ELC 347

DAY 10

Agenda

Questions Capstone Proposals Overdue

Had five submitted Only one accepted, four in negotiation

Group Project Due Next Week No class on November 24 General Amnesty day is over.

All grades are posted Last time I do this

All students in the class have a numerical possibility of passing Possible and probable are two different things

Next week Exam 3 Ghattas 9&10, Project 11-13

Emphasis on Ghattas Same format as before 15 m/c 4 essays

This Week Group Work 30 min Chap 11 in Ghattas and Chaps 11, 12 & 13 in project

Left To do (56% of grade)

Group Project (20%) Nov 17

Exams (7% each,14% total) 3 > Nov 17 4 > Dec 15

Capstone (18%) Dec 15

Assignment 6 (4%) Dec 8

Project Control

Objectives Project Control

What is it Philosophies of Project Control

Different approaches for different situations Project Control Process

Managing the beast

What is project control??

Putting a plan into action Stop planning …start doing! Sometimes…Start doing and finish

planning 3 Purposes of Project control

Identify problems Solve problems Get the project back on track

Identifying Problems

Problems left alone do one of two things Feed (get bigger) Breed (create more problems)

Two types of problems Anticipated

Hopefully you have a contingency Surprise!!

Requires good problem solving skills Good planning gives more of the first and less of

the second

Anticipated problems

Develop best and worse case scenarios

Look for symptoms (“trigger points”) At the first sign of trouble apply

preplanned contingencies

Surprise Problem

Anything from a natural disaster to changes in team composition

Requires you to be very observant and inquisitive

The sooner the problem is discovered the cheaper it is to fix

Detecting Problems

Keep your eyes and ears open Stay active and accessible

talk to team members Chances are the team members will be the first

ones aware of a problem or know of symptoms of a problem

Ensuring timely problem reporting Rewards for problems reported Acknowledge solutions and their authors Provide and anonymous path for problem alerts “never shoot the messenger!”

Solving Problems

Use a Team approach Get input and look for creative solutions

View problems as momentary distractions .. Rather than disasters

Keep a positive attitude

Guidelines for team problem solving

1. Everyone must play by the rules Goal is best solution

Usually of the last discussed Everybody must commit to the process

and the solution Everybody participates constructively

Guidelines for team problem solving

2 .Have every member state his or her view of the problem for one min. Either orally or in writing Record all views Define the problem

Have everyone agree to the statement of the problem

Guidelines for team problem solving

3. Develop alternatives in “waves” If group is large divide into groups of 4-5 Each group develops 10 solutions Each group presents top 3 and Most creative

and record them (4) Swap (4) solutions and come up with 3 more (7)

and record Each group chooses 3 from the recorded total

solutions and discusses implementation

Guidelines for team problem solving

4. Identify the top 3 solutions that would appear to solve the problem for all concerned, and get the group to pick the best one Ask for commitment

Ask dissenters for distracters Ask assenters for benefits

Repeat until there is commitment

Guidelines for team problem solving

5. Develop an implementation plan for the solution chosen by asking the group Develop actions items Assign to individuals Get Due dates

Guidelines for team problem solving

6. Implement the solution, keeping the other two solutions on files as “Plans B &C” Reduce recovery time if Plan A doesn’t

work 7 Follow-up

Get evaluation of result from most affected group

Guidelines for team problem solving

8. If Plan a doesn’t work, determine why and move immediately to Plan B (or C) Do not go back to team problem solving

exercise unless absolutely necessary

Get Back on TRACK!

As soon as problems are solved Goal is to retain original completion

date Update the plan Distribute the modifies plan to all

stakeholders Keep everyone of the same “sheet of

music”

Approaches to Project Control

Dogmatic Static plan Due dates at all costs! Usually on time and over budget

Laid-Back Dynamic Plan Amorphous and always changing Usually on budget and late

Pragmatic

Approaches to project control

Pragmatic (a healthy blend) Completion oriented Respect for deadlines Get commitment of specific dates from

team members Expect EPF

Preserve slack Deal with problems in cost efficient ways

without sacrificing the completion date

Accountability

Team members must feel accountable for their actions and performance

Two types of team members Does that do what they say Excuse makers

Peer pressure is an effective tool to offset the excuse maker

Do not put the excuse maker of the critical path activities

Don’t be scared to “fire” a team member if that what it takes to get the project back on track

Project Control Processes

Communication Participation Analysis Action Commitment

Communication

As leader you are a facilitator of communication

Communications must be continuous between the leader and team members and between team members

Face to face is always better but not always possible

Participation

Goes all the back to the assignment phase of the project Requires consent an support

Avoid reassignments Never to absentees

Treat everyone equally

Analysis

Constantly assess On schedule On budget

Explore impacts of changes The plan is your best analytical tool

Action

Take and demand action Deal with problems aggressively and

act to resolve them Time is your enemy

Commitment

Three levels Commitment to the goal Commitment to the schedule Commitment to the project management

concepts established by the project manager Everyone is on the same page

MS Project

Use project plan I sent you Chap 11

Resolving resource assignment problems Chap 12

Reviewing the plan Chap 13

Printing the plan