Project Control

The actual implementation of a project occurs within the execution phase. During this phase, it is not uncommon for project managers to determine that projects have deviated from the original scope, time, or cost (the “triple constraint”), often due to unforeseen issues. When one element of this “triple constraint” changes, project managers must adjust the remaining two elements in order to satisfy project requirements. Maintaining this balance is one of the greatest challenges a project manager faces.

In this Discussion, you examine scenarios featuring issues that arise during the execution phase of a project. You analyze how you would modify the project in terms of scope, time, and cost in order to resolve the issues and fulfill project requirements. You also explain how you would communicate these modifications to key stakeholders.

Consider the following scenario

You are the lead project manager tasked with implementing a hospital’s new patient identification and tracking system. The currently planned system is designed to function using only barcodes, but many key stakeholders have called for the system to also include the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) features. In order to meet the demands of the stakeholders, your project scope expands to include RFID technology. How will you modify your budget and schedule to accommodate this increased scope?
You are managing the development of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system in a hospital that caters to the suburban population of a major city. A much larger hospital that accommodates most of the city’s downtown residents has recently been severely damaged in a storm. As a result, the inner-city hospital is operating at a low level of capacity and diverts much of its patient flow to other hospitals.

Assignment: Project Control

Assignment: Project Control

In order to help alleviate the strain caused by this new influx of patients, your hospital’s executives are requiring you to implement the CPOE system 2 weeks early. Your project team is currently composed of just enough individuals to complete the project on time using the original timeline. The planned CPOE system has many non-essential features that usually take two phases to implement. However, these features are currently planned to be incorporated during your single-phase CPOE implementation. How do you adjust the project’s scope and cost to meet the new schedule demands?
You are managing the implementation of an electronic medical record system in a small physician’s office. Due to much lower-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter, you have had a substantial cut in the amount of funding available for your project. The scope of the medical record system is more extensive than the bare minimum required for a practice of this size. In addition, the implementation schedule is as condensed as possible to reduce downtime in the office. This condensed schedule requires the use of expensive, high-quality resources. How can you adjust your plan to compensate for the project’s reduced budget?
To prepare:

By Day 1 of this week, your Instructor will assign you to a specific scenario (scenario 1). Review this week’s Learning Resources on controlling the elements of the “triple constraint,” and consider how they apply to the scenario to which you were assigned.
Determine how you could modify the project in your assigned scenario in terms of scope, time, or cost in order to fulfill the project requirements.
Consider how you would communicate the modifications you identified to key stakeholders.
Post by tomorrow 10/18/2016 a minimum of 550 words in APA format with 3 references from the list below. Apply the level one headings as numbered below:

1) Post the number of your assigned scenario and a description of where and how you would adjust the plan in terms of budget, scope, and timeline.

2) Explain how you would communicate modifications to key stakeholders. Provide rationale for your response.

Required Readings

Coplan, S., & Masuda, D. (2011). Project management for healthcare information technology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Assignment: Project Control

Assignment: Project Control

Chapter 3, “Project Management”
“Scope Control” (pp. 58)
“Control Schedule” (pp. 64–67)
“Control Costs” (pp. 71–75)
These three areas of Chapter 3 focus on controlling scope, time, and cost, also referred to as the triple constraints.

Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Author.

Chapter 3, “Project Management Processes for a Project”
3.5, “Executing Process Group” (pp. 56)
3.6, “Monitoring and Controlling Process Group” (pp. 57)
These sections of Chapter 3 explore how to coordinate people and resources in accordance with the project management plan. These sections also cover the processes used to track, review, and regulate a project’s performance.

Chapter 5, “Project Scope Management”
5.6, “Control Scope” (pp. 136–140)
This section of Chapter 5 explains the process of monitoring a project’s status and scope. The text also describes how to manage changes to the scope baseline.

Chapter 6, “Project Time Management”
6.7, “Control Schedule” (pp. 185–192)
In these pages of Chapter 6, the authors explain the process of monitoring a project’s status to update project progress and manage changes in a schedule baseline.

Chapter 7, “Project Cost Management”
7.4, “Control Costs” (pp. 215–223)
This section of Chapter 7 reviews the processes used to update a project budget and manage changes to the cost baseline.

Cortelyou-Ward, K., & Yniguez, R. (2011). Using monitoring and controlling in an electronic health record module upgrade: A case study. The Health Care Manager, 30(3), 236–241.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article examines the application of monitoring and controlling to an electronic health record module upgrade. The article makes recommendations related to flexibility, tracking changes, teams, milestones, and testing.

Noblin, A. M., Cortelyou-Ward, K., & Ton, S. (2011). Electronic health record implementations: Applying the principles of monitoring and controlling to achieve success. The Health Care Manager, 30(1), 45–50.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article explores the principles of monitoring and controlling in the context of an electronic health record implementation. The article also examines issues such as project costs, project progress, schedule controls, quality management, and controlling risks.

Yin G.-L. (2010). Project time and budget monitor and control. Management Science and Engineering, 4(1), 56–61.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The author of this article describes how time and budget can be successfully controlled during a project’s implementation. The author presents techniques for accomplishing this, as well as describing potential pitfalls.

Document: Project Management Tools Available for Apple/Mac Computers (PDF)

This document contains a list of project management tools that are compatible with Apple/Mac computers.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013b). Executing, monitoring, and controlling [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 8 minutes.

In this presentation, roundtable participants Dr. Mimi Hassett, Dr. Judy Murphy, and Dr. Susan Newbold discuss the science of executing a project and the art that is involved in the continued monitoring and controlling of it. They talk about the triple constraint of cost, scope, and time and suggest some automated tools and skills that can help in tracking shifting components of a project.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.