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 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