Post on 23-Jan-2018
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Project
Management
Solutions in a
Non-structured
System
By: Samuel Cychosz
Advisor: Tim Schweizer
Management 490 Senior Research Project
Date: 11/24/15
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................3
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................4
Finding the Method of Research ..........................................................................................................5
Planning .............................................................................................................................................7
Execution ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Roles................................................................................................................................................ 13
Tangibles.......................................................................................................................................... 16
Discussion and Restructuring Thoughts .............................................................................................. 20
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 21
Cited Sources .................................................................................................................................. 22
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Executive Summary
Mission: This paper examines the current state of the Hotel Winneshiek’s catering services and
event planning. The paper analyzes four key areas in project management and benchmark’s the
hotel’s event planning services against project management practices.
Format: Four aspects of project management in regard to catering services provides the
background for assessing the hotel’s project management
Plan- How does the hotel connect with its stakeholders and project team to come up
with a well-structured plan?
Execution- How does the project team execute their project plan? Does this process run
smoothly with good communication throughout the project team?
Roles- What are the roles of each individual team member? Are these roles clearly
described throughout the project?
Tangibles- Are the employees happy with the current way the hotel communicates roles
to their staff? Is there anything about the hotel’s process that the employees wish they
could fix?
Findings: The study reveals that communication is an issue throughout all levels of the Hotel
Winneshiek’s event planning services. Through project management, however, well-structured
communication throughout all levels of each planned event can be reached.
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Introduction
The Hotel Winneshiek’s event planning and catering services has provided Decorah
residents (and people from around the Midwest) with a variety of ways to enjoy its catering
services. Whether customers are preparing an elaborate wedding or planning on having a multi-
day company event, the Hotel Winneshiek strives to make the event as smooth and enjoyable
as possible. That being said, this paper examines whether there are flaws within their
communication system. After working there for a couple months, I have noticed a serious lack
of structure during these events (especially when it comes to communication). While working a
night shift during one of their events, I bounced between duties (I could be washing dishes for
an hour and serving in the main ballroom the next). While it felt to me that this was a bit
unusual with the lack of staff they had working that night, the persistent lack of employees
during my shifts made me curious. After discussing this with multiple employees and the
manager of catering services, Laura Gronna, there are some changes that should be
implemented to the current system to make it more structured. The process which the Hotel
Winneshiek should implement to improve the structure of their catering services is project
management. Running a structured project management system is the most effective way to
make sure that project teams individualize its customers’ experience as well as keeping things
organized for your employees. Through project management, the Hotel Winneshiek can find a
more balanced structure in its communication as well as improve its overall service with clients.
There are many aspects the Hotel Winneshiek can change by running a more “to the book”
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system of project management, but this paper focuses on four key entities of a successful
project. Through these entities, this paper analyzes exactly how the Hotel Winneshiek currently
operates and evaluates the pros and cons of the current system. This analysis will be provided
through five individuals: two with project management experience, one manager of catering
services at the Hotel Winneshiek, and two staff members at the Hotel Winneshiek.
Finding the Method of Research
Analyzing project management from a professional standpoint is the most effective way
to understand which entities best represent the hotel’s catering services. Dan Shannon (a
current senior project manager for PrefferedOne Insurance) and Ken Cychosz (a current
solutions manager for FPX) both have continuous experience with project management and
have provided similar services to catering in the past. Dan Shannon has worked with providing
insurance to various companies and started his project management career working in a
bar/restaurant. Ken Cychosz has worked on numerous projects in the past, providing short term
services for companies as well as having worked in the catering business as a server/bartender.
These two business professionals consider many entities to be important within a project, but
four of these entities stood out to them as key to a strong and successful project structure.
These items are:
Plan- What are the details in planning for the hotel’s project? Is this project plan
communicated and understood by all members of the project (including the
customers)?
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Execution- How does the project team execute the plan that is put into place? How
often is this execution plan expressed throughout the project?
Roles- How do the individual roles of each team member affect the events put into
place? Are these roles described clearly?
Tangibles- What are the employees’ thoughts on the project structure? Are they happy
with the current structure that is in place?
These four ideals, according to Mr. Cychosz and Mr. Shannon, are the most crucial aspects
to a successful project management plan. Through these four ideals, a strong project
management or “to the book” structure is attainable. These ideals are necessary in order
for the Hotel Winneshiek to have a communicative based system. But is the Hotel
Winneshiek’s structure similar to that of a project management structure? Or does the
Hotel Winneshiek have a different structure in comparison to a project management based
system? And if they do have different goals to that of a project management system, is
there a way that the Hotel Winneshiek can adjust the current structure in order to make it
more project management based? A scheduled meeting with members of the current staff
and the manager of catering services effectively illustrated the current nature of the Hotel’s
structure. Laura Gronna, the head of catering services at the Hotel Winneshiek, is probably
the most reliable source in explaining three out of four of these entities. Interviews with the
members of the catering staff (Aaron Busch and Brennan DeVolder) were also conducted to
get a general idea of how the employees view the current structure in place.
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Planning
Within every structured project management system, there is always a form of planning
and meetings that must take place in order to make the structure possible. “Without meetings
with your stakeholders to discuss specific parts of your business plan, your project team could
give a service that doesn’t meet the client’s standards” (Cychosz). This is why a solid business
plan needs to be in place, so that the criteria for the overall service can be met to the
customers’ expectations. Laura Gronna gave her insight as to what exactly the Hotel
Winneshiek’s planning structure is.
Positives of the Current Structure
Defining roles to the clients/customers is made simple: A business plan, whether it is based
around project management or not, makes sure the roles of the clients are specifically
identified. “After someone expresses interest in booking an event here, we schedule a meeting
time for them. In this meeting, we discuss both the roles that our hotel and staff will play as
well as discuss the roles that they should play as the recipient of our service” (Gronna). This is
the first step in making sure that the customer gets the end product that they want. This first
meeting sets the stage well for the future and gives the manager a sense of what the customer
would need.
Open to change: Another thing that Laura emphasized was how open the project team is to
change and how adaptive they are in case problems with the business plan arise. During their
first meeting with their client, Laura believes the hotel delivers quality service to their
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customers. She thinks that, “We get through what must be done in our initial meeting. But if
our customers have further questions, they have our contact information to make sure they can
contact us. This process makes certain our services exceed expectations as well as meet the
time it will take to make this a reality” (Gronna). This is a crucial goal to Laura and it is clear to
see why. Utilizing the Hotel Winneshiek’s contact information to answer event related
questions makes the service that the client wants easier for the manager to understand.
Negatives of the Current Structure
There is only one real meeting: While their initial meeting is very descriptive, they have no
follow-up meetings with their clients. Laura says, “We are always open to receiving calls from
our clients and calling our clients when we have questions, but we do not have any further
meetings with them” (Gronna). This can be a major problem, mainly because the Hotel
Winneshiek wants to keep their clients updated constantly about how the project is going. Not
having follow-up meetings could cause concern with each client and possibly lead to a low
quality service being provided. No matter how detailed the project team is in one meeting, the
client will more than likely have follow-up questions regarding how the project is being put
together.
Many details can be missed: Though Laura is open to phone calls and changes, details could be
missed causing a potential scope creep. A scope creep, by definition, is the process by which a
project grows beyond its originally anticipated size. In the case of catering, the scope creep
would be the client asking for multiple changes to an event. This could possibly lead to budget
changes. A project that grows beyond anticipated size can drastically alter the budget and
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scope of the overall project. For example, the client might have expressed a budget to Laura
and her project team prior to starting the project, but what would happen if the client didn’t
want the budget over the discussed amount? It is difficult for the client to be happy when they
never explore possible problems in the project that could raise the budget. These problems can
even be things Laura couldn’t have foreseen.
