ASSESSMENT#3 – TERM 1 2023

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT – DESCRIPTION

Assessment type: Group work – Project plan

Word limit: Part A: Equivalent to 500 words | Part B: 4000 words ± 5%

Due date: Week 11 Friday 11:45 pm AEST

Weighting: 50% (Part A – 10%, Part B – 40%)

NOTE: Must be read in conjunction with PPMP20008 Assessment 3 project brief.

Overview

This assessment aims to provide students with an opportunity to apply their learning about initiating and planning methods, tools, and techniques in a real-case project setting by delivering a project plan for a residential building construction project. You will be formed by your tutor into teams of 4 members (preferably) to collaborate and deliver this project plan. Your project plan should be designed to address most of the project management knowledge areas as advised by “A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide -2017)”. For groups, it is essential to acquire a good understanding of the topics covered during Weeks 1 to 10, perform additional research and apply their best project management knowledge and skills, e.g. communication, leadership and time management skills – in a teamwork setting to be able to achieve good results. The teams will present their project plan during Weeks 11 and 12 following the schedule that tutors will provide.

Assessment Criteria

See the marking guide at the end of this document.

Learning Outcomes

This assessment is relevant to the following Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs):

Analyse the underlying project needs and justification,

Apply contemporary techniques to identify and analyse stakeholders,

Analyse, define and effectively decompose project scope,

Apply appropriate project estimation techniques,

Critically analyse and define actions to address project uncertainty.

Assessment details

1. The company

The Buildchamp construction company (BCC) is a private building construction company located in Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150. BCC was established in 2014 to make it easier and simpler for Australians to build beautiful and affordable new homes. Thanks to James Gunn – the founder and Managing director of BCC – the company enjoyed continual growth allowing it to specialise in building quality single-storey and double-storey residentials. James was able to establish good relations with land developers, builders and local/international suppliers that made the business booming. In recent years, BCC has expanded its business to local governmental projects. Over the past few years, the BCC has been able to secure several projects with various city councils.

2. Organisational chart

The BCC team is a dynamic and rapidly growing team of about 50 sales consultants, construction professionals and project managers who possess a diverse range of knowledge and skills. BCC has adopted a projectised organisational structure (below).

3. Your team

You are a newly established project management team undertaking the following roles in the organisation and your upcoming project:

Junior project manager – Student 1

Project planning/risk expert – Student 2

Purchasing expert – Student 3

Supplier relations expert – Student 4.

The other members of your team are named within the organisational chart.

4. Meeting with the sponsor

Paul Rudd – the project director – has called you (Junior project manager) to a meeting. When you enter, you see also Steven Gerrard – an experienced project manager – is also there both looking not so happy.

Paul: Hi, thanks for coming. As a senior project manager, Steven suggested we meet and talk about one Community Hub Building (CHB) project that is going to commence soon. We believe that you and your team can help us with this project.

You: All right, interesting; I appreciate a new assignment. Can I have the “Project brief”?

Paul: Yes, of course. Chen – our estimator has printed a copy for you, and shortly you will have it in your mailbox [Download Assessment 3 project brief from Moodle]. However, before you start working on your project management plan (in the short form, project plan) with your team, I would like to go through several issues that we are facing that will impact your work!

You: I see. Not every project goes smoothly from the beginning. Please tell me what the problem is.

Steven: We secured the CHB project in early 2020 with Hume City Council [client] but due to the impacts of COVID-19 and lockdowns, the project was pended until now. The council has given us the green light to start the project, but the original estimate was in September 2019, and since that time, the construction prices have gone up significantly.

You: Well, this should not be a problem. We can re-estimate the prices and do a bottom-up estimate, but you know that it will take time, and I need my entire team to work on it.

Steven: I don’t think that is necessary. We have done an accurate estimation before and only need to adjust prices based on an updated construction index. Check for the “producer price index” in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.gov.au), and I am sure you will find something helpful in adjusting the project costs. But do not forget to adjust contingency based on your new estimation method.

Paul: Exactly. Also another point to consider is that the original building size was 5,000 square meters and now the council wants a bigger building with 6,000 square meters. Do not forget to revise the project plan and estimates accordingly.

You: As you know, I don’t have much experience in preparing a project plan. Can someone supervise me along the way?

