Week 3 Discussion: Developing Your Project Scope
• You have been hired to lead a complex, two-yearI/T project (the project of your choice). As the Project Manager, you know it is important get the project off to a good start. Using the tools provided in the required readings, provide a quick summary of your project, including the scope and at least three goals and objectives of your project. • After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 4 Discussion: Your Project Budget
• Last week, you were given control of the projectyou discussed in Week 2. You have defined your project properly. Now, it is time to estimate your budget. Your Project Sponsor has set a limit on the amount of money you can spend. You know your budget will exceed that limit. Using the information covered in the required readings, describe the key budget components that you will need, how long it will take to complete the project (using the materials we covered this week), and why the budget exceeds your Sponsor’s limit. • After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 5 Discussion: Dedicated or Non-Dedicated Resources
• You are now deciding on technical resources for a project team that you discussed in Week 3. You have a choice to staff a team of technical resources who will be dedicated (or allocated) 100% to the project, or staff a team of technical resources who will be dedicated (or allocated) three days each week to your project. Using information from the readings, explain how you can use either set of resources.• After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 6 Discussion: Project Challenge – Schedule Change
• Your Project Sponsor and customer areimpressed with your project schedule for the project noted in Week 2, but due to some factors out of their control, you’ve been told to deliver your project roughly 20% earlier than anticipatedwithout sacrificing quality. One of the primary reasons for delivering the project early will be because Microsoft will be extending additional rebates per full adoption of Office 365. Using the information from the readings, explain how you would go about assessing the possibility of delivering your project early. How will that affect scope, costs, and schedule?• After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 7 Discussion: Being a Leader for Your Project
• As we learned in Week 6, your Project Sponsor and customer informed you that you have to deliver your project much sooner than anticipated. When you break the news to your team, they are not happy with the decision, for they are concerned that the project will now fail. Using the information that you learned from yourreadings, what can you do as a leader to assureyour project team that this is the right thing to do? What will you do to motivate them?• After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 8 Discussion: Adding New Resources to Your Project
• In order to deliver the project ahead of schedule, you have been granted permission to add more resources to your team. Your Project Sponsor has worked out a deal to add an outside resource — a small upstart technology firm — toyour project team as a partner. They have very little understanding of your project and you don’t have a lot of time to educate them on the project’s specifics. Describe how you plan to incorporate them as members of your project, as well as how to get them up to speed on your project. • After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 9 Discussion: Educating Your Business Sponsor on EVM
• Your Project Sponsor pulls you aside and admits that he has no idea what earned value management concepts (EVM) — such as AC, BCWP, and EV — mean. He is concerned only that you deliver the project ahead of schedule and under budget. Using the information covered from your readings and other activities, identify and discuss which EVM performance measures should concern him. Provide a rationale for your selection of topics.• After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their suggestions.
Week 10 Discussion: We are done! Not so fast!
• You have now delivered the project to your customer ahead of schedule, but slightly over budget. Now, it is time to reflect on what went well and what didn’t go so well. Based on feedback throughout the course, what would you have done differently in terms of scope, resources, and / or schedule, and why?• After posting your response, respond to at least one (1) of your classmates on their recommendations.
Week 11 Discussion: What’s Next?
• Suppose you have graduated from Strayer University with your degree and you have been working on a variety of projects. Now, you are ready to pursue a certification in project management, but you are not sure which one to get. After visiting the PMI certification website (http://www.pmi.org/certification.aspx#certification-types), you see several certification options. Select the certification that would most interest you and explain why you chose such acertification.
