Case Background
As the project manager you are required to present an initial project report to the project sponsor that
shows how you propose to implement this project. As the project manager you may make any
assumptions you think are necessary.
Case study – Grand Wines
You are an employee of Grand Wines Ltd and project leader of a proposed project to equip each of the company’s 20 sales representatives with a wireless data entry device by which they could instantly communicate customer orders to the company’s central sales database in Sydney. The sales representatives operate over all areas of NSW and service around 400 independent wine and liquor stores in the state.
Currently, the sales representatives complete customer orders manually and after leaving a copy with the customer, they forward the customer orders by mail or fax to the sales department in Sydney, where the orders are entered into the sales database and processed through the inventory system for shipment to the customer.
The problems with the current process are:
• At least one-day is lost in supplying customers with products because of the delays in getting orders into the system.
• Sales representatives do not know the latest inventory position of their products when they accept orders from the customer. Delays in delivery can result when orders are placed on “back-order” because of a lack of stock.
• Orders are often “lost” or entered into the sales database incorrectly through human error.
• The sales representatives and many customers are dissatisfied with the current situation.
Competitive wine companies have improved their order systems and are outperforming Grand Wines Ltd in terms of delivery speed, order accuracy, availability of ordered stock and overall customer satisfaction.
Your CEO has stressed the importance of the project to the company and asked you to use your skills as a project manager to make sure the project is successful by following the relevant project management processes.
You have been assigned a project leader of this project. Your manager has given you guidance that the project needs to be completed within 6 months and that costs should be minimised wherever possible with given budget of AUD 60000.00.
Task
This assignment follows from the case study used in Assessment 2. For the same case study, complete the following tasks by creating the following:
1. Scope management plan( including Requirements, In scope-out scope items, Deliverables and scope verification process) to direct your efforts. (10 marks)
2. WBS first using either the free-form or the org chart format. (20 marks)
3. Gantt chart-Take the WBS you have already developed. Define all of the activities that will be necessary to create each deliverable in your WBS. Create a schedule for your project. First create the schedule by hand using Post-it® Notes, and then put the information into MS Project. Take screenshots of the schedule to be pasted ni your word document that you are submitting. Be sure to include all of the summary rows (including the first row for the project title) and any key milestones. Make sure the critical path is easy to see.- 10 marks
4. Create a time-phased budget for your example project using bottom-up estimating. To the extent your sponsor will supply rates for workers, use those. Approximate rates for ones you cannot get. Ask your sponsor how they treat indirect costs. Be sure to include direct labour costs for you and your team mates and add 20% for fringe. State all assumptions and constraints you have used when creating your budget. State how confident you are in your estimates and what would make you more confident. Give examples of known knowns and known unknowns on your project. Tell how you have budgeted for both of them plus how you have budgeted for unknown unknowns. (15 marks)
5. Create a risk register ( 4 risks- 3 negative and 1 positive risk)for your example project. (20 marks)
Rationale
This assessment task covers topics 1 to 9 and has been designed to ensure that you are engaging with the subject content on a regular basis. More specifically it seeks to assess your ability to:
o demonstrate how a practicing project manager actually applies project management skills,
o methods, techniques and tools ;
o use an industry standard project management software tool (Microsoft Project);
o apply project management skills, methods, techniques and tools to a real world problem typical of a project manager;
Marking criteria
STANDARDS
Criteria FL PS CR DI HD
Task 1 Scope Mgt Plan- Requirements, Scope details(5 marks) unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete Defined Requirements but ambiguous / incomplete. Clear description of requirements and in scope items defined. Defined description of Requirements and in-scope items and out-of-scope items. Clear description of Requirements and in-scope items and out-of-scope items relevant to the case study
Task 1 Scope Mgt Plan- Deliverables and Scope verification (5 marks) unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete Defined deliverables but ambiguous / incomplete. Clear description of deliverables and scope verification defined. Clear description of deliverables and scope verification Clear description of project scope, including named deliverables. Scope verification/ acceptance is also defined relevant to the case study.
