1) Preview of Work Selected
For this Portfolio Milestone, perform the following:
- provide a two-page submission in Module 2 noting your selected option for the Portfolio Project found in Module 8,
- a timeline of activities over the remaining weeks for portfolio production (5 weeks left)
- concerns and roadblocks you have on the portfolio, and
- how you will overcome those. No need for formal APA submission for this assignment.
Your timeline of activities is most critical as are your concerns, roadblocks, and how you will overcome those. It is expected that your timeline shows at least one task each week from Week 2 through Week 8, and many weeks should have multiple tasks. Every effort should be made to thoroughly examine your portfolio options, and to complete this milestone in Week 2 to give you enough time to complete the work. Once your work on this milestone is graded, you may not change portfolio options and should move forward with your Week 2 selection.
2) Selected option for the Portfolio Project
Develop Applications Relative to Course Objectives
As part of successfully completing this course, you should be able to master the eight course objectives:
- Demonstrate the need for project management metrics.
- Establish the importance of metrics in effective management of time, cost, and scope.
- Apply the knowledge of project metrics to identify the key characteristics of properly defined metrics.
- Characterize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as used in metric-driven project management.
- Apply value-based project management metrics as important in selecting the right metrics.
- Explore project performance dashboards including designs, use, and limitations.
- Explore the applications of visual project management tools, including project performance dashboards.
- Create proper performance indicators for application in measurement-driven project management.
In this portfolio project, you are to show your mastery of the eight course objectives at a master’s level. You are to write a paper that covers each of the eight topics.
Notice that each objective is written with a verb as the first word to show some action that students must achieve for success in this class. Verbs like “demonstrate,” “apply,” and “create” require that the student takes some action on a project to satisfy the requirement. You should find a project to use in this portfolio where you may take those actions and document them in your paper. You might apply earned value analysis on a project underway to satisfy course objective number 5, for example.
Verbs like “establish,” “characterize,” and “explore” require that the student shows mastery of current thinking on the subject. This part of your paper may be taken from research, or interviews. You might explore an application of dashboards by interviewing a project manager and performing research on current thinking about dashboards, for example.
Therefore, your paper should include sections to address the following:
- Identify and describe an actual project that was successful in part because it used project metrics, what those metrics were, and why they were a contributing factor to success.
- Research and report on current thinking in both research and practice about effective management of time, cost, and scope with metrics.
- Research and report on current thinking in both research and practice about the key characteristics of properly defined metrics, and identify and describe an actual project to compare its use of metrics to your research to determine if the metrics were properly defined.
- Research and report on current thinking in both research and practice about KPIs.
- Show your application of value-based project management metrics on a project with which you are familiar and interpret the results of your application.
- Research and report on performance dashboards including designs, use, and limitations, and visual project management tools, including project performance dashboards.
- Create proper performance indicators for application in measurement-driven project management on a project with which you are familiar.
Since the key sections of your work correspond to individual module of the course, it is recommended that you progressively develop your project based on the weekly topics.
Paper Requirements:
- Prepare a portfolio paper to address the eight-course objective. All eight course objectives must be addressed. The Course Objectives are:
- Demonstrate the need for project management metrics and benefits of metric-driven project management.
- Establish the importance of metrics in effective management of time, cost, and scope.
- Apply the knowledge of project metrics to identify the key characteristics of properly defined metrics.
- Characterize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as used in metric-driven project management.
- Apply value-based project management metrics as important in selecting the right metrics.
- Explore project performance dashboards including designs, use, and limitations.
- Explore the applications of visual project management tools, including project performance dashboards.
- Create proper performance indicators for application in measurement-driven project management.
- Incorporate at least 10-12 current peer-reviewed scholarly references (current means published in past five years).
Chapter 8 in Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: A guide to measuring and monitoring project performance
Part 2 Chapter 6 in the PMBOK Guide
Stone, M., Parnell, B., & Aravopoulou, E. (2020). Controlling superprojects: Information management requirements. The Bottom Line.
Ormerod, R. (2017). Writing practitioner case studies to help behavioural OR researchers ground their theories: application of the mangle perspective. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 68(5), 507-520.
Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: A guide to measuring and monitoring project performance (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (6th ed.).
