Strategic Project Management Model

Description
The Strategic Project Management Model (SPM) explicates the important elements that are key for developing strategic leadership project management in a team. Learning about project management includes learning new terminology and key concepts in project management.

Name Team #

Grade and Comments:

Strategic Project
Management

Team Leader Seminars
10.26

2

Table of Contents

Introduction

4
Definitions 6
Strategic Project Management Model

9
Strategic Management

10
Objective of Project 11
The Scope Statement 12
Decomposing the Project 13
Competencies 14
Work Breakdown Structural Assessment 15
Goals 18
Team Goals 20
Sample Work Breakdown for Experiment 21
Environment 22

3

Organization Structure 24
Environment Assessment 25
Culture 27
Cultural Assessment 28
Resources Planning 30
Thinking Style Interactions 34
Conflict Style 40
Project Time Management 49

Historical Information

53

Activity List

54

Estimating Activity Time (EAT)

55

Arrow Diagramming Method

56

Constraints and Assumptions

57

Dependencies

59

Tools and Techniques

60

Action Plans or Project Management
Schedule

62

References

67

4

Copyright Bonnie Burrell & Alethia Bess

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INTRODUCTION:

The Strategic Project Management Model (SPM) explicates the important elements
that are key for developing strategic leadership project management in a team. Learning
about project management includes learning new terminology and key concepts in project
management. The underlying theoretical concept is that environment and cultural orientation
impact upon task performance in a team. Cultural orientation is defined as an organization
that is comprised of an environment. An environment is a theoretical construct composed of
beliefs that have material consequence. Culture is an exhibition of collective behavior
resulting from the attitudes and beliefs of the inhabitants.
The environment is divided into general sectors including social, cultural, legal,
political, economic, technological, and physical. The culture in a team is defined as the
collective phenomena that embodies people's responses to the uncertainties and chaos that
are inevitable in a collective experience. This includes history, tradition, expectations of
behavior, and values.
These responses fall into two major categories. The first is the substance of a culture,
shared emotionally charged beliefs that we call ideologies. The second is cultural forms,
which are observable entities, including actions, through which members of a culture
express, affirm, and communicate the substance of their culture to one another (Trice &
Beyer, 1993). The culture is one sector of the general environment. In today's cultural sector
of the general environment the trend is toward having a decreasing value for hierarchical
authority and an increasing value for collaboration. These cultural value changes transform
the other sectors of the general environment by changing how we manage projects. Our
values, use of technology, definition of leadership, and use of power and influence is
transforming. Understanding how to develop proficiency in strategic project management
skills as we now value them can make a team more efficient and high performing. In
developing an action plan for a specific goal this model breaks down the general environment
into different sectors so that specific influences impacting on performance of the team can be
delineated.

The mission statement is the first step in defining the strategies your team will use to
become high performing. The mission statement defines your team's core values or vision.
It is the first step to creating your team's culture. There are key variables that define a
culture: structure, time, thinking, specific environment, defining power, integrating
individualism, transforming competitiveness into collaboration, and competently leading in a
learning organization. Teams are transitory cultures therefore rapid identification of key
factors is needed. Other factors considered in the Strategic Project Management Model are
assessing leadership skills, identifying availability of technology and resources, the use of
power, and strategically managing a changing environment to support effectiveness and
efficiency. Understanding how these elements work in concert to impact upon a team’s
performance is the main objective of the model. The model includes assessments of some of
these areas of influence you and your team will encounter. Understanding the scope of a
project, and setting appropriate realistic goals for a team project takes skillful discussion and

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clarification. Learning how to identify culture, the environment, competencies, and
providing appropriate technologies provides structure for the team culture. Effective time
management in a team, assessing individuals, competently, managing conflict, recognizing
the impact of how a person thinks when problem-solving, and other behavioral aspects of
individual team members provides the foundation for strategic project management. This
workbook addresses environment, culture, technology and resources, thinking styles, goals,
strategic time management, and action plans. Many of these factors explicated in this
workbook are also explained in the leadership workbook. The leadership workbook also
addresses leadership roles and competencies, and power and influence. These exercises are
designed to define the terms and to teach you how to define and integrate the advantages and
disadvantages of each of the influences impacting upon your team when designing and
implementing a project.

The Overall Objective is: to understand how the general and specific environment works in
concert to impact upon a team’s performance To support leaders in learning how to create
effective project management. Creating action plans for goals tasks that need to be
accomplished is a key concept in this model. Projects in this course include written team
assignment, developing and rehearsing the oral presentations, executing the experiments and
any other professional activity the team may want to execute collaboratively.

An attempt has been made to keep the jargon to a minimum. All jargon is in the
Definitions and also unique definitions to commonly used words.

The Strategic Project Management model combines time management (Parato, 19),
systems thinking (Senge et al, 1994), cultural orientation theory (Brake & Walter, 1995),
leadership theory (Nahavandi, A.,1997;Dubrin,1995) within the context of team
development, and organization theory (Hatch, M. J., 1997).

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Definitions
ACTION PLAN: a system utilized to break goals into sub goals and then tasks which are
then defined by the steps and time it will take to accomplish the goals.
ACTIVITY DEFINITION: is identifying and documenting the specific activities that must
be performed to successfully complete the project as defined in the work breakdown
structure.

ACTIVITY SEQUENCING: is identifying and documenting interactivity dependencies.
Activities must be sequenced accurately in order to support later development of a realistic
action plan (activities schedule). Sequencing can be performed with the aid of project
management software or with manual techniques, which are more productive on smaller
projects such as yours or in combination.

ACTIVITY DIAGRAMMING METHOD: project network analysis. Each circle
represents an event in the project. Each circle is the start of work or the completion of a
project . The arrow represents the activity or task that must take place before the second
event can be declared as achieved. Network diagrams are not drawn to scale. Originated in
mathematical theory of networks. (Lock, 1996)

ACTIVITY DURATION ESTIMATING: is assessing the number of work periods that an
individual team member must completed in each identified activity and the number of work
periods that the team will need to collaborate on the activity. The team must approve both
individual and team work estimates.

ANALOGOUS ESTIMATING: also called top down estimating is using the actual
duration of a previous, similar activity as the basis for estimating the duration for future
activity. On the first experiment your will not be able to use analogous estimating or
historical information.
ASSUMPTIONS: are factors for planning purposes that all of the team consider true, real or
certain.
AUTHORITY: represents the right to secure compliance by others; power backed by
legitimacy.
CONSTRAINTS: factors that will limit the project team's options. Your constraints are
few because they are usually items such as market shifts or government action,

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CULTURE: is the common set of behaviors, values, beliefs, patterns of thinking and
assumptions shared by members of an organization. Culture shapes our view of the world.
Culture determines how we think and behave towards ourselves, others, and the world.
DECOMPOSITION: subdividing project elements into smaller, more manageable
components (goals and sub-goals). (PmBok, 1996)
DISCRETIONARY DEPENDENCIES: dependencies which are decided upon by the team
(example will only work fifteen hours per week on the project)They should be fully
discussed and documented since they may limit your scheduling options. They are limited
by best practices, which in this course means amount of time you and advisor and course
syllabus define as discretionary. You may also decide upon a sequencing of events for the
action plan that is desired even though there are other acceptable sequences. (PmBpok, 1996)
ENVIRONMENT: The outside forces that have the potential to affect the organization. An
environment is a theoretical construct formed by beliefs about their existence; environments
have material consequences. The model uses two environmental constructs. . The external
environment is made up of all entities and forces that impinge upon organizational activities
and with which the organization must deal with to be effective. The general environment
refers to those aspects of the external world that affect organizations. The general
environment includes many situational factors that can influence how an organization forms
its culture.
EXTERNAL DEPENDENCIES: the dependencies that are from outside sources that were
decided would have impact upon the team's ability to do the project successfully. (ordering
equipment that is not working properly)
LEADERSHIP: The methods and behaviors by which the strategies are implemented.
MANDATORY DEPENDENCIES: are inherent in the nature of the work being done such
as time and other physical limitations such as the sequencing of the events (can't take data
until experiment equipment is running properly). (PMBOK, 1996)
MILESTONES: Intermediate points throughout the network diagram that are placed on the
schedule as benchmarks to show the team that the project is being accomplished. A milestone
is achieved when the milestone activity is finished. In arrow networks events can be
designated as milestones. (Lock, 1996)
POWER: is the capacity of one person or group to secure compliance from another person

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or group.
STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT: The balance and fit among strategy, culture,
environment, leadership, structure and technology in achieving short-term and long-term
goals. In teams it is developing strategies that help team members to harmonize their
personal and organizational commitments so at any moment, their reasoning, decision
making, and actions have integrity for the team as well as for themselves (Culbert, 1996)
STRATEGY: The creation of a strategy is how vision, mission, goals, and decisions are
realized.
STRUCTURE: The basic design dimensions including centralizations, formulization,
integration, and span of control that organize the human resources of an organization.
SYSTEMS THINKING: a way of thinking about, and a language for describing and
understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This
discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune
with the larger processes of the natural and economic world (Senge et al., 1994).
TECHNOLOGY: The process by which inputs are transformed into outputs.
TEMPLATES: are activity lists from a previous project which you can use all or part of in
this project. In addition the activity list for the Work Break Down Schedule can be used as
template for this project as well as for other projects.
VISION OR MISSION STATEMENTS: for teams are a tool used to establish and guide
the team's direction. They are descriptions of what team members would like their work,
their performance and results, their relationship to each other, and their work area to look
like.

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Strategic Project Management Model

Structure
Environment Culture
Technology
Leadership
Communication
Power
Strategy
Action Plans
Strategic Management

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Strategic Management
Are there individual or team characteristics that must change or be created in order to
accomplish the project successfully? If so what are the changes?
In order to answer this question many influences have to be clarified until an understanding
of their synergy is apparent to the team.
To manage a team strategically the team must develop a vision for the task and vision for the
opportunity to collaborate which will include developing new attitudes and beliefs. Write
your team’s Mission Statement here:

As you are aware a mission is a statement used as a tool to help the team set their
direction. The mission statement clarifies and summarizes what the team wants to do. The
mission statement states in concrete terms what the team does and helps others to relate to the
team's activities. Scope Statements are subdividing the major project deliverables or goals
into smaller manageable components (PMBOK Guide, 1996). Goals are what the team
members commit to do. Goals are specific, time based, and challenging. Goal setting
requires a structured process. In the following assessment you will learn how to set goals in
a structured process which will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your team.
Action Plans are accomplished by developing action steps from scope statements and
goals. An action plan takes a project's goals, which are perceived as overwhelming and
makes them feasible. Teams create action plans from scope statements and goals and by
integrating all components of the Strategic Project Management Model into one overall plan
of strategic management. Once the action steps are created roles and responsibilities become
more clearly defined, allowing team members to discuss who has the expertise and
motivation to do individual steps. In the early stages of this process it will seems
overwhelming and pointless to some team members. Aligning team members to be
motivated and high performing is difficult to manage. Learning to become a proficient
leader is important at this stage of Strategic Project Management.

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Objective of Project
In order to later create an appropriate scope statement break down your Mission
Statement, divide the team objective into two primary specific objectives, the team process
objective and the task process objective. (Read “General Overview of Behaviors used to
Form a High Performing Team” in the Manual for a complete understanding of these two
processes.) Remember to include in your objective the vision of your team being a living
system with a culture of its own, distinct and apart from the rest of the organization and yet
inextricably linked to the organization.
Team Process Objective:

Task Process Objective:

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The Scope Statement
The mission statement expresses what your team would ideally like to accomplish.
The scope statement defines the boundaries. In the succeeding pages you will define the
boundaries of your project and create a plan to accomplish the project. The boundaries
include the environmental constraints the cultural constraints, time constraints, technological
constraints, structural constraints, and effective leadership and communication.
Scope planning should include experiment description, constraints, assumptions, the
tools you will use to accomplish the tasks, the culture, technology, individual competencies,
and any other factors impacting upon the project. The following pages will help you create a
scope statement, action plans for the scope statement and teach you to observe factors that
will impact upon your team's performance while performing the task. The project scope
statement will include justification, description, deliverable and success criteria for the
project. Justification for the project comes from your mission statement but more clearly
defines the problem you are being asked to solve. The product description is the statement of
work to be done or the overall objective or solution. The project deliverables are a summary
of the sub products or goals. A good question to ask is "How will we know when we are
done?" The project success criteria is what you can quantify - schedule (action plan) team's
satisfaction criteria, criteria for advisor' satisfaction that the goals have been met.
Create a Scope Statement for your new Project:

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Decomposing the Project
Identify the major elements of the project. Start with the goals of each
team member and the goals of the project..
List the Personal Goals your Team Members and you discussed in the Goal
Setting Exercise.
Team Member Name _________________________
1.

2.

3.

Team Member Name _______________________
1.
2.
3.
Your Goals:
1.
2.
3.

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Incorporate these goals in your action plan.

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List the Competencies (from the survey you took the first week of class; do
not make up new ones, use the sheet you were given at the first team
meeting in class) You and Your Team Members will be Strengthening:
Team Member Name ______________________
1.

2.

3.

Team Member Name __________________________
1.
2.
3.
Your Competencies:
1.
2.
3.
Incorporate working on these Competencies into your action plan.

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Work Breakdown Structural Assessment
Organizational Structure

An organization's structure can constrain or enhance your ability as a team to gain resources
for your project. According to the Project Management Institute structures can be
categorized from being functional to being projectized with a variety of matrixes on the
continuum.

