Running head: Assignment 5 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION Assignment 5: Project Management Investigation Microsoft Planner and Team EDCI 627 – Instructional Design and Project Management Charles Saunderson Purdue University Assignment 5 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION Businesses, large and small, unquestionably juggle numerous projects, plans, tasks, and people. Having a solution that can help them keep organized while planning and running projects, in a way that is accurate, predictable, and profitable is promising. The purpose of project management tools is to help managers plan, execute and control all aspects of the project management process. Companies rely on tools for managing a project to ensure that each task is completed on time and to balance staff workload for optimal time management. Project management tools enhance resource efficiency and ensure project scope Horine (2017) suggests, “if your project requires or could benefit from sharing project information with clients, vendors, subcontractors, a mobile or geographically dispersed team, or anyone located outside your corporate network, you should consider a web-based project management and team collaboration software solution.” (p. 396). Define Tools and Articulate the Connection between PM and Tool Topics Describe or define tools? In 1990 Microsoft introduced Project as a solution for project planning. Microsoft Project is valuable when there is a team project that has complexity (dependencies, sophisticated reporting, and integration with other tools) and when a dedicated Project Manager is managing the project. Whereas Planner is valuable if the project team is small and is mostly task-based work that does not have much complexity involved. Horine (2017) states, “as popular as Project has always been, it was facing competition from tools that were focused on easy work collaboration and task management. Also, the consistent move to more agile development approaches has created a growing need for tools that provide simple visual task management, support frequent changes, make it easy to share documents, and serve as a repository for team communication especially at the task level.” (p. 356-357). Microsoft Planner is a collaborative and highly visual task management tool and works with Microsoft Team which is a collaboration software. Both products were added to the Office 365 Suite of products in 2016. Microsoft Planner is similar to Trello, Asana, and Smartsheet. Microsoft Team is like Slack. Horine (2017) describes Planner as Microsoft’s response to the market need. Microsoft Planner is included in the Office 365 Suite, and a subscription is required to access the product. Horine (2017) states that “Planner is a solid easy to use, visual teamwork collaboration tool .” (p. 357). The Project Management Institute (2013) indicates that a part of the project schedule is the necessity for a clear communication plan. The schedule management plan can establish the following • Project schedule model development-The scheduling methodology and the scheduling tool to be used in the development of the project schedule model are specified; • Level of accuracy- The acceptable range used in determining realistic activity duration estimates is specified and may include an amount for contingencies; • Unit of measures-Each unit in measurement is defined for each of the resources; 2 Assignment 5 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION • Organizational procedure link-WBS provide the framework for the schedule management plan; • Project schedule model maintenance-The process used to update the status and record progress of the project in the schedule model during the execution of the project is defined; and • Control threshold- Variance thresholds for monitoring schedule performance (The Project Management Institute, 2013, p.148). Microsoft Team provides for a clear communication plan. Microsoft Team is a solution for collaboration and communication. Horine (2017) suggests, “keeping individual stakeholders properly and consistently informed on the status, progress, and impact of the project are key factors in determining the overall success of the project.” (p.240). Horine (2017) states there are four key reasons: 1. Managing expectations – the quality and effectiveness of communications have an impact on stakeholder’s perceptions; 2. Managing the project team – the ability to communicate is the prominent factor affecting how well project managers manage and lead the core project team; 3. Reducing conflicts –e enough challenges executing the project without adding unnecessary conflict that results from misperceptions; and 4. Saving grace – organization and communication are two skills that will carry project managers in any project situation (Horine, 2017, p.240). Horine (2017) states, “the right communication option can improve project productivity, facilitates open communication, and build stronger stakeholder relationships.” (p. 247). As shown in Table 1, Horine (2017, page 247) lists 12 communications options for project managers to use. Table 1 Communication Options Communication Option Face-to-Face Videoconferencing Direct Audio (Telephone) Voice Mail Electronic Mail (Email) Instant Messaging Texting Audio Conferencing Web Conferencing with Audio Web Conferencing with Video Project/Team Collaboration Tools Social Networking Tools 3 Assignment 5 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION Microsoft Project and Team rely on the use of the following communication tools: • Web/Video Conferencing – Microsoft Team • Email – Microsoft Team and Planner • Instant Messaging – Microsoft Team and Planner • Project/Team Collaboration – Microsoft Team and Planner. How does selected tool fit into the PM process and an important aspect of the PM process? Microsoft Planner is a solution to project planning. Planner allows the project manager to create a project and assign tasks, select start and due dates. Most importantly is Planners ability to keep the project manager on task and focused on keeping the project on time and on-budget. For example, the primary way to interact with Planner is through the Board view, which contains task cards, each organized into lists or “buckets.” Individual cards contain information such as task description and due date. Files can be attached, and team members can leave comments on the card. Team leaders can then assign a task to individuals or multiple team members, who will be notified by email. Buckets are used to represent the status of a specific project. A task can be dragged and dropped from a “To Do” bucket to “Completed” as work is wrapped up. Those who’ve used Trello already will find the way Planner functions familiar. There is also a Charts view that provides a higher-level overview of work that’s underway, enabling team members to see the status and progress of various projects at a glance. The Charts view makes it easier to see if a project falls behind schedule or when a team member has a looming deadline. The Charts view also shows which tasks a team member has been assigned, offering an overview of their current workload and work completed. Microsoft Team provides a modern conversation experience for teams. Microsoft Teams keeps everyone engaged. Team conversations are visible to the entire team, but there is the ability for private discussions. Skype is a part of Team so that teams can participate in voice and video conferences. Microsoft Team provides project managers the ability to communicate instantly with team members. Microsoft Planner is valuable when it is used as a tab within Microsoft Teams to enable all team members to collaborate more efficiently by having visibility to who's working on what. In this context, it enables a team to get organized quickly and have a frictionless ability to categorize, assign and view the team's tasks. An added benefit of having Planner as a tab in Microsoft Team enables the team to work more collaboratively and closer together without any added effort. Each team member has visibility to who's working on what, due date, status and details of tasks. As a result, if one of the tasks has exceeded the due date, another team member may notice and reach out to see if they can assist. A conversation can quickly take place within Team around tasks in Planner resulting in the rest of the team having visibility to that conversation, whereas otherwise, it may be in a side email or phone call. 4 Assignment 5 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION What is the impact (or potential impact) of using this tool in the PM process? Horine (2017) states, “the project schedule is the tool that merges all the work task to be performed, their relationships, their estimated durations, and their assigned resources to a calendar.” (p. 106). The Project Management Institute (2013) states “a project schedule is an output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources. At a minimum, the project schedule includes a planned start date and a planned finished date for each activity.” (p. 182). Projecting management tools such as a project plans, task assignments, project budgets and project schedules like Gantt charts -- bar charts for planning and scheduling projects -- enable project managers to estimate, plan and track projects. In fact, many view developing project plans as the most critical phase of the project management process. Project management tools allow managers to define goals and objectives. The value of scheduling software is • Critical path analysis; • Project