How Project Management Helped My Project-The Vermont Veterans Militia

Museum Operation Outreach Program

Prepared by: J. Fred Carbine IIIProject Management I-MSM602.F09- Marlboro College Graduate SchoolDate: 12/5/09

How Project Management Helped My Project-The Vermont Veterans Militia

Museum Operation Outreach Program

Prepared by: J. Fred Carbine IIIProject Management I-MSM602.F09- Marlboro College Graduate SchoolDate: 12/5/09

Entity Requirements

-Helped me consider the merits of an “ideal sponsor”.-Made me consider project deficiencies that needed clarification prior to the

project:-Schedule fluxuations when using teenagers as a volunteer base.

-Increased tour #s- be careful what you wish for, may overtax existing volunteer staff.

-Eventual tourism success could infringe upon secured operations within military base, especially with many young kids running around. Could

trespass on secured areas of the base.-Provided consideration into looking into other alternative outreach

programs that could help develop an Outreach Program prototype for the VVMM. (Existing outreach program in other non-military

museums/Consultant.)-Learned that outsourcing experts has potential to provide value to my

project.-Realized I need to translate Project Management nomenclature to my

Sponsors…Speak English Fred, not PMBOK.

Project Skinny

Project Skinny

-Helped me better define the project’s needs vs. what will actually be done for the project.

-Helped me develop a better focus on the project’s vision-worked through vision blah blah.

Prospectus

For my project, this element of Project Management was my Lifesaver:By reviewing it in a project initiation meeting with my sponsor/co-sponsors, it established ideal sponsorship, clarified the roles of individuals within the project and identified hidden caveats nesting within the project.

Prospectus

-Helped me assert ideal sponsorship for my project. Convinced my primary sponsor to address his absence during the project by assigning 2 auxiliary sponsors.-Helped me address the confusion which arises from crucial stakeholders vs. key players…you can’t have one team member in both roles…..-By conducting a project initiation with my sponsors, I learned how valuable the prospectus is to the project…it fleshes out hidden facts that could later become caveats within the project:• Volunteers must be 13+ to work around firearms in a military museum (military bylaw). • VVMM never had an organized method of collecting tour data…• Primary Sponsor’s Quote after using the prospectus to address the importance of recording tour data to establish a metric (10% increase)

for the project: -“Gosh Fred, we (VVMM directors) never thought of it that way…”

Work Breakdown Structure

-Clean and vague WBS of project tasks won’t do me any favors for successful completion of the project. It overlooks other necessary, time-consuming tasks.-However, I may also be doing too much in my project.-Realize it is much easier to handle the entire entity of the project if it’s broken down into smaller sections- Tourism, Volunteer Program, and Promotional Video.-You must visit and redraft the WBS several times before you have clearer and defined deliverables and tasks. Doing this identifies the needs of subtasks to the primary tasks in the project.

Work Breakdown Structure

-My 1st Draft of the WBS-lacking more necessary levels, rather vague, with use of some action verbs…bad Fred…bad!

Work Breakdown Structure My 2nd Draft- More Segmented Elements of the Project, Structured Project Levels with IPEMC phases, More Tasks, More Noun Usage…now were cooking with gas!

Staffing Management Plan-Forced me to consider the necessary and/or overlooked

personnel numbers needed for VVMM project’s successful implementation.

-Addressed the importance of frequent meetings between project team members to address personnel needs in my

project.

-Using it clarified existing reserve lists of volunteers that can be used through the project implementation.

-Learned that despite the burnout factor of existing volunteers, currently, there is a “small” reserve of volunteers

to sustain the VVMM as the project is implemented.

Communications Plan

Although applying this element seemed redundant to me due to the limited number of key stakeholders (Senior Management, Sponsors

and Project Team Members) in my project, it had merit since it provided me awareness on the the potential benefit of

using/outsourcing government agencies to assist me in my project (federal grants/free administrative support).

It also opened my eyes to the benefit of outsourcing subcontractors to perform some of the required “specialist” tasks in my project-

particularly for producing the VVMM promotional video.

Win Conditions

Besides providing awareness to the possible constraints of the project’s Schedule, Scope and

Quality, the Win Conditions PM element addressed the importance of metrics. By using it, it spurred me to consider using more quality management tools, such as surveys and Google Metrics for the VVMM

promotional video.

Quality Plan

This Section of the Project Management Process impressed upon the necessity of testing. If you are

going to test processes and their functionality within the project, make sure you are indicating the “how”! Don’t vaguely list that you will perform testing in the

Quality Plan template because “it looks good”.

From personal reflection, I also think it is important to have a “why” for the testing before you develop

the “how”.

Project Scheduling With Liquid Planner-Through Using Multiple Task Lists in Liquid Planner, I was able

to provide Better Prioritization-Breakdown of High, Medium, Low Priority Tasks

Project Scheduling With Liquid Planner

High Priority Tasks- Mostly Action Tasks Directly Related Towards Producing Deliverables, Risk Assessment and Risk Management (e.g. Collect Current Tourism Data, Perform Risk Assessment on Tourism Accounting Prototype, etc.)

Medium Priority Tasks- Mostly Quality Surveys, Escalation Reports on each section of project-Tourism, Volunteer Program, Promotional Video).

Low Priority Tasks- Mostly Signoff and Transitional forms/activities to complete project deliverables for each section of project.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Video production of VVMM Online Video/CD---Project manager’s video production skills to

perform this task (shooting, editing, and producing) may take longer due to my

inexperience.

Solution:Transfer it-Use an outsourced video/media technician in the project.

Risk Assessment

Building a Volunteer Outreach program prototype for the VVMM with no previous models or procedures from the military. A prototype is necessary for the success of the

project, however, I have no preexisting resources to work with.

Solution:Mitigate it-There may be existing prototypes that exist in non-military museums. There may also be helpful advice/resources from government agencies or even consultants, such as guidance counselors in regional high schools (e.g. Heide McLaughlin).

Risk AssessmentThe primary project sponsor will be in Florida for the duration of the project; this poses a risk if his presence is later needed in executing or approving critical tasks in the project at the museum. Additionally, trying to communicate with him could be more challenging since he will not be centrally located at the museum.

Solution: Mitigate it- Since there are other volunteers that have a continuous presence in the museum and work directly with the primary sponsor, two of them have been assigned to assist me directly through the implementation of the project.

Project Reflections

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

Biting Off More Than I Can ChewThis next part may sound a little selfish…

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew-Through Implementing the WBS and Project Schedule, I

discovered more and more subtasks were surfacing behind achieving the 3 major deliverables-Tourism, Outreach

Program and Promotional Video. It may be necessary to reduce the number of deliverables due to the timeline of project. Trying to “do it all” could be a detriment to the

project.

-Project also needs to integrate with my chosen Capstone Objectives and my Future Career Objectives. Solely trying to solve every existing problem for the VVMM can prove to be

very noble, but doing all this in my Capstone may not be relevant to my next career choice. Additionally, it may

demonstrate skills unrelated to what my next employer is searching for…

Biting Off More Than I Can ChewThe Dreaded Timeline….

Current Project Completion Timeline Range in Liquid Planner is 128-147 days, with an expected effort of 138

days. This currently exceeds my Capstone timeline of 120 days. May need to cut some deliverables from the project, perform more outsourcing or consider streamlining tasks.

Project Risk Number scored a 3 in Project Uncertainty and Project (Deliverable) Uncertainty with a total project mean of 2.63. This means that there are high risks in the project

that will have to be monitored and managed diligently.

Ongoing Risk ManagementRisk Management is a Journey, not a Destination

I now understand that, based on my Project Risk Scores (3+) and Risk Events, I will need to document all of the risk management

steps that I take to effectively manage the project to completion, and, also receive credit for my Capstone Project.

That’s All Folks