Reference no: EM132763027 , Length: 1000 Words

BUSI 3623 Planning Essentials - Yorkville University

PROJECT PLANNING ESSENTIALS

DESCRIPTION

In this assignment, each student will choose one of two described projects (or one of their own) and generate a complete project plan using the many skills learned in the course. The final project plan will be a combination of written overview and conclusion, with most technical elements developed using a project or spreadsheet software. The written component will conform to APA style and the Project or Excel spreadsheet components will be clearly identified and numbered accordingly for clarity and ease of use. The written components will not be longer than two pages each. The spreadsheet and project software will make full use of imbedded notes to make the plans clear as for potential team use by others.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. The students will choose one of the following three options:
• Consider the construction of a $500,000 single family house in your city or region. Develop the project plan that would see this completed.
• Develop a project plan for the rebranding of a university like Yorkville University. Start with the Board of Governors' decision to develop a new name and brand and have it ready for a fall recruitment drive.
• Propose a project in your own company or volunteer organization. The proposal would be a brief charter document for approval by the professor. If in your organization you do not need access to complete corporate financials, ensure that you are not violating any disclosure rules within your company. If you are unsure, get permission to use non-public company information. If there is some information you cannot access, write it with reasonable assumptions of what would be involved.
2. Significant portions of your project will be developed or tracked in some sort of project management software. There are a variety of software options for you to use. In each case, it will be the student's responsibility to learn how to obtain and use the software, save files, and properly upload their work to the course for evaluation.

• The industry gold standard is Microsoft Project, but it is expensive, has a high learning curve, and is not supported by Tech Support at YU should you run into problems. Moreover, it is far more sophisticated than you will need for this overall project.
• A good cloud-based option is SmartSheet, for which a base account is free. There are excellent tutorials. Numerous collaboration and team-servicing software are also available online, but only select those that give the option to work in some sort of spreadsheet mode, and that generate Gantt chart-like timelines, as these will be part of what you will need to submit for various sections of the project (such as the WBS mentioned above).
• Microsoft Excel has numerous spreadsheet templates catering to project management application.
• Whichever software you intend to use, communicate this with your professor, to ensure you are using something consistent with the requirements of this project.
3. As the course cannot predetermine which software each student will use, all subsequent sections described below will simply refer to the working project file that you will add to and modify with each section, in whatever application you use, as the "project software document."
• This is a key learning outcome for the course. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the software and use any tutorials supplied.
• Also, the video in Unit 3 on developing a Work Breakdown Structure adds to the learning on the importance of process in this activity.
• All additions to the Project software document should have an accompanying text document containing:
o An introduction of the addition and the decisions that impacted on the results.
o A summary of the conclusions and key points in the addition. This summary would be used to inform the project managers who would take the plan to delivery or implementation.
o It must be 1-2 pages and inAPA format.
4. The individual term project will have eleven sections to be delivered and revised over four deliverable submissions, to be submitted per the following schedule:

Part 1: Selection of Project and Scope Statement

Instructions
Students will select the project option they will work on. (Option 3 will be subject to the professor's approval or amendment.)
• The option selected may be submitted in a Scope Statement format. You may use your own format, as long as the key information is included.
• Brevity is important along with concise writing.
• If you are not sure of some details, which will be developed later, include logical estimates. For instance, the cost may be difficult to determine, but indicate the general magnitude.
• Identify the project management software you intend to use to ensure its compatibility with this project.

Part 2: Refined Scope Statement and WBS

Instructions
Students will submit the first two sections of the project plan.
Refine the Scope for the project. After the student chooses a project from the three choices provided, s/he will refine the scope statement to conform with the 6th Edition of A Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide. Submit as a 1-2 page MS Word document.
Develop the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). This will be submitted as your base project document in a software format that will allow you to add other components. This will be referred to as your "project software document."

Part 3: Project Schedule and Budget
Instructions
Students will revise as required their previous submission based on instructor feedback, and then add the following two sections. This submission will include all four sections.
• Design the Project Schedule. (Add to the base Project software document).
• A key addition to the WBS
• Generate the Budget. (Add to the base Project software document).

Part 4: Quality and Communications Management Plan
Instructions
Students will revise as required their previous submission based on instructor feedback, and then add the following three sections. The resulting submission will include all seven sections to date.
• Develop the Quality Management Plan. This anticipates who in the organization will take responsibilities for aspects of the project and their role. This will be used when the project implementation begins.
• This should be a spreadsheet or grid format
• Assign Resources to the Project software document.
• Create a Communication Plan. Submit as a 1-2 page MS Word document or MS Excel document, using a grid plus text) See the example in Figure 4:10, page 122 of A Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge.

Part 5: Final Paper including Risk, Procurement Plan and Stakeholder Register
Instructions
The student will revise the previous submissions based on instructor feedback, and then add the following final four sections. This final submission will include all eleven sections.
• Assess Risk and Plan Risk Responses. This requires two matrices. The first is a Risk Assessment Plan as found on page 212, Figure 7.6. (A Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide.) The second is the Risk Response Matrix, Figure 7.8 as found on page 217.
• Create the Procurement Management Plan. See the outline of the six elements of such a plan on page 451 of our textbook. Create a grid and explanation of the goods or services required and whose responsibility and time lines for obtaining. This as noted would typically be picked up by the project implementation team. There should be a one to two page summary of the grid and the planning and decisions that created that. (Document)
• Create the Stakeholder Register. (Grid format using Word or Excel) There are ten groupings of stakeholders as defined on page 341-343, (A Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide). Create a grid by choosing those stakeholders that would be involved in your project. Identify the stakeholders' interest in the project and the impact that each bring to planning or project delivery.
• The final submission will have a written Overview, Introduction and Summary of the project plan. These as per practice will be more than one page, but less than three. Business writing needs to be precise and succinct, allowing the reader to quickly understand the issue and expected action.

Attachment:- Planning Essentials.rar