I am slightly surprised by the results, I would have thought that pay and making a difference would have had a higher percentage. Working with great people had a higher percentage than I thought it would. A lot of people say that they don’t want to mix business with pleasure and keep their relationships with people at work very minimal. The fact…[Read more]

I think that the PM’s level of motivation definitely affects the productivity and motivation of a team. If a manager is not motivating or looks like they don’t care about the effort that their team puts in then they won’t put forward their best effort. If the manager isn’t pushing for quality work then I would feel like my work doesn’t matter. If…[Read more]

My motivation depends on what i’m working on. If it something that is not exciting or of interest to me then a deadline is probably the most motivating. If it is something I just need to get over with I might put it off unless it is due by a certain time. If there is something I want to work on I might use that as my reward for doing the work I…[Read more]

I think that even though the fact that people stay for the challenge that work provides is sort of opposite of people leaving because they don’t get recognition and praise they are somewhat related. You want to have a job where there are challenges that push you to be better. You might not be motivated or stay if that work becomes boring. Even…[Read more]

I agree with some of the comments above saying that Americans are overworked and that some of it stems from the the fact that their peers work for the average 40 hour work week or longer. I have heard stories about people that have times through out the day where they try and look busy because they have nothing to do. It could be needed to work so…[Read more]

I would pick to be part of the clinical research organization (CRO). They are the ones that can run an entire clinical trial. I would pick this role because I like to be hands on with what is going on. I don’t just want to see the results written on paper. I learn best when I can physically see what is going on and do the work myself. I would like…[Read more]

I think that there should be one person to represent the work their team is doing with the other groups. If there is a manufacturing team and a development team there should be one person to compile everything and distribute it to the other groups. The project manager should make sure that all the teams are communicating with the groups they need…[Read more]

I think that functions of human resource management are important and will help in any field of work. The attempt to reduce turnover is very important for projects. If there are members of the team that are leaving and coming in, it can hurt the project. When a new member comes in during a project it takes time to get them up to speed of what is…[Read more]

I took a class called Intro to Engineering Design during undergad. It was meant to be almost a practice run for the capstone course. Our project was to create a device that worked like a lawn mower to shovel snow and dispense the snow salt at the same time. One of the sub projects was to build the frame and another was to make the mechanism to…[Read more]

During one of my courses my team had a project where we worked based off of a gantt chart to try and keep us on track. It was our first time working from a gantt chart and we did find it to be a challenge. We ended up having to rush some parts of the project due to missing milestones for other tasks. The milestones we missed were needed so we had…[Read more]

I think that effective communication is very important throughout a project. Communication needs to be clear and effective in order to prevent setbacks. Members of a team need to make sure they can be reached when necessary and be prompt in their responses back. Making sure things are explained correctly for others to understand is important…[Read more]

I agree with what was said above. The earned value is a good estimate when the other values are also being taken into consideration. The earned value and planned value are values to be used in theory. For example, when you are 3 months in the value should be a certain amount that is not related to budget but to what your project is supposed to be.…[Read more]

I do not think I would say it is the most important part of a project. The parts of the execution process that you mentioned are very important, although other parts are as well. Those parts are a necessity when it comes to execution since otherwise it could not be done. Those parts of execution dictate what the rest of the execution phase will be…[Read more]

Scheduled value is the result of estimated value minus planned value (SV = EV – PV).
The result for planned value comes from the budget and deadlines set before the start of the execution phase. This means that the estimated value is that factor that will predict if you are ahead or behind schedule. Estimated value is the percent complete…[Read more]

In order to answer this question I would need additional information. They both have and advantage and disadvantage, you would have to pick which one has less risk for you. I think to answer I would need to know more background information such as the atmosphere of the company and of the project. If I know that there could be similar products…[Read more]

All of the responsibility designation and time allotment should be discussed and distributed during the planning phase. With proper communication no ones vacation plans should be a surprise. However, there are personal problems that come up. If the teams vacations are discussed during planning then there work will be completed before they leave or…[Read more]

Design validation is important in project management because even if the product meets the verification aspects, if it does not meet the user needs the product will not be used or sold and the time and money spent on development would have been a waste. Validation is part of why pre-clinical testing is done. For example, a hip implant could be…[Read more]

I have not worked for a medical device development company either. When it comes to scope creep I think the ways it can occur are very different and there are countless ways where it can’t be prevented. In the example that was mentioned in the lecture, when there isn’t enough money to have your device do as much as you want, could be prevented…[Read more]

I would talk to them and let them know that I need a certain amount of communication from them in order to keep my team on track. I could reach out to them and see if there is a better way for them to stay updated and keep others updated. I could make sure that there are thorough minutes taken during meetings to keep them updated. I could ask them…[Read more]

I agree, trying to make sure you are as prepared as possible with gantt charts etc. will make a project flow smoother. With a project like this weeks simulation where most of the development has been completed already I would try and get as much preliminary literature research done as possible. As soon as details become available from the other…[Read more]