Assessment 6 – Executive Summary, Evaluation, and Plan Assessment

Executive Summary 

The executive summary should be at least two or three pages in length. To be complete, the executive summary should include a summary of project goals, milestones, costs, and risks. Remember to outline this assignment. The best way to do that would be to use the left-hand column of the scoring guide as your section headings. 

Project Evaluation

The Project Evaluation should be at least two or three pages in length. List the questions provided in the assessment along with your answers. 

Project Plan

The Project Plan is mainly an integration effort. Compile all the components of the project plan into one Microsoft Word document. Do not enter any information as links. There are a number of components in the plan that have already been assessed and will not be assessed again.

Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks     

Word 2007

Microsoft Word provides a great deal of writing support that is not always fully appreciated. If you are using Word 2007, you can press the Office button (at the top upper left corner of the screen) and then the “Word Options” button (at the bottom of the dialogue box that pops up when you click the Office button). The “Word Options” button calls up (naturally) the Word Options dialogue box. In the Word Options dialogue box, select “Proofing,” the third menu choice on the left side of the screen, which will change the dialogue box display. 

Go to the “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word” section to the right of the menu and towards the bottom of the dialogue box. First, check all the boxes in that section. Second, change the Writing Style dropdown menu to “Grammar & Style.” Then click on the “Settings” button directly to the right of the Writing Style dropdown menu.

Voila! You are now in the “Grammar Settings” dialogue box. You will see the word “Require” in bold type. There are three dropdown menus in the “Require” section. Change “Comma required before last item:” to “always.” Change “Punctuation required with quotes:” to “inside.” Change “Spaces required between sentences:” to “2.”

Directly below the “Require” section is the “Grammar” section. Check each and every box. Then click OK until you are back in the Word text screen. 

Word 2010 and 2013

In Word 2010, under the “File” tab, choose “Options” towards the end of the menu. In the Word Options dialogue box, select “Proofing,” the third menu choice on the left side of the screen, which will change the dialogue box display. Then follow the Word 2007 directions above. 

Now you have now configured Word to proofread your paper. If Word sees something that raises a question, it is underlined in green. Right click on a green underlined word and Microsoft Word will show a popup with suggested changes. 

Conclusion

For those who wish to continue the study of project management beyond Capella’s formal courses, here are a few suggestions. 

For those planning to take the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam, you should use the PMP Exam Prep by Mulcahy (2009b). This book is relatively expensive for a paperback, but it contains all the information you will need to take the PMP exam and contains most of the important information in the PMBOK by the Project Management Institute (2013). The questions at the end of each chapter are very similar to the actual PMP test and are an excellent preparation. Mulcahy (2009a) also offers study flashcards keyed to the book, which are very handy. In addition, Mulcahy offers software that simulates the exam. Although the software is excellent, it is expensive (around $300), you are only allowed to install it twice, and the license to use it expires after only one year (at which point the software deactivates). For most, the book and flashcards should be enough. Tragically, Rita Mulcahy died of cancer on May 15, 2010, at the age of 50. It was a loss to the entire project management community.   

Project management is both a science and an art. The PMBOK addresses the science, but other books discuss the art. Project Management That Works by Morris and Sember (2008) discusses solutions to many real-world problems that project managers frequently face. It is also a fast read. Stop Playing Games by Morris (2010) is also a practical and interesting work on real-life Project Management. Radical Project Management by Thomsett (2002) is an unorthodox (yet perceptive) approach to many of the practical problems project managers must solve. Thomsett is not as easy to read as Morris, but the information is worth the effort. Scrappy Project Management by Wiefling (2007) reads as if it were written by a motivational speaker and actually discusses leadership more than project management. As a result, this small book is more entertaining than informative, but it is so entertaining that it is worth mentioning.

If you are interested in a book on general management, First, Break All the Rules by Buckingham and Coffman (1999) provides some extremely interesting information. It presents data gathered by the Gallup organization from 80,000 managers. Some of the suggestions made in this book at first seem strange, but the authors make an exceptionally strong case for their ideas. It was actually fun to read. Pfeffer (2007) wrote What Were They Thinking? It is an excellent work divided into short, easy-to-read chapters. Each chapter deals with a management practice (such as cutting pay and benefits to save money) that may actually be completely counterproductive.  

If you are interested in software development, The Mythical Man-Month, originally written by Fredrick P. Brooks, Jr. in 1975, and re-released as a twentieth anniversary edition in 1995, remains the most referenced work on software engineering. If you have heard of Brooks’ Law (“Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”), this book is the source. Brooks also popularized the term “silver bullet” regarding software development panaceas. If you read only one book on software engineering, Brooks (1995) should be that book. 

