Reference no: EM132646641

Part 1 :

The Value of a Unified Approach to Project Management

Tim has recently started a job as the director of software development at a large company. The software team has a well-defined project management methodology, but the other areas within IT, including the network administrators and systems administrators, do not use the same methodology. Tim does not have supervisory authority over the other teams, but he recognizes the importance of a unified project management approach.

If you were Tim, how would you convince your peer managers that a unified project management approach should be implemented? What steps would you recommend implementing to unify the department's project management approach? Your initial post must be 200-250 words and be supported by at least one professional or academic source.

Part 2 :

Comparing Project Management Methodologies

Bill has spent 25 years as a project manager for a large manufacturing company, but he has recently taken over the project management office for a software development company. While most of Bill's project experience was in lean project management methodologies, he discovered that software development most often utilizes agile project management methodologies. As any good project manager would, Bill started researching agile methods and found them to be similar in many ways to the lean methods he was already familiar with. Bill started to wonder if certain software development projects might even be better suited for lean methodologies instead of agile. Bill started considering changing his new company's standard methodology to learn since he was most comfortable with it.

Compare and contrast lean and agile project management methodologies.

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of standardizing the project management methodology across the organization (rather than selecting the methodology based on the type of project).

Describe the implications (positive and negative) that Bill might face if he decides to change the company's project management process to suit his existing skillset.

Provide an example of a technology-related project in which lean methodologies would be the best approach. Explain your reasoning.

Provide an example of a technology-related project in which agile would be the best approach. Explain your reasoning.