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Project Management Simulation

Kristie Lin

Colorado State University Global

PJM 500 Module 6 Critical Thinking

Dr. Melinda Hollingshed

3/21/21

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Project Management Simulation

Project management is not an easy job to do, and the simulation highlighted just that. It is

easy to think that making decisions is simple and that there is nothing to it. Underestimating the

details that go into project management can result in the downfall of a project. Knowing how

each component of project management affects each other and the result of the project is also

essential. Team morale, project scope management, project scheduling, and project resource

management are important components to project management and the simulation showed

exactly how important they are to one another and the project’s success.

Scenario A

In Scenario A, the company Delphi Printers & Peripherals is trying to stay competitive

with other companies, and so the senior project manager is tasked with developing a brand new

consumer printer. The primary objective for this particular scenario was to develop a wireless

printer. This printer was expected to be completed by the end of 18 weeks, which was the same

timeline that the other competitor was projected to complete their project as well. As a result, it

is crucial for Delphi Printers & Peripherals to complete their printer in 18 weeks so that they can

launch their product at the same time as their competitors. The target budget for this project was

$42,500. Along with trying to stay within budget and schedule, the senior project manager must

ensure that the team working on the printer has good morale and lesser levels of stress.

The purpose of running this scenario is to allow the user to practice decision making and

perform senior project manager activities. With that being said, these decisions are basic project

manager duties and do not go as in depth as they would in reality. For this simulation, the senior

project manager only has to make decisions based on four components. These four components

include project scope, project schedule, project resources, and team process.

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PMBOK Standards and Practices

There are many standards and practices that the 2017 Project Management Book of

Knowledge (PMBOK) lists and it includes but is not limited to, standards for scheduling, project

scope management, and project resource management. Each one of these standards and practices

should be considered when managing a project. Underestimating any of these standards and

practices can result in the delay or failure of the project.

Standards for Scheduling

There are six components to project schedule management. They include plan schedule

management, define activities, sequence activities, estimate activity durations, develop schedule,

and control schedule (Roseke, 2018). For scenario A, the timeline was already pre-determined

because Delphi Printers & Peripherals was competing with another competitor. The simulation

had also accounted for many of these components already, however controlling the schedule was

based on the user. One tool used to control the project schedule was work performance

information and monitoring. The user is able to monitor the project using the dashboard to see

how many tasks were completed each week compared to the target number of tasks.

Project Scope Management

PMBOK states that defining project boundaries and establishing goals and objectives are

vital to project scope management. Deadlines, budget, and deliverables should also be

determined during the process of project scope management (Project, 2021). In this scenario, the

objectives, goals, deadlines, budget, and deliverables were already determined beforehand.

Project scope management also goes beyond just defining and validating the scope, it also

includes controlling the scope (Hartney, 2016). There should be an ongoing process of

monitoring the project progress as well as making any changes necessary (Hartney, 2016).

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Especially for larger projects, it is typical for there to be changes as the project progresses

(Project, 2021). This simulation allowed for that and allowed the user to make changes every

week, in the event that the project started to fall behind schedule or go over budget.

Project Resource Management

A portion of project resource management is resource allocation. To begin resource

allocation, tasks must be divided and then the resources are assigned to those tasks (Hartney,

2019). Resource attributes are also determined by skill, quality, or grade. If necessary, resources

can be re-allocated in the event that there are not enough or too many resources for certain tasks

and work packages (Hartney, 2019). This chunk of project resource management was portrayed

in the simulation. Employees were graded based on skill and through each week, the senior

project manager could add or remove team members, thus re-allocating resources.

Lessons Learned

The biggest lesson learned from this project management simulation was how hard it was

to actually manage the budget and ensure that the project was staying within budget. I had also

found it difficult to find the happy medium with every component of the project. With team

members, it is hard to determine exactly how many team members are needed. If one selects too

many team members, then it is a waste of resources and can become chaotic. On the other hand,

if there are not enough people, then team members become more stressed and the project could

possibly fall behind schedule. The same applied to determining how many meetings were

adequate. If there were too many meetings scheduled, that would take away critical time in

which the team members could be completing tasks. If not enough meetings or status reviews

were arranged, the team members would become more stressed.

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Another thing I found difficult was determining what magnitude of outsourcing was the

most beneficial for the team. Ascertaining the effects of outsourcing primary, support, or

extensive tasks was tough. This was mainly because it was hard to gauge if outsourcing tasks

would benefit the team because it removed some of the workload, which in turn decreased stress.

Outsourcing tasks also decreased costs which helped with managing the budget. However, it

seemed like team morale would decrease every time larger tasks were outsourced.

Career Application

From the lessons learned, I can definitely take that experience and apply it to future jobs.

I know now that when managing a project, managing each component separately is a huge

mistake because they are all linked together somehow. Understanding the bigger picture and how

all the different pieces move together will undoubtedly help me become a better project manager.

I did get a 648 out of 1,000 so there is obviously room for improvement. Also just assessing my

actions during the simulation, I noticed that I sometimes aim too high and have unrealistic

expectations. That is something I will definitely keep in the back of my mind in the future.

Conclusion

In the end, every project is different and there are so many variables to account for. Every

aspect of project management including project scope management and project scheduling

impacted the final result of the project. This simulation showed that there are so many moving

parts to project management and they all affect each other, one way or another. Comprehending

what each of these components are, and how they impact the project can improve the outcome of

the project and its success.

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References

Hartney, J. (2016). Project scope management according to the PMBOK. Project Engineer.

https://www.projectengineer.net/project-scope-management-according-to-the-pmbok-2/

Hartney, J. (2019). The 6 steps of resource allocation. Project Engineer.

https://www.projectengineer.net/the-6-steps-of-resource-allocation/

Project. (2021). What is project scope management and why is it important?.

https://kissflow.com/project/project-scope-management/

Roseke, B. (2018). Project schedule management according to the PMBOK. Project Engineer.

https://www.projectengineer.net/project-schedule-management-according-to-the-pmbok/

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https://www.coursehero.com/file/90321254/PJM-500-Module-6-Critical-Thinking-1pdf/

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