Scenario Overview: A family (two adults, two children) prepares to plant a garde

Question

Scenario Overview:

A family (two adults, two children) prepares to plant a garden for fall harvest. One adult (Jack) is a real life project manager and decides to go about the project in accordance with the knowledge gained by readings in Lesson 5. One of the adults (Jill) has imposed a constraint that the project must not exceed a cost of $250 for supplies, equipment rental or purchase, and/or maintenance.

The cost of labor is not included but the parents do intend to estimate the number of hours for everyone, including the children, Lavern (age 7) and Shirley (age 10).

The family lives in a nice development that has specific covenants with restrictions on backyard landscaping monitored by the Home Owners Association (HOA) representative (Ms. Setback). They currently do most of their grocery shopping at the local store (about 3 miles from their home) and purchase gasoline (petrol) from the local station (about 10 miles from their home). The cost of gas is currently $4 USD per gallon. Their car gets about 25 miles per gallon. They also purchase water from the city municipal supply.

Level 1 of the WBS is the final deliverable or overall project outcome often referred to as the project name. The project manager has decided to break down the work by project phase at level 2.

For the garden project, Jack has decided to manage it by phases (against the principles he learned while getting a MS degree in project management in 2009). The phases include: Garden Plot Preparation, Crop Planting, Crop Harvest, and Garden Plot Winterization. In addition to these specific project phases, Project Management work is also a level 2 component of the WBS.

The garden is considered ready for planting when the soil is tilled and all rocks are removed, and sufficient barriers are installed to keep rabbits or other animals from entering the garden area.

The garden must be must fit in the 10' x 15' patch of land located in the back yard about 30 feed from the water spigot on the side of the home. The HOA covenants mandate a 6 foot setback from their property line.

The garden should be planted before June 15th and harvested by 31 October according to advice provided by the local garden shop owner (Henrick Gibbons).

Jill wants the product of the garden to include at least five different crops planted. Her requirements to provide nutritious meals for the family are such that one of the crops must be green beans and at least one yellow and one red vegetable must be part of the crops planted. Jack's requirements are that there are no brussel sprouts or yellow squash because he can't stand their taste. The kids eat anything except broccoli.

For the garden to be a success, damage caused by insects and rabbits must be minimized as there is the potential to lose the entire crop to them. The local garden shop provides pesticides and also has advice on integrated pest management plans. Weeds must be managed. The weather can be unpredictable. The biggest risk they have for the garden is caused by insufficient water so if there is a drought during the germination period, the plants won't have a chance.

The garden is ready for winterization when all crops have been harvested, plants (vines, stocks, etc.) have been removed, soil is prepared for winter, and any animal (e.g., rabbit) barriers used during the garden project have been removed and stored.

The parents have agreed to share responsibilities for accepting work packages and determining what is success for the project. Ms. Setback has agreed to visit them when needed to complete the inspection of the location with respect to property line setbacks when asked by Jack or Jill.

The cost of labor is $2/hr. for children and $8/hr. for adults. Children can work a maximum of 6 hours per week. Adults can work as many hours as required to complete each work package.

Continuing the Family Garden scenario:

Lesson Part 1 (Quality Tools) 40 points

Using PMBOK 5e, prepare five templates using specific quality tools that could be used to plan, assure, and control quality in the family garden scenario.

Choose from 1) flow charts, 2) check sheets, 3) Pareto diagrams, 4) histograms, 5) control charts, 6) scatter diagrams, 7) affinity diagrams, 8) process decision programs charts, 9) interrelationship digraphs, 10) tree diagrams, 11) prioritization matrices, 12) activity network diagrams, 13) matrix diagrams, 14) inspections, and 15) statistical sampling.

Not all of the tools are applicable or useful in the family garden scenario. Pick the tools you believe best apply to the project. This will require each of you to study each tool, understand how it is used, and whether or not it works with the family garden scenario.

Part 2 (Write a Quality Management Plan) 50 points

Using CPM 3e and the PMBOK5e, prepare a quality management plan (QMP) for the family garden scenario. Address each aspect described in Section 11.3, CPM 3e. Use the templates prepared in Part 1, above, as part of the quality tools section in the plan.

If information needed to complete a QMP is not explicitly stated in the scenario description or other project artifacts you've created or collected for this scenario in the past lessons, then develop (make-up) the information you need to complete the plan.

The entire plan, including templates contained in appendices, should not exceed 15 pages. Use tables and illustrations as needed to convey information.

Explanation / Answer

The Quality Management Plan defines the acceptable level of quality, which is typically defined by the customer, and describes how the project will ensure this level of quality in its deliverables and work processes. Quality management activities ensure that:

Quality Management plans apply to project deliverables and project work processes. Quality control activities monitor and verify that project deliverables meet defined quality standards. Quality assurance activities monitor and verify that the processes used to manage and create the deliverables are followed and are effective.

Quality Plan Components
The Quality Management Plan describes the following quality management components:

Rationale/Purpose
The purpose of developing a quality plan at the Stage 3 level is to elicit the customer’s expectations in terms of quality and prepare a proactive quality management plan to meet those expectations.

The Quality Management Plan helps the project manager determine if deliverables are being produced to an acceptable quality level and if the project processes used to manage and create the deliverables are effective and properly applied.   

Who is involved
Project Manager
Project Team
Customer
Project Sponsor

Result
Quality Management Plan segment of the Project Plan

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