Quantitative Methods in Project Management

Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Table of Contents Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction............................................................................................................................. 3 Project Selection Guidelines ................................................................................................... 3 Project Deliverables ................................................................................................................ 4 Project Charter ........................................................................................................................ 4 Final Project Deliverables ....................................................................................................... 5 Project Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 5 Progress Reports ..................................................................................................................... 6 Microsoft Office and Crystal Ball .......................................................................................... 6 Project Schedule...................................................................................................................... 7 Project Evaluation and Grading .............................................................................................. 7 Appendix A: Rubric for Team Project Deliverables Team Project Grading Rubric: ............. 9 Appendix B: Team Member Contribution ............................................................................ 11 PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Introduction The purpose of the team project is to develop an integrated project management plan for a project and to plan and track the project throughout its life cycle. The project requires the students to apply project management tools and techniques covered in this course to a project that closely models a real-life situation. In practice, the development of a project plan such as this is the result of a group effort. Therefore, for the purposes of this assignment, the instructor will assign each student to a team. This document specifies the detailed requirements of the team project, including selection guidelines, schedule, progress reports, deliverables, and evaluation criteria. Project Selection Guidelines Each team will select a project based on the interests of its members and consensus of the team. Each team must select their project, assuming that the team is making a competitive project proposal to senior management in a customer company. The proposal is to be evaluated by the client, in a competitive setting, where the proposing team is competing to win the contract. The students will have flexibility in choosing their projects. For example, the projects may include: • • • Event management (presidential elections, conferences, Olympics) Custom system development (IT projects, computer networks) Construction (remodeling, new high-rise, new home) The project should have about 25 to 50 tasks. The project could involve development of a new product or service, or a major revision or release of an existing product or service. It must be a long-term one, with duration of at least three years. The proposed price includes cost (budget) plus profit (markup). The budget must include at least the following three categories of resources: • • • Human resources Equipment Consumable materials The emphasis of this assignment is on the management aspect of the project, rather than the industry- or project-specific issues, such as technology, price estimates, or time estimates. For example, in a real life project, the technological viability of a project is paramount. However, in this course, although the project must be reasonably achievable, its soundness is not a critical factor. Using a construction project as an example, it is not critical to lay out detailed architectural floor plans, or to make sure all PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements the equipment and materials are accounted for. Rather, it is important that the project have a plan, including a work breakdown structure, schedule, budget, etc. For reference purposes, each team should choose a name for the proposing company and the customer organization. Project Deliverables Project Statement of Work Each team will first prepare a statement of work for their project for approval by the instructor, as outlined on page 57 of Heldman (located within the eReserves area of the Course Resources section). Project Charter The next step for the team is to prepare a project charter for review, discussion, and approval. This should be no more than 10 pages and should cover the following topics in a conceptual but not analytical manner, as well as addressing any other topics that are relevant to your particular project: • • • • • • • • • Overview Objectives Scope General approach Schedule Resources Human Resources Risk management plans Control methods Consult Chapter 2 of the Heldman textbook. The Project Management Institute, specifically, the Project Management Body of Knowledge 5th Edition, presents ten Project Management Knowledge Areas. The scope of the project should be broad enough to cover at least the following knowledge areas: • • • • • • Project Integration Management Project Scope Management Project Time Management Project Cost Management Project Risk Management Project Human Resource Management PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Final Project Deliverables The final project deliverable should continue, in no more than 30 pages, to expound upon the items in the project charter and, especially, provide analysis based on the qualitative and quantitative tools learned in the course: • • • • • • • • • • • • Project selection Project scope statement Work breakdown structure (WBS) Project budget Project schedule Project resource allocation Methods and techniques for monitoring/controlling the project Risk analysis Project organization and communication Any Assumptions and dependencies Any analysis models and/or techniques (including Crystal Ball Simulation) Procedures for auditing and closing the project The final report must be submitted to the designated discussion forum in the course by the deadline specified in the syllabus. The final report must be in Word with embedded Excel and MS Project documents, as necessary. However, the accompanying Microsoft Project (MSP) plans should be submitted as a separate file if it cannot be legibly imported into the main document. Microsoft Project MSP must be used in all cases where it provides the necessary functions for project management. This includes at least the following: • • • • • Project planning Budgeting Scheduling Resource allocation Reporting Project Learning Objectives Throughout the development of the project plan and the project status report, the emphasis will be on the use of the tools and techniques presented in this course. This includes MSP, PERT, Quantitative Risk Analysis using Crystal Ball, Excel Solver, Earned Value Management and other tools and techniques as appropriate. For that reason, project plan elements such as the communications plan, procurement plan, human PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements resources plan, etc, will not be covered. These were included in PMAN634, “Fundamentals of Project Management”. Specific learning objectives include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • Specify goals, requirements, deliverable, constraints, and