Question

George is the Project Manager for the implementation of a new Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS). He worked with the project team to develop charts/diagrams of the various activities to be done as well as their precedences and their time frames. At week 4 of the project, George compares the expected time line to what has actually been achieved on the project. He finds the activity titled "System Testing" currently has a variance of 3 days and it is still not finished. Variance is the difference between when testing was supposed to be done and today's date. In other words testing is already taking three days more than it was supposed to take.

To make matters worse, System Testing is an activity on the critical path. Also, the testing is being performed by the vendor's employees. The vendor is charging the facility $800.00/day to cover the cost of its employees. As a result, this will also be a budget variance since the project team did not plan for this much time on testing.
What should George do?

Answer 1

George, as the project manager, should assess the reasons behind the variance in System Testing, communicate with the vendor, and reevaluate the project plan.

Step-by-step explanation:

George, as the project manager, should take the following steps:

1. Assess the reasons behind the variance in the System Testing activity. It could be due to unforeseen issues, dependencies, or problems with the vendor's employees.
2. Communicate with the vendor and express the concern regarding the delay and the extra charges incurred. Discuss possible solutions, such as assigning additional resources or escalating the matter to higher management.
3. Reevaluate the project plan and make necessary adjustments to accommodate the delay and additional costs. This may include reassigning tasks, revising timelines, or reallocating resources.

By addressing the variance and taking appropriate actions, George can mitigate the impact on the project timeline and budget.