The document discusses project management strategies, emphasizing the use of a balanced scorecard to evaluate project progress across different dimensions like customer satisfaction, internal operations, finance, and growth. It provides insights on controlling project risk factors, utilizing quality control tools, and the importance of communication and stakeholder engagement in project success. Additionally, it highlights the significance of proper project closure processes, even for early terminations, to ensure knowledge retention and post-project evaluations.

1. UNIT 14 GROUP ASSIGNMENTPart 1
1. Describe how a project manager can determine project
progress for each element in the project balanced scorecard.
A. To successfully accomplish all five aspects of project
determination (direct, regulate, limit, decide, and conclude) in
managing project progress, a project manager can think in terms
of a balanced scorecard approach. The concept behind a
balanced scorecard is that an organization needs to be evaluated
from the perspectives of customer, internal business, financial,
and growth and innovation. If one considers a project as a
temporary organization, the same perspectives make sense when
monitoring and controlling a project.
When a project manager seeks to monitor and control a project,
different critical aspects are often interrelated, and thus, their
impacts on each other must be considered.
For example, a proposed change may impact the scope, quality,
schedule, and/or cost. However, to understand project control,
one must consider each aspect individually before assessing the
impact on all other factors. This chapter begins with the project
manager controlling internal project issues. The next major
section of this chapter deals with the customer-related issues of
quality and scope. The final sections deal with the financial
issues of resources, schedule, and cost. The project manager can
utilize a number of tools to manage schedule overloads and
conflicts and to reprioritize the work. Earned value and project
scheduling software such as MS Project can prove to be useful
to manage these issues.
3. Give specific examples of risks on a project that are within
the team’s control, partially within the team’s control, and
outside the team’s control. Tell how you would deal with each.
A. Following are the examples:
Within team’s control example:
· Understand and control WBS: By assigning the tasks to
appropriate person, so that the full scope of the project is

2. completed on time, within budget with every feature and
functionality intact.
· Closely monitor and control activity progress: Monitoring
every activity helps in controlling the progress of it, in case of
any backlogs so that it’s taken care ahead of time.
· Research challenging issues early: While taking up a project
and planning's its scope, identifying risks at the early stage is
always a good plan, so that when either of those risks do occur,
we would already have a plan to move ahead with.
Partially within team’s control example:
· Establish limits to customer expectations: It’s never easy to
satisfy a customer, the only thing we can have a partial control
is by setting certain limits on the expectations of the customer.
This helps in the customer not going overboard at the last
moment by asking things which are not possible.
· Build team commitment and enthusiasm: Having a team which
is appreciated and has a great enthusiasm is always great for the
project to get completed within time as expected. For this to
happen, having appreciation events or team get togethers would
be helpful.
· Build relationships by understanding project from client’s
perspective: There is always a risk if there is no common
ground with the client’s perspective. In such a case, it’s always
better to find a common ground, by understanding the client's
perspective, and looking at the project from his side rather than
ours and then trying to build that relationship by achieving trust
of the client. Only in such a case would there be a smooth
relationship.
Outside the team’s control example:
· Actively monitor project environment: Once the project is
launched its out of the team’s control and is difficult to monitor
every activity. In such a case some tools would be helpful,
which would alert if a risk reaches a max level.
· Understand willingness or reluctance of stakeholders to agree
to changes: The only thing the PM team can do here is by trying
to achieve the trust of the stakeholders and present them with

3. facts which convinces them.
7. List and give an example of when to use each of the seven
project quality control tools described in this chapter.
A. Following are the project quality control tools:
Flow Chart:
A visual model used to show inputs, flow of work, and outputs
and to identify possible data collection points for process
improvement. A flow chart is a tool that project managers use
as they begin to control quality. Flow charts can be used to
show any level of detail from the overall flow of an entire
project down to very specific details of a critical process.
Example:
· Network diagram of the project schedule.
· Flowcharts are used in strategic planning process which is
helpful in having a clear understanding of the sequence and
actions need to be taken.
Check Sheet:
Check sheets are customized for each application. Decide
exactly what data will be useful in understanding, controlling,
and improving a process, and create a form to collect that
information. It is helpful to also collect the date or time when
each event happened and notes regarding the impact or any
special circumstances. When creating categories on a check
sheet, it is wise to have a category titled “other” because many
times, a problem comes from an unexpected source.
Example:
· Checklist at a garage which is usually signed by an engineer
assuring the customer the completion of all service points which
helps reduce any omission errors.
Pareto Chart:
A vertical bar graph used to identify and plot problems or
defects in descending order of frequency or cost.
The purpose of the Pareto chart is to quickly understand the
primary sources of a problem using the 80/20 rule, wherein 80
percent of defects often come from only about 20 percent of all

4. the sources.
Example:
· Checklist at a garage which is usually signed by an engineer
assuring the customer the completion of all service points which
helps reduce any omission errors.
Histogram:
A vertical bar chart used to show the average, extent of
variation, and shape of measurements recorded for a process
variable.
Once the additional data are gathered, they can be analyzed
using a histogram, run chart, and/or control chart.
Example:
· Admissions these days have various ranges of measurements
for instance here it would be “scores” achieved by each student
based on which they would be filtered.
· If one of the potential causes of using incorrect scope is that
the client demands the cost estimate within four days of job
notification (that is, within the timing category)
Run Chart:
A special type of scatter diagram in which one variable is time,
used to see how the other variable changes over time.
Example:
· Analyze the efficiency of hospital check ins, with the time to
check in the patient and the time of the day, to determine the
delay in transferring or admitting patients during peak hours.
This helps hospitals take steps to improve their process
efficiency and reduce patient discomfort or risk to achieve a
balanced scorecard.
Cause-and-Effect Diagram:
A visual outline, often resembling a fish skeleton, used to
identify and organize possible causes of a stated outcome.
Example:
· Sales team, working to increase the number of customers
putting the company on their shortlist for major purchases,
identifies through a survey that the key problem is that the
customers perceive the company as a producer of poor-quality

5. goods.
Control Chart:
A run chart with process average and control limits used to
distinguish between common and special causes of variation.
Example:
· As a Production team member, we use a tool which helps us
know how stable the application is based on the number of
crashes reported if any.Part 2
2. Use the following information to answer parts a through h.
Describe what the results of each calculation mean to you as a
project manager. What do you propose to do?
PV = $25,000
EV = $30,000
AC = $29,000
BAC = $1,000,000
Answer:
a. Schedule variance (SV)
= EV-PC
= 30,000 – 25,000= 5,000
b. Cost variance (CV)= EV – AC
= 30,000 – 29,000= 1,000
c. Schedule performance index (SPI)
= EV/PV
= 30,000/25,000= 6/5= 1.2= 120%
d. Cost performance index (CPI)
= EV/AC
= 30,000/29,000= 1.0345= 103%
e. Estimate to complete (ETC – First method)
= (BAC - EV)/CPI =
(1,000,000 – 30,000)/1.0345= 937,651.04
f. Estimate to complete (ETC – second method)
= BAC-EV
= 1,000,000 – 30,000= 970,000
g. Estimate at completion (EAC)
= AC + ETC

6. = 29,000 + 970,000= 999,000
h. To-complete performance index (TCPI)
= (BAC- EV)/ (BAC - AC)
= (1,000,000 – 30,000)/ (1,000,000 – 29,000)
= 970,000/971,000= 0.99897= 99.90% (Approx.)
3. A project manager has just learned that the schedule
performance index (SPI) for his project is 85 percent. The
calculation of the cost performance index (CPI) is 107 percent.
How would you describe this project both in terms of budget
and schedule?
Answer:
Project performance in terms of budget and schedule:
· Budget:
The project expenses are well within the budget. CPI of 107%
sits comfortably over 100%, which indicates good cost
efficiency.
· Schedule:
The project is lagging behind the schedule. The project plan
seems to have under-estimated the complexity of the task
involved or the team is not performing at par with their usual
velocity. With only 85% of planned work completed, it is
behind the schedule considerably. Some corrective measure
might be required.
8. Using the data below, construct a run chart to visualize how
the number of customer complaints is changing over time.
Describe what you find in terms of trends, repeating patterns,
and/or outliers.
Date
Day
Complaints
1
Mon