Paul: Of course, we don’t leave you alone. Steven will supervise the process of preparing the project plan, and he is the one that will approve your plan on my behalf. [Your tutor will play the role of Steven for your team]. Also, Chen has reviewed the project brief again and has given you some feedback that might be helpful. Please have a check.

You: Excellent. Is there anything else I need to know before I get back to my team?

Steven: Yes, it is. The original project was to be executed in 24 months. However, given the current disruption in the material supply chain and the shortage of construction crews, we might need to adjust the project duration. Do a proper risk analysis, and do not forget to add a time buffer to your project.

Paul: Absolutely, the initial plan did not have any time buffer, but I think we need to secure ourselves with a proper time buffer. The council will penalise us 2.5% of the total project cost per month. This is something, we cannot afford.

You: Well, I haven’t done thorough project planning before, but it never hurts to try. Let me know if we run into more issues.

Paul: Steven [your tutor] will inform you if there are issues/changes along the way. I am sure you and your team can do the work perfectly—just a tip before you go. Ensure you spend enough time understanding the project brief, doing extensive research and pay attention to details.

Steven: Let me add one more tip: When preparing the project plan, never forget to document your assumptions and explain your rationale for different parts of the project plan. Remember, you cannot assign different parts of the plan to individual team members and expect them to work in isolation. This is not project management, and it will NOT work. You all need to work together and provide feedback to the others in their work.

You: Sure, I will keep this in mind. Anything else!

Paul: Ohhh, one more thing, keep in touch with Steven [your tutor] and show him your weekly work. This way, you might be able to mitigate some of the project risks! All the best.

You: Sure, will do. Anything else?

Paul: Mmmmm, I promise this is the last one. Steven [your tutor], please arrange a presentation meeting near the completion of the project plan. The team can have your final thoughts and considerations before they submit it through formal channels.

Steven: Sure, I will.

You: All good, I will be in touch.

5. Part A – Presenting the project plan

Once your project plan is near completion (during Weeks 11 and 12), as a team, you will have the chance to present the critical aspects of your project plan to the client representative [your tutor] and other students. Individually, you are also given a chance to reflect on your acquired knowledge and experiences throughout your teamwork and studying the unit while demonstrating your excellent presentation and communication skills.

All team members must attend and present an equal portion of work.

The presentation should cover all aspects of the project plan (Part B) in no more than 15 slides.

The presentations will be held during the tutorial classes: Weeks 11 and 12, either face-to-face or via Zoom.

Presenters will have 14-16 minutes to present plus 5 minutes for Q&A.

No marks will be awarded if the presentation is not given in the scheduled tutorial. The presentations will be graded based on individual performance at the presentation time.

Prepare your presentation as a PowerPoint file only and demonstrate your project plan during tutorial classes in Weeks 11 and 12, either face-to-face or via Zoom.

6. Part B – Project plan

Following the above conversation, your team must prepare a project plan and identify the activities needed to design, supply and build a CHB as per the provided “project brief”.

Steven Gerrard – senior project manager [your tutor], is your client representative. Steven supports you in clarifying the project requirements and guiding your team while preparing the project plan. During this time, Steven might bring new requirements for the project. You should be able to effectively engage the client representative in your project to ensure all requirements are clearly understood and incorporated into the project plan.

The project management plan must contain the following items:

Project description and justification

Provide a considered and concise description and background for the project. Justify the project and explain the expected outputs, outcomes and benefits of the project for its stakeholders.

Scope baseline

The baseline should contain a clear and concise scope statement, a well-thought project priority matrix, a well-crafted work breakdown structure (WBS) and a detailed WBS dictionary.

Remember a good project scope statement will be derived from a good understanding of the project requirements and defining the value for the key stakeholders. A proper scope should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-relate (SMART). Follow the provided scope statement checklist provided in the lecture slides.

Develop a project priority matrix considering the information provided in this document and the project brief.

A fully specified WBS depicts the major deliverables, sub-deliverables and work packages, while WBS codes and vertical relationships are clearly expressed.

WBS dictionary provides descriptions relevant to each element of the WBS. Prepare a descriptive table containing WBS codes, work package names and descriptions, and work package start and finish dates.

