Stanwriter@Homeworkmarket.Com Can This Be Done???

01 Aug Stanwriter@Homeworkmarket.Com Can This Be Done???

COLORADO SPRINGS WELCOME HOME PARADE:

 

 

Project Management Helps Welcome the Troops Home

 

With a short amount of time and limited budget, the city of Colorado

 

Springs, Colorado, USA, planned a parade to welcome home troops

 

returning from Iraq. The parade was perhaps the largest in Colorado

 

Spring’s history, and the largest celebration of its kind in the county.

 

Using project management competencies found in PMI’s de facto guide

 

to the project management profession, A Guide to the Project

 

Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Third Edition, the

 

 

project team planned and executed the parade successfully in spite of

 

limited time and budget.

 

Background

 

 

Colorado Springs is home to multiple branches of the military and six

 

major bases, including Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy. The

 

town decided to plan a welcome home parade for its soldiers who had

 

been deployed to Iraq. Around 11,000 troops had been sent to Iraq for

 

year-long rotations, and were to return in March 2004.

 

The parade was scheduled for 5 June 2004. All floats and participants

 

were required to have a patriotic theme. Multiple teams came together

 

to plan the event.

 

The project management team was lead by O’Donnell & O’Donnell LLP,

 

which had experience with parade planning in addition to fundraising,

 

which would prove to be an important part of this project.

 

The City Council of Colorado Springs also donated city resources and

 

personnel to the project, including the assistant city manager, who

 

was the main link between the city and the project team. Providing the

 

team with daily access to city officials ensured key communication

 

throughout the project.

 

In addition to the project team, the city also established a

 

management team committee, composed of stakeholders and

 

representatives from each local military base. These two teams met

 

regularly to give status reports, offer or ask for assistance, and

 

determine the next steps in the project. This open forum for

 

communication fostered a greater understanding for each party’s role

 

in the project and what the end result would be. All high level changes

 

were made by the committee, while the detail changes were made by

 

the project team.

 

Challenges

 

 

The two major challenges of this project were the lack of money to

 

fund the parade and the limited timeframe to complete the project.

 

Security and safety also stood as risks to the event.

 

The project team faced the challenge of raising all funds for the

 

parade, as the city could not finance the event. The event budget and

 

reimbursement for their services would come only from the donations

 

and sponsorship money raised. The city capped the fee amount

 

O’Donnell & O’Donnell could charge them, and also established a

 

separate account for the event so they could accurately track finances.

 

Last minute changes also posed a challenge. Project stakeholders from

 

Fort Carson requested the troops be fed lunch after the parade. The

 

city raised the fee caps, but the project team had to include catering,

 

organization and clean-up in an already tight schedule.

 

Solutions

 

 

In order to combat the limited budget and timeframe, the project team

 

used every stakeholder’s resources, asking what each organization

 

could contribute to the event. The project was then approached in

 

reverse order; the scope of a project is typically established before the

 

resources, but the project team had to establish resources to

 

determine project scope.

 

Although the city could not contribute monetarily to the project, it

 

offered in-kind services by having every city department participate.

 

In addition to those workers, the project team used its own volunteer

 

base of 35-40 people. Many of the sponsoring organizations also

 

offered their services at reduced fees or free of charge. In return,

 

sponsors and donors received a banner and viewing stand at the

 

parade for their contributions.

 

The team used project management competencies throughout the

 

project to:

 

coordinate a donation of 40 buses from city transportation

 

 

department to transport the 6,000 soldiers participating in the

 

parade;

 

work with city police to arrange parking for buses;

 

coordinate with city engineers to control traffic lights to minimize

 

 

convoy’s effect on city traffic flow;

 

inform town in advance of any road closures or delays caused by

 

 

parade preparations; and

 

overcome challenge of providing last-minute lunch to troops by

 

 

securing free food and service through local restaurant franchise,

 

using local park as venue and volunteers from Chamber of

 

Commerce to help serve food.

