Reference no: EM132615640

BSBPMG410 Apply project time management techniques - Sydney Metro College

Assessment Task 1 Instructions

Provide answers to all of the questions below:

1. Describe the following methods for estimating task duration and resource requirements
• Analogous Estimating
• Parametric Model Estimating
• 3 Point Estimating
• Expert Judgment Estimating
• Vendor Bid Analysis
• Reserve Analysis
• Bottom Up Analysis

2. Explain how the critical path used to identify how long a project will take to complete.

3. Explain the procedure for establishing project baselines.

4. Explain how to manage adjustments to a project baseline due to a major change to scope or cost.

5. Explain how project variance is most effectively managed.

6. Identify and summarise three tools or techniques that are used for managing project time, and summarise their applications

7. Explain how effective time management can keep a project's cost down. Give one example of effective planning keeping expenses to a minimum.

8. Explain how effective time management can make the best use of a project's resources. Give one example of effective planning keeping resource use to a minimum.

9. Explain how effective time management can affect a project's risk. Give one example of effective planning keeping risk use to a minimum

Assessment Task 2: Conference schedule project

Task summary

This assessment task requires you, in the role of Administration Officer for Manager Networks, to participate in a meeting with the Project Manager of an upcoming conference to discuss the project's Work Breakdown Structure and the Project Management Plan. You will then meet with the project team and contribute to the development of the baseline Project Schedule.

This assessment will be completed in the classroom as part of a simulated work environment.

Required
• Computer with Microsoft Office and access to the internet
• Draft Work Breakdown Structure
• Draft Project Management Plan
• Draft Project Schedule
• Place for a meeting
• Roleplay participants

Carefully read the following:

Manager Networks is an organisation that provides networking events for business people across Australia. The company runs regular networking events but has now decided to start an annual conference event focussing on an area of business considered to be of key importance. It is hoped that the conference will provide information on cutting edge leadership topics that focus on leadership skills, knowledge and trends.

It should also promote Management Networks, as well as providing professional development for its clients.

As the Administration Officer for Manager Networks, you have been asked by the CEO to take on the role of Project Assistant for the conference, to assist the Project Manager to develop and implement a project schedule for the conference. You will work in in cooperation with several other staff members, who will use their expertise in different areas to support your project management.

Donna Chisholm, who is the co-ordinator of the Manager Networks' trainers, will help with contacting and lining up the speakers. She has already drafted a Conference Program, which can be used until the speakers have been finalised.

Dan Streep, the Administration Assistant has had experience with the ground level work required for a conference, and he will help to determine and prepare the venue.

Edith Partridge, the Chief Financial Officer will be in control of the finances of the congress.

Erin O'Donnell, the Manager Networks Marketing Manager, will co-ordinate the marketing material.

The conference will be conducted on 04 October 2018. It will be a one-day event, from 9 am to 4 pm.
For the purposes of this assessment task, assume that the date of the project team meeting is 09 April 2018.

The conference style will be formal, with a balance of conference elements to ensure that outcomes are achieved.

Participant target group is managers in all industries. This group will be targeted by email using the Manager Networks data base and publicised through social media such as LinkedIn.

Conference facilities require a centrally located venue that has a conference room that can accommodate up to 150 people. Invited speakers will want to be accommodated nearby, so there will need to be an appropriate hotel in the vicinity.
The venue will also need to be able to provide on-site catering for the meeting attendees.

Budget: projected attendee numbers will be 150 people, and the suggested conference price for participants is $500 plus GST.
Speakers are to receive $400 each for their participation.
Complete the following activities:

1. Prepare for a meeting with the Project Manager
At the meeting, you will work with the Project Manager to create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the project. In order to prepare for the meeting, you are required to research WBS examples that could apply to the case study.

Review the Work Breakdown Schedule Template. You will contribute to writing the project's WBS following the meeting using this template.

Revise the Draft Project Management Plan (PMP). There is a section on milestones, and one on sequence and dependencies, that are still to be completed. These cannot be completed until after the project team meeting but write some notes on what you think would be appropriate for these sections. You will have the opportunity to discuss these with the Project Manager at the first meeting.

Revise the Draft Program Schedule. After the team meeting, you will work with the Project Manager to achieve an agreed schedule baseline.

2. Meet with the Project Manager (your assessor)
The objective this meeting is to develop the WBS.
This will involve discuss the different tasks that could be included in the WBS.

You will also discuss the additions that you have made to the PMP, demonstrating that you understand the sequencing of tasks, and what milestones could be appropriate.

You will also discuss how these will be incorporated into the Project Schedule.

3. Meet with the project team.
The meeting's objective is to establish an agreed schedule baseline using contributions from all team members.

The meeting will be led by the Project Manager (your assessor), with you assisting them.
The Project Manager will ask each team member for their feedback on estimates of each task's duration and effort, sequencing and the dependencies.

Take notes at the meeting, as you will be required to adjust your documents to include the input from the other team members.

