University of Maryland Business Risks Discussion

Activity 1: 

Both Waterfall (Predictive) and Agile(Adaptive) methdologies are built based upon core tenets.  Describe one core tenet for Waterfall and one core tenet for an Agile methdology of your choice and explain why you feel it is necessary for the methdology.    

Activity 2: 

Case Study Overview:

In conventional business and government megaprojects–such as hydroelectric dams, chemical-processing plants, or big-bang enterprise-resource-planning systems–the standard approach is to build something monolithic and customized. Such projects must be 100% complete before they can deliver benefits: Even when it’s 95% complete, a nuclear reactor is of no use. On the basis of 30 years of research and consulting on megaprojects, the author has found two factors that play a critical role in determining success or failure: replicable modularity in design and speed in iteration. The article examines those factors by looking at well-known megaprojects, both successful ones, and cautionary tales.

Case Study Link

Better Project Management | Harvard Business Publishing Education

Paper Requirements: 

Question 1:  In the article Agility Hacks, they talk about processes that can be used to “tackle immediate challenges quickly”.  Using your knowledge of Project Management Processes, what is the impact to the organizaton by not using a “formalized process” and what do you feel is the different between an “agility hack” and a hybrid methdology 

The assignment is to answer the question provided above in essay form. 

This is to be in narrative form and should be as thorough as possible.

Bullet points should not be used

2nd part 

Answer the following questions: 

Why it is important to close out a project even if the project was closed early by management?

Why should Project Managers capture lessons learned?

What are some ways that the project team members, project managers, and the organization can use lessons learned?

What benefits come from celebrating project accomplishments? Do you believe that rewards and recognition can serve as motivators for staff?

If you are running an Agile project when are lessons learned captured? 

Part II

Planning for Agile, Extreme, and Hybrid projects happens just in time, rather than at the beginning of the project as in Traditional projects.  Because of this do you feel that traditional projects take longer?

Using the lens of planning, what are some benefits of planning using a traditional project management approach?