Project Management Solution
Construct a Project Plan (amongst other documents): Though there are documents that help
give the stakeholder an idea of the procedures that go into their event, the Hotel doesn’t have
one document the client can go to as a reference for questions and concerns. In order to make
their goals to the project more relatable to project management, a well-written project plan
along with a kick-off meeting must be put into place. With this newly restructured kick-off
meeting, the project can be expressed in document form. Ken Cychosz expresses his fondness
for a project plan, stating, “With a project plan, specifics being described like a [risk
management plan], development of a schedule, or planning for further communication
between the two parties is made more efficient and clear” (Cychosz). All of these aspects to a
project couldn’t possibly be remembered by only having one meeting. A project plan would
thoroughly describe (section by section) every possible subject regarding an event. The hotel
and their clients don’t need to rewrite the same document every time either; they can have on
hand a rough outline of certain procedures that would typically be in the event and make
changes to the document as it relates to the specifics. This can also follow the guidelines of
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other documents that could be integrated (like the Risk Mitigation Plan, the Statement of Work,
and a Project Schedule).
Set up follow-up (or status report) meetings: Having that much to cover in one meeting can
leave the stakeholder questioning some of the choices that could be made throughout the
process of the project. In order to make the information for the event better understood by the
clients, follow-up meetings must be put into place. This is the best way to prevent the
customers from becoming scope creeps who constantly change the budget and scope. Setting
up a project plan with follow-up meetings that discuss the current state of the project, what
changes have been made to the current plan, and what can the stakeholders expect in the
future is very helpful in making the stakeholders more comfortable with the state of the
project. With follow-up meetings, you can also address potential concerns the client could have
in the future as well as answering questions the client might have. This is a more direct solution
than calling them and asking them for every change that must be made to the project.
Execution
While the plan is the overall design of how you want things run within your service, the
execution must be there as well. Dan Shannon expertly explains execution: “it isn’t simply
about performing what is said on paper, it’s about how you communicate that information and
how you make sure your staff understands the procedures [that] makes the process of
executing so crucial” (Shannon). Laura believes the execution plan to be of high quality, while
communication still seems to be the core layer of their execution issues.
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Positives of the Current Structure
Incremental Goals are expressed clearly: With specific goals always in mind when thinking
about the end product, Laura believes that their project team establishes reasonable
incremental goals in order to meet their end goal. She says: “The end goals are always what are
important. We always keep focus on our incremental goals which will help [lead] to a stronger
end goal” (Gronna). This process that Laura describes follows a pretty realistic style of project
management. The end goal isn’t the only factor in the events leading up to the final product;
there have to be incremental goals that are met by the project team first.
Engagement of the event planning team: “It’s not only about making sure your goals are well
assessed, but how engaged your team is in making this event possible” (Shannon). The overall
engagement of the team that helps make the events at the Hotel Winneshiek a reality is high,
according to Laura. Laura describes their engagement as, “always excited to work on a new
event service. They love a new challenge and love bringing events at the Hotel Winneshiek to
life” (Gronna). Having an event planning staff that is this dedicated to its work can bring an
event a project manager has been imagining to life. This can also benefit the customers, who
have an improved chance of getting a quality final product.
Negatives of the Current Structure
Open and clear communication: As discussed in the planning section, there seems to be a lack
of communication from the manager to the actual people who will be attending the event.
According to Dan Shannon, “Communicating with all members of your service throughout the
project is the best way to make sure you meet the end goal that you want” (Shannon). Without
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proper communication between the stakeholders, the event planning team and the staff who
provide catering services for the event, the entire event could have an unsatisfactory end for
the stakeholder. Whether it is stakeholders communicating with the project team or the
manager communicating with the catering staff; everyone needs to understand the plan in
order for the final service provided to be a success.
