Course Objectives
This assessment task relates to the following course objectives:
• identify and understand the critical roles and phases in IT projects;
• understand the basic components of project management and its importance in improving the success of IT projects;
• understand how to create an IT project plan;
• apply the project management knowledge areas to IT projects;
• demonstrate knowledge of project management principles and techniques;
• demonstrate competence in using appropriate project management software;
• discuss current issues in IT project management;
• understand and appreciate the importance of project management within a business environment; and
• value the significance of software quality in IT projects.
Overview
As stated by Schwalbe (2014) a project management plan (PMP) is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help to guide a project’s execution and control. In this assignment, you will be required to form teams of maximum four (4) people. a description of updates to the PMP and related documents and a record of your experiences working in the team. The teams will be assigned by your lecturer and will be based on your
tutorial/laboratory classes. There will be time allocated in the tutorial/laboratory to work on this assignment. One team member is to be elected the project manager for the duration of the project. Teams are expected to meet regularly – at least once a week – and prepare a PMP based on the IT project case study on page 7. They are then expected to provide descriptions of changes to that PMP and related deliverables based on the sequence of events described in the case study. Teams should use their own initiative regarding the scheduling of all deliverables. Teams will NOT be required to produce ‘product related deliverables’ as part of this assignment. The focus is primarily on ‘project management related deliverables’. However, if an event would trigger a change to the product deliverables, it may be of assistance to the reader if you include information about that change. Finally over the course of the assignment, individuals are expected to record information about team meetings, their work and contributions and the contributions of others as well as reflect on their learning about project management through the completion of the assignment. .
Requirements
Deliverables for this assessment are divided into two areas, a). Team PMP Deliverables, and
b). Individual Report Deliverables. Following are detailed requirements of each.
Team PMP Deliverables:
It is recommended teams use the structure as suggested by Schwalbe (2014) as a guide for
preparing and creating their PMP. PMP headings include:
• Introduction
• Organisation
• Management and technical approaches
• Work to perform
• Schedule
• Budget
It is recommended that teams understand the inputs to the PMP and include reference to ancillary plans and deliverables from other knowledge areas (see Schwalbe (2014)). You may use Microsoft Project or other tools to plan the project and include screen shots in your report. A quality team PMP will demonstrate a synthesis of plan content, templates and ideas acquired from project management professionals and academic authors with details from the case study provided.
Team Project Update Descriptions Report
Each team needs to produce a report describing what needs to be done at each of the time points identified in the case study:
• Two weeks after project commencement;
• One month after project commencement;
• Four and a half months after project commencement; and
• Six months after project commencement
The report may be included as an Addendum to the baseline PMP and is to include for each time point:
• Description of the situation;
• Description of response to the situation;
• Summary of actions to be undertaken including:
Processes followed/executed;
Activities completed;
Deliverables altered/produced;
Individual Report Deliverables:
Each student should submit a separate, individual report of approximately 800–1000 words
including the following sections:
• Statement of Contribution
This statement should provide:
A clear description of all roles and responsibilities taken on by the student;
A table describing all project and assignment team deliverables created/altered by the student. The table should include:
Deliverable Name;
Description;
Purpose; and
Estimate (elapsed and expended) of how long each took to complete.
• Weekly Assignment Status Reports
Individual weekly status reports should be completed by each student, and submitted to team project managers’ in team meetings. Copies of each student’s weekly status reports should also be included with their individual report. Template for Weekly Status Report –accompanies this assignment document on Moodle.
• Peer Review of Assignment
A confidential statement estimating each team member’s:
Contribution percentage (all team member values should total to 100%);
Justification of contribution percentage given;
Meetings attended;
Weekly status reports submitted;
Any issues and how they were dealt with.
• Project Management Lessons Learned in Assignment
A reflective statement documenting project management lessons learned whilst working on the assignment, including technical and non-technical lessons. These lessons should include those aspects which worked particularly well, and also those which were problematic. Template for Lessons Learned – accompanies this assignment document on Moodle.
Academic Presentation:
PMP’s should be presented as a business report, in accordance with the suggested layout (see page 2 above), and adhere to academic writing presentation standards as outlined in the university’s general guide to referencing.
Submission:
Team PMP’s should be submitted in electronic format by the team project manager via Moodle (one per team). Individual reports should be submitted by each student in electronic format via Moodle (a separate link will be provided for the individual report). Please refer to the “Course Description” for information regarding late assignments, extensions, special consideration, and plagiarism.
