Reference no: EM132277232

Assignment -

Instructions - The purpose of the assignment in Part C is to propose solutions to improve the performance in the project. As of the status date, the project is both over budget and behind schedule. Students are expected to propose solutions that improve both the cost and schedule performance, and to enter their solutions into Microsoft Project to calculate the impact of their recommendations. In the solutions, students should clearly state what the new estimate at completion and schedule completion date would be if their changes were approved.

Your role in this assignment is to represent the project manager (PM) for the project in making a presentation to the senior managers or steering committee. As with any status report, the presentation needs to explain the progress to date, highlight any areas where the project is going well and focus on areas where the progress is not proceeding according to plan. In any situation where the project is not performing according to the approved plan, the PM must recommend corrective actions and seek management approval for those actions.

Using MS PowerPoint, create an executive summary for senior managers and stakeholders explaining the status of the project. For this assignment, your MS PowerPoint deck should consist of 10 - 12 slides, excluding the cover slide, appendices and supporting documents.

Be sure to explain, in simple terms, what the EVA numbers indicate and how you, as PM, will be rectifying the situation (HINT: Look at the tasks that we input completions and resource usage after the baseline). Don't forget to determine if we affected the critical path for the project. What tools can you use to bring the project back into line?

Project has calculated the performance up to the status date, including the planned value, earned value and actual cost. It then used these values to calculate cost and schedule variance, and the cost and schedule performance index. Since these values represent actual work done and actual money that was spent, it does not make sense for these values to be changed. The solutions should focus on future tasks and tasks that are in progress as of the status date. Tasks that were 100% complete as of the status date should not be changed.

The content of the presentation should include the following points. Appendices with supporting information from MS Project and/or MS Excel should be included. You have considerable artistic license to be creative in the style and format of the presentation in MS PowerPoint, choosing styles and colours that would grab management's attention and reinforce the points you are trying to make.

• Title Page
• Agenda for Presentation
• Executive Summary for Presentation
• Section 1: Frame the Issue
• Section 2: Present Specific Data on Progress to Date
• Section 3: Present Specific Solutions
• Section 4: State Decisions that Management Needs to Make
• Appendices with Supporting Information

Contents and Guidelines for Part C Presentation -

The following is a list of topics and suggested content for the presentation. You do not have to follow these points exactly; it is a guideline to help you structure the presentation.

Title Page

1. Agenda

2. Executive Summary

3. Section 1: Frame the Issue

• Be clear and concise, since the target audience is senior managers
• State the progress to date
• Is the project within budget or over budget
• Is the project ahead of schedule or behind schedule
• Put any problems encountered in context, remember management is looking at the big picture, not specific details
• You can state briefly what the project is but it is not necessary to explain the project goals and objectives. The management group or steering committee would already have this information.

4. Section 2: Present Specific Data on Progress to Date

• Explain the progress to date, how much ahead or behind schedule is the project
• Explain how much over or under budget the project is
• Explain the EVA figures to date
• Keep in mind that this is a presentation to senior management and focus on presenting the information they need
• Use the detailed EVA data provided in the template
• When referring to numerical data in a summary presentation, always round off
• Refer to appendices as appropriate

5. Section 3: Present Specific Solutions that you as the Project Manager Recommend

Analyze where the project started going off course and explain why.

Some points to consider: (note, you do not need to include all of these points, choose the ones that best suit your presentation)

• Is this a resource issue?
• Did the progress match the plan?
• Were resources correctly allocated?
• What happened with the schedule?
• What happened with the costs?
• What is the EVA data telling you (use SPI, CPI, SV, CV).

What are your recommendations (note, you do not need to use all of these recommendations, these are some guidelines)

• How would you get the project back on track?
• How would you correct the schedule, the costs and the resources?
• Consider if there is a simpler way to fix the situation.
• Would you extend the schedule or crash the schedule.
• Would you add, remove or level resources.
• What impact would your recommendations have on the rest of the project, i.e. if you recommend something to improve the schedule, what impact would that have on the costs and vice versa.

What are the outcomes of your recommendations:

• What do you expect will happen if your recommendations are adopted?
• What is the impact on the critical path?
• Optimal case
• Most likely case
• Worst case

What are the costs of your recommendations?

• How does this affect the budget and scope?

Why are your recommendations the best possible solution

• You might want to present two or three alternative solutions and ask management to approve the one you recommend. If so, explain why.
• What is the impact of doing nothing?

6. Section 4: State Specific Decisions that the Management Group Needs to Make

• What decision does management need to make.
• When do they need to make the decision by?
• What are the consequences of inaction?
• Include a good summary or conclusion.

7. Appendices with Supporting information.

Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar