EPM7e Case Study Exercises

8/10/2019 EPM7e Case Study Exercises

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Effective Project Management:Traditional, Agile, Extreme

Presented by

(faci l i tator name)

Managing Complexi ty inthe Face of Uncertainty

Individual, class, and team exercises



There are more than 30 exercises in this file. I have

collected these exercises together in one place for

your use. They are a mixture of individual, team and

class exercises. Most are team exercises because that

is the format I use for all of my teaching and training

courses. I have used these exercises for several years

with great success. Feel free to modify them and

integrate them into your slide presentations for use inclass. Many of them draw upon the PDQ Case Study

and tend to be the more difficult exercises.

They are numbered consecutively for easy reference.

Note to the Instructor

Introduction





Class Exercise #2

Read the Case Study and Form Teams

Pizza Delivered Quickly (PDQ) has fallen on hard times

and needs your help to survive. Read the case study inyour book and be prepared to ask questions for

clarification.

Once the case study has been clarified, teams will bechosen. Teams will work on the same case study but

independently of each other. Team size should be

between 4-6.

Introduction



Is Everything a Project?

Some organizations are projectized. That is every

business activity is defined as a project. Suppose your

organization were to consider being projectized. What

obstacles and issues would you see having to be

resolved? How might they be resolved? Identify

advantages and disadvantages to this form versus thetraditional functional or matrix organization.

Team Exercise #3





Team Exercise #5

Create the Outline of an RFP

Your company is seeking a vendor to design, develop,

and implement a comprehensive Project Support Office(PSO). This will include three major goals: Establish the mission, objectives, functions, roles, responsibilities,

and organizational structure of the PSO and implement it

Design and implement a project management methodology

Design, develop, and offer a project management trainingcurriculum including a train the trainer component

Develop an RFP outline for one of the goals. You have

30 minutes for this exercise. Appoint a spokesperson to

report your team’s findings.



Team Exercise #6

Choose the Contract Type for Your Project

The purpose of this exercise is to decide which type ofcontract is best for PDQ. Compare and contrast the

advantages and disadvantages of each and choose the

one you will use. What type of payment schedule will you

use? Should there be any incentives? If so, define them.You will have 60 minutes for this exercise. Appoint a

spokesperson to report your team’s decisions.



Team Exercise #7

Involving the Vendor in Planning

Make a list of all the planning activities that the vendor

should be involved in and specify a strategy for getting

that involvement. You have 30 minutes for this exercise.

Appoint a spokesperson to report your team’s findings.



Team Exercise #8

Identify the Risks

Using Figures 3-1 and 3-2 identify the top ten

risks in your project. Prioritize them from A to J.

You will have 30 minutes for this exercise.Appoint a spokesperson to present your list to the

class.





Team Exercise #9 –

Risk Assessment Worksheet



Team Exercise #10

Building Risk Mitigation Plans

Using the risks previously identified, select 2 “show-

stoppers” and develop complete mitigation plans. Includethe strategy and implications of resources, costs,

schedule, and any risk that this mitigation measure will

generate.

Deliverables: Detailed Plan, Assumptions and Risks,

Cost and Schedule Estimates

You will have 60 minutes. Choose a spokesperson to

present your mitigation plan to the class.



Team Exercise #11

Create the RBS

Generate the RBS for the PDQ project. You have 60

minutes.

Appoint a spokesperson to report your RBS.



Write the POS for the Case Study

Each team will complete a POS for the PDQ project.

Appoint a spokesperson to present the POS to the class.

The class will critique the POS paying particular

attention to the language used.1. Could anyone in your company understand it?

2. Is it too technical?3. Will it convince Dee that your idea is worthy of support to

the next level?

Team Exercise #12



Build a Complete WBS for the PDQ Project

Using the RBS as input build as much of the WBS as

you can. You may use either the indented outline or

graphical format.

Appoint a spokesperson to present your WBS to the

class.

Team Exercise #13



Team Exercise #14

Build the Dependency Diagram for the PDQ Project

Create the network dependency diagram for your

project.

Once the dependency diagram is complete, load the

predecessor and successor relationships into MS

Project.





Project Manager Skills Assessment

Complete the PMSA in your book. How do your

team members’ skills align with the needs of theproject?

Appoint a spokesperson to present your analysis

to the class.