Schedule baseline

Prepare a detailed project activity list that is consistent with scope, major deliverables, WBS and WBS Dictionary. Use any Software (Word, Excel, MS Project, Teamgantt etc.) to develop the project Gantt chart covering all activities that have been identified. The Gantt chart must clearly identify and show:

WBS codes,

Project timeline,

Milestones to complete the project,

Activities predecessors and successors,

Activities start and finish dates,

Project critical path

Allocated resources

It is not enough to provide only software output, and a clear discussion of your scheduling logic, assumptions and key points of the schedule is essential. As a minimum, major milestones, completion dates, approval dates, critical activities and path durations must be discussed.

Resource management plan

In your project, resources could be direct labour, indirect labour, material and equipment. Assign resources to the required project activities, and show the workload of each resource. Moreover, ensure you use resource levelling and optimisation techniques to meet project priorities and develop an effective and efficient resource plan. Identify any additional expertise that may need to be brought in for the project (if any). Develop a responsibility matrix for the work packages. Here you can make a realistic assumption on what type of resources you need and what cost.

Key assumptions made in developing resource planning must be explained. For example, you should explain your approach to resource estimation, optimisation and levelling.

Cost baseline

Cost estimation of the project is essential [Please pay attention to discussions in Section 4]. You are required to specify the cost estimation method you use and justify it clearly. The budget table needs to be revisited, and a time-phased budget (cash flow) needs to be proposed and discussed. A funding requirement plan must be proposed based on the projected cash flow.

Key assumptions made in developing the cost baseline must be explained. For example, you should explain your cost re-estimation approach, preparation of time-phased budget and funding requirements.

Stakeholder management and communication plan

Identify project stakeholders and develop a stakeholder register and communication plan. You are required to identify stakeholders, analyse and map (e.g. power/interest grid) them using an appropriate tool and design an engagement plan. Then, a communication plan must be developed as per the chosen stakeholder engagement strategies and discussed. Discuss your stakeholder management approach.

Risk management plan

You need to clearly explain your risk management approach (how you want to deal with your project’s risks). Then, develop a risk assessment form focusing on significant project risks and identify risk values. Then, develop a risk response matrix for the top five risks.

You must identify at least 10 risk factors, rank them, and develop a risk response plan for the top 5 risks.

Do not forget to explain the risk assessment form in terms of risks’ probability and impact.

Do not forget to explain the selected risk response strategy and contingency plan for each one of the five risks.

Change management plan

Specify your change management approach for the project, ensuring all changes can be defined, reviewed, and agreed upon so they can be appropriately communicated and implemented to all stakeholders. Your change management plan should also include the type of changes you anticipate, a proposed change control board, a role/responsibility matrix for change, and a change management process (step-by-step guide for a change).

The change management approach is not to be confused with the change management process.

Team charter

A team charter is more concerned about your first team meeting when you kick off the project. Please briefly discuss the groups’ approach on how the team will accomplish the project. As with any new team, your team is required to do the followings:

Become acquainted with one another as individuals.

Develop a shared understanding of one another’s priorities or degree of commitment to group participation.

Share expectations regarding what the group should look like.

Establish a shared sense of group purpose.

[You as a team must participate in the “team charter activity” that will be conducted during Tutorials in Week 5]. You will be given instructions on how to perform in team charter activity. As a result, you are needed to add the below items to your project plan under the team charter section:

A brief biography of each team member,

A team goal statement outlining your team’s combined priorities and goals about the teamwork that you will engage in as a result of this assignment,

Team ground rules,

Conflict resolution process.

Template

This assignment must be delivered in a report format containing:

A cover letter,

Table of content,

Sections 1-9 mentioned above,

Reference list (if any),

Appendices (if any).

Task allocation to each team member and minimum 3 minutes of meeting.

Referencing guidelines

This assignment does not require a set number of references. However, if you rely on work from others, ensure that sources are referenced. A list of references and a bibliography must be included in this case.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about the honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of others while developing your insights, knowledge and ideas. You should take extreme care that you have:

Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assessment through the appropriate referencing methods,

Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites.

If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own.

CQUniversity treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct. Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

Failure to properly document a source,

Collusion between students.

For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.

Assessment declaration

When you submit work electronically, you agree to the below assessment declaration.

