Discussion Post: Planning the Project
Readings:
• Chapter 1: Project Management: Past and Present
• Chapter 2: Project Management Overview
• Chapter 3: The Project Life Cycle (Phases)
Initial Postings: Read and reflect on the assigned readings. Then post what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/or any other thing that you felt was worthy of your understanding in each assigned textbook chapter.
Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:
• How does the application of a phased approach to project management vary in different industries? Do you think that the phases work the same in construction as they do in event management or software development?
• In what ways can the following activities be seen as projects? In what ways do they resemble ongoing, routine business activities? Feel free to add assumptions and details to describe how the activity might be a project in one context and routine in another.
o Reading the chapter before attending a university lecture.
o Taking the bus to work each day.
o Piloting an aircraft between Vancouver and Fiji.
o Teaching a course for the first time; teaching the same course every semester.
Problem
• Everyone has been involved in projects. What is the largest project you have been involved in? (You do not have to have been the project manager, but could have played another role.)
o Write one sentence that describes the objective of the project.
o Describe specifically how this project meets the definition of a project used in this textbook. (How is it unique? What were the time constraints? If it is over, how did you know it was over? If it is ongoing, how will you know when it is over?
o What was your role? Were you the project manager, a volunteer, some other role? If you were not the project manager, who was?
o Was the project part of a larger portfolio or program of projects?
o Who else was involved?
o What was the budget?
o Did you anticipate any risks at the outset? Did the project experience any outside forces that caused a change in either the objectives or the approach to achieving those objectives?
• Go online and search for project life cycle models. Identify at least two that are different from the PMI model, and compare and contrast the phases. Be sure to cite your sources.
The response must include a reference list. Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.