Information Technology Project Management
Instruction: Answers should be written in US writing style and in APA format. References must be in APA format.
Question 1:
Work Breakdown Structure
Develop a work breakdown structure for a project identified in any of the other conference threads. Include at least three levels in your diagram. (It is more beneficial to create the structure from someone else’s paragraph than from a project you thought up on your own…as you are rarely the client AND the project manager).
Question 2:
Predicting Costs
IT projects are particularly challenging as we are frequently asked for cost and time estimates before we do the Requirements Phase. Write about how IT professionals can attempt to estimate time and cost when we don’t know the requirements yet. (This is a real issue that many of you have faced. Feel free to provide examples, etc.)
Question 3:
Risks!
Choose a project with a relatively simple description (building a LAN, designing a web page, inventing a new communication device, etc.). Describe your project scope in a few sentences and then identify at least five significant varied risks associated with the project. Be sure that at least one of them is a positive risk.
Question 4:
D’Oh
The Center for Project Management in San Ramon, California, examined 24 IT projects and compiled a list of ten dumb mistakes. The center then presented this list to 50 conference attendees and asked them to grade their organization on each mistake. The average grade was between a C+ and D. Here are the ten mistakes:
1. Mistaking every half-baked idea for a viable project.
2. Overlooking stakeholders, forgetting the champions, and ignoring the nemesis.
3. Not assessing the project’s complexity.
4. Not developing a comprehensive project charter.
5. Not developing a comprehensive project plan.
6. Not designing a functional project organization.
7. Accepting or developing unrealistic or unachievable estimates.
8. Accepting status reports that contain mostly noise and not enough signal.
9. Looking back and not ahead.
10. Not following a robust project process architecture.
Read the above list and find an example of a project for which this is the case. The project can be one that you have personal experience with or that you have read or heard about. Describe the example and state which of the mistakes was made with respect to the project. (Note that there may be more than one for a particular project.) If you choose a project in the news, provide a citation so that your classmates can read more about it. Minimum length of response is 100 words. Respond to at least two other student posts.