Project Management Solutions
Having a member with Project Skills and Knowledge: Even though this might not be relatable
to all events that would be held at the hotel; it would really be effective in deciding what action
to take in case certain problems arise. The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)
describes project skills and knowledge as having, “an appropriate set of skills and knowledge
about the project’s product” (PMBOK). In short, having a person with “expert knowledge” of
the necessary adaptation could help exponentially in case they run into a potential road block
during the execution portion of their catering service. Let’s say the hotel is planning a
conference meeting that has certain detail they have never encountered before. The best
solution to this problem would be to outsource to someone who has “expert knowledge” on
the subject and is able to either help spearhead this project or give tips to make sure potential
risks are dealt with.
Preventive and Corrective Actions: Having preventive and corrective action in your business
can benefit you by making sure the risks and issues that arise stay as minor as possible and
don’t affect your end result. Preventive Action is described in PMBOK as, “anything that
reduces the probability of potential consequences of project risk events” (PMBOK). This can
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include anything from a risk management plan, “a document that a project manager prepares
to foresee risks, estimate impacts, and define responses to issues” (Horine). Being able to
foresee potential risks in the project is important in order to understand how to prevent them
from becoming issues. A corrective action is, “anything done to bring expected future project
performance in line with the project plan. Corrective action is an output of various control
processes- as an input here it completes the feedback loop needed to ensure effective project
management” (PMBOK). This may include outsourcing to find “expert knowledge” for a project
or even finalizing a budget for your stakeholders so they don’t worry about the budget possibly
expanding.
Roles
“How well the roles are described to each employee can change how a service runs. This
requires a great deal of understanding between employees and managers in order to create a
[quality service] for their clients” (Cychosz). Though discussing roles in the catering service
might seem tedious and insignificant, understanding the role of each individual person plays an
important part in reaching the company’s goals. Laura described a very intricate way that she
communicates individual roles to her catering staff. Aaron Busch and Brennen Devolder (both
students at Luther College that are currently working at the Hotel Winneshiek) have likes and
dislikes for the current system in place.
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Positives of the Current Structure
Staff Training: “Having competent staff members that know their responsibilities on a nightly
basis is the most useful way to provide a quality service” (Shannon). This is also true for the
staff training at the Hotel Winneshiek, which prides itself on a prepared, well-trained staff.
Busch says he “was comfortable the first night [he] started working. They trained [him] well and
[he] felt like [he] was prepared for anything the night could throw at [him]. They explained
where everything [he] would need was and they ran [them] through what a typical night would
look like so there would be no surprises” (Busch).
High level of trust: From managers to employees, from employees to manager, and from
project team members to the members of the staff helping the catering process , trust amongst
all levels is key. “High-performing teams display a high level of trust in each other and in their
project leader” (Horine). This seems to be the case for the catering staff, who trust both their
project leader and each other throughout all of their projects. “Though [he has] only worked
here a short time, [he has] developed such strong confidence with the people [he works] with”
(Busch). This level of trust from employee to employee can greatly affect the final execution of
the project, as well as making the transition from putting it on paper to putting it into action
simple for the staff.
Negatives of the Current Structure
Recruiting Project Staff: Though the Hotel Winneshiek does get a good number of college
students from Luther to sign up for their catering services, they seem to have a problem with
getting numbers for some of their larger events. DeVolder shared, “Although we are able to
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manage with smaller numbers, we can sometimes fall short when it comes to the larger events
held at the hotel” (DeVolder). Recruiting employees for catering seems to be an issue for the
Hotel Winneshiek and this problem could lead the project away from success. This lack of
employees causes the staff that does end up working to constantly switch from position to
position. “It can start to get frustrating when you are starting to get comfortable serving tables,
then switching up to washing dishes” (Busch). This can lead to a much slower process than you
might expect, which can result in poor overall service for their customers.