assumptions, through working with stakeholders, negotiating with them, and obtaining their approval. Define project strategy, which is a summary of management plans from difference management areas. Specify performance criteria in order to ensure quality. Specify resources. Develop budget and schedule using cost and schedule estimates. Develop project charter, addressing stakeholder requirements and have the charter approved by the stakeholders. Specify the WBS using the Scope Statement, SOW, and other project documents. Control project using earned value analysis. Develop a comprehensive project plan as a roadmap for project execution and control. Produce timely and regular project progress reports. Progress reports must be reviewed, in a public discussion topic, by other class members and the instructor. The project team must incorporate review comments, as necessary, in the following progress report. Define and refine control limits. Develop the risk management plan, defining how project risk is formulated and applied to the project. Also define how the project team responds to both positive and negative risks. Obtain final acceptance from the stakeholders. Progress Reports As specified in the Project Schedule section, each team will submit their project progress reports at the specified sessions. Class members will review the reports, providing insights, comments, or questions. Microsoft Office and Crystal Ball Microsoft Project must be used in all cases where it provides the necessary functions for project management. This includes at least the following: • • • • • • Project planning Budgeting Scheduling Resource allocation Reporting Tracking PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Similarly, Crystal Ball must be used for risk analysis where applicable; for example, in cash flow analysis, cost estimation, or schedule estimation Project Schedule Your project has a number of milestones and a final report. Several of the milestones require progress reports, as specified below: Session 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Progress Report No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Project Phase Team Formation Project Statement of Work Project Charter Planning Budgeting Scheduling N/A Scheduling Risk Analysis Monitoring and Controlling Execution and Monitoring Final Project Review Project Evaluation and Grading Your project grade has three components: • • • Team Project Deliverables (TPD) Team Member Contribution (TMC) Project Reviews (RPC) The percentage of each grade is specified in the syllabus. Your project grade is a function of the following: • • • • • • • Degree of complexity of the project o Number, variety, and inter-dependence of tasks Completeness of the project Quality and contents of each progress report Responses to review questions Clarity of written presentations Handling of questions following progress report presentations Reviewing progress reports presented by other students and providing input following their presentations PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements • On-time posting of your reports to the designated conference in the course for class review Appendix A specifies the evaluation criteria for the Team Project Deliverables (TPD). Note that your TPD grade is not just for your final report; rather, it is a reflection of all the progress reports that you have submitted throughout the semester. See also the course syllabus for additional grading information. Upon completion of the project, each team member will evaluate the contributions of other members. The instructor will use this evaluation to assign a Team Member Contribution (TMC) grade to each student. The Team Member Evaluation form in Appendix B must be submitted to the Assignments folder. The Team Project requires a number of progress reports, specified in the Project Schedule section of this document. All progress reports must be posted to course conferences for review and discussion by other class members. Each class member will receive a Project Review (RPC) grade for his or her contribution to these conferences. The rubric for this grade is the same as the rubric for Class Participation. PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Appendix A: Rubric for Team Project Deliverables Team Project Grading Rubric: Criteria Marks • The project management plan is sufficiently complex to demonstrate all required project management knowledge areas. • All the required knowledge areas are substantively and thoroughly addressed by the final report. • Each progress report thoroughly covers the topics that are assigned to that progress report. • There is evidence of extensive use of MSP for all applicable areas. A • There is evidence that the team has studied external references for their project, and references are cited in the final project report. • The final report adheres to APA guidelines. • All deliverables are posted on time. • Each report is clear, easy to read, free of grammatical errors, and can be understood independent of other reports. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The project management plan is reasonably complex to demonstrate all required and optional project management knowledge areas. All the required knowledge areas are reasonably addressed by the final report. Progress reports contain mostly relevant information about the topics that are assigned to the reports. MSP has been used for some of the main areas. The team has studies some external material, and references are cited in the final project report. The final report substantially adheres to APA guidelines. All deliverables are posted on time. Reports are reasonably clear to read and follow. The project management plan is not complex enough to demonstrate all the required project management knowledge areas. A subset of required knowledge areas are substantively and thoroughly addressed by the final report. There is little evidence of use of MSP for the project. The team has not referred to external sources for their project. The final report has some violations of APA guidelines. The report is not easy to follow. The project management plan is incomplete or not defined enough to demonstrate all the required project management knowledge areas. A subset of required knowledge areas are substantively and thoroughly B C D PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements • • • • addressed by the final report. There is no evidence of use of MSP for the project. The team has not referred to external sources for their project. The final report has major violations of APA guidelines. The report is not easy to follow. PMAN635 Quantitative Methods in Project Management Team Project Requirements Appendix B: Team Member Contribution Evaluating Member Team Member Names Proactively communicated with other team members Contributed to research and understanding Contributed to preparing progress reports Contributed to preparing CSA reports Proactively moved forward the task of the team Overall grade • • • • This form is used for evaluating contribution of team members to all team assignments, including the project and CSAs. Evaluating member is the name of the person filling in this form. Across the top, write the names of your team members that you are evaluating. Do not include yourself. Evaluate your team members according to the following scale and enter your overall grade in the last row: o o o o o 5: Excellent contribution 4: Good contribution 3: Some contribution 2: Very little contribution 1: No contribution at all