read a selection of your colleagues’ postings and respond on 3 of your colleagues’ postings i of the following ways:
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings and ask a probing question.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience and make a suggestion.
Expand further on your colleagues’ postings with additional insights.
When responding to your classmates, comment on whether you agree or disagree with their analysis of the situation. Do you think that the particular aspects of the scope statement and estimates that they refer to would have kept the project on track? Why or why not?
Discussiom post below:
For our case study project, as the recovery project manager, discuss three ways that an effective recovery scope statement and estimates may have helped to avoid the failure.
In your discussion, refer to specific elements of a project scope statement (e.g. objective, deliverables, milestones, limits and exclusions) and the estimation method. If you are unable to locate specific information for the project, make assumptions.
Post 1:
As the recovery project manager for the A&D High Tech project, I can talk about three ways that a successful recovery scope definition and estimates might have prevented the failure.
Objectives and Deliverables’ Clarity and Alignment: The A&D High Tech project should have required a precise scope description. The objectives and deliverables of the project must be thoroughly described. If there had been more clarity, everyone involved—including the project team—would have known exactly what needed to be done. In our case, scope creep and changes were made possible by the lack of such clarity, which made matters worse. As the project manager for recovery, I might have reduced the likelihood of uncontrollable changes by using a solid scope definition to assess if suggested changes aligned with the project’s original goals.
Setting Limitations and Milestones: In the context of the A&D High Tech project, milestones and constraints must be included in a comprehensive scope statement. Milestones have a significant impact on the project’s schedule, while restrictions define what is specifically outside of the project’s purview. The absence of well-defined milestones contributed to our lack of openness and oversight. In contrast, with a clearly defined scope statement and specific milestones, as a project manager, I could have monitored my work and detected issues sooner. Furthermore, establishing explicit exclusions and constraints would have prevented unneeded alterations to the initial plan, such as the addition of promotional items that weren’t supposed to be included.
Methods for Precise Cost and Time Estimation: In the instance of the A&D High Tech project, these are essential. In our case, inaccurate estimating led to schedule delays and budget overruns. Using estimate techniques such as bottom-up estimating or comparable estimating could have resulted in more accurate forecasts. If I had had access to trustworthy estimates, I could have created a fair budget and schedule in my capacity as a recovery project manager. Better resource allocation would have been achievable as a result, and our project’s financial and scheduling issues would have been averted.
As the project manager responsible for recovery for the A&D High Tech project, I can attest that a well-crafted recovery scope statement that included precisely defined objectives, deliverables, milestones, limits, and reasonable estimations would have been crucial in averting the project’s collapse. With a strong basis for effective project management, the project would have been on schedule, stayed within budget, and accomplished its intended goals.
References –
Jeffery, M., Yung, D., & Gershbeyn, A. (2006, January 01). A&D High Tech (B): Managing Scope Change. Kellogg School of Management Cases, https://store.hbr.org/product/a-d-high-tech-b-managing-scope-change/KEL158Links to an external site.
Alaskar, A. H. (2013). Managing troubled projects. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—North America, New Orleans, LA. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Moura, H. (2012). How to deal with troubled projects. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012—EMEA, Marsailles, France. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Post 2:
n the case of the A&D High Tech online store project, an effective recovery scope statement and estimates could have significantly contributed to avoiding failure by providing clarity, alignment, and realistic expectations (Project Management Institute, 2017). Here are three ways this could have helped:
Clear Objectives and Deliverables: A well-defined project scope statement outlines the project’s objectives and deliverables in detail (Kerzner, 2017). In the case of A&D High Tech, this could include specific functionalities of the online store, such as user registration, product browsing, shopping cart, checkout process, payment integration, and customer support features. By clearly defining what needs to be delivered, the project team and stakeholders have a shared understanding of expectations. This clarity helps to avoid scope creep, where additional features are added during the project, leading to delays and budget overruns.
Milestones and Timeline Alignment: A recovery scope statement typically includes milestones, which are crucial points in the project timeline to evaluate progress and ensure alignment with the project objectives (Schwalbe, 2019). In the context of A&D High Tech, milestones could include the completion of front-end development, backend integration, testing phases, and the launch of the online store. By setting realistic milestones and aligning them with the estimated timeline, the project manager can track progress effectively and take corrective actions if necessary. This helps to avoid schedule slippage and ensures timely delivery of the project.
Limits and Exclusions: Every project scope statement should clearly define what is included in the project scope and what is not (Lock, 2019). This helps to manage stakeholders’ expectations and prevents misunderstandings during the project execution. For A&D High Tech, limits and exclusions could include specific functionalities or features that are out of scope, such as advanced customization options or integration with legacy systems not initially planned for. By clearly communicating these limits and exclusions, the project team can focus on delivering the agreed-upon scope within the estimated budget and timeline, reducing the risk of project failure due to scope ambiguity or unmet expectations.