Roles for people jumble frequently: Jumbled roles aren’t just excluded to the catering service;
this happens all throughout the hotel’s dining and serving options. The Tap Room and Albert’s
are other staples of the serving business at the hotel that suffer from understaffing. DeVolder
describes Chis Fassbender, a head bartender/server for the tap room, “After working with Chris
since July, I have noticed that not only does he manage the bar, but he also acts as a server for
both the Tap Room and Albert’s, and a bartender for both sites. He relays so much information
on a day to day basis; I could see how he could get frustrated that we are always understaffed”
(DeVolder). This isn’t the only employee that changes positions frequently; most of the
employees that work catering have found themselves alternating from position to position as
well.
Project Management Solutions
Increase involvement & recruitment: The best solution to staffing more people to work the
larger events and preventing the Hotel’s employees from continuously chang ing roles is to get a
larger number of people to work at the larger catering events. This requires making a staffing
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management plan. This document is described through PMBOK as, “when and how Human
Resources will be brought onto and taken off the project team” (PMBOK). Since this would be
included in the project plan, this should be discussed during the kick-off meeting in order to get
an idea of how many people they need for a specific job. This will make sure the Hotel has a set
number of staff they would need for providing the service part of the execution. Something
that can help increase employment at the hotel is to create a better campaign for getting more
Luther students (as well as Decorah residents looking for a job) to sign up for the catering
services at the hotel. This could include posting an ad to the Luther College newspaper (Chips),
the local Decorah paper, and posting “Help Wanted” ads on their website. These actions will
hopefully bring in more people to work in catering services , helping the hotel provide a quality
service for their customers.
Tangibles
Even though it is important for the event coordinator and the staff to know their roles
and understand the structure within their business, it is more important to know whether or
not each individual is satisfied with how the structure fits and if the work they do constricts
them. Dan Shannon said this about tangibles, “It is important to make sure that your team
understands the process and is continuously motivated throughout” (Shannon). This will make
sure that everything is done correctly with no disparity. Aaron Busch and Brennen DeVolder,
who both have been working at the hotel for just under seven months, had their own personal
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opinion as far as their perceptions on the hotel’s current structure for catering and how they
felt about their work.
Positives of the Current Structure
All employees have strong team chemistry: Busch and DeVolder both agreed that they felt a
beneficial connection to the rest of the employees at the hotel. Busch mentioned that, “It is
great to come in and work for people that you have grown with. I’ve [gone] through training
and a bunch of catering jobs with these people and we all mesh together really well” (Busch).
DeVolder also shared the same sentiments, “It makes it easier working with people that enjoy
working with others. I feel that we are all always on the same page and that everyone
communicates so well with each other” (DeVolder).
All employees understand their duties: Understanding what needs to be done is an attainable
goal when it is communicated well, and that is what Busch and DeVolder also agreed on.
DeVolder stated: “The team always meets together before we start our serving duties to break
down what jobs need to be done. It makes it easier for us to figure out what we need to do
before our shift begins” (DeVolder).
Negatives of the Current Structure
A lack of freedom when in the work environment: Being able to choose where, when and how
you work is a great motivational tool for project teams. It gives them more of sense of freedom
within their own work. However, within the hotel, being able to pick where you work within
their catering services is limited. Aaron Busch has been looking to serve as a bartender during
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one of their catering events. Whenever he has asked to become one during an event, he has
been denied. DeVolder, who has been working with the hotel the same number of months, has
served as a bartender for multiple catering events after asking. “I just didn’t understand why I
couldn’t switch to bartender for a night. It’s just been frustrating to not be able to do
something I have a curiosity in doing” (Busch).
Lack of Communication between Manager and staff: While Laura likes to believe she keeps her
staff members informed of their assignments; sometimes she might be broad with her
directions. DeVolder says that she “can be a bit underwhelming with the way she gives
direction. At times, she doesn’t communicate with us about our jobs until the day we do it”
(DeVolder). Busch had similar thoughts on Laura’s managing tactics, “She can be [general] with
how she wants everything. It’s understandable that she wants everything done correctly, but it
is hard to know what we’re supposed to do to make it like that” (Busch).