7. 14
2
Tue
17
3
Wed
11
4
Thu
12
5
Fri
21
8
Mon
15
9
Tue

8. 21
10
Wed
19
11
Thu
22
12
Fri
23
Answer:
Run Chart:
There is a general upward trend in number of complaints filed
over period of 2 weeks. If you see properly there is spike in the
number of complaints on Tuesdays and Fridays. Fridays are
amongst the busiest days of week. Mondays are consistently on
lower side while traffic on Wednesday and Thursday doesn’t
seem to have a pattern. Thus, one can look at the graph and also
determine that days of week has less to do with the number of
complaints.
7. For a productivity improvement project, you discover the
most frequent cause of delays in receiving payment is incorrect

9. invoices. Construct a fishbone diagram to identify possible
reasons for this problem. What action do you recommend with
the results of your fishbone diagram?
A. A fishbone outline is an instrument that can enable you to
play out circumstances and end results examination for an issue
you are attempting to explain. This sort of examination
empowers you to find the underlying driver of an issue.
Fishbone diagram for identification of the problems of low
productivity:
Recommendation:
· Quality work ought to be utilized so they work without
squandering their proficiency and create on time.
· The representatives should know the confinements of the
undertaking and work as needs be inside the restricted time and
spending plan.
· The working hours and conditions ought to be great for the
representatives, with the goal that they are spurred and work
proficiently.
· The representatives ought to be given motivating forces in
light of their execution, which thinks about efficiency and
additionally quality. Motivations push a person to rationale
oneself for more generation.Part 3
See Attachment.
Part 4
1. Give two examples of why a project might be terminated
early for cause and two examples of why a project might be
terminated early for convenience.
A. Usually, all projects continue the process until the
deliverables are submitted or the goals are met. However, there
may be some situations when a project might be terminated
early before its normal completion.
There could be several reasons/situations for a project to be
terminated early for cause:
1. In-house and external projects sometimes may result in early

10. termination due to change in project costs, a change in schedule
and scope of the project, and a change in performance of the
resources allocated. Also, sometimes the buyer terminates the
project as he/she is not confident about the services provided by
their contractor.
2. Another example where projects may terminate early could be
when some of the deliverables or documentation are not
completed for the submission as proposed. In this case, the
project manager will negotiate with the customer regarding what
and how much deliverables can be submitted. At this point, it is
preferred that both the parties come to a mutual agreement to
stop the project before its planned completion.
Projects may also be terminated early for convenience. The
examples/situations could be as mentioned below:
1. When the project manager of the company faces unexpected
changes in priorities or other difficulties, due to no fault of the
contractor, he can terminate the project for organizations’
convenience.
2. Another example for termination of early convenience could
be when organizations’ needs change and they decide to allocate
resources to some different project which may prove to be more
profitable to the organization.
4. A project manager is in the finishing stage of her project. It
is apparent that one of the project’s deliverables will not be
completed before the project is wrapped up. What options does
the project manager have for this uncompleted deliverable?
A. During the completion process of the project, if some of the
deliverables cannot be completed per contract, the project
manager should first study the reasons causing this delay. If the
project manager knows the reasons for the delay he could
practice the following options depending upon the applicability:
1. If the delay in deliverables is caused by a shortage in
resources, or delayed contractor services, the project manager
can look for different options available within the organization
to complete the deliverables at a lower cost or adjustment in
resources.

11. 2. Secondly, if the reason for an uncompleted deliverable is the
project cost, change in project scope, and performances of the
assigned resources then to maintain the stakeholder
relationships the project manager can find other stakeholders in
the customer organization who can provide funds to keep the
project in progress with the reduced scope.
3. Lastly, if both the parties are aware of the delay in the
deliverables a negotiated settlement can take place. In this case,
the project manager may need to negotiate with the customer to
deliver more in one area and less in another to which both
parties come to an agreement.
5. Provide an example of how poor escalation of a project
problem can create additional problems.
Team members while working on a project should know the
potential risks they may face during a project. If a team member
faces a big hurdle and is aware of its repercussions in the future
then one should flag it to the project manager. For this, it is
very important to have a good communication plan which
includes planning and managing escalation of issues in a timely
manner to the project manager. A team member should always
know how to and when to escalate issues appropriately as this
plays a major role in the success of the project. A poor
escalation of a known risk could result in the failure of the
project. Also, if the project manager gets to know of the issues
from a third party later and not from his team, it reflects poorly
on the project manager. Also, had the issue been escalated in
time it could have saved a lot of time and resources spent on
fixing the issue.
6. How does celebrating the completion of a project benefit the
project manager?
It is always helpful to celebrate the success of the current
project before moving onto the next project. It boosts the
morale of the team members and helps motivate them to take on
the next project. The success of the project should be
communicated to the team members and upper management

12. which is a great way of rewarding employees internally as well
as externally. One way to understand the reason for celebrating
is defined below:
· Challenge
· Energize
· Limit
· Exert
· Believe
· Recognize
· Acknowledge
· Transition
· Ease Stress
When employees are given recognition of the challenges they
have come through it gives them a sense of accomplishment.
When accomplishment comes through, it energizes them to take
over the next projects and try their best to complete the projects
successfully.
Limit1, “By recognizing their accomplishments, they are now
ready to say, “the project is over; we will limit any additional
work on this project.”
During the process, the team members exert themselves to
complete the project successfully.
Celebration help employees believe in themselves and their
efforts they had put in to complete the project.
Recognition and acknowledgement comes in the process of
celebration which boosts their morale to deal with hurdles for
other upcoming projects.
Celebration helps employees to do an easy transition from the
last project to new project
Finally, celebrations help team members to ease stress that they
may have been dealing with to complete the project
successfully.
7. Why is it important to go through the process of closing,
even for projects that are terminated early?
Projects may closeout early because of the buyer’s

13. dissatisfaction who may want to invest money and time in a
different way or because of the seller who is not confident about
the services provided by the contractor. Regardless of any
scenario, it’s important for a project to go through a closeout
process.
The closing process helps the project manager keep track of
activities that were completed, money that was used,
documentation that was completed and submitted and team
members that were awarded through the process. The closeout
process includes the following phases which help both the
parties in the long run. These are mentioned below:
1. Transition Plan helps the customer to use the project
deliverables successfully. This plan includes the instructions
regarding how to use the deliverables after the project
completion.
2. Knowledge Management (Lessons Learned) phase which
includes the feedback process from both the parties regarding
the project process and results. It gives an opportunity to
improve for both the parties in the future. Documentation of
lessons learned is useful for project managers as they document
the knowledge gained through the process. This documentation
may include what worked well and opportunities to improve on
the certain process which didn’t work well.
3. The Closeout Report is a summary of how the project that
includes the status, timelines, lessons learned, accomplishment
of goals. These reports must be well written in an organized
manner for future access, for financial audits, lessons learned
etc.References:
1. Kloppenborg, T. J. (2017). Contemporary project
management: Organize, plan, perform. Australia: South-Western
Cengage Learning
2.
http://www.syque.com/quality_tools/toolbook/Check/example.ht
m

14. 3. https://www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/98541-
examples-of-run-charts/
Complaints Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon
Tue Wed Thu Fri 1 2 3 4 5 8 9
10 11 12 14.0 17.0 11.0 12.0 21.0 15.0 21.0 19.0
22.0 23.0