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BUS 517 Discussion post responses.

Respond

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Discussion: Adding New Resources to Your Project

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· In order to deliver the project ahead of schedule, you have been granted permission to add more resources to your team. Your Project Sponsor has worked out a deal to add an outside firm (partner) to your project team. They have very little understanding of your project and you don’t have a lot of time to educate them on the project’s specifics. Describe how you plan to incorporate them as members of your project, as well as how to get them up to speed on your project.

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BS’s post states the following:Top of Form

Good morning, class,

The decision to partner with outside vendors or outsource a part of the project requires a significant investment of time and energy on the part of the project manager to create and foster positive and collaborative relationships among all parties. Outsourcing has many advantages, such as faster completion times, cost reduction, greater flexibility, and higher level of expertise. On the other hand, however, outsourcing can also have some disadvantages, including coordination problems, loss of control, or interpersonal/team conflicts. Our textbook lists some really useful best practices for outsourcing project work. The authors argue that it is critical to have a contract with clearly defined deliverables, requirements, security protocols, and measurable outcomes. Furthermore, having effective, open communication and frequent status updates allows for more efficient teamwork, easier identification of issues, and timely problem resolution. Equally important is to put processes in place for managing conflict, which can not only harm working relationships, but also undermine project success. The authors also suggest to create co-location whenever possible and provide adequate training to all team members.

If my Project Sponsor decided to bring in an outside firm with a very little understanding of my project, I would have to assess whether I have sufficient time to train them, explain the project’s challenges, administrative barriers or potential technical issues. In the case where I do not have enough time in my schedule to educate them on the project’s specifics, I would suggest preparing a brief summary of the project that would show which tasks have been completed, which are still outstanding, and where the bottleneck is. I wound invite the new partners to join a project overview meeting where I would bring them up to speed, introduce my team, and define the tasks that need to be worked on to accelerate the project completion. If time is of the essence, I would ask the partners to come prepared to jump right in to help in the assigned areas and feel free to ask questions. I would try to integrate my team with the outside team members to increase communication and collaboration toward a shared common goal.