Boosting Business Performance

A Tribute to an Extraordinary
Project-Based, Learn-by-Doing Program
by Adele Sommers

Dr. Roya Javadpour, a professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo, and her business and industrial engineering students don't look like construction experts -- and they're not.

Yet they're the protagonists in an extraordinarily heartwarming annual undertaking that makes most "extreme home make-over" television shows look amateurish. This article offers a glimpse into some of the dazzling results her students have achieved, based on presentations Roya has given to our local PMI and STC professional groups.

When Dr. Javadpour redesigned her graduate project management course in 2004 to serve disadvantaged county residents, she and her students soon began "a journey filled with trials and triumphs far grander than they could imagine." Each year since then, students in this course have gained project management skills by planning and completing a home renovation. They raise funds and solicit in-kind donations of tools, building supplies, materials, furnishings, and advice from the community, which allows many others to contribute to the undertaking.

The service project the students chose to complete in the spring quarter of 2006 provided a new start to a disabled grandmother, mother, and daughter whose circumstances prevented them from making many necessary changes to their home. The mother was struggling with both physical disabilities and chronic depression that stemmed from a work-related accident some years ago. She has had back surgeries and severe nerve damage in her legs, which left her in constant pain. The mother is the primary caregiver of her frail and blind 75-year-old mother, as well as her mentally and physically handicapped daughter who lives in the home with them.

Once the finalists emerge, Roya tours the homes with a licensed contractor to determine which ones are eligible. The homeowner(s) must also agree to the project and must be willing to stay completely off-site during the two-week reconstruction period. When the quarter begins, Roya has the students make the final decision (if there is more than one option) using the information she has collected.

A Look at the Expectations

To successfully plan the project, students must:

Organize themselves into teams for project planning, fundraising, scheduling, safety, risk assessment, demolition, drywall, construction, painting, window installation, flooring, landscaping, and more.

Assess the cost and time tradeoffs of completely transforming a badly neglected home in just a few weeks.

Create a work breakdown structure and prepare a variety of project plans and schedules.

Create contingency plans in case funding or other constraints prevent them from carrying out all of the goals on their wish list.

Plan all equipment and tools to be used, even down to the brand name. Students can sometimes borrow tools, but must buy or rent others. They also must obtain all needed building permits and schedule inspections.

Although the students ultimately choose the size and scope of the project, the main criteria are that the students:

Must finish what they start, given that significant fine-tuning may occur during the six-week planning process.

Must end the project with high morale, setting the tone for the teamwork, precise communication, and coordination they will need throughout the project.

Further, the home renovation project is only part of the course -- students also must master project management theory, practice, and techniques; take regular exams; evaluate each other at the end; and provide a personal reflection essay.

"Before and After" Views from the 2006 PolyHouse Project - Kitchen

How Do the Students Carry Out the Project?

At the end of six-week planning phase, the students make a final assessment of whether they can proceed with everything they had hoped to accomplish, and adjust accordingly. Since they have only four actual work days (two long weekends) to do all of the work, they prepare to execute every action precisely accordingly to plan. This is especially important for major tasks such as replacing a roof (as in the 2005 project), or moving load-bearing interior walls (as in the 2006 project).

Since the students are largely untrained in many of the skills required, they must find someone to tutor and guide them on-site, or train themselves. For example, they used "how-to" videos to teach themselves how to tile a bathroom, Roya explained.

Despite the long and grueling hours, where teams typically remain on the site from very early in the morning to late at night during their four work days, Roya asks them to provide daily status reports at the end of each work day. Although Roya herself does not perform physical work on the project, she is usually on-site every hour that the students are there, providing moral support, guidance, and supervision.

And miraculously, despite performing long hours of rigorous and demanding physical work for which very few of her students are previously trained -- including demolition, roofing, flooring, and landscaping -- "not a single person has ever needed more than a Band-Aid," Roya shared -- much to our astonishment.

In conclusion, the PolyHouse program provides an unparalleled learn-by-doing experience that gives students enormous confidence and skill. I had the privilege of visiting the 2006 project during a pouring rainstorm as it was nearing completion, and was utterly inspired watching the dedicated crew put the final touches on yet another miraculous transformation.

For more information on the PolyHouse projects, please use the following links: