Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 · Jenna didn’t make any request approved...

Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015

Case Study LSS is engaged in flood relief support nationally, and has been asked to do several international Camp Noah projects. Last year the French government asked for resources for children in Southeastern France who had been affected by floods; LSS responded within 15 weeks with a French Camp Noah curriculum that met many of the project objectives. The Board of Directors of LSS commended the effort; international expansion was added to this year’s strategic objectives for the LSS organization. The French Camp Noah project was not completed on time, the scope had to be reduced to meet even the delayed time frame, the cost was 30% higher than expected, and quality control measurements indicated that there were many small disappointments within the project. During the French Camp Noah project, the project manager had been unable to keep the team focused on the planning process. Initiation took longer than expected, and executing work on the project was well under-way before detailed planning even began. Many team members skipped planning meetings in favor of just using the time to do the project work. The gap between the plans and the execution became so large that the project manager finally just started having ad hoc meetings and documenting the notes from the meetings, and stopped looking at the plans. At a post-project review meeting, the team agreed that, although they felt they had done everything possible given the short time-frame, they would not want to repeat the experience without improving the project management process. Many of them had missed family and other commitments while responding heroically to this challenge; they were stressed-out, burned-out, and feeling overwhelmed from the French Camp Noah project. LSS announced that it was funding a six-month long project to proactively create a Latino Camp Noah that can be deployed in any Spanish-speaking country. To avoid tight deadlines and scrambling, the Latino product will not be available until the end of the project, whether or not a flood occurs in a Spanish speaking area. The project called "Campamento de Noé" was chartered, and by the end of the first month, detailed planning was completed. Two months ago, the team started executing the project plan and they expect to complete the project on time by completing the remaining tasks to be executed within two months. In general, the great planning paid off. Many things are working smoothly and the work is getting done. There are, however, a few problems that Amina, the project manager, would like your help with in the Execution, Monitoring and Control, and Closure stages of the project. Changes to the project scope, cost and schedule on the "Campamento de Noé" project have become troublesome and Amina is worried about the potential for scope creep. Amina is uneasy about the level of team performance and team communications - at some level, everyone just isn’t working together smoothly.

Instructions: Based on this case study, please answer each question briefly, but use critical

thinking to support your answers. Your answers should have accuracy, clarity, depth and

significance and support and questioning. A critical thinking grading rubric is provided for you.

1 | P a g e ( V e r s i o n 4 - 1 2 - 2 0 1 4 ) P R M 6 0 0 B

Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Questions:

Q1: There is no clearly defined process at LSS to deal with changes to the project baselines, and Amina is determined to prevent scope creep. When someone approaches her about an idea for a change, Amina listens carefully to the person. Then, Amina tells the person that, although it sounds like a great idea, it is not consistent with the project plan. Recently, Jenna, one of the functional leads, told Amina she wanted to purchase a new graphics software package. Amina told Jenna that she agreed that a new graphics software would be beneficial to the "Campamento de Noé" project; but, unfortunately, it was not in the project plan. Jenna purchased the graphics software, and had it charged to the project. Jenna says this is an approved change because she talked to Amina about it but Amina says it is a variance. Who is correct? What caused this problem and how should Amina change the project management processes to prevent future problems?

a) Who is correct?

Amina is correct, this is a variance because Amina said to Jenna that this was a good idea but it was not in the project plan, and Jenna doesn’t have any document to prove that this was approved by Amina, and any analyze was not been done about how it will affect the cost of the project. Amina is responsible to approve or not the change into the project documents or project management plan.

“Variance. A quantifiable deviation, departure, or divergence away from a known baseline or expected value.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 566)

“Control Costs is the process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline. The key benefit of this process is that it provides the means to recognize variance from the plan in order to take corrective action and minimize risk.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 7.4) In the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group “The key benefit of this Process Group is that project performance is measured and analyzed at regular intervals, appropriate events or exception conditions to identify variances from the project management plan.” (PMI, 2013, Annex A1.7)

“Baseline. The approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 529)

Jenna is wrong, this is not approved change because Amina didn’t wrote any document to approve that Jenna could purchase the graphics software package. Some off approved changes are: corrective action, preventive action, and defect repair. And as we see any of these includes the graphics software that Jenna purchased, when Amina said to her that this is not included in the project plan. Amina, as the project manager was responsible approving changes or no.

“Approved Change Request. A change request that has been processed through the integrated change control process and approved.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 528)

Jenna didn’t make any request approved change to Amina so she could prove herself that this is approved change by Amina. Amina should have been more concise and saying to Jenna, No this is not in the project plan, and then if Jenna wanted to put that as a variance she should have consulted with Amina, and decided and then included in the project management plan. Approved Change Request need to be documented, need to be sent and discussed with the project manager, and to be included in the project management plan, it cannot be not-documented by just saying it to Amina. And how it can be a


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Yes or an approved change when Amina said to Jenna that is not in the project plan, Jenna must know that approved change needs to be included in the project management plan, because then all this purchase will be charged to the project, means that the budget of the project will changed. And then of course needs to be updated as an approved change request.

“Approved Change Requests Review. A review of the change requests to verify that these were implemented as approved.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 528)

“Although changes may be initiated verbally, they should be recorded in written form and entered into the change management and/or configuration management system.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.5) “Those change request processes may require information on estimated time impacts and estimated cost impacts.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.5) “Every documented change request needs to be either approved or rejected by a responsible individual, usually the project sponsor or project manager.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.5) “Approved change requests can require new or revised cost estimates, activity sequences, schedule dates, resource requirements, and analysis of risk response alternatives. These changes can require adjustments to the project management plan and other project documents.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.5)

“Approved change requests can include modifications to the terms and conditions of the contract, including the procurement statement of work, pricing, and descriptions of the products, services, or results to be provided. All procurement-related changes are formally documented in writing and approved before being implemented through the Control Procurements process.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.3.1.4)

According to PMBOK Guide, 2013, the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group involve “Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control or configuration management so only approved changes are implemented.” (Sec. 3.6) So only approved change are implemented in these process group to keep project performance, otherwise the project manager need to deal with variances from the project management plan, that should have been identified and analyzed in the early processes. As we see every request for a change has to be aligned with project work and project management plan.

“Approved change requests are an output of the Perform Integrated Change Control process, and include those requests reviewed and approved for implementation by the change control board (CCB). The approved change request may be a corrective action, a preventative action, or a defect repair.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.3.1.2)

“Approved change requests are scheduled and implemented by the project team, and can impact any area of the project or project management plan. The approved change requests can also modify the policies, project management plan, procedures, costs, or budgets or revise the schedules. Approved change requests may require implementation of preventive or corrective actions.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.3.1.2) “A change request is a formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline. An approved change request will replace the associated document, deliverable, or baseline and may result in an update to other parts of the project management plan. When issues are found while project work is being performed, change requests are submitted, which may modify project



policies or procedures, project scope, project cost or budget, project schedule, or project quality.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.3.3.3)

“As part of the Perform Integrated Change Control process, a change log update indicates that some changes are approved and some are not. Approved change requests may include modifications such as defect repairs, revised work methods, and revised schedule. The timely implementation of approved changes needs to be verified.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3.1.5) “All approved change requests should be reviewed to verify that they were implemented as approved.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3.2.4) “If the approved change requests have an effect on the risk management processes, the corresponding component documents of the project management plan are revised and reissued to reflect the approved changes.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 11.6.3.3)

All these verify that approved changes needs to be included in the project documents of the project management plan, to be analyzed for any risk that will happen during the processes of the project.

“Recently, Jenna, one of the functional leads, told Amina she wanted to purchase a new graphics software package. Amina told Jenna that she agreed that a new graphics software would be beneficial to the "Campamento de Noé" project; but, unfortunately, it was not in the project plan. Jenna purchased the graphics software, and had it charged to the project.” (Case study)

“Direct and Manage Project Work also requires review of the impact of all project changes and the implementation of approved changes: (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.3) Direct and Manage Project Work activities includes between others and the “• Issue change requests and implement approved changes into the project’s scope, plans, and environment;” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.3) “4.3 Direct and Manage Project Work—The process of leading and performing the work defined in the project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the project’s objectives.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4, p. 63)

The project manager needs to work with the project management team to identify the planned project activities and analyze them, to find a better solution for the next processes of the project, and then to update the documents where these information are included. Documented changes can help reducing project risk and budget, and can help to find the solution and to resolve the problems during the processes of the project. The project manager is responsible about the Perform Integrated Change Control process, where the changes can be either rejected or approved, and then they can be incorporated into the document.

“Project documents that may be updated include, but are not limited to, requirements documentation, which may need to be updated to include approved changes.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 5.4.3.2) “The Perform Integrated Change Control process is conducted from project inception through completion and is the ultimate responsibility of the project manager. The project management plan, the project scope statement, and other deliverables are maintained by carefully and continuously managing changes, either by rejecting changes or by approving changes, thereby assuring that only approved changes are incorporated into a revised baseline.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 4.5)

An element of the project management plan that needs to be updated is “Schedule baseline. Changes to the schedule baseline are incorporated in response to approved change requests (Section 4.4.3.1)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 related to project scope changes, activity resources, or activity duration estimates.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 6.7.3.4)

b) What caused this problem

This problem was caused because of poor communication between Amina that is the project manager and Jenna as a functional lead. Amina should have say is a good idea, but to say clearly No, we can do this change because is not consistent with the project documents of the project management plan. And if Jenna wanted to insist on that, she should have wrote a request for this change, and then this change was going to be analyzed for all the impact on the project and decided if it was really necessary to purchase it or no. Amina should have told to Jenna that this request change needs to be formally written and then included in the documents for being analyzed or updated in the project management plan.

“Amina told Jenna that she agreed that a new graphics software would be beneficial to the "Campamento de Noé" project; but, unfortunately, it was not in the project plan.” (Case study) Amina didn’t explain well to Jenna the steps for this change that was not in the project management plan.

“Listening is an important part of communication.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.4)

“Communication has been identified as one of the single biggest reasons for project success or failure. Effective communication within the project team and between the project manager, team members, and all external stakeholders is essential.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.4)

c) And how should Amina change the project management processes to prevent future problems?

One of the steps that Amina should do is to build the trust on her project team, to resolve better the conflicts that will occur in the project. “Some actions project managers can take to help build trust:

• Engage in open and direct communications to resolve problems.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.9)

“Communication has been identified as one of the single biggest reasons for project success or failure. Effective communication within the project team and between the project manager, team members, and all external stakeholders is essential. Openness in communication is a gateway to teamwork and high performance. It improves relationships among project team members and creates mutual trust.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.4)

“Project Manager (PM). The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 554) “project manager – The person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and the other people involved in a project to meet project goals” (Schwalbe, 2010, Glossary, p. 487)

“Project Team. A set of individuals who support the project manager in performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 555) “Project Management Process Group. A logical grouping of project management inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. The Project Management Process Groups include initiating processes, planning processes, executing processes, monitoring and controlling processes, and closing processes.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 554)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 “Amina is uneasy about the level of team performance and team communications - at some level, everyone just isn’t working together smoothly” (Case Study)

Some other strategies or steps that Amina should do for a better communications between the project manager and the project team are listening and influencing. Where leading and being a good leader by showing his or her commitment for the project, clarifying how the decision and from who will be made are very important and helpful for the performance of the team, and using a flexible and soft style with the team members or the audience are the steps that Amina should follow to prevent future problems in the project. Amina as described in the case study she already have the skill about the listening, when Jenna approaches to Amina to share her idea about purchasing the new graphics software package.

“When someone approaches her about an idea for a change, Amina listens carefully to the person.” (Case Study, Q2)

“Listening is an important part of communication” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.4) “Influencing is a strategy of sharing power and relying on interpersonal skills to get others to cooperate towards common goals. Using the following guidelines can influence team members: • Lead by example, and follow through with commitments. • Clarify how a decision will be made. • Use a flexible interpersonal style and adjust the style to the audience. Apply your power skillfully and cautiously. Think of long-term collaboration.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.5)

“Project managers must develop the skills and experience necessary to effectively adapt their personal conflict management style to the situation.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.10) If Amina wants to resolve or avoid these problems from the future she should improve her skills when the most important is communicating.


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Q2: About one third of the team members on the "Campamento de Noé" project had participated in the French Camp Noah project. However, two thirds of the team members are new to the project. Amina recently left a team meeting feeling surprised at the level of disagreement between team members: it feels like storming, not performing. For example, during a meeting, Ben, who manages ongoing Camp Noah operations, was surprised to hear that he needed to integrate the new Latino products into his operation – he thought the "Campamento de Noé" team would continue to support the product indefinitely. After that uncomfortable and unproductive meeting, Amina’s manager suggested that she come up with better approaches to dealing with conflict. a) How do you recommend that Amina deal with conflict as it arises during meetings? b) Describe the steps to implement an ongoing issue log and the rationale Amina could use to help her team understand the purpose and value of an issue log.

a) How do you recommend that Amina deal with conflict as it arises during meetings?

Amina has to use confrontation and collaborating mode to deal with the conflicts. Mostly in all the projects will happen that the project team will have numerous problems and conflicts. In our case study it will work best to fix the conflict these methods as, Confrontation, and Collaborating mode.

Some problems or conflicts will happen early in the initiating or planning process but some will happen in the execution process. “Many problems can be avoided by doing a good job of initiating, planning, or monitoring and controlling the project, but other problems cannot be avoided.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 237)

And as is described in Schwalbe, 2010, some common problems during project execution are: • There are poor conflict-management procedures, • Communications are poor. (Ch. 6, p. 237)

“Effective team development strategies and activities are expected to increase the team’s performance, which increases the likelihood of meeting project objectives.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9.3.3.1) As we see here team has an important role on achieving the project objectives, so is because of that the project manager needs to find a solution on how to resolve the problems or conflicts between the member teams. And conflicts can happen in large projects or small projects.

In a project “ When the stakes are high, conflict is never far away, and even small projects with low budgets have conflicts – it is a natural part of work and life in general. Project managers should lead their teams in developing norms for dealing with various types of conflicts that might arise.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 238) “Blake and Mouton (1964) delineated five basic modes for handling conflicts. Each strategy can be considered as being high, medium, or low on two dimensions: importance of the task or goal, and importance of the relationship between the people having the conflict.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 238)

And as is described in Schwalbe, 2010, the five modes or strategies are: 1. Confrontation. When using the confrontation mode, project managers directly face a conflict

using a problem-solving approach that allows affected parties to work through their disagreements. This approach is also called the problem solving mode. It is best used when both the task and the relationship are of high importance. This mode reflects a win/win approach.

2. Compromise. 3. Smoothing.



4. Forcing. 5. Withdrawal.

More recent studies recognize a sixth conflict-handling mode: 6. Collaborating. Using the collaborating mode, decision makers incorporate different viewpoints

and insights to develop consensus and commitment. It can also be effective when both the task and the relationship are of high importance. Also described better in the Figure 6-4. (Ch. 6, p.238-239)

She can use Confrontation mode when she can have a meeting only with Ben to explain that this new Latino products would be included in the Latino Camp Noah for all Spanish-speaking country as LSS organization announced, and is not going to be only under "Campamento de Noé" or Latino Camp Noah as he thought it will be. Then she needs to explain that this task is high important as their relationship is for the project success. This will be his responsibility even that he will need to work for the supplies that LSS organization provide as a pre-packaged, being in English and in Spanish now, so he need to change the project scope, schedule and time to accomplish this task. But this project won’t be released on time, it will need six more month to be ready, because of this new Latino products that need to be included for any Spanish-speaking country. LSS is using lesson-learned from the French Camp Noah that didn’t went well because of not being planned well, because of the short time that had to study the plan and delivering it. So in this case they are not worried if any flood is going to happen in the Spanish country, they are not going to approve the plan before they are done with planning and executing properly, including providing the supplies in Spanish, as books, crayons, etc.

Also the conflicts between Ben and Amina is high important relationship that need to be resolved between both of them, even that Amina doesn’t have good skills with conflicts as we see in the question Q2 that she left the team meeting, but still she has to find the way to resolve it, to improve her skills as a successful project manager.

“LSS announced that it was funding a six-month long project to proactively create a Latino Camp Noah that can be deployed in any Spanish-speaking country. To avoid tight deadlines and scrambling, the Latino product will not be available until the end of the project, whether or not a flood occurs in a Spanish speaking area.” (Case study) “Ben, who manages ongoing Camp Noah operations, was surprised to hear that he needed to integrate the new Latino products into his operation – he thought the "Campamento de Noé" team would continue to support the product indefinitely.” (Case study)

“Changes to the project scope, cost and schedule on the "Campamento de Noé" project have become troublesome and Amina is worried about the potential for scope creep. Amina is uneasy about the level of team performance and team communications - at some level, everyone just isn’t working together smoothly.” (Case study)

The compromise mode cannot be a good basic mode to operate because is not that she can compromise for this high important task, also she cannot afford him to leave the project, because will be cause more problems to the project. She needs a good relationship with the Ben that manages ongoing Camp Noah operations in the project. Same for smoothing, forcing, and withdrawal mode, cannot be used, because the task and the relationships in this basic modes are not both high important.


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 But Collaborating mode is a great basic mode to operate in this case, and is very effective in most of the cases, when both of them can incorporate their different viewpoints to develop consensus and commitment, to resolve the conflict and to work on achieving the project objectives. Also building trust it will be a great help on resolving the conflict.

“Managing conflict in a project environment involves building the trust necessary for all involved parties to be open and honest, and to engage in seeking a positive resolution to the situation creating the conflict.” (PMI, 2013, Appendix X3.10) “Effective project managers often use confrontation or collaborating for conflict resolution instead of the other modes. The term confrontation may be misleading. This mode focuses on a win-win problem-solving approach, in which all parties work together to find the best way to solve the conflict.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 240)

As explained in Schwalbe, 2010, not all the conflicts are bad, they often are good. Because of the conflicts the project manager can learn more new ideas, can learn how you to improve a task for a better cost and time, better alternatives. Project manager need to make observation and to know more about his team, so he can avoid many conflicts as misunderstanding, emotional feelings, issues going on in their life, different mentalities. And then he can avoid meetings with all of them instead of meeting them separately to discuss personal issues, or misbehaving at work in front of the others, or can avoid bringing conflict ideas when he knows their opinion about. “Project managers should create an environment that encourages and maintains the positive and productive aspects of conflicts.”(Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.240)

Also now Amina will use this lesson-learned for the other projects, to maintain a better environment, and know the team better, if she wants to improve the performance of the project team.

“Even if a project manager has successfully recruited enough skilled people to work on a project, he or she must ensure that people can work together as a team to achieve project goals.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.258) “The main goal of a team development is to help people work together more effectively to improve project performance.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.258)

“Kristin also felt that it was important for people to assess their own performance and the performance of their teammates. She talked to each team member individually and the team as a group about this assessment because she knew that some people felt uncomfortable evaluating themselves or other people.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.263) “Kristin would discuss each person’s assessment and take corrective actions as needed.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.263) Amina needs to do the same with the team members as Kristin did, to talk with each of them separately and to talk with them as a group team, because the main goal is the same, to make this project successful by increasing the performance between team members, and between the project manager and project team.

“Conflict management: Few projects are completed without any conflict. Some types of conflict are actually desirable on projects, but many are not.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.264) “It’s important for project managers to understand strategies for handling conflicts and to proactively manage them.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.264)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 And interpersonal skills are very important for a project manager, as it is dealing with conflicts, and not doing as Amina did, that just went out from the meeting because she couldn’t hold the conflict. If she wants to be a successful project manager she needs to learn how to deal with conflicts, because the conflicts are going to be in any project. Is better learning and having this skill as early as possible to make the project successful. “Interpersonal skills: ..., interpersonal skills are crucial for successful project managers, especially during project execution. These soft skills, sometimes also referred to as emotional intelligence, are particularly important in team development. Examples of important interpersonal skills include leadership, influence, effective decision making, empathy, creativity, and group facilitation.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.264-265)

“collaborating mode – The conflict-handling mode where decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Glossary, p.483) “confrontation mode – The conflict-handling mode that involves directly facing a conflict using a problem-solving approach that allows affected parties to work through their disagreements.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Glossary, p.483)

b) Describe the steps to implement an ongoing issue log and the rationale Amina could use to help her team understand the purpose and value of an issue log.

“Many project managers keep an issue log to document, monitor, and track issues that need to be resolved for effective work to take place. An issue is a matter under question or dispute that could impede project success. Issues could include situations in which people disagree, situations that need more clarification or investigation, or general concerns that need to be addressed.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.272)

The project manager needs to acknowledge the issues for the team work and needs to make a document or a table to store this information about issues, and then needs to resolve them for a better team performance in the work, where the project success is depended. There in the table the project manager can include who was responsible for that issue, who was in charge to resolve that issue, how important was that issue, who informed and date informed, what was the result of that issue, what was the impact on the team work and in the project itself. The project manager can include as many information as she need to keep track of this issues that are happening on the project in the table.

“Figure 6-14 shows part of an early issue log that Kristin and her team used to help document and manage the resolution of issues on their project. The issue log includes columns for the issue number, the issue description, the impact of the issue on the project, the date the issue was reported, who reported the issue, who the issue resolution was assigned to, the priority of the issue (High, Medium, or Low), the due date to report back on the issue, the status of the issue, and comments related to the issue.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.272)

“She also sorted them by who reported the issue and who was assigned to each issue to make sure that the appropriate people were making progress.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p.272)

According to PMBOK Guide, 2013, issue log are included in the Project Documents that is different from the Project Management Plan. (Sec. 4.2.3.1 and Sec.4.4.3.4) The project manager needs to include in


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 and analyze the project documents with the other documents, the problems or issues log, that are important to resolve the issues or problems during the processes of the project. (Sec. 5.2.2.11)

“Managing and leading the project team includes, but is not limited to: • Influencing the project team. The project manager needs to be aware of and influence, when possible, human resource factors that may impact the project. These factors includes team environment, ..., cultural issues, ..., and others factors that may alter project performance.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9, p. 256) As we see here in this citation, managing team it will help to improve the performance of the project.

“Manage Project Team is the process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance. The key benefit of this process is that it influences team behavior, manages conflict, resolves issues, and appraises team member performance.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9.4)

“As a result of managing the project team, change requests are submitted, the human resource management plan is updated, issues are resolved, input is provided for performance appraisals, and lessons learned are added to the organization’s database.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9.4) “Team management involves a combination of skills with special emphasis on communication, conflict management, negotiation, and leadership.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9.4) Project manager needs to have many skills to be able to lead in the correct way the team members and to be a successful project manager need to resolve this issue with the team by talking them separately and giving them what they need to resolve that issue. The project manager needs to explain the importance of the issue and to convince the team members to resolve the issue, and then to update the issue in the table, in the document, in the project documents, or in the project reports where Amina is storing this information about issues, according with PMBOK Guide, 2013, Sec. 10.2.3.4 and Sec. 13.3.3.5.

“Issues arise in the course of managing the project team. An issue log can be used to document and monitor who is responsible for resolving specific issues by a target date.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 9.4.1.4)

“An issue log is used to document and monitor the resolution of issues. It may be used to facilitate communication and ensure a common understanding of issues. A written log documents and helps to monitor who is responsible for resolving specific issues by a target date. Issue resolution addresses obstacles that can block the team from achieving its goals. This information is important to the Control Communications process as it provides both a repository for what has already happened in the project and a platform for subsequent communications to be delivered.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 10.3.1.3)

The communications between the project manager and the team is very important to identify the issues (e.g., coming the issues form the stakeholders or from processes group) that can be a risk for the project, then to resolve the issues, and in the end to achieve the project goals. An ongoing issue needs to be analyzed and resolved with the team members by knowing them better and meeting them to collaborate on resolving this issue, and using the document where all the information are stored for this issues. Identifying, storing who reported, who was in charge of that, and then how was resolved and by who.


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 “Managing stakeholder engagement may result in the development of an issue log. This log is updated as new issues are identified and current issues are resolved.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 13.3.3.1)

“The issue log is updated as new issues are identified and current issues are resolved.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 13.4.1.2)

“Manage Project Team is the process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance. The key benefit of this process is that it influences team behavior, manages conflict, resolves issues, and appraises team member performance.” (PMI, 2013, Annex A1.6.5) This is the main purpose of the project manager need to have as a leadership, to manage project team to optimize project performance.

“issue – a matter under question or dispute that could impede project success.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Glossary, p.485) “issue log – a tool used to document, monitor, and track issues that need to be resolved for effective work to take place.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Glossary, p.485)

“Amina is uneasy about the level of team performance and team communications - at some level, everyone just isn’t working together smoothly.” (Case study)

One of the issues that Amina has is the team members, because most of them are new in this project and only few of them have the experience from the previous project that was French Camp Noah. They have many disagreements between each-other that Amina is concerned about, so all this are issues that Amina has to deal with. “About one third of the team members on the "Campamento de Noé" project had participated in the French Camp Noah project. However, two thirds of the team members are new to the project. Amina recently left a team meeting feeling surprised at the level of disagreement between team members: it feels like storming, not performing.“ (Case study, Q2)

“Many team members skipped planning meetings in favor of just using the time to do the project work. The gap between the plans and the execution became so large that the project manager finally just started having ad hoc meetings and documenting the notes from the meetings, and stopped looking at the plans.” (Case study) In this case team members skipped the planning or just to finish the work, this was an issue that happens in the French Camp Noah, the previous project, when some of this existing team was working that time. And the project manager finally found the way to document the notes and stopped looking at the plans. This was his solution for that issue, using the notes where the issue was and try to resolve that issue on that project.


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Q3: Formal project reporting is new to this organization, and unfortunately Amina made the early mistake of requiring lengthy, detailed status reports. No one on the project team turns them in consistently, and no one in management reads her reports. What should Amina do? She is considering a) giving up on status reporting, or b) enforcing the detailed reporting or c) creating a new shorter, more focused status report template. Support your recommendation and describe the key elements of the report that you suggest she uses.

Type your answer here

Q4: Quality planning went well, and the team also did a good job performing quality assurance. Recommend at least three (3) quality control techniques, or procedures that Amina could incorporate into this project to help it be successful. Explain how each one might be applied to a specific problem or metric. a) Recommend at least three (3) quality control techniques, or procedures that Amina could incorporate into this project to help it be successful. Three Quality Control procedures that Amina could incorporate into this project to help it be successful are: Seven basic quality tools, Quality Checklists, and Benchmarking.

“The seven basic quality tools, also known in the industry as 7QC Tools, are used within the context of the PDCA Cycle to solve quality-related problems.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.1.2.3)

According to PMBOK Guide, 2013 in Figure 8-7, the seven basic quality tools are: • Cause-and-effect diagrams, which are also known as fishbone diagrams or as Ishikawa diagrams. • Flowcharts, which are also referred to as process maps because they display the sequence of

steps and the branching possibilities that exist for a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs.

• Checksheets, which are also known as tally sheets and may be used as a checklist when gathering data.

• Pareto diagrams, exist as a special form of vertical bar chart and are used to identify the vital few sources that are responsible for causing most of a problem’s effects.

• Histograms, are a special form of bar chart and are used to describe the central tendency, dispersion, and shape of a statistical distribution.

• Control charts, are used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance. Upper and lower specification limits are based on requirements of the agreement.

• Scatter diagrams, plot ordered pairs (X, Y) and are sometimes called correlation charts because they seek to explain a change in the dependent variable, Y, in relationship to a change observed in the corresponding independent variable, X.” ( Sec. 8.1.2.3)

“A checklist is a structured tool, usually component-specific, used to verify that a set of required steps has been performed.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.1.3.4) “Quality checklists are structured lists that help to verify that the work of the project and its deliverables fulfill a set of requirements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3.1.3) “Quality Checklists. A structured tool used to verify that a set of required steps has been performed.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 556)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 “Benchmarking involves comparing actual or planned project practices to those of comparable projects to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.1.2.4) ” Benchmarking. Benchmarking is the comparison of actual or planned practices, such as processes and operations, to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 529)

b) Explain how each one might be applied to a specific problem or metric.

“..., while quality control is primarily concerned with correctness of the deliverables and meeting the quality requirements specified for the deliverables.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 5.5)

Project Quality Management processes include: “8.3 Control Quality—The process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8, p. 227)

“..., failure to meet the quality requirements can have serious, negative consequences for any or all of the project’s stakeholders.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8, p. 227) “Quality as a delivered performance or result is “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements”...” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8, p. 228)

“Control Quality is the process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes. The key benefits of this process include: (1) identifying the causes of poor process or product quality and recommending and/or taking action to eliminate them; and (2) validating that project deliverables and work meet the requirements specified by key stakeholders necessary for final acceptance. ” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3), (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p.534 and Annex A1.7.7)

“The Control Quality process uses a set of operational techniques and tasks to verify that the delivered output will meet the requirements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3) “... and quality control should be used during the project executing and closing phases to formally demonstrate, with reliable data, that the sponsor and/or customer’s acceptance criteria have been met.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3)

“Although one of the main goals of quality control is to ensure and improve quality, the main outcomes of this process are acceptance decisions, rework, and process adjustments.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 7, p. 303)

The seven basic quality tools are used to solve quality problems or quality planning and assurance. One of them called Cause-and-effect diagrams is a diagram or a tool that shows why the problem is occurring and the steps to go back in the moment that it occurs. And then by analyzing the root cause of the real problem and why that problem it occurs, then add other possible causes, and then showing on the chart the possibilities how to solve the problem.

“Cause-and-effect diagrams – also called fishbone diagrams (because their structure resembles a fishbone) ... – can assist in ensuring and improving quality by finding the root causes of quality problems... that a root cause is the real or underlying reason a problem occurs.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 242)



“The problem statement placed at the head of the fishbone is used as a starting point to trace the problem’s source back to its actionable root cause. The problem statement typically describes the problem as a gap to be closed or as an objective to be achieved. The causes are found by looking at the problem statement and asking “why” until the actionable root cause has been identified or until the reasonable possibilities on each fishbone have been exhausted.”

“A checklist is a list of items to be noted or consulted. Checklists help project teams verify that a set of required topics or steps has been covered or performed.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 5, p. 185)

Amina by working with the project team can use the standardized checklists that are available from the previous project to ensure consistency in frequently performed task in this project. And then she can update the checklist for the purpose of the project, when she can use project’s requirements and practices, and keep track of the required steps to verify if they have been performed and if they can meet the criteria. This will be a document with all the information for the quality measures and techniques of the deliverables produced by the project for each step required. It is important for Amina to use these common techniques to benefit from taking actions to improve quality, as described in Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6. She needs to analyze processes in order to identify specific activities that can enhance their value to ensure that all the services produced from the project have the sufficient quality to meet the expectations of the project. This will be very useful tool by showing the steps and the requirement quality for the services or the products of the project, and if they are performed correctly and when.

“Benchmarking generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside of the organization itself.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 6, p. 241)

“Benchmarking involves comparing actual or planned project practices to those of comparable projects to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.1.2.4)

Benchmarked project can be applied very well for Amina’s project, because the Latino Camp Noah project is within the LSS organization, as French Camp Noah to improve performance. And some on her project team have been working with French Camp Noah, so they working with the project manager that is Amina can make the analogies from the previous project with this new project even that they are in different application area, from French areas to Spanish areas, because benchmarking allows for analogies from project in a different area.

“Quality control measurements are the documented results of control quality activities. They should be captured in the format that was specified through the Plan Quality Management process.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 8.3.3.1)

“The French Camp Noah project was not completed on time, the scope had to be reduced to meet even the delayed time frame, the cost was 30% higher than expected, and quality control measurements indicated that there were many small disappointments within the project.” (Case study)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 The first think that Amina can do is to compare the quality control measurements from the previous project and try to identify the problems that happened that time and they could have been fixed, and then she can try to plan with avoiding the same issues from happening again. And here is the benchmarking project that involves comparing actual or planned project practices to identify which is the best practice that they should be using, to generate ideas for improvement from the previous project, and then to measure the performance. Amina can use the lesson learned on how the project team was able to do the work without looking any more on the plans, and to apply all the notes from those meetings. The lesson on how the executing process has started before a detailed planned has been made, the lesson of the teams to do not repeat the same experience without improving the project management process. Or Amina can use the historical information contained in the OPA and EEF factors with benchmarking project from the previous project to reduce the risk of project scope creep that Amina is afraid, and then controlling the project scope, cost and schedule of the project.

“The project called "Campamento de Noé" was chartered, and by the end of the first month, detailed planning was completed. Two months ago, the team started executing the project plan and they expect to complete the project on time by completing the remaining tasks to be executed within two months.” (Case study) “Changes to the project scope, cost and schedule on the "Campamento de Noé" project have become troublesome and Amina is worried about the potential for scope creep.” (Case study)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Q5: As the project nears closure, Amina is considering her options for learning from the project. Recommend an approach for learning from the project and describe both what she should do and why she should do it.

a) Recommend an approach for learning from the project and describe both what she should do and why she should do it?

She should learn from lessons learned, what happen during the project phases, and keeping track of all the steps that should the issues and who did and who was responsible for that and how was resolved in the end. She should know to measure the problems and issues during all the process groups.

One element of the organizational process assets is: “• Lessons learned documentation. Lessons learned, what has been experienced, and process improvement recommendations, should be developed for the project file to improve future procurements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.3.2)

“Lessons Learned. The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future with the purpose of improving future performance.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p.544) Amina can use the lessons that occur in this project and take notes from this and so she can improve future procurements and future performance of the project. She can learn from the project team and their relationship, on how she can develop it, to improve communication.

“Lessons Learned Knowledge Base. A store of historical information and lessons learned about both the outcomes of previous project selection decisions and previous project performance.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p.544) If Amina is storing all the historical information from what happened in this project she can use that with the lesson learned and include that in her interpersonal skills she can be very successful project manager in the future. Another one lesson is how she was able to manage the conflicts between the project team or between project team and herself.

“The ability to build trust across the project team and other key stakeholders is a critical component in effective team leadership. Trust is associated with cooperation, information sharing, and effective problem resolution. Without trust it is difficult to establish the positive relationships necessary between the various stakeholders engaged in the project. When trust is compromised, relationships deteriorate, people disengage, and collaboration becomes more difficult, if not impossible.”(PMI, 2013, Annex X3.9)

She needs to build the trust between the project team and stakeholders to improve the leadership ability. She needs to know the project team and stakeholders better, before the initiating project, to avoid all the inconvenient issues and for this she can use the stakeholder register where are included all the information about them. Who is important and what are his expectations and agreements for the project, and how much he wants to be involved on the project. This knowledge can help building trust between Amina and stakeholders, and achieving the project objectives in an easier way.

“Communication has been identified as one of the single biggest reasons for project success or failure. Effective communication within the project team and between the project manager, team members, and all external stakeholders is essential.” (PMI, 2013, Annex X3.4)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 “Listening is an important part of communication. Listening techniques, both active and passive give the user insight to problem areas, negotiation and conflict management strategies, decision making, and problem resolution.” (PMI, 2013, Annex X3.4) Listening is an important technique to be more successful, negotiating and conflict management strategies are very helpful in a relationship as a project manager and project team or stakeholders. It reduces the risk of the project, including less OPAs and EEFs issues.

“Engage in open and direct communications to resolve problems.” (PMI, 2013, Annex X3.9) She needs to engage herself in direct communications to resolve the problems, and not as she did in that meeting when she went out because she couldn’t handle the conflict. She should have learned the lesson for that occasion and she should have found the way how to resolve it. (according the case study, Q2) She should be more clear and more decided when she should say yes or no about the approved changes or variances in a project with the project teams. Because Amina has to work all the time with the project team or other stakeholders, she cannot be a successful project manager without having improved the communication skills.

“To close the contract, all procurement documentation is collected, indexed, and filed. Information on contract schedule, scope, quality, and cost performance along with all contract change documentation, payment records, and inspection results are cataloged. This information can be used for lessons learned information and as a basis for evaluating contractors for future contracts.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.1.2) Amina should learn for the procurement documents so she can be able to know which documents she needs to be able to close the project.

And the most important with other elements of OPAs is the lesson learned documentation which is a very useful for the project manager, project team and the organization itself because it includes all the information about the experience on what went wrong and what went right, and how was resolved. How it can be improved with the right recommendations for each issues that they found during the project, and how it can be avoid or resolved in the future for similar purposes. Lesson learned documentation can include all the lessons for each processes group of the project and how these steps can be improved so the performance can be improved too, or how the project objectives and expectation can be achieved in a successful way.

“Close Project or Phase is the process of finalizing all activities across all of the Project Management Process Groups to formally complete the project or phase. The key benefit of this process is that it provides lessons learned, the formal ending of project work, and the release of organization resources to pursue new endeavors.” (PMI, 2013, Annex A1.8.1) This process will be the process that she can learn more because in the closing process are included all the documents or procurements about the failure and success, about where conflicts were found and resolved, tracking every steps of the issues, and stakeholders register and checklist, the requirements and expectations of the byer and the seller.

“Lessons learned documentation. Documentation includes the root cause analysis of issues faced, reasoning behind the corrective action chosen, and other types of lessons learned about stakeholder management. Lessons learned are documented and distributed so that they become part of the historical database for both the project and the performing organization.” (PMI, 2013, Sec.13.4.3.5)


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Q6: Procurement is one area in which Amina has very little experience. She needs to Close Procurements for the contract for discounted airline flights that they had negotiated with a travel agency. Using the process flow diagram on p. 342, (PMI, 2008) explain how the close procurements process applies to the airline flight contract, and why each step is important. a) Explain how the close procurements process applies to the airline flight contract.

“The final process in project procurement management is closing procurements, which involves completion of each procurement. The project team should determine if all work required in each contract was completed correctly and satisfactorily and resolve any open items. The team should also update records to reflect final results and archive information for future use.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 8, p. 340) According Schwalbe, 2010, the tools for closing procurements include: Procurement audits, Negotiated settlements, and A records management system. Ch. 8

“To close the contract, all procurement documentation is collected, indexed, and filed. Information on contract schedule, scope, quality, and cost performance along with all contract change documentation, payment records, and inspection results are cataloged. This information can be used for lessons learned information and as a basis for evaluating contractors for future contracts.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.1.2)

Amina should ask from her team if all the required items from the contract for discounted airline flights are completed correctly and satisfactorily between them as byer and the airline agency that is the seller. And if something needed to be fixed or solved, they should do that and then they are ready to close the contract. The team should update all the records if any change on the contract had happened for the final results and need to archive that information as a lesson learned for the future. If the seller had any request the team should check if that is completed and then the document for closing the contract is ready. The relation between buyer and seller has to be correct when both are satisfied or agreed upon the points on the contract, and then the contract is ready to be closed. The seller can be informed by the byer that the contract is completed, and if any other payment needs to be done from the byer for the final payment, the byer should include that and send it to the seller. According to Schwalbe, 2010, are some advice on closing projects although that project teams do not spend much time on it, but it is very important to do so. For a successful closing projects these advice are important: To plan for project closing (there should be tasks in the WBS and resources allocated to perform project closing), It will be much easier to close a project if the project team captures lessons learned and other important information required for closing as soon as possible, and Project managers should take time to thank their team and other project stakeholders and have some type of closing celebration. Ch. 8, p. 342.

If thinking for the future, lesson learned, and if any issues will occur on that project, to have a documented contract can protect the organization. Amina should use this advice for a successful closing, to ask the project team to write all the lessons learned and to thank the project team for all the work they did, to thank stakeholders and to celebrate the closing.

“Project Procurement Management is discussed within the perspective of the buyer-seller relationship. The buyer-seller relationship may exist at many levels on any one project, and between organizations internal to and external to the acquiring organization.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12, p. 357)

“Procurement audits are often performed to identify lessons learned in the entire procurement process.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 8, p. 340) “Negotiated settlements: Ideally, any disagreements during


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 procurement will be settled by negotiating between the byer and the seller.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 8, p. 340) “A records management system provides the ability to easily organize, find, and archive documents, such as those related to procurement.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 8, p. 340) “Outputs from closing procurements include closed procurements (such as closed contracts) and updates to organizational process assets. Just as with closing the project or phase, updating organizational process assets includes documentation, historical information, and lesson learned.” (Schwalbe, 2010, Ch. 8, p. 340)

According PMBOK Guide, 2013, the Project Procurement Management processes include: Plan Procurement Management, Conduct Procurements, Control Procurements, and Close Procurement. Sec.12

“The Project Procurement Management processes involve agreements, including contracts, which are legal documents between a byer and a seller.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12, p. 357) “Project Procurement Management is discussed within the perspective of the buyer-seller relationship. The buyer-seller relationship may exist at many levels on any one project, and between organizations internal to and external to the acquiring organization.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12, p. 357) “Project Procurement Management includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed form outside the project team.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12, p. 355) “Project Procurement Management includes the contract management and change control processes required to develop and administer contracts or purchase order issued by authorized project team members.

Project Procurement Management also includes controlling any contract issued by an outside organization...” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12, p. 355)

“Close Procurements is the process of completing each procurement. The key benefit of this process is that it documents agreements and related documentation for future reference.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4 and Annex A1.8.2) “Close Procurements. The process of completing each project procurement.” (PMI, 2013, Glossary, p. 531) “12.4 Close Procurements - The process of completing each project procurement.” (PMI, 2013, Sec.12, p. 355)“The Close Procurements process also involves administrative activities such as finalizing open claims, updating records to reflect final results, and archiving such information for future use. Close Procurements addresses each contract applicable to the project or a project phase.”(PMI, 2013, Sec.12.4)“Unresolved claims may be subject to litigation after closure. The contract terms and conditions can prescribe specific procedures for agreement closure. The Close Procurements process supports the Close Project or Phase process (Section 4.6) by ensuring contractual agreements are completed or terminated.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4

b) Why each step is important.


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 Inputs: “The project management plan contains the procurement management plan, which provides the details and guidelines for closing out procurements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.1.1)

--The project management plan is important because it provides details and guidelines for closing procurement, which is a document that have all steps for what is need to do before closing, if the requirements items are achieved, if any problem or request is been made, if the last payment is ready, if the stakeholders are satisfied with the deliverables, etc.

“To close the contract, all procurement documentation is collected, indexed, and filed. Information on contract schedule, scope, quality, and cost performance along with all contract change documentation, payment records, and inspection results are cataloged. This information can be used for lessons learned information and as a basis for evaluating contractors for future contracts.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.1.2)

-- Procurement documents are important because it includes all the information about contract schedule, scope, quality, cost performance, contract change documentation, payment, inspection, and all these are collected in one document that is indexed and filed ready for the closure procedure. There can be included all the requested from the stakeholders or from the project itself, and also if they are realized and if any other problem is fixed, can be seen in that document before it will be closed. Can be written also the expectation form the seller and their evaluation and response for the relationship that they had on this contract. The information can be used as lesson learned for the future purpose of the organization and also can be used the information about the relationship with this contractors.

“The buyer structures procurement documents to facilitate an accurate and complete response from each prospective seller and to facilitate easy evaluation of the responses.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.1.3.3) “Procurement documents are required to be sufficient to ensure consistent, appropriate responses, but flexible enough to allow consideration of any seller suggestions for better ways to satisfy the same requirements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.1.3.3)

Tools and Techniques: “A procurement audit is a structured review of the procurement process originating from the Plan Procurement Management process through Control Procurements. The objective of a procurement audit is to identify successes and failures that warrant recognition in the preparation or administration of other procurement contracts on the project, or on other projects within the performing organization.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.2.1)

--A procurement audit is important because identifies successes and failures that warrant recognition in the preparation or administration of the other procurement contract. Without these issues the contract cannot be closed, all these needs to be identified and valued and written in the document of the closing.

“In all procurement relationships, the final equitable settlement of all outstanding issues, claims, and disputes by negotiation is a primary goal. Whenever settlement cannot be achieved through direct negotiation, some form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) including mediation or arbitration may be explored. When all else fails, litigation in the courts is the least desirable option.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.2.2)

--Procurement negotiations are very important before the closing, because all the unresolved issues, claims, or disputes between stakeholders or between the buyer and the seller needs to be settled or to


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 be negotiated to achieve the requirements of this contract, and then to be able to close the contract and finish all the payment or the other obligations. This can be direct negotiation or indirect, also can be arbitrary, but is better to be resolved in this ways then going on the litigation in courts. If all this litigation can be avoid by negotiation will help the closing of the contract.

“A records management system is used by the project manager to manage contract and procurement documentation and records. Contract documents and correspondence are archived through the records management system as part of the Close Procurements process.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.2.3)

-- A records management system is important because is the obligation of the project manager to manage contract and procurement documentation and recording all of these in the files and archiving the records on the system to be used for the future and other needs for the organization.

Outputs: “The buyer, usually through its authorized procurement administrator, provides the seller with formal written notice that the contract has been completed. Requirements for formal procurement closure are usually defined in the terms and conditions of the contract and are included in the procurement management plan.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.3.1)

--Closed procurements are important because here are the evidences or the documents that are authorized from the byer to the seller in a formal written notice that the contract has been completed, and all the conditions and requirements included in the contract are achieved as they have agreed. This is the most important because it is between the byer and the seller, the groups that wrote the contract from the beginning with their requirements and obligation for the payment and other items.

“Elements of the organizational process assets that may be updated include, but are not limited to: • Procurement file. A complete set of indexed contract documentation, including the closed contract, is prepared for inclusion with the final project files. • Deliverable acceptance. Documentation of formal acceptance of seller-provided deliverables may be required to be retained by the organization. The Close Procurement process ensures this documentation requirement is satisfied. Requirements for formal deliverable acceptance and how to address nonconforming deliverables are usually defined in the agreement. • Lessons learned documentation. Lessons learned, what has been experienced, and process improvement recommendations, should be developed for the project file to improve future procurements.” (PMI, 2013, Sec. 12.4.3.2)

--An important element of OPA that needs to be updated is the procurement file that includes indexed contract documentation as closed contract that needs to be achieved with the other files of the closing. Important is also the element of deliverables acceptance that includes the requirements of the seller versus the organization, and if these requirements for the deliverables are satisfied or not should be saved in these documents with others files of the closing procurements. And the most important with other elements is the lesson learned documentation which is a very useful for the project manager, project team and the organization itself because it includes all the information about the experience on what went wrong and what went right, and how was resolved. How it can be improved with the right recommendations for each issues that they found during the project, and how it can be avoid or resolved in the future for similar purposes. Lesson learned documentation can include all the lessons for


Final Exam PRM600 Online Latifi Jorida Dt. 10/21/2015 each processes group of the project and how these steps can be improved so the performance can be improved too, or how the project objectives and expectation can be achieved in a successful way.


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