Information Systems Project Management

Information Systems Project Management
Assignment 4: Information Systems Project Management Plan

Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to give you an opportunity to apply and demonstrate your understanding of the tools and principles covered in the class to a project of your choice.

Selecting a Project:Select a project that you can use for this assignment. The project should be one from your past, present, or future career work situation. If this is not feasible, discuss with the professor potential project ideas.

Deliverables:Three deliverables will be part of Assignment 4:

1. Scope Statement (2 points) – due June 7
2. Work Breakdown Structure and Cost Estimates (3 points) – due July 19
3. Full Project Plan(25 points) – Due August 2

The following information should be included in the full project plan due on August 2. Use the following headings and subheadings to organize your plan. Approximate page number are provided in parentheses. Templates for the project scope statement, work breakdown structure, risk assessment form, and change request form are provided at the end of this document. References are from the course textbook, Larson and Gray (2013).

Section 1: Project Definition(5-6 pages)

Define the Project Scope:Use the scope statement template to develop a 2-3 page scope statement for your project. See a snapshot example on page 105.

Establish Project Priorities: As a project manager, you will need to manage the trade-offs among time, cost, and performance. Create a priority matrix (See figure 4.2 on page 107) to determine which criterion (i.e., time, performance, and cost) are constrained, enhanced, and accepted. Provide a brief explanation about your decisions to accompany the matrix.

Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Cost Estimates: Once you have completed your scope statement including the identification of your deliverables and the project priorities, you will create a work breakdown structure (WBS) to delineate the tasks. Refer to pages 108-113 and the WBS template to prepare a WBS for your project. Estimate the project costs and explain how you went about estimating costs. If you prefer, you may use one of the WBS with cost estimate templates (Word and Excel) provided in Blackboard.
Section 2: Project Communication (1-2 pages)

Create a Responsibility Matrix: In order to ensure good communication among the project team, create a responsibility matrix (see Figure 4.7 on page 118 for an example).

Create a Power/Interest Map:This is part of the stakeholder analysis. Who are your stakeholders (e.g., customer, sponsor, project team, etc.).See Figure 4.9 on page 120. (Letters on the map represent various stakeholders. Make sure to include a key with your map.)You will address stakeholder analysis again later on in Section 6.

Section 3: Project Plan (1-2 pages)

Develop a Project Network:From your WBS, develop an activity-on-node (AON) project network. Apply the eight basic rules listed on page 164 for constructing a project network. Remember the AON method uses nodes (boxes) for activities and arrows for dependencies.

Section 4: Project Risk Management (1-2 pages)

Develop a Risk Assessment and Risk Response Matrix:Identify and describe at least five potential risks associated with your project. Use a risk assessment form to analyze your risks(See Figure 7.6 on page 212 for an example).Develop a risk response matrix similar to Figure 7.8 to outline how you would deal with each of the risks.

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Section 5: Project Change Control Management (1-2 pages)

Document Change:Controlling project changes is very important to project managers. It is a major element in managing risk. If your project is new, create a hypothetical change. If you are documenting a past or existing project, identify on major change that has occurred. Use the Change Request Form template to document the change.

Section 6: Project Leadership (1-2 pages)

Stakeholder Analysis – Mapping Dependencies: Refer to pages 347-349. Create a dependencies diagram by identifying the stakeholders on whom your project depends for success. Think about the following questions:

1. Whose cooperation will we need?
2. Whose agreement or approval will we need?
3. Whose opposition would keep us from accomplishing the project?

Keys to Success: Identify potential management issues (e.g., motivation problems, conflicts) that are likely to arise in completing this project. What should you, as the project manager, look out for in managing this project? What are the keys to success?

Guidelines and Suggestions for Creating Your Project Management Plan

1. It’s best to limit the number of activities in your project to 15-25 activities to keep the paper manageable.
2. Your paper must tell a story! Use a narrative to explain each section. Explain the managerial implications of each section. The narrative is as important as your application of the tools and systems of the course to your project.
3. Pick a project that allows you to demonstrate the principles covered in the course.
4. Think ahead to the resources that will be used. The project should involved more than two people.
5. Assume that top management is reviewing this report. Time is precious, so organize your report so that it is easy to comprehend and follow. Embed figures and tables into the text.
6. Constructing patios, garages, pools, and trivial projects are not valid projects for this course. Aim to identify a project within your present or future profession.
7. Be realistic and create a project scenario that is either cost restrained, scope constrained and/or time constrained. (The “triple constraint!”)
8. Your goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the systems, tools, and concepts discussed in the class through your project narrative.