An overseas position with your current employer. Because you expect to be in the new position for several years, you and your spouse have elected to sell your current home. Your real estate agent strongly advises that you undertake several upgrades including (1) adding landscaping to the front yard to improve curb appeal (e.g., replace old shrubs, add several flower beds, create a walkway), (2) replacing the worn and weathered back deck, and (3) updating the wall colors and replacing the flooring throughout the house (e.g., installing hard- wood in several rooms and new carpeting in the others). You have limited funds for the upgrades and the renovations must be complete in two months so the house can go on the market at the best time. You plan to physically move overseas in four months and want the house sold before your departure.

a. Describe the project monitoring approach you would use for this project and why you would adopt the chosen approach.
b. When you tell your spouse (who does not have a background in project manage- ment) about your planned approach to monitoring the project, your spouse says, "What a waste to spend time and effort monitoring! Let's just do the work." Prepare several arguments in favor of project monitoring that you could use to convince your spouse of the value of project monitoring and the suitability of your chosen monitoring approach.