A functional organization is a hierarchy where each team has one clear superior. Staff is
grouped by their technical knowledge, such as chemist, biologists, production, marketing,
engineering and financial. There can be subdivisions in this structure. Functional
organizations have projects but they are usually highly defined work groups with every one
working independent of each other and reporting to one functional manager in one
department. When their phase of the project is completed, the results are passed up the
hierarchy to top management where the heads of the department pass the results on to other
department heads and then the results and decisions on how to proceed are passed down
again to the same department or to another department.

Projectized Organizations are at the other end of the continuum. In projectized organizations
team members are collocated. The organization's resources are used for the project directly
with project managers or team leaders being independent and holding the authority to make
decisions. Projectized organizations have departments that report directly to upper
management and to the project managers but mainly they are support services to the project
manager.

Matrix organizations are a blend of functional and projectized organizations. Weak matrixes
are similar to functional organizations and the project manager or team leader is more of an
organizer or expediter of predetermined goals and tasks, while a strong matrix has many of
the characteristics of a projectized organization. In today's business environment many
organizations have a mixture of matrixes, functional organizations and projectized
organization. These organizations are called balanced matrixes. Special project teams may
be formed to work outside the formalized structure of the organization and may report to
several departments while they operate.

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURAL INFLUENCES ON PROJECT
(PMBOK, 1996)

Project Characteristics and
Organization Type

Functional

Weak Matrix

Balanced
Matrix

Strong
Matrix

Projectized
Project Manager's
Authority

Little or None

Limited

Low to
Moderate

Moderate
to High

High to
Almost
Total
Percent of Performing
Organization's Personnel
Assigned Full-Time to
Project

Virtually
None

0-25%

15-60%

50-95%

85-100%

Project Manager or Team
Leader Role

Part-Time

Part-Time

Full-
Time

Full-Time

Full-Time

Common Titles for Project
Manager's Role

Project
Coordinator/
Project Leader

Project
Coordinator/
Project
Leader

Project
Manager/
Team
Leader/
Project
Officer

Project
Manager
/Program
Manager/
Team
Leader

Project
Manager
/Program
Manager/
Team
Leader
Project Management
Administrative Staff

Part-Time

Part-Time

Full-
Time

Full-Time

Full-Time

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Describe the structure of the university and how this structure will effect the way you will
manage the project.
MIT as an Organization
Structure
Functional
Project Oriented
Weak Matrix
Balanced Matrix
Strong Matrix
Composite
Advantages

Disadvantages
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements
that organizes and defines the total scope of project. The work breakdown structure is used
to develop or confirm a common understanding of project scope. Included in your work
breakdown scope are all the elements. Decompose your goals (goals for project including
your personal goals and competencies you wish to improve) into smaller more manageable
goals and break into sub-goals. Define goals in enough detail to allow the team to use them
in action plans for your deliverables, which are the oral presentation, written reports, and

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experiment results.

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Goals

Achieve a B+ in
Microeconomics
Final Exam
Complete review
of first term's work
Complete review
of first half of
second term's
work
Complete review
problems and
practice test
Achieve a B+ in
Microeconomics
Final Exam
Complete review
of first term's work
Complete review
of first half of
second term's
work
Complete review
problems and
practice test

GOAL
Subgoal Subgoal
Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal
GOAL
Subgoal Subgoal
Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal Subgoal

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Goals
Use the chart to breakdown your goals for each project: (after the first experiment you can
use the breakdown as historical information for the next experiment and adjust the plan to
make it more accurate to the situation. Correct any errors in estimated time because you will
have historical data on time estimates.

Experiment:

Written Assignment:

Oral Presentation:

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List the Team Goals your team members and you discussed in the Goal
Setting Exercise and listed on the progress report #1.

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Sample of Work Breakdown Statement for Experiment
List what you know about each of these categories
Experiment
Project Management Data Conclusions

Planning Training materials Written Paper

Meetings Equipment needed Oral Presentation

Administration Technical Information

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Environment (Steers & Black, 1994)
Organizational Environment

ENVIRONNETAL FACTORS that a team may want to understand are what the shared
values, norms, beliefs and expectations are of the organization where the team will be
functioning. These beliefs are reflected in their policies and procedures and in how they
view authority. These environmental factors effect a team's ability to function in both
advantageous and disadvantageous ways. A team leader must be able to identify which of
these factors will have a direct influence on the project. Example: teams wanting to develop
their own procedures will more likely gain approval in an aggressive or entrepreneurial
organization.
At MIT there are different environments that interact with each other, just as there are
in any large organization or company. The external environment is made up of all entities
and forces that impinge upon organizational activities and with which the organization must
deal with to be effective. The general environment refers to those aspects of the external
world that effect organizations. The general environment includes many situational factors
that can influence how an organization forms its culture. Some situational factors are the
economy, governmental and political affairs, financial resources, natural resources,
geography, technology, and culture. The task environment refers to those aspects of an
organization's environment that directly affect its goal and the degree of goal attainment. In
10.27 your task environment includes support staff, teaching assistants, faculty advisors, the
instructor in charge, the writing practicum lecturers, and Phase Two evaluators.
What makes an analysis of the environment so important? All the resources your
team will be ultimately using come from the general environment. It can be the place where
there is the most uncertainty. An added uncertainty for knowledge teams is whether they can
or can not prove their null hypothesis. Keeping these factors in mind by defining the
environment properly can enhance the team's ability to become creative. You have been
given a problem to solve, which will take technological knowledge but will also take
knowledge of yourself and others to complete the task efficiently. Learning how to assess
environmental changes and have your team respond appropriately is a skill to be mastered.
Planning ahead for environmental influences helps the team respond more efficiently.
Environmental uncertainty is a result of three conditions (Duncan,pg 365)
3. A lack of information concerning the environmental factors associated with a
particular organizational decision making situation.
4. An inability to assign probabilities accurately with regard to how environmental

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factors will affect the success or failure of a decision unit in performing its
functions.
5. A lack of information regarding the costs (monetary, time, allocation of scarce
resources, etc.) associated with an incorrect decision or action.
To limit the amount of environmental uncertainty team members need to become aware of
what the environmental factors are and accurately perceive how they impact on the task.
Accurate perceptions

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Using MIT as the organization. Rate your “organization” on the following items, using
the following scale:
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree

_____1. Decision-making is centralized.
_____2. There is a very strong, cohesive culture.
_____3. We are always coming up with new ways of doing things.
_____4. A few people make most of the decisions.
_____5. There are many subgroups and cliques.
_____6. Our primary concern is efficiency.
_____7. We are known for our ability to innovate.
_____8. We are open to differing points of view.
_____9. Team members are empowered to make many decisions without checking with
faculty.
_____10. We are not allowed to generate ideas without supervision.
_____11. We take many risks.
_____12. There are many rules and procedures for our tasks.
_____13. People are encouraged to do their own thing.
SCORING: Reverse score items 5, 6, 8, 9 and 13
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: Add items 1, 4, 9, and 12.
Maximum score is 20. A higher score indicates more centralized, control
oriented structure.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: Add items 2, 5, 8, and 13. Maximum
score is 20. A higher score indicates unicultural organization where diversity
is not encouraged.
STRATEGY: Add items 3, 6, 7, 10, and 11. Maximum score is 25. A
higher score indicates risk taking and innovation.

