23S Decision Support for PMs - 01 PRJM1006-23S-31663

DATES & LOCATION

Fridays – May 8th to Aug 18th 2023 (14 weeks)

11 am to 2 pm

Class Room - K 224

GC Flex

All course materials will be available online, and it is your responsibility to complete them in your own time
during each week. All necessary materials will be posted to Blackboard, any live class recordings will be
posted as soon as made available by the hosting app (likely Fridays) and most assignments will be due within
two working days

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Project stakeholders and project managers are required to make decisions that affect the scope, quality, time,
resourcing and cost of the project they are delivering. In this course, students get hands-on experience with the
common decision support tools, such as scheduling software, that are available to project managers.

RESOURCES
Book: Project Management – 2.0 Leveraging tools, Distributed collaboration and metrics for project success.
ISBN: 978-1-118-99125-1
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Author: Harold Kerzner

INSTRUCTOR
Cawder R Andrews

cawder.andrews@georgiancollege.ca

OFFICE HOURS
By appointment (with or outside of class hours). Please email to schedule a MS Teams call.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have reliably demonstrated the ability to:
1. Explain the relationship between project information needs and decision making;
2. Identify the data required to support effective decision making on a project;
3. Assemble and appraise data to support project decisions using project-related decision support tools;
4. Solve common scheduling problems using computer scheduling software;
5. Select and apply appropriate time and cost modelling techniques to determine the potential impact of
project opportunities, challenges, and risks;
6. Determine new [or creative] solutions to project related problems.

EVALUATION

The passing grade for this course is 60%. Students must complete the final exam to pass the course.

Learning
Content and Due Date
Evaluation Type Outcome Weight
Practice Area
Assessed
See Schedule of 10%
Discussions (2) Modules 1, 13 1, 3, 6
Activities (2 x 5%)

See Schedule of 25%

Assessments – Quizzes (5) Modules 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 1, 2, 3
Activities (5 x 5%)
Exams
 Mid Semester Test Modules 1 – 5 See Schedule of 15%
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
 Final Test Modules 1 – 11 Activities 25%

See Schedule of 10%

Assignments (2) Modules 5, 6 3, 6
Activities (2 x 5%)
Assessments (2) See Schedule of 15%
Modules 10, 12 4, 5
Activities (1 x 5%, 1 x 10%)
TOTAL 100%

COMMUNICATION

For one-to-one communication students and the instructor, MS Teams is best and you can expect a response
within 48hrs on a weekday, and on Mondays following a weekend. All class communication, materials,
and assignments will be posted in Blackboard.
MS Teams will be used for ‘in-class’ exercises for students to work together in a shared online space.

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Schedule of Activities

Module/Date Content/Topic Assessment/Activities

Introduction to Course

PMI Talent Triangle Decision Making Style Assessment / Discussion #1

Module 1
Due: Jan 15th (11.59pm)
PMI Ethical Decision-Making
May 12th Framework
Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
Competing Constraints

Reading:
Module 2 Decision Making Chapter 1, Chapter 2

May 19th The Project Manager’s Assessment: Quiz – Module 2

Toolbox Due: Jan 22nd (11.59pm)

Reading:
Chapter 7
Module 3 Project Governance
Assessment: Quiz – Module 3
th
May 26 Roles, Responsibilities and Due: Jan 29th (11.59pm)
Decision-Making Authority
Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities

Problem Solving and Decision

Reading:
Making – The Process
Chapter 10
Module 4 Identify and Understanding
Assessment: Quiz – Module 4
the Problem
nd Due: Feb 5th (11.59pm)
June 2
Data gathering
Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
Analyzing Data

Decision Making/Problem
Reading:
Solving Tools & Techniques in
Chapter 10
Stakeholder Management
Module 5
and Resource Management –
Assignment 1
Part 1
June 9th Due: Feb 16th (11.59pm)
 Brainstorming
 Mind Mapping*
Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
 Trade off Models
 Matrix Based charts

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 Decision Making/Problem
Solving Tools & Techniques in Reading:
Scope and Quality Chapter 10
Module 6
Management – Part 2
 Affinity Diagrams Assignment 2
June 16th  Flowcharts Due - Feb 23rd (11.59pm)
 Matrix Diagrams
 Cause and Effect Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
Diagrams
Module 7 Content covered in Modules 1 – 5
Mid Term Exam
June 23rd (Synchronous) Feb 24th

STUDY WEEK Study Week

(June 26-29)
June 30th
Canada Day Holiday

Decision Making/Problem
Solving Tools & Techniques in
Risk Management and Reading:
Integration Management– Chapter 10
Part 3
Module 8  Decision Trees Quiz – Module 8
 SWOT Analysis Due: March 12th (11.59pm)
July 7th  Cost/ Benefit Risk
Analysis Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
 Multi Criteria Decision
Analysis
 Analytical Hierarchy
Process.

Creativity and Innovation

Reading:
Types of Decision Makers Chapter 10
Module 9
Selecting the Best Solutions Quiz – Module 9
 Routine decision making Due: March 19th (11.59pm)
July 14th
 Adaptive decision
making Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities

Decision making steps

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 Project Schedule
Module 10 Management – Part 1 Reading:
LinkedIn Learning Material Review
PERT / Critical path Method
July 21st
Assessment – Module 10 (Blackboard)
Decision Making with Due: March 26th (11.59pm)
Scheduling Software –
Microsoft Project 2016

Module 11 Decision Making Software – Reading:

Microsoft Project 2019 – LinkedIn Learning Material Review
Handling decisions based on
July 28th
competing constraints.

