Overview

A successful problem-solving process does not end when an effective solution is identified. To achieve the desired organizational and stakeholder outcomes, it is necessary to develop and manage a plan to implement the solution. There are some terrific tools for managing projects and communicating project status. This activity will provide an opportunity to practice with those tools and techniques.

Objectives

· Understand the benefits of developing and following an implementation plan.

· Gain practice using the Gantt chart, a commonly-used approach for project management.

Materials

A PC and one of the Project Management software packages from the course website

Instructions

1) As a group, choose one of the following two sample projects:

a. A term long research paper – such as the paper for BA 301.

b. A wedding.

2) Identify the major activities necessary for successful completion of the project. The best way to describe activities is using active verbs that describe specific activities. For example, “search web and library databases” is preferable to “go to library” or “literature is reviewed”.

3) Estimate the amount of time each of the activities listed in 2) will take to accomplish – in weeks.

4) Prepare a rough Gantt chart by hand in which the activities are listed in order, taking one row each – as shown in class. Again, use weeks for the time scale.

5) Discuss and list ways that a Gantt chart can be useful in the solution implementation phase of the problem-solving process. Keep notes on this discussion.

6) Finally, and you can do this after class, take the data from the preceding effort and enter it into one of the Project Planning software packages available on the website. Create a Gantt chart and post it in the forum.