I have not impersonated or allowed myself to be impersonated by any person for the purposes of this assessment.

This assessment is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made.

No part of this assessment has been written for me/us by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer/teacher concerned.

I have correctly acknowledged the re-use of any of my own previously submitted work within this submission.

I agree that my assessment response to be reproduced, communicated compared and archived for the purposes of detecting plagiarism.

I agree that a copy of my assessment to be retained by the University for review and comparison, including review by external examiners.

I understand that:

Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to exclusion from the University.

Plagiarism includes the act of assisting or allowing another person to plagiarise or to copy my work.

I agree and acknowledge that:

I have read and understood the Declaration and Statement of Authorship above.

I accept that use of my CQU account to electronically submit this assessment constitutes my agreement to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship.

If I do not agree to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship in this context, the assessment outcome is not valid for assessment purposes and cannot be included in my aggregate score for this unit.

You will find more information about the penalties for plagiarism in the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure – CQU.

Marking criteria

PART A- Presenting the project plan

Criteria

Presentation content quality

4 marks

(group marking)

The content presented to the client was excellent and professional. The content demonstrates an excellent insight about the project plan and all required elements are fully covered.

The presentation timing was as per the allocated time.

Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.

Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.

Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.

Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.

No submission or presentation received, or no establishment of criteria requirements.

Presentation performance

6 marks

(individual marking)

The presentation was highly professional, demonstrating excellent presentation skills that keep the audience engaged and interested. The pace of presentation aided the audience engagement. Excellent use of voice and tone throughout the presentation.

Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.

Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.

Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.

Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.

No submission or presentation received or no establishment of criteria requirements.

PART B- Project plan

Criteria	HD	D	C	P	F
1- Project justification and description 2 marks A considered and concise description and background for the project is provided. The justification of project identifies and justifies the expected outputs, outcomes and benefits of the project for its stakeholders.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
2- Scope baseline 6 marks The baseline contains a clear and concise scope statement, a well-thought project priority matrix, a well-crafted work breakdown structure (WBS) and a detailed WBS dictionary.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
3- Schedule baseline 3 marks All major activities are identified and listed while schedule covers the whole scope. Time schedule is depicted while it clearly shows milestones, sequences, allocated resources and critical path. Scheduling logic and assumptions are also clearly discussed.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
4- Resource management plan 3 marks Resources are clearly identified and listed while assumptions are discussed. Resource usage and task usage are reported and discussed. A clear and concise responsibility matrix is developed. Resources are allocated to all project activities. Schedule shows an optimised resource allocation.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
5- Cost baseline 5 marks Project cost re-estimation is done. Budget table and time-phased budget teble/graphs (cash flow) are presented and justified. Appropriate funding arrangements is proposed. Assumptions and approach to cost estimation are clearly discussed.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
6- Stakeholder management and communication plan 6 marks Stakeholders are properly identified and analysed. Stakeholder mapping is depicted, and key stakeholders’ engagement strategies are identified and discussed. An appropriate communication plan is developed and discussed.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
7 – Risk management plan 6 marks Risk identification and assessment approach is correctly explained. Risk assessment matrix containing relevant ranked risks is presented and discussed. Appropriate risk response strategies are developed and discussed.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
8 – Change management plan 2 marks Change management approach is clearly explained. Correct types of changes and change control board are identified and proposed. Clear role/responsibility matrix for change and change management processes are identified.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
9 – Team charter 2 marks Clear team members biographies are presented. A relevant and well-thought team is narrated while team ground rules and a formal statement on conflict resolution process are identified and presented.	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.
10 – Overall plan quality Total 5 marks 4 marks Page number, table of contents, good flow of topics, clarity of language and grammar, coverage and completeness, proper citations and referencing (if any). Report contains a cover letter and all topics are clearly and professionally addressed. 1 mark Task allocation and at least 3 minutes of meeting	Outstanding effort. Criteria requirements fully achieved.	Satisfactory effort. Has elements of excellence but needs to be consistent across all criteria requirements.	Has rooms for growth to be completely satisfactory. Requires more improvement to fully satisfy criteria requirements.	Effort considered inferior to the required minimum standard. Limited establishment of criteria requirement.	No submission received or no establishment of criteria requirements.