In terms of estimation methods, a combination of expert judgment, analogous estimation, and parametric estimation could have been used for the A&D High Tech project (Kloppenborg, 2019). Expert judgment involves consulting industry experts or experienced professionals to estimate project durations and costs based on their expertise and past experiences. Analogous estimation involves using historical data from similar projects to estimate the effort required for the current project. Parametric estimation involves using mathematical models to estimate project parameters based on variables such as project size, complexity, and team productivity. By using these estimation methods in conjunction with a well-defined scope statement, the project manager can develop realistic and achievable project estimates, reducing the risk of underestimation and project failure.
Overall, an effective recovery scope statement and estimates provide a roadmap for project success by ensuring clarity, alignment, and realistic expectations among stakeholders (Project Management Institute, 2017). In the case of A&D High Tech, these elements could have helped to avoid failure by preventing scope creep, managing schedule slippage, and mitigating misunderstandings about project scope and deliverables
References:
Project Management Institute. (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (12th ed.). Wiley.
Schwalbe, K. (2019). Information Technology Project Management (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Lock, D. (2019). Project Management (12th ed.). Gower Publishing Limited.
Kloppenborg, T. J. (2019). Contemporary Project Management (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Post 3:
. Clear Definition of Project Objectives:
An effective recovery scope statement would have clearly defined the project’s objectives, such as completing the online store implementation in time for the holiday shopping season, and deliverables, such as the fully functional online store with promotional bundles integrated.
By having a well-defined scope statement upfront, the project team and stakeholders would have a clear understanding of what needs to be achieved, reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings or misinterpretations later in the project.
Additionally, with clearly defined deliverables, the estimation method could have been used to accurately estimate the time and resources required to complete each deliverable, ensuring that the project timeline and budget were realistic from the outset.
Objective Recommendations:
The objective of the project scope statement should have been clearly defined as ensuring the successful implementation of the online store in time for the holiday shopping season, with specific emphasis on integrating promotional bundles.
Clarity on the objective would have provided a clear direction for the project team, ensuring everyone understands the primary goal and is aligned in their efforts to achieve it.
The estimation method used here could have been analogous estimation, where past similar projects’ durations and costs are used as a basis for estimating the current project’s duration and cost.
2. Identification of Critical Milestones and Deliverables:
An effective recovery scope statement would have identified critical milestones, such as completion of system requirements gathering, software development, testing phases, and deployment.
By clearly delineating these milestones, the project team could have focused on achieving key objectives within specific timeframes, enabling better tracking of progress and early identification of any deviations from the plan.
Setting limits and exclusions within the scope statement would have helped manage expectations regarding what is included in the project and what is not. For example, specifying that certain customizations or enhancements beyond the core functionality of the online store are excluded from the project scope would have prevented scope creep and potential delays.
Deliverables Recommendations:
The deliverables should have included the fully functional online store, configured to handle promotional bundles, along with any associated documentation and training materials.
By clearly defining deliverables, the project team and stakeholders would have had a shared understanding of what constitutes project success.
Bottom-up estimation could have been employed here, where the estimates for individual deliverables are aggregated to derive the overall project estimate.
Milestones Recommendations:
Milestones should have included key project phases such as system requirements gathering, software development, testing, and deployment.
Setting clear milestones would have enabled the project team to track progress effectively and identify any deviations from the planned timeline early on.
Parametric estimation could have been used for estimating milestones, where historical data from similar projects is used to develop mathematical models to estimate project duration and cost.
3. Accurate Estimation of Resources and Effort Recommendations:
An effective estimation method, such as bottom-up estimation or analogous estimation, could have been used to estimate the resources and effort required for each task or deliverable identified in the scope statement.
By involving relevant stakeholders and subject matter experts in the estimation process, more accurate estimates could have been obtained, reducing the risk of underestimating the project’s complexity or overcommitting resources.
Accurate resource and effort estimates would have enabled better resource allocation, ensuring that the project had the necessary manpower and budget to execute successfully within the defined timeline.
4. Limits and Exclusions Recommendations:
Limits could have included constraints such as budget constraints or resource limitations, while exclusions could have specified what is not included in the project scope, such as certain customizations beyond the core functionality of the online store.
Setting clear limits and exclusions would have helped manage stakeholders’ expectations and prevent scope creep.
Expert judgment could have been utilized to assess the potential impact of limits and exclusions on project duration and cost.
Regards,
Anant
References:
Jeffery, M., Yung, D., & Gershbeyn, A. (2001, Jan 01). A&D High Tech (B): Managing Scope Change. Harvard Business Review. https://store.hbr.org/product/a-d-high-tech-b-managing-scope-change/kel158?sku=KEL158-PDF-ENGLinks to an external site.