Problem Solving with

Module 12 Scheduling Software – Reading:
Microsoft Project 2016 – Part LinkedIn Learning Material Review
2
Aug 4th
Assessment – Module 12 (Blackboard)
Cost Constrained Schedules Due: April 13th (11.59pm)
in MS Project
Module 13 Discussion - Module 13
Communicating Decisions – Due: April 16th (11.59pm)
Aug 11th The PMIS
Lecture/Class Discussion/Activities
Module 14 Content covered in Modules 1 - 13

Final Exam (Synchronous)

Aug 18th Due: April 21st

POLICIES

Due to extenuating circumstances and to accommodate the need for this program to be offered remotely, there
may be some modifications to the evaluation/assessment. This has been approved by the Dean of
Technology & Visual Arts (TVA), as directed by the Vice President, Academic.

Late Work
Please ensure you complete and submit your work on time as failure to do so will result in a zero. There will
be no exceptions for late work, unless medical note is provided. All technical issues are the responsibility of
the student and each student should put the appropriate mitigation and contingency plans in place in case of a
technical issue occurs. You will be responsible for contacting the various technical support call centers as
needed.

Missed Tests
Tests and exams must be written at the time scheduled. Only documented medical/family emergencies or
conflicting religious observance schedules are grounds for special consideration. Requests for an adjustment to
a prescribed exam or test date must be made before the exam or test date.

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Plagiarism & Academic Misconduct
Students should ensure that they understand the conventions for referencing sources, in footnotes and
bibliographies. In addition to citing quotations from all sources, whether from written materials, interviews or
electronic networks, students must credit with footnotes or in- text references all facts and ideas that are not
their own, EVEN IF THEY ARE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you do not, it is considered plagiarism. In any
academic exercise, plagiarism occurs when one offers as one’s own work the words, data, ideas, arguments,

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calculations, designs or productions of another without appropriate attribution or when one allows one’s work to
be copied.

Please use the American Psychological Association (APA) style of documentation for all
assignments. The following publication will be a required text within the program:

Haig, J., MacMillan, V. & Raikes, G. (2010). Cites & Sources, Third Edition. Toronto, ON: Nelson
Education.

The official website of the American Psychological Association citation guide is:
http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx . Many university libraries also provide summary guide sheets available
through a Google search.

Images
Email your instructor an image of your favourite food for a bonus point on your first assignment.

General Organization
A cross-section of instructional techniques will be used in this course, involving both individual and group
learning. Refer to the Schedule of Activities for course progression, due dates, and recommended online class
preparation. Where circumstances require a change in schedule, such changes will be announced in
Blackboard.

Campus Closures
Weather can impact driving conditions and operations at Georgian College campuses. It’s important to
consider your personal safety in deciding when to come to class or to work.

https://www.georgiancollege.ca/about-georgian/campus-safety-services/tab/campus-closures

Timing of closures/notification:

Closure Decision Notification Notes

Morning closure of a building, If re-opening for noon or evening classes

campus, or location or suspend a 6 am 6:30 am is being considered, this will be
service operation mentioned in the message

Morning closure with expectation of Only affects classes beginning at 12 noon

re-opening by 12:00 noon or later
9:30 am 10 am
Closure expected to continue past
12:00 noon

Re-opening for evening classes at 5

pm or later
3 pm
2:30 pm
Evening closure

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 NOT re-opening for evening classes

Notification will be made via:

 Georgian social media (Facebook, Twitter)

 Safe@Georgian app
 Georgian website
 Recorded message when you call into your campus
 Student or employee portal
 Georgian email account
 Staff, students and the public may also hear about closures on local radio. More than one
communication channel should be monitored.

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Evacuation & Lockdown
Fire and Lockdown dates for 2021 are as follows:

 Winter 2021: Thursday, February 4, 2021 (Fire evacuation drills only. No lockdown testing.)

Emergency Evacuation
 Evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated or an official announcement is given. Review
emergency evacuation.
 Students requiring assistance in emergency situations must inform their faculty during the
first week of class.
 Familiarize yourself with all fire exit doors of classrooms and buildings you may occupy.
 Do not re-enter a building until the Fire Department or college personnel give instructions.

Lockdown
https://www.georgiancollege.ca/about-georgian/campus-safety-services/tab/lockdown/
• Lockdown is initiated when there is a potential or actual violent incident on campus that could result in a
serious injury or threat to life.
• Students may download the safe@georgian app to stay updated on Campus Safety and Security
information including lockdown
• Familiarize yourself with the College Lockdown procedures
• Lockdown tests will occur each semester.

Resources
• CS-004 Unscheduled campus closures
• Get Out, Hide, Fight Lockdown Video
• Lockdown Model – Get Out, Hide, Fight: Lockdown Tools and Tactics and FAQs
• Emergency Response Guide

Sexual Violence
https://www.georgiancollege.ca/about-georgian/campus-safety-services/tab/sexual-violence

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