapter 9.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 9.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Module Case 11

Week 9 (25 - 31 Aug. '02) (Module 3) Project Implementation (continued)

We had reporting and monitoring systems long before we had computers. But computers do make such systems more capable and responsive. Unfortunately, there are still people in the middle and often at each end. So imperfection is inevitable.

Topics:

Monitoring and Information Systems
The Planning-Monitoring-Controlling Cycle
Information Needs
Reporting Process
Computerized Project Management Information Systems (PMIS)

Study: Text: Chapter 10.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 10.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Turn-in Part 2 of Course Project.
Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Module Case 12

Weekly Term Project Report

Week 10 (1 - 7 Sep. '02) (Module 3) Project Implementation (continued)

** Journal.3 due NLT 7 Sep. 2002 **

If it is not measured, it is not controlled, so they say. But controls can be threatening. It is so each to control what is easy to measure. But it is not so easy to measure or control the most important aspects of any project. Moreover, we do not want to stem the creativity of our workers as we try to keep them and the project pointed and moving in the right direction.

By now you are well aware of some of the ways that projects just seem to get bigger. This is only one of many areas that must be controlled.

This is another useful chapter from your authors.

Topics:

Project Control
Fundamental Purposes of Control
Types of Control Processes
Control as Function of Management
Balance in a Control System
Control of Creative Activities
Control of Change
Scope Creep

Study: Text: Chapters 11.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapters 11.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Turn-in Part 3 of your Journal.
Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Module Case 10

Weekly Term Project Report

Week 11 (8 - 14 Sep. '02) (Module 3) Project Termination

Complete course Critique on WebTycho

Managers just love audits, right? Well, maybe not. But auditors love audits, right? "Depends" is the best answer, I suspect.

Witch hunts help no one. We need an audit to help us learn how to conduct projects better next time. Be prepared to audit early and often to help you as a project manager learn from mistakes and still complete your project to the customer's satisfaction. Yes, I know, you boss has to be happy too.

Topics:

Project Auditing
Audit Report
Project Audit Life Cycle
Some Essentials of Audit and Evaluation
Measurement

Study: Text: Chapter 12.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 12.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Incidents for Discussion

Weekly Term Project Report

Some projects seem endless. You have probably seen a few. Ever present for years then slowly they fade into the background. But there always seems to be someone assigned to the project team or to complete "Items of Interest" on key project objectives.

Knowing when and how to call a halt saves more than money. It releases people to do other things and helps fellow workers know that there is a Santa Claus. Keep projects alive past their "Sell By" date steals resources from other parts of your firm and your workers know this. They pay the price more than anyone else. Pay attention to the lessons of Chapter 13.

Don't miss the Final Report. Your term project will have one.

Topics:

Types of Project Termination
When to Terminate
Termination Process
The Final Report

Study: Text: Chapter 13.
Course Module 3
Student Companion Site: Chapter 13.

Project Management in Practice
Class Discussion Questions

Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Incidents for Discussion

Module Cases Exercise C

Weekly Term Project Report

Week 13 (22 - 27 Sep. '02) Review and Project Completion

** Course Project Due: 27 Sep. 2002 **

Use this week to finish up your course project and review for your final exam.

Study: Text: Epilogue and Review.
Course Modules 1-3
Student Companion Site: Review

Turn-in Course Project.
Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Course Project

Week 14 (28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2002) Final Exam Week.

** Journal.4 due NLT 4 Oct. 2002 **

Course Review, Wrap-up & Final comments, Course Critique, etc.

Final Exam will be posted on WebTycho in the study group area by 0000 GMT/UCT, 28 Sep. 2002 and is to be returned to the Assignment area of WT by 2400 GMT, 29 Sep. 2002.
Complete and turn-in final by deadline.

Turn-in Part 4 of your Journal.

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