A Project Management Crisis: Moving a Multi-institutional Collaborative In-person Sprint Online
Abstract
This case is based upon events that took place during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim Carter, Professor in School of Business at Conestoga College, was the project lead for a multi-institutional collaboration project, along with her counterpart Marie Rutherford, from Georgian College. Months of preparation had taken place to get to this phase in the project. Carter and Rutherford had anticipated delays and challenges. Still, they did not anticipate a sudden stop to the project that would derail plans to the point that the resources would not be completed in time for fall delivery. Carter's first reaction to the team was, 'this is only temporary, this can't go on indefinitely; we will just take a pause and then get back on track in a few weeks'. However, as they learned more, it became apparent that it would take some time to get back to 'normal'. Carter knew the Fall 2020 delivery would be remote, and access to digital resources would be essential. As this case closes, Carter and Rutherford had to re-evaluate the project plan and determine what would be possible, given the limited resources and shortened time.