Application of Project Management Concepts and Theories - Lessons Learned

This individual assignment, worth percent of your final grade, is based on a lessons learned paper. Please be sure to review the “Individual Assignment and Marking Rubric” page in the course Study Guide. The guidelines on this page provide important information that cover length, formatting, the penalty for late assignments being a grade of zero, and how and where to upload the assignment.  In accordance with research ethics requirements, no primary research, such as interviews, is expected or permitted. Please use material that any member of the public would have access to. You may consult with your Academic Coach for guidance.

“Project management is both people and technical oriented. Project management involves understanding the cause-effect relationships and interactions among the sociotechnical dimensions of projects” (Larson, 2018, p. xi). This course introduces you to the project life cycle, concepts in project management, various tools and techniques, and the yin and yang of project management that emphasizes the balance between the technical and sociocultural aspects of the discipline.

In this assignment, we want you to demonstrate an application of project management concepts and theories to practice by discussing lessons learned. We think you will be successful in this if we give you latitude regarding your topic so that you can focus on a project management topic that is intriguing and interesting to you. Based on what you have learned in the course, please focus on a project management practice, tool/technique, or topic of your choice that you consider particularly useful in practice. Notice that it is better to focus on one practice or tool/technique rather than many. Notice that if you can narrow the scope of your paper to a project phase, that might also help you delve deeper into your analysis.

Research Question: “How” and “why” types of questions lead to qualitative research, whereas “how many” and “what proportion” types of questions lead to quantitative research. Start by developing one research question. If you decide to develop two research questions, the two questions must be related. This will help you focus on your project management practice, tool/technique, or topic. This will also help you focus on the related literature to review. In turn, this will help you analyze your research question(s) in the context of, for example, your department or organization and in relation to the literature you reviewed. Then, you will be able to develop recommendations and conclusions. The emphasis in this kind of conceptual research is for you to demonstrate your mastery of concepts and tools and your ability to establish a meaningful connection between concepts and practices in different environments. For example, you might be interested in exploring the following:

Research Question

Why are projects closed poorly in my department?

In this initial broadquestion, your focus is on the close-out As you think about your question, try to focus on a specific aspect of the close-out phase. Are the main problems associated with contracts? Or human resources? Notice that this will help you narrow and refine your research question, which might end up being “how were contracts closed on project X in my department, and what were the main challenges?” For this question, you would review literature on contract closure and lessons learned. This will help you understand the challenges and best practices related to your topic so that you can then discuss and analyze your question in the context of the literature. In the recommendations section, you will then be able to develop some practical recommendations to improve the contract closure process on future projects.

What made project Y so successful at company X?

In this initial broad question, your focus is on project success. Are you interested in what made the project a success in the initiation phase? Here, your focus could be on the deliverables related to the initiation phase (i.e., the project business plan and/or charter). You will recall that success has to do with the iron triangle and stakeholders. Notice that this will help you narrow and refine your research question, which might end up being “how did the project business plan on project X help the project be implemented successfully?” For this question, you would review literature on success (i.e., project success, project management success, and critical success factors) and project business plans. For example, maybe your focus in the context of your actual project will be on how quickly and effectively stakeholders were engaged and their roles in developing the business plan. You would also look at some of the literature on stakeholders. The literature review will help you understand the components and best practices related to your topic so that you can then discuss and analyze your question in the context of the literature. In the recommendations section, you will then be able to develop some practical recommendations to improve the initiation phase on future projects.

What are several differences in project management between publicly funded projects (e.g., municipal building) versus for-profit corporate projects (e.g., Athabasca oil sands)? How do learnings from the course help me properly use tools and frameworks for different project types?

For these questions, you might need to find specific examples of both publicly funded and for-profit project types from the public domain and think about the high-level similarities and differences. You may use the relevant literature to guide your writing and help you identify the key areas of differences in project management practices between different project types. Your research should help you identify the tools, practices, and situations that might be significantly different between the two types of projects (e.g., approval process, performance expectations, communication protocols, perception of risk, etc.).

Drawing on the academic literature and course material, describe, discuss, and assess your project management practices, tools/techniques, or topic. Consider the importance, effectiveness/ineffectiveness, challenges, causes, and effects. Consider the interactions between the technical and sociocultural aspects.

Recommendations/Conclusion:

What do you conclude from your analysis? What recommendations can you offer and to whom?