ESSAY HELP | Project Management Plan

TASK

This assessment is divided into three parts. Each part will ask you to create a particular artefact which when combined will create a project management plan. This would not be a complete plan according to PMI and the PMBOK, but must include the components listed in each of the parts. Each part will be marked separately and word count limits and penalties will also apply separately.

Firstly, read the supporting background material on the fictitious company Tangle Corp (located in the Assessment 4 section in Interact2), which will be the focus of this project. Tangle Corp’s management have decided to implement a new project for which you must prepare a project management plan. You may embellish on the fictional background information to support your plan by creating useful company details to fill gaps which help you make your plan more robust. However, this embellishment itself is not worth marks, only your plan is.

You must select one (only one) of the three projects mentioned in the Tangle Corp background material for your assessment. These choices are offered to help you choose one based on your own background knowledge and business familiarity. The same project must be used for the entirety of your assessment. Complete each part of the assessment using the following information and criteria:

Part A -Stakeholder engagement plan
Value: 15%
Length: 1000 words (excluding graphs/charts)

Task: Create a stakeholder engagement plan, which lists all of the stakeholders which you believe are relevant to your project.

You’ll need to:

· Plot each stakeholder in a power/interest graph in a way which reasonably expresses their appropriate relationship to your project. (10 marks)

· Create an engagement strategy for each stakeholder which includes key elements of your plan needed to manage each stakeholder effectively and satisfy their concerns or requirements. (10 marks)

· Create a communications plan that shows how key messages will be delivered to stakeholders, including the medium and frequency and how feedback will be obtained (10 marks)

Part B – Scope, Schedule, Budget and Resources

Value: 20%
Length: 1500 words

Task: Create a project scope statement and a high level work breakdown structure for the project. Show how you have decomposed the scope to create your WBS. Due to the word count limit your scope will not be able to reach the smallest level of detail for all activities, but at least one vertical aspect of the WBS should be broken down to its most measurable level. Then, create a Gantt chart showing the allocation of resources over time to key activities for such a project. Include in your chart the allocation of specific resources, showing at least some leads and lags, and demonstrate how the critical path would look in your schedule. Make note in your schedule of any key milestones and note the decisions attached to them. Use this to then show a rough cost estimate using any estimating method(s) you prefer. When estimating, briefly describe your estimating process, why you chose it, and how you used it. Note: the financial accuracy of your estimate is not marked (you need not be correct with your estimate, but must show that you understand the process of creating one).

You’ll need to:

· Create a scope statement which describes the major components of the project you have chosen (10 marks)

· Show how you have broken down the larger work into smaller pieces by revealing your work breakdown structure. Show a detailed breakdown to the work package level for at least one element of the project. (10 marks)

· Create an estimate for the project based on your scope statement. Use whichever estimating techniques you prefer or believe are appropriate, but show your estimating process clearly and how you have used them to achieve your result. (10 marks)

· Create an effective Gantt chart which reveals a useful schedule of time and highlight any milestones (at least 5) and their associated decisions. Allocate appropriate resources (at least 10) to this chart to relevant activities within it with some leads/lags and a critical path of activities. (10 marks)

Part C – Risk, Quality and Procurement
Value: 15%
Length: 1000 words plus two-four page chart

Task: Create a Risk Register that shows current risks for the project, including identification information, risk analysis and appropriate treatment. Create a Quality Plan that shows project quality requirements and how they will be validated. Create a Procurement Plan that shows project procurement requirements and how they will be met.

You’ll need to:

· Create a Risk Register for at least 10 major risks that might reasonably arise and explain your project’s response strategy for each one. (10 marks)

· Create a Quality Plan that shows at least 10 project quality requirements (10 marks)

· Create a Procurement Plan that shows how procurement activities will be approached (10 marks)

CSU treats plagiarism seriously. We may use Turnitin to check your submitted work for plagiarism. Please use Turnitin to check for plagiarism in your assessments before submission.

RATIONALE

This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:

· be able to critically evaluate the relevance and function of the PMI® Project Management Body of Knowledge;

· be able to identify and predict risks and challenges to effective project management in a business context;

· be able to identify project stakeholders and analyse their influence on a project;

· be able to create a Scope of Work (SoW) and to formulate a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

· be able to use project management tools and methods to manage project outcomes.

MARKING CRITERIA AND STANDARDS

Part A

Marking Area	HD	Distinction	Credit	Pass	Fail	Marks
Plot each stakeholder in a power/interest graph in a way which reasonably expresses their appropriate relationship to your project.	Has plotted all stakeholders in a clear graph showing precise power/interest relationships with the project.	Has plotted all stakeholders in a clear graph in positions close to their appropriate relationship.	Has plotted all stakeholders in a legible graph in positions which are mostly appropriate to their relationship.	Has plotted most stakeholders in a graph which shows some indication of appropriate positions.	Has plotted few stakeholders, the graph is difficult to understand, or the locations plotted are mostly inappropriate.	/10
Create an engagement strategy for each stakeholder which effectively satisfies their concerns or requirements.	Has created a clear strategy for each stakeholder which precisely satisfies their most important concerns.	Has created a strategy for each stakeholder which would satisfy their most important concerns.	Has created a strategy for each stakeholder which at least partly addresses some concerns which would be important to them.	Has created a strategy for most of the stakeholders which attempts to address some of their relevant concerns.	Has created strategies for few stakeholders, or the strategies are unclear, or are strategies which are not addressing relevant concerns.	/10
Create a communications plan that shows how key messages will be delivered to stakeholders, including the medium and frequency and how feedback will be obtained	Has shown a clear and effective plan for dealing with communications	Has shown an effective plan for dealing with communications	Has shown some effective planning for dealing with communications	Has shown some attempt at planning for dealing with communications	Has shown little or no attempt at planning for dealing with communications	/10

Part B

Marking Area	HD	Distinction	Credit	Pass	Fail	Marks
Create a scope statement which describes the major components of the project you have chosen.	Has created a comprehensive and clear scope statement which effectively describes several major components	Has created a clear scope statement which describes several major components.	Has created an effective scope statement which describes at least some major components.	Has created a limited scope statement which describes at least some relevant components.	Has created a weak or unclear scope statement which describes few or irrelevant components.	/10
Show how you have broken down the larger work into smaller pieces by revealing your work breakdown structure. Show a detailed breakdown to the work package level for at least one element of the project.	Has shown a clear and comprehensive work breakdown to the work package level revealing all stages of the breakdown.	Has shown a clear work breakdown to the work package level revealing all major stages of the breakdown.	Has shown a work breakdown to the work package level revealing most stages of the breakdown.	Has shown a work breakdown to the work package level revealing some reasonable stages of the breakdown.	Has not shown a work breakdown to the work package level or has shown few stages of the breakdown.	/10
Create an estimate for the project. Use whichever estimating techniques you believe are appropriate and show how you have used them to achieve your result	Has created a reasonable estimate using an appropriate method and has clearly shown how the chosen method has been used to achieve it.	Has created an estimate using an appropriate method and has shown how the chosen method has been used to achieve it.	Has created an estimate using an effective method and has shown some indication of how the chosen method has been used to achieve it.	Has created an estimate using a valid method and has made a reasonable attempt to show how the chosen method has been used to achieve it.	Has created an estimate without using a valid method or has made no reasonable attempt to show how the chosen method has been used to achieve it.	/10
Create an effective Gantt chart which reveals a useful schedule of time and highlight any milestones (at least 5) and their associated decisions. Allocate appropriate resources (at least 10) to this chart to relevant activities within it with some leads/lags and a critical path of activities.	Has created a clear and effective chart with a useful schedule and has highlighted 5 appropriate milestones with relevant decisions. Has clearly allocated 10 appropriate resources to relevant activities and has clearly shown well.	Has created an effective chart with a useful schedule and has highlighted 5 relevant milestones with decisions. Has allocated 10 valid resources to relevant activities and has shown valid leads/lags in the critical path.	Has created a chart with a valid schedule and has highlighted 5 valid milestones with decisions. Has allocated 10 resources to relevant activities and has shown valid.	Has created a chart with an understandable schedule and has highlighted 3-4 milestones with at least some decisions. Has allocated 5-9 resources to valid activities and has shown some leads/lags in the critical path.	Has created a chart with an unclear or invalid schedule and has highlighted only 1-2 or irrelevant milestones with weak or limited decisions. Has allocated less than 5 resources to activities and has shown few or invalid leads/lags in the critical path.	/10

Part C  

Marking Area	HD	Distinction	Credit	Pass	Fail	Marks
Create a Quality Plan that shows at least 10 project quality requirements	Has created a clear and effective quality plan and has highlighted 10 project quality requirements.	Has created an effective quality plan and has highlighted 10 project quality requirements.	Has created a valid quality plan and has highlighted 10 project quality requirements.	Has created an understandable quality plan and has highlighted 10 project quality requirements.	Has created an unclear or invalid quality plan that has highlighted 10 project quality requirements.	/10
Create a Procurement Plan that shows how procurement activities will be approached	Has created a procurement plan that demonstrates a clear and effective approach.	Has created a procurement plan that demonstrates an effective approach.	Has created a procurement plan that demonstrates a valid approach.	Has created a procurement plan that demonstrates a an approach that is able to be understood.	Has created an unclear or invalid procurement plan.	/10
Create a Risk Register for at least 10 major risks that might reasonably arise and explain your project’s response strategy for each one	Has clearly discussed 10 major risks relevant to the project and has fully explained an effective response for each.	Has discussed 10 major risks relevant to the project and has effectively explained a valid response for each.	Has discussed 10 valid risks which are apparent and has explained a valid response for each.	Has discussed at least 10 valid risks which are apparent and has given some explanation of a response for each.	Has discussed less than 10 risks, or risks which are poorly linked the project and has given little or no explanation of a response for each.	/10

PRESENTATION

Use a report format, with correct grammatical protocols and accurate spelling, punctuation and word count. Feel free to use headings and bullet-lists where you think this is appropriate.

REQUIREMENTS

Word count for this assessment is taken seriously. The word count reflects the level of detail you’re required to put into your assessment. Students who exceed the word count by more than 10% will be penalised, and students who exceed word counts by an excessive amount may not have their assessment marked beyond a certain point to ensure fairness to other students who have completed the assessment within the guidelines given.

Administrative sections of your assessment such as headings, table of contents, reference list and other diagrams and figures are not included in the word count. In text citations are included as part of your word count.

Students who submit in PDF form should include a word count on their cover page.

For this assessment you’re required to use APA referencing to acknowledge the sources that you have used in preparing your assessment. Please visit Referencing at CSU for guidance. In addition, a very useful tool for you to use that demonstrates how to correctly use in-text referencing and the correct way to cite the reference in your reference list is the Academic Referencing Tool (ART).

This assignment must be uploaded to Turnitin. Students will need to download the Turnitin report and submit it via EASTS along with the assignment. More information on using Turnitin at CSU can be found at https://www.csu.edu.au/current-students/learning-resources/information-planning/assignments/plagiarism-checking

Assessment Information

Academic integrity

Academic integrity means acting with honesty, fairness and responsibility, and involves observing and maintaining ethical standards in all aspects of academic work. This subject assumes that you understand what constitutes plagiarism, cheating and collusion. If you are a new student we expect you to complete the modules called Academic Integrity at CSU.

Charles Sturt University treats plagiarism seriously. We may use Turnitin to check your submitted work for plagiarism. You can use Turnitin to check for plagiarism in your assessments before submission.

Referencing

Referencing is an important component of academic work. All assessment tasks should be appropriately referenced. The specific details of the referencing requirements are included in each assessment task description. Get referencing style guides and help to use for your assessments.