Cassidy Carmichael

OGL 320
Mr. Curtis Thompson
February 6, 2022

Module Four Paper

Some challenges I noticed within The Estimating Problem was starting off how
the group that does the estimating did not consider how complex Barbara’s project was
going to be. The group decided to not consider the triangular distribution, which would
have shown them that Barbara’s project needed about thirteen weeks to complete.
Barbara’s timeline was impacted so much that her timeline was reduced by three times
as much as it should have been. Starting out with this problem I am glad Barbara
decided to ask about why it was shortened so much, but it leads me into the next
problem that occurs. I feel like Barbara reaching out to Peter wasn’t very helpful but also
helped prove a point that Barbara should be able to have more time to get the project
done. With this information, Barbara should reach out to the estimating group. She
should give them a presentation on why she statically needs more time than she was
given to make sure everything is done. If this goes according to plan, and she's able to
get more time, she should petition the estimating group to consider the triangular
distribution when giving out time frames for future projects.

While reading Fargo Foods, the first problem I noticed was how the project
manager can already be behind on a project before it is approved. This is due to
executives taking a while to give the approval. The solution I thought of was simply
giving the estimated time frame after the project was approved, meaning the manager
will be given adequate time and not have to potentially get started on a project that may
be rejected. If a project needs to be done by a specific date that doesn’t have any
wiggle room, I would suggest having some sort of expediting system in place so that
projects will get done on their correct timeline. Another issue within the reading was how
line managers in the past have changed due dates so often that they can’t be trusted in
making appropriate guesses. This problem puts a lot of stress on the staff and can
really impact the timelines of these projects. A solution for this may be as simple as
setting a boundary, having an open conversation with the line managers and was is
expected of them, meaning making appropriate guesses and maybe even adding onto
that estimate just in case a problem comes up but still allowing for the timeline to not be
changed.