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Environment Assessment:
Define the outside forces that have the potential to affect the success of your goal.
List four different outside forces and decide how they are an advantage and/or
disadvantage to the team.
What is the amount of task definition and knowledge required to perform in the
organization?
Highly Directive
Medium Directive
Low Directive
What is the extent of task flexibility?
What is the primary pattern of communication?
How are decisions made?
Does the organization exist in a stable, predictable environment or an unstable turbulent
one?
Identify the links with others that the organization interacts with, or that can influence these
relationships through competition, regulation, or social pressure (i.e. companies (national
and international) that hire students). The network consists of faculty advisors, suppliers,
librarians, parents, other course instructors, and roommates, etc.
Assess how the relationship between organization and its network are likely to be affected by

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specific conditions and trends. Consider likely sources of influence from the environment.
An example: the ability to access knowledge, competent staff, and laboratory equipment.
Trace these resources back to their source.
Assess patterns of success and failure in relationship to other technological institutes
(short and concise)
Assess the social legitimacy of MIT:
Do the outside influences reward MIT for producing technically qualified scientists?
Do the outside influences acknowledge MIT for producing scientists who conform to the
values, norms, rules, and beliefs of the society?

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Culture (Steers & Black, 1994)
Culture is the common set of behaviors, values, beliefs, patterns of thinking and
assumptions shared by members of an organization. Culture shapes our view of the world.
Culture determines how we think and behave towards others, the world, and ourselves. From
cross-cultural research we know that cultures are built on core value orientations. Value
orientations are preferences for certain states of affairs or outcomes over others. As
previously mentioned, identifying how a culture is defined relates to ten key variables,
environment, time, action, communication, space, power, individualism, competitiveness,
structure, and thinking (Brake & Walker, 1995). In this chapter we have expanded the
meaning of culture to the different cultures in the MIT environment which includes each
individual team in the course. Each team is comprised of three individuals each coming from
a particular culture, once the team is formed the team develops its own culture. Then the
team's culture is within the culture of the class, which is within the culture of the department,
which is within the culture of MIT. In some models culture is defined as the organization's
culture and all other cultures are considered subcultures.

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Cultural Assessment:
Determine the common set of values, assumptions and beliefs shared by members of the
organization that affect your goal. Describe the team culture. List three values, three beliefs,
and three assumptions for the team culture. Remember to include patterns of thinking and
distinct shared behaviors you have observed. Decide how these cultures impact upon your
goal by describing the advantages and disadvantages of the culture.
Team Culture

Values:

1.

2.

3.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Beliefs:

1.

2.

3.

Advantages:

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Disadvantages:

Assumptions:

1.

2.

3.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

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Resources Planning
Resource Planning is determining what resources (people, equipment, materials, tools) and
what quantities of each should be used to perform project activities. On a real project
resource planning would be closely coordinated with cost estimating and budgeting.
In a team technology is more complex and the structure needs to be more specific and
concise. Time management is a large factor in the successful completion of the task. As a
team your goal is to produce systems that allow the team to collaborate successfully. In
order to accomplish the goal a clear understanding of the reliability of the resources and
technologies available including viewing your team members as part of the team's resources
is integral to the success of the team.
Remember: MIT's Goals is to educate your team so you can manage a project within a
team context.
Knowledge needed to do Resource Planning
1. Work Breakdown Structures help define activities or processes that will be needed to
do the project . Remember your projects are the oral presentation, the experiment, and the
written paper.
2. Historical Information is obtained from your faculty advisor and the laboratory staff.
You may already have gathered some of this information which includes types of resources
available.

3. List and describe resources needed to do project (include resources needed to do
experiment, oral presentation and written paper) Resources include technical knowledge your
team already possesses to do project. These technical skills will be of interest to laboratory
staff and faculty advisor and other team members. How are each team member's technical
abilities impacting upon the completion of the projects?

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Experiment:
Team Member #1

Team Member #2

Team Member #3

Written Paper:
Team Member #1

Team Member #2

Team Member #3

Oral Presentation:
Team Member #1

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Team Member #2

Team Member #3

4. Policies of the organization regarding resources needed to complete projects:

Sharing of equipment:

Specific Instruction on how to use equipment: (if oral instructions have been provided to
you on the use of any equipment list this. If written instruction have be provided summarize
your understanding of how to perform the task)

5. Scope Statement From your Mission Statement and Project Objectives develop a scope
statement for the team. Be clear and concise. Include in the scope statement your sub
projects of performing the experiment, preparing for the oral presentation and preparing for
the individual or team writing assignment .

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6. Knowledge needed to develop and apply equipment, tools, and methods to produce a
particular outcome. What do you have to read and learn to do experiment, oral presentation
and written papers?
7. Creating a method of assessing whether the process was successful or not.
8. What core technology is being used in your team?

9. List the advantages and disadvantages of the technology ( .

10. What activities is your team participating in that support the technology? (Example:
When problem with computer in cluster arise report them to headquarters immediately)

11. What activities are diminishing the technology? (Example: Team members are not
communicating effectively with each other

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What are the Thinking Style Interactions of the Team when Problem-
Solving?
Thinking Style Interactions

One thinking style tends to dominate when problem solving, or when completing a
project. A team member’s dominant style is important to note due to the effects that thinking
styles can have on other team members and on the process of interaction and relationship
building. In the following summary different thinking style interactions are compared.
Please note that one style is not better than another is, just different. It should also be
emphasized that each individual has the capability to use all five thinking styles, however
studies have shown that in 60% of respondent who were studied one thinking style
dominated.

WHEN SYNTHESISTS AND IDEALISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS:
Synthesist Idealist

Focus on underlying assumptions Focus on process relationship
Points out abstract conceptual aspects Points out views and aspirations
Good at preventing over agreement Good at articulating goals
Best in controversial conflict-laden situations Best in unstructured value laden
situations
Provides debate and creativity Provides broad view, goals and
standards

LIABILITIES
Synthesist Idealist

May screen out agreement May screen out “hard data”
May seek conflict unnecessarily May delay from exploring too many
choices
May try to hard for change and innovation May try to hard for perfect solution
May theorize excessively May overlook situations
Can appear uncommitted Can appear overly sentimental

WHEN SYNTHESISTS AND PRAGMATISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Synthesist Pragmatist

Focus on underlying assumptions Focus on payoff
Points out abstract conceptual aspects Points out tactics and strengths
Good at preventing over agreement Good at identifying impacts

38

Best in controversial conflict-laden situations Best in complex incremental
situations
Provides debate and creativity Provides experiment and
innovation

LIABILITIES
Synthesist Pragmatist

May screen out agreement May screen out long range
aspects
May seek conflict unnecessarily May rush too quickly to pay off
May try to hard for change and innovation May try too hard for expediency
May theorize excessively May rely too much on what
“sells”
Can appear uncommitted Can appear over compromising

WHEN SYNTHESISTS AND ANALYSTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Synthesist Analyst

Focus on underlying assumptions Focus on method and plan
Points out abstract conceptual aspects Points out data and detail
Good at preventing over agreement Good at model building and
planning
Best in controversial conflict-laden situations Best in structured calculable
situations
Provides debate and creativity Provides stability and structure

LIABILITIES
Synthesist Analysts

May screen out agreement May screen out values and
subjective
May seek conflict unnecessarily May over plan and over-analyze
May try to hard for change and innovation May try to hard for predictability
May theorize excessively May be inflexible and overly
cautious
Can appear uncommitted Can appear tunnel visioned

WHEN SYNTHESISTS AND REALISTS INTERACT
STRENGTHS
Synthesist Realist

39

Focus on underlying assumptions Focus on facts and results
Points out abstract conceptual aspects Points out realities and resources
Good at preventing over agreement Good at simplifying; cutting through
Best in controversial conflict-laden situations Best in well defined objective situations
Provides debate and creativity Provides drive and momentum

LIABILITIES
Synthesist Realist

May screen out agreement May screen out disagreement
May seek conflict unnecessarily May rush to over simplified solutions
May try to hard for change and innovation May try to hard for conscious and
immediate response
May theorize excessively May over emphasize perceived “facts”
Can appear uncommitted

WHEN IDEALISTS AND PRAGMATISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Idealist Pragmatist

Focus on process relationship Focus on payoff
Points out views and aspirations Points out tactics and strengths
Good at articulating goals Good at identifying impacts
Best in unstructured value laden situations Best in complex incremental situation
Provides broad view, goals, and standards Provides experiment and innovation

LIABILITIES
Idealist Pragmatist

May screen out “hard data” May screen out long range aspects
May delay from exploring too many choices May rush too quickly to pay off
May try to hard for perfect solution May try too hard for expediency
May overlook situations May rely too much on what “sells”
Can appear overly sentimental Can appear over-compromising

WHEN IDEALISTS AND ANALYSTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Idealist Analyst

Focus on process relationship Focus on method and plans
Points out views and aspirations Points out data and detail
Good at articulating goals Good at model building and planning
Best in unstructured value laden situations Best in structured calculable situations
Provides broad view, goals and standards Provides stability and structure

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LIABILITIES
Idealist Analyst

May screen out “hard data” May screen out values and objects
May delay from exploring too many choices May over plan and over analyze
May try to hard for perfect solution May try too hard for predictability
May overlook situations May be inflexible and overly cautious
Can appear overly sentimental Can appear tunnel-visioned

WHEN IDEALISTS AND REALISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Idealist Realist

Focus on process relationship Focus on payoff
Points out views and aspirations Points out tactics and strengths
Good at articulating goals Good at identifying impacts
Best in unstructured value laden situations Best in complex incremental situation
Provides broad view, goals and standards Provides experiment and innovation

LIABILITIES
Idealist Realist

May screen out “hard data” May screen out disagreements
May delay from exploring too many choices May rush to over-simplified situations
May try to hard for perfect solution May try too hard for conscious and
immediate response
May overlook situations May over-emphasize “perceived facts”
Can appear overly sentimental Can appear too results-oriented

WHEN PRAGMATISTS AND ANALYSTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Pragmatist Analyst

Focus on payoff Focus on methods and plans
Points out tactics and strengths Points out data and details
Good at identifying impacts Good at model building and planning
Best in complex incremental situations Best in structured calculable situations
Provides experiment and innovation Provides stability and structure

LIABILITIES
Pragmatist Analyst

May screen out long range aspects May screen out values and subjectives

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May rush too quickly to pay off May over plan or over analyze
May try too hard for expediency May try too hard for predictability
May rely too much on what “sells” May be inflexible and over-cautious
Can appear over compromising Can appear tunnel-visioned

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WHEN PRAGMATISTS AND REALISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Pragmatist Realist

Focus on payoff Focus on facts and results
Points out tactics and strengths Points out realities and resources
Good at identifying impacts Good at simplifying, “cutting through”
Best in complex incremental situations Best in well-defined, objective situation
Provides experiment and innovation Provides drive and momentum

LIABILITIES
Pragmatist Realist

May screen out long range aspects May screen out disagreements
May rush too quickly to pay off May rush to over simplified solutions
May try too hard for expediency May try too hard for conscious and
immediate response
May rely too much on what “sells” May over emphasize perceived facts
Can appear over compromising Can appear too results oriented

WHEN ANALYSTS AND REALISTS INTERACT:
STRENGTHS
Analyst Realist

Focus on method and plans Focuses on facts and results
Points out data and detail Points out realities and resources
Good at model building and planning Good at simplifying, “cutting through”
Best in structured calculable situations Best in well defined, objective situations
Provides stability and structure Provides drive and momentum

LIABILITIES
Analyst Realist

May screen out values and objectives May screen out disagreements
May over plan and over analyze May rush to oversimplified solutions
May try too hard for predictability May try too hard for conscious and immediate
response
May be inflexible and overly cautious May over emphasize “ perceived facts”
Can appear tunnel-visioned Can appear to be too results oriented
(Source: Langlois, Harold V., Challenges of Team Management, a course for graduate students.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.)

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Thinking Styles
Discuss how you think the interaction of your dominant problem-solving styles will
impact upon the goal.
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Interactions:

How will these interaction support your effectiveness?

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Conflict Styles

*This two dimensional model of conflict handling behavior is adapted from "Conflict and
Conflict Management" by Kenneth Thomas in The Handbook of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, edited by Marvin Dunnette (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976).
Another valuable contribution in this field is the work by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton
in The Managerial Grid (Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1964).

45

Competing is assertive and uncooperative – an individual pursues their own concerns at
the other person's expense. This is a power-oriented mode, in which one uses whatever
power seems appropriate to win one's own position – one's ability to argue, one's rank,
economic sanctions. Competing might mean "standing up for your rights," defending a
position which you believe is correct, or simply trying to win.