There is another book that, although absolutely fascinating, is difficult to classify. Outliers: The Story of Success by Gladwell (2008) discusses (among other things) the ways that education and intelligence does (or does not) help you succeed in life. Interestingly, the author notes, “The kinds of errors that cause plane crashes are invariably errors of teamwork and communications” and not problems with technical ability (p. 184). It would appear that failed software projects and airplane crashes have much in common. 

References

Brooks, F. P., Jr. (1995). The mythical man-month: Essays on software engineering, anniversary edition. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 

Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break all the rules. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Morris, R. A. (2010). Stop playing games. Minnetonkas, MN: RMC Publications.

Morris, R. A., & Sember, B. M. (2008). Project management that works. New York, NY: AMACOM.

Mulcahy, R. (2009a). Hot topics PMP exam flashcards (6th ed.). Minneapolis, MN: RMC Publications.

Mulcahy, R. (2009b). PMP exam prep (6th ed.). Minneapolis, MN: RMC Publications.

Pfeffer, J. (2007). What were they thinking? Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Project Management Institute. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (4th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Author

Thomsett, R. (2002). Radical project management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Wiefling, K. (2007). Scrappy project management. Cupertino, CA: Scrappy About.

Assessment Instructions

Note: In this course, complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.

For this assessment, put together a complete project plan for your selected project. You have already completed many of the project plan components, but you will need to write an executive summary and project evaluation, as well as format all the required components into a single document.

Be sure to use the following resources as you complete your assessment:

• Review the Concept Map (linked in the Resources under the Capella Multimedia heading) to see the project management life cycle.
• Read the Assessment 6 Coaching document (linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading) for expert tips and advice on creating a project plan.

Executive Summary

Create an executive summary for your project plan. The executive summary provides a quick overview of the project facts and should accomplish the following:

1. Describe the background of the project and the details of how it was initiated.
2. Describe the business objectives for the project.
3. Describe the project scope.
4. Analyze the project to identify all milestones and determine deliverable dates.
5. Determine risks and a communication plan for stakeholders.

Project Evaluation

Create a project evaluation in which you synthesize the lessons you learned in completing your project and evaluate the project’s success. In your evaluation, respond to the following questions:

• After reviewing your scope statement, how successful were you in managing scope creep and change over the project life cycle?
  • Analyze the success of the project.
• According to the business objectives you identified, were you able to meet these objectives through completion of the project?
  • Describe how the business objectives were met.
• Based on your experiences with this project, what would you do differently next time?
  • Describe lessons learned from managing the project.
• What risks or other factors became apparent during the project for which you could have or should have planned?
• What would you tell a project manager within your organization the next time he or she kicks off a project?

Project Plan

After writing the executive summary and project evaluation, compile the following components into a single, cohesive executive communication document that is your project plan. Note that the components in the project plan that have already been assessed (project charter, project scope statement, cost estimate, and risk matrix) will not be assessed again, but still must be included in the final document.

1. Table of Contents.
2. Executive Summary.
3. Project Charter.
4. Project Scope Statement.
5. Cost Estimate.
6. Risk Matrix.
7. Project Evaluation
8. Reference List.

Also submit your project schedule as a Microsoft Project file. The schedule must include the following:

• Phases, tasks, and milestones.
• Durations and dates.
• Precedence relationships.
• Resource allocation.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Ensure that your writing is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Format resources and citations according to APA (6th edition) style.
• Number of resources: Include a minimum of two resources.
• Length of paper: Your project plan should be 20–23 typed, double-spaced pages. In addition, submit your project schedule as a separate Microsoft Project document.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

Note: You are not required to submit your project schedule to the Turnitin source matching tool.

Describes the project background and business objectives and includes additional relevant supporting information to provide a comprehensive view of the project.

Analyzes the project scope identifying dependencies, assumptions, constraints, and mitigating strategies.

Estimates project milestones and deliverable dates and outlines a communication plan and comprehensive plan that takes into account stakeholder needs.

Determines multiple methods to communicate project risk factors to key stakeholders and identifies methods for stakeholders to provide feedback.

Describes how business objectives were met in a project and recommends strategies for implementation.

Analyzes lessons learned from managing a project and recommends strategies for applying to future projects.

Communicates in a manner that is professional, scholarly, and consistent with expectations for members of the business profession.