Task 2-Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)- 20 marks unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete WBS is mentioned with some breakdown of Project Scope. WBS is structured, having detailed coverage for Project scope / Phase of project. WBS is well structured, having logical and complete coverage for Project Execution WBS is structured, having logical and complete coverage for Project Execution and integrated into Project Schedule and Resource Matrix.
Task 2-Gantt Chart ( 10 marks) unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete Gantt chart shows- some activities included, schedule created, summary rows shown, few /none milestones shown Gantt chart shows- some activities included, schedule created, summary rows shown, first row shows project title , total duration shown, some milestones shown, critical path shown Gantt chart shows- most activities included, schedule created, summary rows shown, first row shows project title , total duration shown, most milestones shown, critical path shown Gantt chart shows- all activities included, schedule created, summary rows shown, first row shows project title , total duration shown, all necessary milestones shown, critical path shown and easy to see
Task 2-Budget ( 15 marks) unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete Bottom-up estimating done, few assumptions and constraints you have used when creating your budget stated. Budget extracted from MS Project showing overall budget Bottom-up estimating done. some assumptions and constraints you have used when creating your budget stated. Examples of known knowns and known unknowns on your project given. Budget extracted from MS Project showing overall and breakdown for all summary tasks and resource Bottom-up estimating done. Direct labour costs for you and your team mates and 20% for fringe included. Most assumptions and constraints you have used when creating your budget stated. Confidence level for estimation stated. Examples of known knowns and known unknowns on your project given. Budget extracted from MS Project showing overall and breakdown for all summary tasks and resource Bottom-up estimating done. Direct labour costs for you and your team mates and 20% for fringe included. All assumptions and constraints you have used when creating your budget stated. Confidence level for estimation stated. Examples of known knowns and known unknowns on your project given with explanation. Budget extracted from MS Project showing overall and breakdown for all summary tasks and resource along with various costs
Task 2-Risk Register ( 20 marks) unclear attempt that is ambiguous / incomplete Some values of
Risk register
are accurate and
Consistent, some items of the register complete. Most values of
Risk register
are accurate and
Consistent, most items of the register complete. All values of
Risk register
are accurate and
Consistent, all items of the register complete. All values of
Risk register
are accurate and
consistent, all items of the register complete. Risks are relevant to the case study
Requirements
Students are required to submit the range of documents describing their proposed project solution for the above tasks.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
o The first major section (1.0) should be project management and include the various project management deliverables such as charter, WBS, schedule, progress reports, etc.
o Deliverables should match those in the charter.
o Each item on the WBS should have a unique name. If there is possible confusion between two items add an extra adjective to differentiate them. For example, two items could be “first draft report” and “second draft report.”
o Each line should be numbered with major sections being 1.0 then 2.0, etc.
o Each major section should be broken down into between three and twelve subsidiary sections. If further breakdown is needed, more levels should be used.
o All items on WBS are deliverables oriented (they are the “whats” of the project). Activities are defined as an outgrowth of the WBS and will appear in the schedule.
o The WBS can be submitted in free-form, org-chart, or indented-outline format.
o The WBS should appear to be complete with all interim and ending deliverables included.
Schedule / Gantt chart
o The schedule should appear to be complete given the charter and WBS.
o The schedule should appear to be reasonable without requiring heroics to complete on time.
o Include WBS column to left of task name column.
o Include overall project name as top row.
o Have all summaries stated in noun only format (or adjective noun – but on present tense verbs).
o Have all tasks (activities) stated in present tense verb-adjective-noun format.
o Have all milestones stated in noun and past tense verb format.
o All tasks should have dependencies shown – no loose ends.
o Display Gantt portion of schedule as large as possible.
o Show critical path in red (or distinctive hash marks if printer is only black).
o Show arrows with dependencies.
o Include no more than 40 lines per page – ensure it is large enough to read easily.
o Include no more pages than necessary so there is little need to align multiple pages for reading unless it is a large schedule.
All referencing in the project material must be in accordance with the APA style guide.