Accommodating is unassertive and cooperative – the opposite of competing. When
accommodating, an individual neglects their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the
other person; there is an element of self-sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating might
take the form of selfless generosity or charity, obeying another person's order when one
would prefer not to, or yielding to another's point of view.

Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative – the individual does not immediately pursue
their own concerns or those of the other person. They do not address the conflict.
Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an
issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation.

Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative – the opposite of avoiding. Collaborating
involves an attempt to work with the other person to find some solution which fully
satisfies the concerns of both persons. It means digging into an issue to identify the
underlying concerns of the two individuals and to find an alternative which meets both
sets of concerns. Collaborating between two persons might take the form of exploring a
disagreement to learn from each other's insights, concluding to resolve some condition
which would otherwise have them competing for resources, or confronting and trying to
find a creative solution to an interpersonal problem.

Compromising is intermediate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness. The objective is
to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution which partially satisfies both
parties. It falls on a middle ground between competing and accommodating.
Compromising gives up more than competing but less than accommodating. Likewise, it
addresses an issue more directly than avoiding, but doesn't explore it in as much depth as
collaborating. Compromising might mean splitting the difference, exchanging
concessions, or seeking a quick middle-ground position.

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Interpreting Your Scores

Usually, after getting back the results of any test, people first want to know: "What are
the right answers?" In the case of conflict-handling behavior, there are no universal right
answers. All five modes are useful in some situations: each represents a set of useful
social skills. Our conventional wisdom recognizes, for example, that often "two heads are
better than one" (Collaborating). But it also says, "Kill your enemies with kindness"
(Accommodating), "Split the difference" (Compromising), "Leave well enough alone"
(Avoiding), "Might makes right" (Competing). The effectiveness of a given conflict-
handling mode depends upon the requirements of the specific conflict situation and the
skill with which the mode is used.

Each of us is capable of using all five conflict-handling modes: none of us can be
characterized as having a single, rigid style of dealing with conflict. However, any given
individual uses some modes better than others and therefore, tends to rely upon those
modes more heavily than others, whether because of temperament or practice.

The conflict behaviors which individuals use are therefore the result of both their
personal predispositions and the requirements of the situations in which they find
themselves. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument is designed to assess this
mix of conflict-handling modes.

To help you judge how appropriate your utilization of the five modes is for your
situation, we have listed a number of uses for each mode – based upon lists generated by
company presidents. Your score, high or low, indicates its usefulness in your situation.
However, there is the possibility that your social skills lead you to rely upon some
conflict behaviors more or less than necessary. To help you determine this, we have also
listed some diagnostic questions concerning warning signals for the overuse or underuse
of each mode.

A. Competing

Uses: 1. When quick, decisive action is vital – e.g., emergencies.

2. On important issues where unpopular courses of action need implementing –
e.g., cost cutting, enforcing unpopular rules, discipline.

3. On issues vital to company welfare when you know you're right.

4. To protect yourself against people who take advantage of noncompetitive
behavior.

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If you scored High:
1. Are you surrounded by "yes" men?
(If so, perhaps it's because they have learned that it's unwise to disagree with
you, or have given up trying to influence you. This closes you off from
information.)

2. Are subordinates afraid to admit ignorance and uncertainties to you?
(In competitive climates, one must fight for influence and respect – which
means acting more certain and confident than one feels. The upshot is that
people are less able to ask for information and opinion – they are less able to
learn.)

If you scored Low:
1. Do you often feel powerless in situations?
(It may be because you are unaware of the power you do have, unskilled in its
use, or uncomfortable with the idea of using it. This may hinder your
effectiveness by restricting your influence.)

2. Do you have trouble taking a firm stand, even when you see the need?
(Sometimes concerns for other's feelings or anxieties about the use of power
cause us to vacillate, which may mean postponing the decision and adding to
the suffering
and/or resentment of others.)

B. Collaborating
Uses: 1. To find an integrative solution when both sets of concerns are too important to
be compromised.

2. When your objective is to learn – e.g., testing your own assumptions,
understanding the views of others.

3. To merge insights from people with different perspectives on a problem.

4. To gain commitment by incorporating other's concerns into a consensual
decision.

5. To work through hard feelings which have been interfering with an
interpersonal relationship.

If you scored High:

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1. Do you spend time discussing issues in depth that do not seem to deserve it?
(Collaboration takes time and energy – perhaps the scarcest organizational
resources. Trivial problems don't require optimal solutions, and not all
personal differences need to be hashed out. The overuse of collaboration and
consensual decision making sometimes represents a desire to minimize risk –
by diffusing responsibility for a decision or by postponing action.)

2. Does your collaborative behavior fail to elicit collaborative responses from
others?
(The exploratory and tentative nature of some collaborative behavior may
make it easy for others to disregard collaborative overtures; or the trust and
openness may be taken advantage of. You may be missing some cues which
would indicate the presence of defensiveness, strong feelings, impatience,
competitiveness, or conflicting interests.)

If you scored Low:
1. Is it hard for you to see differences as opportunities for joint gain – as
opportunities to learn or solve problems?
(Although there are often threatening or unproductive aspects of conflict,
indiscriminate pessimism can prevent you from seeing collaborative
possibilities and thus deprive you of the mutual gains and satisfactions which
accompany successful collaboration.)

2. Are subordinates uncommitted to your decisions or policies?
(Perhaps their own concerns are not being incorporated into those decisions or
policies.)

C. Compromising

Uses: 1. When goals are moderately important, but not worth the effort or potential
disruption of more assertive modes.

2. When two opponents with equal power are strongly committed to mutually
exclusive
goals – as in labor-management bargaining.

3. To achieve temporary settlements to complex issues.

4. To arrive at expedient solutions under time pressure.

5. As a backup mode when collaboration or competition fails to be successful.

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If you scored High:
1. Do you concentrate so heavily upon the practicalities and tactics of
compromise that you sometimes lose sight of larger issues – principles,
values, long-term objectives, company welfare?

2. Does an emphasis on bargaining and trading create a cynical climate of
gamesmanship?
(Such a climate might undermine interpersonal trust and deflect attention
away from the merits of the issues discussed.)

If you scored Low:
1. Do you find yourself too sensitive or embarrassed to be effective in bargaining
situations?

2. Do you find it hard to make concessions?
(Without this safety valve, you may have trouble getting gracefully out of
mutually destructive arguments, power struggles, etc.)

D. Avoiding

Uses: 1. When an issue is trivial, of only passing importance, or when other more
important issues are pressing.

2. When you perceive no chance of satisfying your concerns – e.g., when you
have low power or you are frustrated by something which would be very
difficult to change (national policies, someone's personality structure, etc.)

