Question

Please write as a short answer

You have heartburn and a two hour working session on one of your newest project assignments, the BYOD Project. As your project team is discussing the work breakdown structure and resource assignments, there is a lot of disagreement about what work is actually to be included in this particular project. When issues of software testing, user training, and documentation came up some people thought it should be part of the project while others said that since the Charter and Scope Statement didn’t specifically ask for it that it should not be included. Other work that was identified during the review still has a great deal of confusion regarding high-level business requirements and prioritization. To make matters even more interesting, some great new creative ideas for project execution come up during the meeting, ideas that would add some work to the original estimate, but would drastically reduce the need for 3rd party software, which would significantly reduce the overall project budget. Your mind is spinning… How do you handle this situation?

Answer 1

In the situation described above, it will be very difficult for me to concentrate or focus on what is being discussed in the working session. The team members have different perspectives regarding various parts of the project such as work breakdown structure, resource assignments, software testing, documentation, and prioritization. There are members who have come up with creative ideas that will add some extra work to what was originally estimated but will decrease the overall budget of the project. So, reaching a conclusion or making any project related decision without a proper evaluation can have a negative impact on the project. I will ask the team members to put their thoughts, opinions, and ideas related to the project in writing so that I can think over them, weigh the pros and cons and then come to a conclusion that is acceptable to everyone.