MOD6 Paper - OGL 321

Choosing an expectation to fail

Part I

This week in simulation E we were tasked with making the high advanced printer (multi-

function printer/Level 4) with a tight budget and a short timeline. Our expectations were set at

$3,333 per week (for a total of $40,000 overall) and a project completion time of 15 weeks.

Throughout this simulated project course, we did not face any problems such as disasters,

people quitting, etc. but the management targets still felt unreasonable and we were not able

to meet the expectations. If you find yourself in this predicament what should you do? The

most effective approach I found was choosing an expectation to chase and picking one to fail.

I noticed the simulation, projects, and just life to be a give and take format. If you want

one thing it will cost something else, you find this everywhere in life from finances to build race

cars. There is always a ying and yang despite how much you want to go against it, you cannot

have your cake and eat it too. That is where I found myself with this simulation! Management

wants to keep their cake and eat it too with this low of a budget, short of a timeline, and

complexity of the products. When I approached this simulation, I felt best to make a choice.

The obvious choice for me was to sacrifice the budget in efforts to meet the deadline

with a quality project. After running through the simulation with this mindset I scored a

641/1000 and losing most of my points in the Project Resources section (budget). I was only

able to get 136/200 points in this area for going over budget. I ended up spending $56,000

which is about $16,000 over budget. Although, we were able to complete the project at week
14 rather than 15! This did not help my points in my opinion since I earned 120/125 for project

schedule. Another project note was my projects completion date seemed consistent

throughout the project. I think I lost those five points for finishing early without any other

benefits, it may have been more ideal to finish the project a week later (on schedule) and save

some money. I wonder if in a real-world situation that would be the preferred outcome? Or

would the extra free time be used to review the product or polish some areas? My team also

faced the typical levels of stress but got a few weeks where they were ‘bored’ which I think

dropped productivity. I do not think productivity dropped as much as when the team is overly

stressed, but the decrease is significant. I think was due to the number of team member I had

with a high skill rating. Six people throughout the project seemed unnecessary and lead to the

team feeling unchallenged and bored. The next few time I went through the simulation I tried

using less people and adjusting the skills rating. I was not able to get such a high score as I did

the first time around even when trying to learn from my previous simulations.

Part II

The first blog post I choose this week was Alien Project Management from The Lazy

Project Manager’s Blog! This post deals with the power of perspective and starts with an

example of six blind men describing different parts of an elephant. At the end they are all

correct because each element makes up a different part of the animal. “this is a good story

which shows that to explain and understand something that is complex requires the full picture

(Alien Project Management, 2015)”. The author continues and explains how difficult it is to

simple describe what a project manager does that explains the complexities they (we) face! The

perspective seems simple enough when you see the full scope without details or experience.
When it comes to day-to-day life it can be a similar analogy. When it comes to my wife, she is a

stay-at-home mom and has a very tough job! She does an awesome job taking care of the

house and our daughter! From an outside perspective you would think it is no big deal but that

is simply not that case! When your limited human interaction is with a one-year-old and you

must constantly watch Moana Disney movies all day every day it wears you down and it is a lot

of work! Kids are on the constant move, trying to get into everything they should, and are very

emotional! It is all about perspective and experience that creates the full picture.

My second blog post I choose was Michael Hyatt’s How to Sync up Your Team for Success. Hyatt

talks about knowing the three components for effective alignment: contact, communication, and

connection. “You cannot keep your team aligned unless you have frequent contact with them. They are

going to do the best with that you give them. If you don’t spend time with them, it is inevitable that

they’re going to make decisions you’re uncomfortable with (Hyatt, 2016)”. This is true being in touch

you’re your team is very important! A basketball coach cant be effective if he isn’t at practice or the

games! The second component is communication which I found to be the most valuable to me.

Hyatt tells us contact is not enough you must be able to communicate effectively, they cannot

read your mind! Your team must understand your expectations and desired outcomes. The last

component is connection; your team must believe in you, trust and know your heart. This will

lead them to be committed to success. The most important element to Hyatts blog is this “You

may be tempted to think you’re entitled to this by virtue of employing them. You’re not. You

can buy their presence, but you can’t buy their heart. You must earn it. You can only create a

connection—and thus alignment—when you open your heart and let them in (Hyatt, 2016)”.
Source:

Lazy Project Managers Blog. (2015, July 10). Alien project management. Retrieved February 19,

2021, from https://thelazyprojectmanager.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/alien-project-

management/

Michael Hyatt. (2016, May 11). How to sync up your team for success. Retrieved February 19,

2021, from https://michaelhyatt.com/alignment-sync-success/