A great start

Introduction

A great start, a great motivation and great plans were some of the feeling I had when our Project Management lecture started. Project Management has also been one of the key areas I am interested in, because its field of application is both theoretical and practical. The program and the timeframe as well as the division in teams, made us start a process where a project had to be performed and proven. My experience was very positive.

Personal learning statement

According to a lecture delivered as part of our Project Management module, the fact that “a Project is a unique set of coordinated activities, with a definite starting and finishing point, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific performance objectives within defined schedule, cost and performance parameter, taking into account specific constraints such as time, resource, outcome and focus on the often changeable environment on which a project develops, keeping all time in mind the initial orientation of the project” (Stratum 2009), set me and my team to perform and deliver a qualitative coursework and presentation for our Project Management lecture.

Peer evaluation

Conclusion

References

7 Sep 2009

Group was formed during the first Project Management lecture to work on a group assignment, Coursework No.1: GROUP REPORT, credited 40%.

Took part in Tower Game, a game designed to promote initial team spirit. Group came first as team with the highest tower builded.,

14 Sep 2009

Started to work on coursework no.1

Select chapter 9 of the BOK: “Project Organization: Structures and Teams” as the chosen topic for the GROUP REPORT.

Took Belbin’s Test and Meyer-Briggs’s Test to specify member’s straits and according role.

21 Sep 2009

Started to work on the PID (Project Initiation Document)

Had the first official Project meeting

Group member each was assigned to come up with his own version of the document and sent to Ruben for compilation.

28 Sep 2009

During Project Meeting, group discussed way to approach the Report.

Group member each was assigned to explore an area of Teamwork, proposed tools to measure the effectiveness of Teamwork in that area and prepared to apply them into a real-life case study.

5 areas:

• Characteristics of a Team -Godfrey
• Life cycle of a Team -Saul
• Managing Personalities -Hermen
• Effective Teamwork -Pim
• Running Effective Meetings -Kenfi

5 Oct 2009

During Project Meeting, group discussed way to present the Report.

Group member each was assigned to complete his area of Teamwork, proposed tools to measure the effectiveness of Teamwork in that area and to produce documents in the later week

12 Oct 2009

During this meeting we discussed planning, estimation and tracking. We created an initial relative estimation based on previous work done in the beginning of the project. After that we created a burndown and marked it with milestones. Then we created a second burndown on the milestones and saw that our average velocity was not enough to reach the first mayor milestone (presentation). We accordingly rearranged a couple of items so that the presentation deadline would not be in jeopardy This technique was borrowed from Agile/SCRUM.

Work Breakdown Structure

What it is:

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a process for defining the final and intermediate products of a project and their relationships. Generally, WBS uses a tree diagram/structure diagram to show the resolution of overall requirements into increasing levels of detail.

WBS allows a team to accomplish its general requirements by partitioning a large task into smaller components and focusing on work that can be more easily accomplished. (See also Tree Diagram and Action Plan.)

When to use it:

A work breakdown structure is an essential element in project planning and project management. In the quality planning process, WBS begins with a generalized goal and then identifies progressively finer levels of actions needed to accomplish the goal. In the quality improvement process, the tool is especially useful for creating an implementation plan to remedy identified process problems. For WBS to accurately reflect the project, however, it is essential that the team using it have detailed understanding of the tasks required.

How to use it:

Identify the primary requirement or objective. This should be a clear item, based on customer requirements, to which the entire team agrees. Write this requirement at the top of the chart.

Subdivide the requirement statement into major secondary categories. These branches should represent requirements, products, or activities that directly lead to the primary objective or that are directly required to fulfill the overall requirement. The team should continually ask, “What is required to meet this condition?”, “What happens next?”, and “What needs to be addressed?” Write the secondary categories below the primary requirement statement. Using sticky notes at this stage makes later changes easier to accomplish.

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Break each major heading into greater detail. As you move from top to bottom in the WBS, products and activities should become more and more specific. Stop the breakdown when each task is tiny enough to be easily completed and evaluated for accuracy. If the team does not have enough knowledge to continue at some point, identify the individuals who can supply the information and continue the breakdown later with those individuals present.

Review the WBS for logic and completeness. Make sure that each subheading and path has a direct cause-and-effect relationship with the one before. Examine the paths to ensure that no obvious products or actions have been

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