BSC203: Basic tools of Quality This term is Used for Graphical Techniques: Introduction to ICT Research Methods Assugnment, Singapore

Question 1:
The lecture introduced some ‘basic tools of quality. This term is used for graphical techniques that have been identified as being helpful for troubleshooting issues related to quality:

• Cause–effect diagrams (Ishikawa diagrams)
• Control charts
• Run charts
• Scatter diagrams
• Histograms
• Pareto chart

1.Choose three of these tools and search on the Internet to identify how each can be used to help in monitoring and controlling a project.

2.Include the following in your portfolio for each of the three tools chosen:

a. A brief description of the tool

b.An explanation of how it can be used in project management

c. A reference list of all sources of information you used to complete this. 

Question 2:
This activity adds to your Project Management knowledge by looking at how project Stakeholders are identified and managed.  The ultimate goal of project management is to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations for a project, so you must first identify who your particular project stakeholders are. The table below maps the Project Stakeholder Management knowledge area against the project management process groups to illustrate activities associated with project stakeholders.

Two key outputs of this process include:

Stakeholder register: a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders

Stakeholder management strategy: an approach to help increase the support from stakeholders throughout the project; this often includes sensitive information

You will undertake some stakeholder management activities based on the project mentioned in Activity 2 above, where researchers are planning a research project to trial 3D printing technology to print and implant living bone cells. The participants in the project would be human patients with bone cancer, and the research team would include medical specialists, bioengineers, and computer scientists.

The following resources might be of use:

A Wikipedia article on stakeholder management: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_management

A tutorial on stakeholder analysis: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm

What you need to do:

1.Identify the project stakeholders
Produce a list of the main project stakeholders (aim for at least 8 stakeholders). Remember that although stakeholders may be both organizations and people, ultimately you must communicate with people. Where possible identify the individual stakeholders (people or roles) who affect (or are affected by) your project. Make assumptions as necessary.

2. Prioritize the stakeholders
Map out the stakeholders you have identified using a matrix like the one below, and classify them by their power over the project and by their interest in the project. An interactive version is available from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htmif you would like to use it.

3. Understand your key stakeholders
You need to know more about your key stakeholders including how they are likely to feel about and react to your project. Create a key stakeholder analysis in the form of a table that lists each of the stakeholders in the High Power quadrants and for each of them provides a brief description of the stakeholder and describes their likely stance toward the project and issues associated with it.

Question 3
NOTE: The work you do on this question should be included in your Project Management Portfolio. This is the last component of the Project Management Portfolio

This activity concludes your Project Management knowledge by looking at how projects are closed. Throughout each phase, lessons are learned and opportunities for improvement are discovered. In order to continuously improve the success of projects, documenting the lessons learned helps a project team to identify the causes of problems that occurred and avoid them in later projects.

The objective of a Lessons Learned Report is to collect all the relevant information. Look at the lecture slides from Topic 6 to refresh your memory.

Write a Lessons Learned Report for a project you have worked on. This project could be:

I. An assignment you have done for this unit

ii. An assignment you have done for any other unit

iii. Any project you are able to report on.

Your Lessons Learned Report should include the following sections:

Introduction

• Briefly describe the project.

Achievement of scope and time constraints

• Discuss whether the project met scope and time constraints. That is, were you able to do everything that was planned, and finish/submit on time?

What went right?

• Describe one example of what went right on this project.

What went wrong?

• Describe one example of what went wrong on this project.

Lessons learned

• Briefly discuss what the main lessons you learned from this project were. This should include both in terms of managing the project, and in terms of skills that may be useful to you in the future.

Implications for the Poster Presentation project

• Discuss what you will do differently on the Poster Presentation project based on your experiences with this and other projects.