Individual Exercise #16



Team Exercise #17

Prepare the Project Impact Statement

Dee has just discovered a third carryout restaurant that has gone out

of business. She would not have been interested in it at this stage ofthe project except that it was in an excellent location to serve the

outer fringes of the PDQ market in a section of town where middle

class homes were being constructed. Design has been completed

on all sub-projects and coding is nearly complete. A Scope Change

Request Form has been completed by Dee and will be distributed toyour team.

Complete the Project Impact Statement. You have 60 minutes to

complete this exercise. Appoint a spokesperson from your team to

report your results to the class.



Team Exercise #18

Building Your Effective IT Project Team

Your team is now together for the first time. Begin with

the Assessment Stage and discuss the inventory of skillson your team from the PMSA you conducted in Exercise

#16. Identify the major tasks that your team will have to

execute and build the RASCI Matrix for your team.



Getting Clients Meaningfully Involved

Make a list of all those initiatives you have taken to get

your clients meaningfully involved. Which ones have been successful?

Which haven’t?

How would you approach them now?

You have 60 minutes. Appoint a spokesperson topresent your team’s initiatives.

Team Exercise #19



Class Exercise #20

Client Scenarios

Respond to the issues shown on the following slides.

For each issue, identify what you could do to prevent

the issue from arising and what you would do if it has

already occurred.



Class Exercise #20

Note to Instructor

The following slides should be shown to the students

one at a time. First, you display the slide that shows

only the issue. Have the students suggest possible

preventative measures. Then, show the slide with your

preventative measures and discuss. Next, have the

students suggest prescriptive measures. Then, showyour slide with your prescriptive measures and

discuss.

Feel free to substitute any of your own measures.



Importance of Meaningful Client Involvement ISSUE #1The client changes requirements frequently.

ACTION

Preventative measures:

Prescriptive measures:




ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Become more proactive at beginning of the project.2. Negotiate requirements.3. Base requirements on business rules and processes.4. Keep the client meaningfully involved in the project.5. Establish a change request bank and make a deposit.





ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Become more proactive at beginning of the project.2. Negotiate requirements.3. Base requirements on business rules and processes.4. Keep the client meaningfully involved in the project.5. Establish a change request bank and make a deposit.

Prescriptive measures:1. What was the cause of the change request?2. What if the change is not accommodated?3. What is the impact of the change on the project?

4. Is there an alternative to the change?



ISSUE #2The client does not provide good people for theproject.

Importance of Meaningful Client Involvement

ACTIONPreventative measures:






ACTIONPreventative measures:1. Ask for a junior member from the client

organization.






ACTIONPreventative measures:1. Ask for a junior member from the client

organization.

Prescriptive measures:1. Meet with the client manager and state your

minimum requirements.



ISSUE #3The client group cannot agree among themselves.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Meet with the client groups to identify potentialproblems.

2. Seek agreement on solutions in advance.3. Show how your approach meets the needs of each

group.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Meet with the client groups to identify potentialproblems.

2. Seek agreement on solutions in advance.3. Show how your approach meets the needs of each

group.

Prescriptive measures:1. Meet with each client group independently to get

opinions.2. Formulate a solution all will accept.

3. Follow up with sales efforts.



ISSUE #4Client managers and staff lack technical knowledge.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Present technology as it impacts the client’s

business process.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Present technology as it impacts the client’s

business process.


1. Explain use and benefits of the technology.



ISSUE #5Client management is replaced.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Anticipate change.2. Introduce project to as wide a group as possible.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Anticipate change.2. Introduce project to as wide a group as possible.


1. Be proactive.2. Introduce new managers to benefits of project.3. Involve new managers in the issues.



ISSUE #6The client has no interest in the project.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Point out benefits early in the project.2. Seek to establish support from top management.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Point out benefits early in the project.2. Seek to establish support from top management.


1. Involve client groups that will benefit.2. You may want to change the project.



ISSUE #7Team members resist project management.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Discuss how the project will be managed.2. Lay out the role of each team member early in

planning stage.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Discuss how the project will be managed.2. Lay out the role of each team member early in

planning stage.

Prescriptive measures:1. Talk one on one about past projects.2. Show how your approach is different.3. Reinforce methods described earlier.



ISSUE #8Team members are over-committed to projects.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Be informed of all team members’ commitments. 2. Identify realistic minimum expectations.3. Monitor how their time is spent.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Be informed of all team members’ commitments. 2. Identify realistic minimum expectations.3. Monitor how their time is spent.

