Before I began I did a quick survey to see what was offered in this space. It is always easier to borrow and leverage what someone else has created than to build from scratch. I have to say that I was very disappointed with the content that I found. I suspect that the good content is likely not freely available for consideration and use. So I was forced to create my own content. I knew two things though; I wanted to have fun and I wanted the activities to be real. To have fun I picked the type of project that everyone could relate to, and would allow me to pull the string of the project through each of the Project Management processes. I used the project of a wedding as the mechanism for understanding and working with each of the process areas. This allowed me to keep it light and have fun with the experience.
The quotation from Mel DeGuzman is perfect and literally sets up everything that I will cover in the remainder of the presentation. This is actually the only quote I have on Project Management. I suspect that Mel is still teaching somewhere. He was affiliated with Johns Hopkins. If you ever have the opportunity to learn Project Management from him, you are learning from the best.
Before I get in to talking about objectives I sliced out a small portion (2:50) of the JFK moon speech that he delivered to Rice University. This is truly a remarkable example of a leader cementing that vision and specifying the objectives of the project.
Another noteworthy slide is #15. This is adapted from Steve McConnell's book Rapid Development. The reason I think this is interesting is because it can be applied to cost, schedule and scope, but also to quality risk and satisfaction. How much will it cost? We start with a broad range and narrow as the project progresses. How long will it take? Again, a broad range that narrows. What will it look like in the end (scope)? Do I have to repeat myself? How will I know if it is the right thing (quality)? Broad ideas that coalesce into specific measurements. How will it be received (satisfaction) and how much residual risk will it have both break from the widest range to more tapered estimates as the project progresses.
Let me point one thing out though. Before anyone criticizes me on the critical path method. I had 1-day to conduct this training. I did not try to teach the traditional forward-pass/ backward-pass methodology. I realize that you really do need to perform those reviews to objectively identify the critical path. I needed another half-day to try to teach those processes. Instead, I focused on the float and slack aspect and try to eyeball the critical path. I recommended additional reading for those interested, and in fact there was at least one participant who was interested in getting her PMP.
Slide 49, yes, those are the books on my bookshelf at work. I should have taken a picture of my home bookshelf, but I didn't want to look pretentious.
Anyway, I am very pleased with what I created and I hope other people can use it and leverage it to do some amazing things. You don't need to cite my work in this Presentation (PPTX), please feel free to use what you think is good. Also, you will find my notes included here so that you can see what I was looking for in each slide.
You can also take a look at a follow-up post about the Evaluations for this course.