During the meeting, you will be required to demonstrate effective communication skills including:
• Speaking clearly and concisely
• Using non-verbal communication to assist with understanding
• Asking questions to identify required information
• Responding to questions as required
• Using active listening techniques to confirm understanding
4. Review the Project Management Plan
Include the input from the other project team members provided at the meeting to revise the plan, establishing baselines for each item. Your notes from the meeting should inform this work.

Save this document as Draft Project Management Plan.

5. Review your Project Schedule
Use Blank Program Schedule and the input from the other project team members to revise your Program Schedule, establishing a baseline schedule for the project. Your notes from the meeting should inform this work.

Save this document as Draft Project Schedule.

6. Send an email to the Project Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.
It should introduce and summarise the contents of the attachments.
The email text should ask the Project Manager to review these documents and use them to finalise the project's PMP and PS.

Attach the following to the email:
• Your Project Management Plan
• Your Project Schedule

7. Send an email to the Project Manager and Project Team members (your assessor).
When you have received an authorisation from the Project Manager, send the documents that you have revised to the whole Project Team.

The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.
It should refer to the recent meeting, then introduce and summarise the contents of the attachments.

It should seek their feedback and approval of the documents, giving them a week to respond.

Attach Project Management Baseline and Program Schedule Baseline to the email.

Assessment Task 3: Maintain Project schedule

Task summary
In this assessment task, you will need to assess the project's progress, and estimate variances to the baseline. You must then contribute to the implementation of actions that will keep the project on schedule.

Instructions

It is now May 14th, just over one month since the initial project team meeting.

Regular email exchanges with the team members have shown that all of the activities have been progressing as scheduled. Today, however, you have received the following email from the Project Manager:

Dear Administration Officer
I have just received the following information from members of the Project Team:
• Donna Chisholm reported that she has only received confirmation from two of the speakers. She has tried telephoning them but hasn't been able to speak to the other two yet. Donna asked for another two weeks, by when she assures you, she will have speaker confirmations and topics finalised.
• Dan Streep booked the Park Royal yesterday after assessing the quotes received and discussing the choice with Edith Partridge. Unfortunately, he received a most apologetic telephone call this morning to tell him that the Park Royal's Managing Director had already assured a pharmaceutical company that they could book the venue for the whole week-end, including the Friday. Dan will go back to the list of quotes and discuss a new choice with Edith Partridge later that day.
• Erin O'Donnell, the Manager Networks Marketing Manager, is still waiting on the speakers, topics and venue before he can put the promotional material together. He has spoken to the printers, and they are still expecting to receive the brochure soon, so they can be printed in time.

Unfortunately, I will be in a meeting for the rest of the day, so I won't have time to assess the consequences of this information on the Project Schedule. I would appreciate it if you would write a short report that forecasts the impact that these changes will probably have on the schedule. It would be great if you could also suggest some options that we have for compensating for these. I will then take your report into consideration when I am looking into this tonight.

Complete the following activities:

1. Write a report for the Project Manager.
Your report should include the following:
• A review of the milestone and communication requirements from your Project Management Plan
• Review of feedback from project team members on milestone achievements.
• Measure the actual progress of project tasks against the Project Schedule Baseline by determining which activities are behind schedule, and which activities are dependent on these being completed
• Forecast the impact of any changes to the baseline Project Schedule
• Record baseline variance between actual and planned progress
• Your responses to the changes, and suggestions on options that will maintain the project objectives.

Use the Project Report Template to guide your work.

2. Send an email to the Project Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

It should introduce and summarise the contents of the attachment and seek their feedback and approval to move forward with the project.
Attach your Project Report to the email.

3. Review and alter the Project Schedule.
Change the Project Schedule to reflect the changes approved by the Project Manager.

Save this chart as Revised Project Schedule.

4. Send an email to the Project Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

It should describe the changes you have made to the baseline Project Schedule.

Attach your revised project schedule to the email.
 
Assessment Task 4: Project time management assessment

Task summary
In this assessment task, you will assist in a review and evaluation how well the project management plan and project schedule served Manager Networks during the planning phase of their conference. A report will be written and sent to the company's CEO, as stipulated in the PMP.

Instructions

Carefully read the following:

The congress took place four weeks ago, and it was a great success. All tickets were sold out three weeks prior to the conference beginning, and it generated a profit for Manager Networks of 25% of income through ticket sales, as projected.

Due to your early intervention, new speakers were identified and contacted within days, and the marketing material could be delivered only one week later than the baseline project schedule.

The Project Manager has written a rough draft of the project management evaluation report but has to spend the day in another meeting. You have been asked to contribute to the report, which will be finalised by the Project Manager that evening.

Complete the following activities:

1. Contribute to the project management evaluation report.
The Project Manager has asked you to assist with assessing the time management outcomes for the project.

The report includes a review of the project's scheduling and recommend improvements for the future.

The report should be about half a page long.
Use the Project Management Evaluation Report Draft to guide your work.

The report should include, as a minimum:
• A review of the Project Schedule to determine the effectiveness of the project team's time management activities.
• Identify time management issues that arose, and recommend improvements that could be made in the future
• Positive aspects of the Project Schedule, and how these helped ensure that its objectives were realised.

2. Send an email to the Project Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

Attachment:- project time management techniques.rar