Prescriptive measures:1. Approach the individual and review theircommitments.

2. Work out a compromise with other managers.



ISSUE #9There are missing skills on your team.


ACTION







ISSUE #9There are missing skills on your team.


ACTION

Preventative measures:1. Assess skill levels of the team.2. Identify outside contractors.


1. Involve the team in solution identification.2. Look for outside help.3. Plan ahead for bringing new people on the project.



ISSUE #10 A team member leaves and produces a gap.


ACTION







ACTION

Preventative measures:1. As a risk mitigation strategy, consider back up for

critical skills.2. Use cross training whenever possible.






ACTION

Preventative measures:1. As a risk mitigation strategy, consider back up for

critical skills.2. Use cross training whenever possible.

Prescriptive measures:1. View vacancy as an opportunity and consult withyour team.

2. Reformulate and reassign work until the vacancy isfilled.



Team Exercise #21

Conduct Stakeholder Analysis

Each team will identify their stakeholder groups and

conduct a stakeholder analysis using the form on thefollowing slide. You will have 30 minutes for this

exercise.

Appoint a spokesperson from each group to reportyour experiences throughout the exercise.



Team Exercise #21 – The Communications Interfaces

TO WHOM WHAT WHEN HOW

Client

Functional manager

Team members

Outside contractors

The public

Sponsor

FROM WHOM: Project Manager



Team Exercise #22

Build a Communications Management Plan

A communications management plan should be part

of the WBS.Use the stakeholder analysis generated in the previous

module as input to this exercise and create your

communications management plan.

You have 45 minutes for this exercise. Appoint aspokesperson to report your plan to the class.



Team Exercise #23

Create a Project Status Report

Create a status report for your project. Appoint one or

more spokespersons from your team to present yourproject status report to the class.



Class Exercise #24

Compare and Contrast Each Model

Now that you have been exposed to all of the models, it is

worth the time to reflect back on what we have done andidentify where these models might have application in

your organization. Identify any obstacles you envision and

how you might mitigate them. Propose an implementation

plan.



Using TPM for the PDQ Project

The PDQ Project has six subsystems to be developed.

Which, if any, would lend themselves to a TPMapproach. Defend your choices.

Team Exercise #25



APF Implementation Challenges

Your have assembled a team of the only three senior

project managers who have experience using APF butnot in your organization. They have the respect and

credibility of the other TPM project managers. You have

been asked by the PMO Director to develop an

implementation plan for APF. To begin that planningactivity, identify three major obstacles you might face

and define your strategy for overcoming them. You have

45 minutes to complete the exercise.

Appoint a spokesperson to report your findings.

Team Exercise #26



Using xPM for the PDQ Project

If you had to pick a sub-system in the PDQ Project that

was best suited for an Extreme PMLC Model, which sub-system would you pick and why? How might you

execute such a project?

Team Exercise #27



PSO Maturity

Describe how you would implement a PSO at PDQ.

What programs would you implement to move theorganization from Level 2 to eventually Level 4?

Team Exercise #28



PDQ Project Portfolio Management Process

The PDQ team and its contractors do not have enough

resources to complete the project as quickly as it couldhave been done. Establish a temporary portfolio

management process for the PDQ project.

Team Exercise #29



PDQ Process Improvement Program

Once the PDQ Project is complete and all six

subsystems are working, there will be problems in thelevel of performance that actually occurs. Construct a

PQM for PDQ. In other words what are the rows and

columns of the PDQ PQM. Also determine the

correlations (recall that these are the little squares). Bevery specific. You do not have to define the process

maturity level column.

You have 90 minutes to complete this exercise. Appoint

a spokesperson to present your PQM to the class.

Team Exercise #30



Team Exercise #31

Root Cause Analysis

You have two development projects that have become

distressed projects:

Project Alpha: Under budget and behind schedule

Project Beta: Over budget and behind schedule

Create a root cause analysis template for each project.

You have 30 minutes for this exercise. Appoint a

spokesperson to present your team’s templates.



PDQ Project Team Organization

Suppose that PDQ were a project whose team consisted

of six independent teams – one for each subsystem.Which team structure would you use and why? Given

that team structure, how would you organize the project?

Appoint a spokesperson to present your team’s analysis.

Team Exercise #32

Documents

EPM7e Case Study Exercises