 

In addition, risk management techniques were used to anticipate and

 

prevent potential problems:

 

the team held meetings with local fire and police departments

 

 

and management committees to discuss risk responses;

 

police responded to traffic congestion by finding alternate routes

 

 

for cars during parade;

 

the fire department positioned rescue crews along route in case

 

 

of an emergency; and

 

paramedics passed out water to prevent dehydration

 

 

 

Results

 

 

The parade consisted of 22 floats, 23 fire trucks and eight marching

 

bands, including the U.S. Army Field Band from Fort Meade, Md. Many

 

antique military aircraft and other vehicles took part in the parade,

 

and over 65,000 people came to watch the historical event and show

 

their support for the troops.

 

The public communications department for the city took care of all

 

publicity and interviews at no cost; three local television stations and

 

six local radio stations held live broadcasts from the parade and

 

related events; and photographers from local newspapers were on

 

site. The White House even issued a statement about the event, which

 

was read at the parade and on all local broadcasts.

 

Project management techniques enabled the project team to

 

coordinate the event, raise funds and accommodate last minute

 

changes within a remarkably short time frame. As a result, the

 

Colorado Springs Welcome Home Parade was the largest event of its

 

kind ever held in Colorado Springs.

 

Key Achievements

 

 

The project team organized and executed all aspects of the

 

 

event such as fund raising, the coordination of soldiers and

 

aircraft, and planning a lunch reception for 9,000 people, all

 

within a five month time period.

 

The project team executed the parade under the allocated

 

 

budget, and the city manager donated excess funds to military

 

charities.

 

 

 

 

First Last Name

 

Date

 

Class

 

Final Project

 

Professor

 

Part I

 

 

 

Project Charter
Project __________________ Date ___________

 

Scope Overview

 

 

 

Business Case

 

 

 

 

 

Milestone Schedule and Deliverables

 

Milestone	Completion Date	Stakeholder	Acceptance Criteria
Current  State
Future State
Ultimate Goal

 

Risks and Assumptions

 

Project Risks and Assumptions	Risk Owner	Contingency Plans
1.
2.
3.
4.

 

Stakeholders

 

Stakeholders	Interest in Project
Primary:
Others:

 

Resources Required

 

• Funding _____________
• People ______________
• Equipment ___________
• Other _______________

 

Team Operating Principles

 

• _________________
• _________________
• _________________

 

Lessons Learned

 

• ________________
• ________________
• ________________

 

Commitment

 

Sponsor	Department / Organization	Signature
Project Manager	Department / Organization	Signature
Core Team Members	Department/ Organization	Signature

 

Part II

 

 

 

1.       Budget:  Using either a Microsoft Word Table or an Excel Spreadsheet, create a detailed budget for this project.  The numbers you use for this budget should be realistic.  For example, if you are going to have to rent folding chairs, conduct some research and find out how much that would cost.  If you have to contract a cleaning crew, research various companies that do this and use those numbers.  You will be graded on your knowledge of the subject, not the accuracy of the numbers.  Your budget must include at least 10 items that you will have to pay for.

 

 

(Insert Budget Here)

 

 

 

2.  Work Breakdown Structure. Using Exhibits 6.4, 6.5 and 6.6 on pages 152-153 as an example, create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for this parade.  Your WBS should include but not be limited to: Planning, Transportation, Food, Entertainment and Clean Up.  You can use Word, Excel or PowerPoint to create this diagram.

 

 

(Insert WBS Here)

 

 

 

3.  Schedule.  Using the following table, create a schedule for this project.  You must provide the activity, the duration and both the start and end date.  You may add additional lines for additional tasks as you see fit.  You must also enter if a task is a milestone or not.

 

 

Task/Activity	Duration	Start Date	Finish Date	Milestone? Y/N

 

 

 

References:

 

(Remember, references must be in alphabetical order and have a hanging indent.  You must provide no less than 3 credible references)

 

 

 

Kloppenborg, T. J. (2013). Contemporary project management (3rd ed.). : Cengage .