Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 8 - It's Time to Party!

Mom was leaving to pick up Nathan from baseball practice, but Abby wanted to make sure the project sponsors were happy with everything and ready for the party to start. So, Abby took her dad around to show him the food spread and decorations, taking pictures of these things with her tablet so that her mom could review the pictures while she waited for Nathan in the car. There were certain things Mom really cared about, like having the food on ice and a meat thermometer to ensure the food was fully cooked, so Abby made sure to send pictures that showed these things. Dad followed Abby as she showed him everything, but he also kept an eye out to make sure everyone was having fun as more and more relatives showed up. Abby’s parents looking over all these things to ensure they were going well (more inspection) is called scope validation, and their approval of the work done and everything set up at the party resulted in what are called the accepted deliverables.

Everything was finished and the party was all ready to start just in time! Mom and Nathan were pulling into the parking lot and Dad was just finishing cooking the meat and putting the platter on the serving table. When Nathan got out, his eyes lit up and grew big, and his jaw dropped as he saw everything that had been done for him. Everybody cheered for Nathan arriving and he ran up to Abby and gave her a big hug, just about tackling her to the ground. She embraced him back, and after a big squeeze she handed him the special birthday plate and told him he got to dish up first. Everyone followed Nathan through the line and soon the party was really bustling. An hour or so into the party, it was time to start serving dessert. After everyone sang Happy Birthday to Nathan, Dad cut the cake, and Mom scooped ice cream for everyone to eat. There was lots of laughter and lively chatter the entire time, and Abby felt a surge of pride over how much everyone was enjoying themselves at the party!

After cake and ice cream, and a few hours of games and visiting with friends and family, Abby and her friends got everything else at the park cleaned up before taking Nathan and his friends home. As they were getting things cleaned up, Abby also checked in with Brian to ensure that he got back all the items he brought for Nathan and his friends to use. By ensuring everything was returned at the end of the party, Abby satisfied all the terms of the rental agreement.

Next post in the series: Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 9 - Wrapping Up the Project