Project Management Solution
Introduce a Quality Management Plan: While there is a good sense of communication between
all members of the catering service, there seems to be an overlying structure restricting the
freedom of choice among employees. Having employees feel like they have more freedom in
the choices they make is necessary in order to create a less stressful work environment. A way
to keep this structure would be to implement a Quality Management Plan. According to the
PMBOK, the quality management plan, “Provides input to the overall project plan and must
address quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement for the project” (PMBOK).
This plan would include making sure that all employees garner more choice in the work
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environment, by giving feedback to Laura about what roles they might want to play in the
future.
Start analyzing performance: There also seems to be a communication gap between the staff
and the manager of catering. Having stronger communication between manager and staff is
also beneficial in providing a quality service to a customer, as that is typically how a project
team can communicate within a project better. Let’s say that the clients would want something
served before the dinner and that wasn’t in the initial plan. It would then be the manager’s duty
to tell the staff more about what should be served and how it should be served. Laura needs
more of a reason to communicate with her employees and discuss possible changes so that
future issues don’t occur during their events. All of this is where a quality management plan will
come in handy. A part of this change will include giving audits by other employees to make
sure everyone else’s work is up to par and optional meetings to discuss possible changes (or
even online forms that the staff can fill out). As stated by Marcus Erb (a senior research partner
and senior consultant with the Great Place to Work Institute), “There is nothing like peer
pressure to drive behavior… Through regular audits, employees have the chance to give
genuine feedback on performance from other departments as it relates to their job. The goal is
to create a productive community culture” (Erb). With a quality management plan
implemented, there is sure to be a greater deal of communication.
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Discussion and Restructuring Thoughts
The Hotel Winneshiek’s communication system does have its flaws. The employees
seem to be displeased with the lack of communication that is going on at the hotel. There also
seems to be a lack of interaction between the clients and the project team (who is providing
the event). There is a great deal that project management can do in order to fix the problems
in the Hotel Winneshiek’s catering service. Communicating between parties is one of the
biggest issues in project management and implementing communication techniques can help
provide improvement to the communication amongst the different levels. Here are the changes
in summary:
Constructing a Project Plan and follow-up meetings to help conduct further
communication between manager and clients/stakeholders.
Having a person with “Expert Knowledge” and a Risk Management Plan to help
communicate the risks of the project to the project team and manager.
Providing a Staffing Management Plan and improving recruitment efforts to increase the
number of employees that attend larger catering events.
Constructing a Quality Management Plan and audits to improve communication
between the manager and the catering staff.
These are tools that have historically assisted project managers in improving the
communication process with all people that are involved with the project. The best thing
that the hotel could do would be to implement these changes and analyze how much
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clearer the communication with their employees become. This change in communication
could help the hotel, in turn, to provide a better service to their clients.
Conclusion
While the Hotel Winneshiek’s event planning and catering service provides the city of
Decorah with a reliable service, it is not without its flaws. The lack of communication between
all members of the project is something that needs to be fixed. Without this fix, there could be
communication breakdowns where the project team might make mistakes and the customers
will not be pleased with their final product. This is why, through the use of project
management, a change in their communication should be implemented. By providing different
documents, additional meetings to discuss issues, and giving a clearer outline of the roles
within the project, a stronger sense of communication is possible. Through clear
communication at the hotel; the manager, the staff and even the clients can feel more satisfied
with the end service that is provided. Who knows? This change in communication might even
give the hotel nationwide notoriety for its successful communication and customer service.
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Cited Sources
1) Marcus, E. (2011, January 30). How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team. Retrieved
November 7, 2015.
2) A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (3rd Ed.). (2004).
Newtown Square,, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.
3) Horine, G. (2013). Absolute beginner's guide to project management (3rd Ed.).
Indianapolis,, Indiana: Que.
4) L. Gronna (personal communication, October 27, 2015)
5) K. Cychosz (personal communication, October 12, 2015)
6) D. Shannon (personal communication, October 12, 2015)
7) B. DeVolder (personal communication, October 21, 2015)
8) A. Busch (personal communication, October 23, 2015)
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