3. When the potential damage of confronting a conflict outweighs the benefits of
its resolution.

4. To let people cool down – to reduce tensions to a productive level and to
regain perspective and composure.

5. When gathering more information outweighs the advantages of an immediate
decision.

6. When others can resolve the conflict more effectively.

7. When the issue seems tangential or symptomatic of another more basic issue.

If you scored High:
1. Does your coordination suffer because people have trouble getting your inputs

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on issues?

2. Does it often appear that people are "walking on eggshells?"
(Sometimes a dysfunctional amount of energy can be devoted to caution and
the avoiding of issues, indicating that issues need to be faced and resolved.)

3. Are decisions on important issues made by default?

If you scored Low:
1. Do you find yourself hurting people's feelings or stirring up hostilities?
(You may need to exercise more discretion in confronting issues or more tact
in
framing issues in nonthreatening ways. Tact is partially the art of avoiding
potentially disruptive aspects of an issue.)

2. Do you often feel harried or overwhelmed by a number of issues?
(You may need to devote more time to setting priorities – deciding which
issues are
relatively unimportant and perhaps delegating them to others.)

E. Accommodating

Uses: 1. When you realize that you are wrong – to allow a better position to be heard,
to from others, and to show that you are reasonable.

2. When the issue is much more important to the other person than to yourself –
to satisfy the needs of others, and as a goodwill gesture to help maintain a
cooperative relationship.

3. To build up social credits for later issues which are important to you.

4. When continued competition would only damage your cause – when you are
outmatched and losing.

5. When preserving harmony and avoiding disruption are especially important.

6. To aid in the managerial development of subordinates by allowing them to
experiment and learn from their own mistakes.

If you scored High:
1. Do you feel that your own ideas and concerns are not getting the attention
they deserve?

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(Deferring too much to the concerns of others can deprive you of influence,
respect,
and recognition. It also deprives the organization of your potential
contributions.)

2. Is discipline lax?
(Although discipline for its own sake may be of little value, there are often
rules, procedures, and assignments whose implementation is crucial for you or
the organization.)

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If you scored Low:
1. Do you have trouble building goodwill with others?
(Accommodation on minor issues which are important to others are gestures of
goodwill.)

2. Do others often seem to regard you as unreasonable?

3. Do you have trouble admitting it when you are wrong?

4. Do you recognize legitimate exceptions to rules?

5. Do you know when to give up?
Discuss which is your predominant style when dealing with conflict in a work environment.
What are the predominant styles of your team members? Discuss what interactions you think
will happen while reaching your goal.
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Under used Style
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Under used Style
Team Member Name
Dominant Style
Under used Style

53

Conflict Interactions:

How will the over or under use of one style effect your team’s efficiency?

How will your team overcome any obstacles you have found?

54

Project Time Management (PmBok, 1996)

Activity Definition is identifying and documenting the specific activities that must be
performed to successfully complete the project as defined in the work breakdown structure.

Activity Sequencing is identifying and documenting interactivity dependencies. Activities
must be sequenced accurately in order to support later development of a realistic action plan
(activities schedule). Sequencing can be performed with the aid of project management
software or with manual techniques, which are more productive on smaller projects such as
yours or in combination.

Activity Duration Estimating is assessing the number of work periods that an individual
team member must completed in each identified activity and the number of work periods that
the team will need to collaborate on the activity. The team must approve both individual and
team work estimates.

ACTION PLAN: a system utilized to break goals into sub goals and then tasks which are
then defined by the steps and time it will take to accomplish the goals.
ANALOGOUS ESTIMATING: also called top down estimating is using the actual
duration of a previous, similar activity as the basis for estimating the duration for future
activity. On the first experiment your will not be able to use analogous estimating or
historical information.
ASSUMPTIONS: are factors for planning purposes that all of the team consider true, real or
certain. Advantages of Culture, Thinking Style Interactions, Conflict Style Interactions and
Team Report Strengths.
CONSTRAINTS: factors that will limit the project team's options. Weaknesses in cultural
beliefs, thinking style interactions, conflict style interactions and on team report.
DECOMPOSITION: subdividing project elements into smaller, more manageable
components (goals and sub-goals). (PmBok, 1996)
DISCRETIONARY DEPENDENCIES: dependencies which are decided upon by the team
(example will only work fifteen hours per week on the project). They should be fully
discussed and documented since they may limit your scheduling options. They are limited
by best practices, which in this course means amount of time you and advisor and course
syllabus define as discretionary. You may also decide upon a sequencing of events for the
action plan that is desired even though there are other acceptable sequences. (PmBok, 1996)

55

EXTERNAL DEPENDENCIES: the dependencies that are from outside sources that were
decided would have impact upon the team's ability to do the project successfully. (ordering
equipment that is not working properly; environment disadvantages)
MANDATORY DEPENDENCIES: are inherent in the nature of the work being done such
as time and other physical limitations such as the sequencing of the events (can't take data
until experiment equipment is running properly). (PMBOK, 1996)
Templates: are activity lists from a previous project which you can use all or part of in this
project. In addition the activity list for the Work Break Down
Schedule can be used as template for this project as well as for
other projects

56

Project Time Management

Activity Definition Activity Sequencing Activity Duration
Estimating

Inputs Inputs Inputs

Work Breakdown Structure Activity List Activity List (same list
Scope Staement with EAT)
Historical Information Experiment description Constraints
Assumptions Mandatory dependencies Assumptions
Constraints Discretionary dependencies Resource Requirements and
External dependencies capabilities
Historical Information

Tools and Techniques Tools and Techniques Tools and Techniques
Decomposition Arrow Diagramming Expert judgement
Templates Method (ADM) Analogous estimating

Outputs Outputs Outputs
Activity List Project Network Diagram Activity Duration Estimates
Supporting Detail Activity List updates Basis of estimates
Work Breakdown Activity List updates
Structure updates

Schedule Development Schedule Control
Inputs Inputs
Project Network Diagram Project Schedule
Activity Duration estimates Performance reports
Resource requirements Changes on Schedule
Monthly calendars Activities List update
Activities List Update

Tools and Techniques Tools and Techniques
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Schedule change control system
Duration Compression Performance measurement
Project Management Software Additional Planning
Project Management Software

OutPuts OutPuts
Project Schedule or Action Plan Schedule Updates
Schedule Management Plan Corrective Action
Resource Requirements update Lessons Learned

57

The Activity Definition, Activity Sequencing and Activity Duration Estimating categories
are usually done by the Team Leader. The outputs for these three categories then become
inputs for the Schedule Development. The outputs for The Schedule Development become
Inputs for Schedule Control. The outputs for Schedule Control will become the Inputs
under Historical Information for Activity Definition and Activity Duration Estimating for the
second Team Leader to use for the next experiment, written assignment and oral
presentation. The new team leader will begin the Project Time Management Cycle over
again for the new experiment.

Templates: are activity lists from a previous project which you can use all or part of in this
project. In addition the activity list for the Work Break Down Schedule can be used as
template for this project as well as for other projects.

