Due to EVM being brand new to the relationship of Franklin Electronics and Spokane Industries, there are many project management control concepts that may have been overlooked, such as: working to prevent scope creep, creating proper milestones and work breakdown structures to make clear estimations, recognizing trade-off techniques, and the learning curve necessary to implement this new practice in every day business. Controlling a project using an earned value management system (EVMS), especially in an electronic format, allows for clear progress reporting, frequent status reports, and visuals that ensure all changes necessary during a project are completed in a timely manner to secure the success of a project, or at least reduce failures.
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At each juncture, or status report delivery time, the team should evaluate the progress, having an understanding of the issues that are occurring in order to have intelligent conversations with the customer. At that assessment point, if it is determined that a cost and schedule variance are apparent and need addressing, the project manager should begin to prepare the team. A game plan for recovery with realistic expectations are a key part of getting a project back on track. Such a plan may include re-planning, re-estimation, and re-baselining which may be time consuming and therefore costly, until EVM becomes part of every day business, creating the need for Franklin Electronics to review for possible trade-offs. Moving forward immediately with the updates is imperative, understanding that change management is never easy and that adjustments made need to be made at the next juncture as well. Getting a flailing project back on track requires sustained effort, focus, commitment and objectivity, making sure there is a positive focus on people (Ponce, …show more content…
The distinctiveness of DMAIC is that there are five interconnected steps (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) that systematically help organizations structure a plan for solving the root cause of business problems (Kumar & Kaushish, 2015). Due to Franklin Electronics desire to create a simple status report, they only included results for the first four of the forty-five anticipated work packages. The report provided makes it unclear for Spokane Industries if the costs of goods were higher than expected, if Franklin Electronics purchased more supplies than necessary for only these four packages, if there are costs being reported that actually pertain to other work packages, if the learning curve for these work packages required additional staff, or a number of other possibilities. Considering that this crucial cost reporting information was missing, the effect was that the cost variance in dollars seemingly continued to increase over time. Franklin Electronics should implement the use of a cause-and-effect diagram, such as Ishikawa or fishbone diagram, which will allow for targeting of where the defect occurred, with regard to budget overruns and schedule delays (Kumar & Kaushish, 2015). Once the project manager has determined where the problem began, the
At each juncture, or status report delivery time, the team should evaluate the progress, having an understanding of the issues that are occurring in order to have intelligent conversations with the customer. At that assessment point, if it is determined that a cost and schedule variance are apparent and need addressing, the project manager should begin to prepare the team. A game plan for recovery with realistic expectations are a key part of getting a project back on track. Such a plan may include re-planning, re-estimation, and re-baselining which may be time consuming and therefore costly, until EVM becomes part of every day business, creating the need for Franklin Electronics to review for possible trade-offs. Moving forward immediately with the updates is imperative, understanding that change management is never easy and that adjustments made need to be made at the next juncture as well. Getting a flailing project back on track requires sustained effort, focus, commitment and objectivity, making sure there is a positive focus on people (Ponce, …show more content…
The distinctiveness of DMAIC is that there are five interconnected steps (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) that systematically help organizations structure a plan for solving the root cause of business problems (Kumar & Kaushish, 2015). Due to Franklin Electronics desire to create a simple status report, they only included results for the first four of the forty-five anticipated work packages. The report provided makes it unclear for Spokane Industries if the costs of goods were higher than expected, if Franklin Electronics purchased more supplies than necessary for only these four packages, if there are costs being reported that actually pertain to other work packages, if the learning curve for these work packages required additional staff, or a number of other possibilities. Considering that this crucial cost reporting information was missing, the effect was that the cost variance in dollars seemingly continued to increase over time. Franklin Electronics should implement the use of a cause-and-effect diagram, such as Ishikawa or fishbone diagram, which will allow for targeting of where the defect occurred, with regard to budget overruns and schedule delays (Kumar & Kaushish, 2015). Once the project manager has determined where the problem began, the