Project Management
© Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13 175
Assessment Task 2
This assessment consists of 2 parts all of which must be answered.
The instructions to complete this assessment are included on the following page. Follow the instructions with each question.
When you are confident that you have met all requirements for this assessment task, upload your file using Study Smart for marking.
Make sure your work follows the style guide and naming conventions presented in the Style Guide document available in the Learning and Study Support section of Study Smart.
SGA1234 Project Management Workbook
176 © Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13
Assessment Task 2: Develop project plan
Scenario or background information:
For the purpose of this assessment task, both students will be joint project managers. The project has been approved and it is now necessary to have a team meeting to draw together all the resources required to plan and implement the requirements of the project and then to undertake all tasks involved in preparing the detailed plan.
Part A: Planning meeting
This meeting is to discuss and allocate the ‘who, what, how and when’ of the project. Roles and responsibilities will be defined.
Requirements:
1. An agenda is to be prepared in advance of the meeting in accordance with the attached template. A sample agenda is also attached for reference.
2. A meeting is to be held. This is to be arranged by the students outside of class time for on-campus delivery or by using the virtual classroom for online students. The facilitator need not be present. The agenda is to be followed.
3. Minutes of the meeting are to be prepared, following the template supplied with this unit.
4. Agenda and minutes are to be submitted for this assessment task.
Criteria:
1. Agenda to be correctly completed according to the template provided, with sufficient discussion points listed (minimum of 8) to enable the planning process to move forward.
2. Minutes to be prepared according to the template provided, with items discussed and outcomes recorded in appropriate detail.
Due Date: Before Session 17
Workbook SGA1234 Project Management
© Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13 177
Part B: Project plan
Scenario or background information:
Following the project meeting, team members are clear about their roles in the project planning process. Part B requires the production of a report specifying details of the project plan. The report is to consist of an executive summary, a table of contents, an introduction, a body, a conclusion and appendices.
Details of content for each section are explained below.
Executive Summary
This section summarises the complete report in such a way that a busy executive can become rapidly acquainted with the material in the report, without having to read it all. Although it appears at the beginning of the report, it is the last thing to be written.
Table of Contents
This is a listing by heading and subheading of all sections of the report, indicating on which page they can be found.
Introduction
An introductory paragraph should provide the assessor with a brief description of your scenario and how it was approached. It should also reveal your planned approach and intended outcomes.
Body of the report
a. Project charter – complete the requirements on the template provided in your student resources – sufficient detail to cover each part.
b. Project Scope – expand on areas not covered in the project charter. Provide additional information not otherwise covered including
i. Limits of own responsibility and reporting requirements in the project and
SGA1234 Project Management Workbook
178 © Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13
ii. If there are any other projects occurring and if so what is the relationship to this project
c. WBS – A comprehensive work breakdown structure that details the project into work packages.
d. Activity list with attributes and Gantt chart – A comprehensive list of all the activities within the project and the respective attributes for each activity.
e. Network diagram PERT/CPM – Compile a network diagram using a PERT diagram showing the critical path.
f. Project budget – A project budget, which describes the budgeted items and the estimated cost, with provision to include the actual cost, the variance and comments relating to specific items (e.g. labour cost broken down).
g. Project risk – A risk management plan is developed with sources of risk with a comprehensive risk matrix. Templates are provided in student resources.
h. Project quality – Summarise how you intend to incorporate quality into your project ensuring that the standards for the deliverables are met.
Conclusion
Make final comments on the proposed project and recommend Client/Stakeholder approval/sign-off
Appendix
Additional documentation (plans, graphs, tables) not already included in your report.
Workbook SGA1234 Project Management
© Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13 179
Requirements:
Each team of two students is to prepare a 1,500 word report of the total outline of their project. The report is to consist of an executive summary, a table of contents, an introduction, a body, a conclusion and appendices. Referencing is also required.
Criteria:
This assessment is to take the form of a formal report. All sections as outlined above must be included. Work is to be distributed fairly between team members. Research is to be conducted in order to obtain information relating to the selected project. All sources must be appropriately referenced within the text and at the end of the document.
Criteria relating to specific sections of the body of the report are as follows:
a. Project charter – to be completed as per template provided in student resources
b. Project scope – clear information is to be provided about what is included and what is specifically excluded from the project.
c. WBS – The work breakdown must show the project broken down into smaller components. It must define and group a project’s discrete work elements in a way that helps organise and define the total work scope of the project. It must be presented in a hierarchical diagram.
d. Activity list with attributes and Gantt chart – This may be undertaken in Microsoft Word or Excel or using project management software. Software is available on the student computer network or may be downloaded from the Internet. The activity list should be comprehensive, and must include the name of the activity, a description of the work and the person responsible. The Gantt chart should show (in chart form) the start, duration and finish of each activity and the dependency relationships between them.
e. Network Diagram PERT/CPM – The network diagram must show nodes (milestones) that mark the start or completion of one or more activities and directional arrows between consecutive events.
SGA1234 Project Management Workbook
180 © Study Group Australia Pty Limited, SGA1234-L6/05/13
Each arrow should be labelled with a task name or identification code and the time frame required for completion. The network must be clearly labelled and work from left to right. The Critical Path should be clearly identified as the longest possible continuous pathway taken from the initial event to the conclusion of the project.
f. Project budget – This document should take the form of a spreadsheet, showing the projected income and expenses relating to the project. There should be additional columns provided to allow for inclusion of the actual costs when they are incurred, any variances with the budget and comments explaining those variances. Students should undertake online research to make their budgets realistic.
g. Project risk – Using the templates provided in the student resources, students should list the top three high probability and high impact risks to the project, analyse the risks using the risk matrix and provide details of the approach to be used including the responsibility and review process.
h. Project quality – Write 150 words explaining how your project plan will ensure the delivery of a quality product. Describe how acceptable quality standards have been defined and the specific processes that have been included to ensure quality outcomes.
Due Date: Before Session 17