58

Historical Information:
The activity definition and Activity Duration Estimating will be blank for the first team
leader because you have no historical information. Therefore your team will be creating the
Activity Sequencing and Activity Duration Estimating using EAT for the first time because
you have no historical data.

Activity Definition:

Activity Duration Estimating:

59

Activity List

Activity Sequencing

Activity Duration Estimating Use EAT

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Tool - Estimating Activity Time (EAT)

You have some historical data to draw upon. You know how long it has taken each
of you individually to prepare for some of the tasks. Establishing how much time it will take
to collaborate and write a paper and support the oral presentation, run experiments in the
laboratory, etc. estimates must rely upon assumptions. These assumptions include, the
optimistic completion time, the pessimistic completion time, and the most likely completion
time.

Optimistic Completion Times are predicated upon the assumption that all will go according
to your action plans. According to Kerzner (1999) this occurs about 1% of the time.

Pessimistic Completion Times are predicated upon the assumption that everything will go
wrong. This also occurs about 1% of the time.

Most Likely Completion Time using historical evidence, team members committed time
schedules, and your strategic management skills to predict the time. This the time that you
feel would most often occur.

Before combining these three times into a single value for expected time, two assumptions
must be made. The first assumption is that the standard deviation is one sixth of the time
requirement range. Predicated upon probability theory, we assume that the end points of a
curve are three standard deviations from the mean. The second assumption requires that the
probability distribution of time required for an activity be expressible as a beta distribution (
Hiller & Lieberman, 1967). The expected time to do the task can be calculated as:

a + 4m + b
te = 6

t = expected time
a = optimistic time
b = pessimistic time
m = most likely

Example if

a = 3
b = 7
m = 5 weeks
t = 5 weeks
Adapted from Kerzner H., 1998. Project Management A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and
Control.

61

Arrow Diagramming Method
Network Logic Diagram Using The Arrow Diagramming Method
A
B C
D E
FINISH

62

Constraints and Assumptions:
Revisit your activity duration estimating list and do a check on what the constraints and
assumptions you feel you used to estimate activity duration times and list them here. Then
brainstorm whether or not given these constraints you have identified and assumptions you
have made is this Activity Duration Estimate realistic and can it be used as an input to make
up the Action Plan for the project.

Activity Sequencing

Constraints

Assumptions

Activity Duration Estimating

Constraints

63

Assumptions:

64

Dependencies

Mandatory Dependencies

Discretionary Dependencies

External Dependencies

65

Tools and Techniques

Activity Definition:
Decomposition

Templates are activity lists from a previous project which you can use all or part of in this
project. In addition the activity list for the Work Break Down
Schedule can be used as template for this project as well as for
other projects

Activity Sequencing
Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

Activity Duration Estimating

Expert judgement
Your faculty advisor could act as an expert and give you analogous time estimates. You
would supply the expert with your Activity List. The advisor could supply you with
historical estimates on the experiment. Next rotation you could ask the team that had that
experiment to act as an expert and share their action plan with you with a summary of where
their estimates were off so you can update them and use them as analogous estimates.

66

Analogous Estimating
Analogous Estimating is the time estimation activity of using EAT with historical
information when the you have previous activities that you in fact not appearance know how
much time the activity takes to do or the person doing the estimating is an expert.

67

.

Action Plans or Project Management Schedule

Now you have everything you need to do Schedule Development and Schedule
Changes. Do the three action plans that are needed to efficiently run your team An action
plan is used to improve work or task process. Coordinated and collaborative action plans are
important. Otherwise individuals could improve their own working process while creating
conflict and dissatisfaction with other team members. Action plans are used to make
decisions about task assignments and work methods. An action plan has the shared
objectives of all the team members.
PROCEDURE

1. You have stated the goals
2. You have pictured the whole task process
3. You have identify the criterion to be applied to the goal
4. You have used your criteria from your assessments to chart the steps you need to
take to successfully complete the tasks
5. You have shown unexpected complexities, problem, redundancies, unnecessary
loops
6. You have brainstormed a list of all major activities, input, outputs and decisions
from the beginning to the end of the project
7. You have pointed out where standardization and simplification is possible
8. You have sequenced the steps and described how you will decide who will do what
part of each step. Stay away from minute details
9. You have made activity lists and broken down each step into tasks and decided as a
team who will do each component of the task.
10. You have defined how long each part of the task should take each team member
11. You have identified how you plan on evaluating how the project will be
accomplished
12. You have broken the project into sub goals
13. You have identified the sub goals and in the action plan will break them into
milestones and determine the boundaries of each milestone

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14. Using the action plan template decide on the steps for each milestone
15. Compare and contrast the actual versus the ideal flow of process for each milestone,
using the Activity List you created during the Activity Duration Estimation and
decided on the time it will take to complete the project.
16. You have identified areas for improvement
17. Provide a complete picture of the work process so team members can come to
consensus about the action plan

69

ACTION PLAN or PROJECT MANAGEMENT SCHEDULE
Step One Outline of Action Plan using the Project Management Model
GOAL: TEAM ORAL PRESENTATION
Date due:
Important Milestones for getting the Goal accomplished:
1. Outline
2. Gathering laboratory data
3. Analyzing Data
4. Discussion about data and results
5. Creating Graphic Representations
6. Overheads
7. Practice Presentation with team
8. Practice Presentation with advisor
9. Final critique by presenter
Step Two First Milestone Outline
Date Due:
Person assigned to complete
# of hours needed to complete
Task to accomplish the goal
Obstacles to goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles
Resources needed to do task
# of Meetings Needed
Support People Involved
Step Three Second Milestone Gather Data
# of Laboratory Sessions Needed
Tasks to accomplish Goal
Obstacles to Goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles

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Persons assigned to each task
# of hours needed to complete
Resources Needed to do the task
Step Four Third and Fourth Milestone Analyzing Data and Discussion about Data
and Results
# of Meetings Needed
Tasks to accomplish Goal
Obstacles to Goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles
Persons assigned to each task
# of hours needed to complete
Resources needed to do the task
Support People Involved
Step Five Fifth Milestone
Creating Graphic Representations
# of Meetings Needed
Tasks to accomplish Goal
Obstacles to Goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles
Persons assigned to each task
# of hours needed to complete
Resources needed to do the task
Support People Involved
Step Six Sixth Milestone
Creating Overheads
# of Meetings Needed
Tasks to accomplish Goal
Obstacles to Goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles
Persons assigned to each task

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# of hours needed to complete
Resources needed to do the task
Support People Involved
Step Seven Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Milestones
Practice Sessions
# of Meetings Needed
Tasks to accomplish Goal
Obstacles to Goal
Strategies to use to Overcome Obstacles
Persons assigned to each task
# of hours needed to complete
Resources needed to do the task
Support People Involved

72

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