CASE: GREEN COMPUTING RESEARCH PROJECT (3)

 

Part 3: Project Time Management

According to the PMI, the project time management is an act of exercising or planning the conscious control on the time spent on specific tasks or activities, increases the effectiveness, efficiency or productivity of a person, organization or a project, in project management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project.

case study

• As project manager, you are actively leading the Green Computing Research Project team in developing a schedule. You and Ben found three internal people and one new hire to fill the positions on the project team as follows: Matt is a senior technical specialist in the corporate IT department. He works in the building next to yours and Ben’s. He is an expert in collaboration technologies, and he volunteers in his community to help organize ways for residents to dispose of computers, printers, and cell phones.
• Teresa is a senior systems analyst in the IT department in a city 500 miles away from your office. She just finished an analysis of virtualization of server resources for her office, which has responsibility for the company’s data center.
• James is a senior consultant in the strategic research department in a city 1,000 miles away from your office. He has a great reputation as being a font of knowledge and excellent presenter. Although he is over 60, he has a lot of energy.
•  Le is a new hire and former colleague of Ben’s. She was working in Malaysia, but she was planning to move to your location and begin work about four weeks after the project started. Le wrote her doctoral thesis on green computing.

While waiting for everyone to start working on your project, you talked to several people who were working on other projects in the Environmental Technologies Program and you did some research on green computing. You can use a fair amount of the work already done on telecommuting, and you have the name of a consulting firm to help with that part of your project, if needed. Ito and Ben both suggested that you get up to speed on available collaboration tools because much of your project work will be done virtually. They knew that Matt would be a tremendous asset for your team in that area. You have contacted other IT staff to get detailed information on your company’s needs and plans in other areas of green computing. You also found out about a big program meeting in England next month that you and one or two of your team members should attend. Recall that the Green Computing Research Project is expected to be completed in six months, and you and your four team members are assigned full-time to the project. Your project sponsor, Ben, has made it clear that delivering a good product is the most important goal, and he thinks you should have no problem meeting your schedule goal. He can authorize additional funds, if needed. You have decided to hire a part-time editor and consultant, Deb, to help your team produce the final reports and project proposals. You know Deb from a past job. Your team has agreed to add a one-week buffer at the end of the project to ensure that you finish on time or early.