Assignment Task
Context
This Assessment aims to evaluate and assess your knowledge and skills in planning and then replanning a Project Schedule based on the ‘Project Scenario’ by creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Network Diagram, Gantt Chart and Critical Path. Furthermore, you must show how you have allocated and assigned human resources to the Project Schedule to help achieve the project’s scope and time objectives. Advanced skills with MSProject® are not required for you to fulfil the requirements of this Assessment.
Scenario
The following scenario describes a fictitious but realistic project (European Holiday) where you must plan and manage it as though you were the appointed Project Manager. You are also an active member of the project team and can be allocated to perform work on the project.
You live with your partner/spouse and two pre-teen children in Perth, Western Australia. You work as a Senior Manager of a major engineering consultancy.
With the region’s economic performance being impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, you have successfully driven a reorganisation of your company and introduced an innovative skills development program focusing on the upliftment of Project Management competencies of your staff. This approach has markedly reduced overheads and improved profit performance, despite the challenges that COVID-19 has introduced.
As Australia is a member of the Commonwealth, member countries have agreed to share their knowledge on boosting their economies at a Commonwealth level, postCOVID, and Scotland has agreed to host a ‘Commonwealth Conference’ to facilitate this.
As a consequence of your innovative contribution, your company has invited you to present a paper at the conference in Scotland to share the strategy and approach you took to uplift your team’s Project Management competencies. The conference takes place for three (3) days in Edinburgh, Scotland, starting on the 1st Monday in September.
You will be presenting a keynote paper at the start of the conference, and you are expected to represent the company throughout the conference, where you hope to gain some significant business connections. Your family are very enthusiastic about this opportunity. They have recently discussed the idea of an overseas family holiday now that some regions have opened their borders again and a vaccine is in place.
In a family meeting, it is determined that the whole family will travel and make this a three (3) week European family holiday which must include at least three (3) countries (including Scotland) with at least five (5) full days (excluding travel) in each country visited, to appreciate the sights and the culture. You will be using your annual leave entitlement for the time away from work.
Your family members understand that they will need to seek alternative arrangements (excursions) over the conference time, but otherwise, you will travel as a family.
Due to time constraints with work, you will have to start your trip with Scotland being the first country visited. Having accepted these constraints, you proceed to plan your holiday. Being the ‘Project Manager’ of this family project, you undertake all the Project Management related tasks and make all the plans, delegating tasks to the other family members, as required.
Your work commitments are such that you cannot leave Perth for Scotland until after an all-day industrial hearing that you are required to attend in Perth on the Friday before the 1st Monday in
COVID-19 has mostly been eradicated in Western Australia and is managed in areas of Europe and the UK. Between these regions, travel is being promoted to boost the respective economies.
The Australian Government stipulates that all travel out of Australia requires a COVID-19 vaccine at least 2-weeks before departure.
1A. Identify a minimum of seventy-five (up to a maximum of one hundred tasks to be represented in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
Each of the seventy-five or more tasks must be written as a ‘verb noun’.
The initial Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) must have a minimum of four levels. More than four (4) levels are acceptable.
The initial Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) must be presented as a ‘tree structure’ showing the decomposition of the project into a minimum of four (4) levels.
The initial Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) must be developed using applications other than
The initial developed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) must be saved in a PDF format and embedded in Appendix A of your MSWord document. N/A 20 for all of Task 1A 1B
1B. Based on the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) developed in Task 1A, develop an initial Project Schedule using MSProject 2016 or above.
The initial Project Schedule must reflect the following key columns in the Gantt Chart:
1. Task Number
2. WBS Code
3. Indented Task List
4. Start Date, Duration, End Date
5. Predecessors and Successors
6. Free Slack
7. Critical Status
8. Assigned Resource Name
9. Budget
The initial Gantt Chart’s timeline must be shown in weeks, and Milestones must be visible.
The initial Gantt Chart must be supported by a ‘Network Diagram’ that has been logically structured and clearly shows the project’s Critical Path’.
The initial Gantt Chart must have a saved ‘Baseline’ that must be visible on the Gantt Chart.
The saved initial project baseline must be embedded into your MSWord® document (Appendix A) in an MSProject 2016 or above .mpp file format only
1C. Explain (with the help of academic sources) what constitutes a Project ‘Assumption’ and a Project Constraint’.
Identify four (4) Project Assumptions and four (4) Project Constraints and highlight which of the identified ‘Constraints’ is expected to have the most significant impact on your initial baselined Project Schedule developed in Part 1B.
2A. The sequence of tasks in a Project Schedule is based on dependencies, which may be either:
Hard (Mandatory)
Soft (Discretionary); or
External
Briefly define and describe (with the help of academic sources) each of these different types of dependencies.
Using your Project Schedule developed in Part 1B, illustrate each of the dependency types mentioned above with the use of a specific example.
3. Change Impact
On the first day of arrival in Scotland, alarmed by a significant secondary outbreak in Europe, the British Government decided to lock down the borders and prohibit any travel in or out of the United Kingdom (UK) for two (2)-weeks.
This is a complete lockdown, and no one is permitted to enter or exit the country – no exceptions. However, domestic travel in the UK and travel between the UK and Ireland is still permitted.
In response, the Australian Government has followed suit and will only allow Australian residents and citizens to return, where a two (2)-week mandatory quarantine is strictly observed. As an Australian citizen, you andyour family are permitted to self-quarantine at home on your return.
Replan your initial baselined Project Schedule to include the change as defined above. Ensure you can manage any significant risks associated with this change.
3A. Develop a revised Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) showing which tasks have been removed and which tasks have been added due to the change impact. Removed tasks must be highlighted in ‘yellow’ and newly added tasks in ‘green’.
As a result of the revised Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), revise the initial Project Schedule again reflecting the following key columns in the Gantt Chart:
1. Task Number
2. WBS Code
3. Indented Task List
4. Start Date, Duration, End Date
5. Percentage Progress to point of Changes
6. Predecessors and Successors
7. Free Slack
8. Critical Status
9. Assigned Resource Name
10. Budget
The newly added tasks from the revised WBS must be highlighted in green on the revised Gantt Chart.
The revised Gantt Chart’s timeline must be shown in weeks, and Milestones must be visible.
The revised Gantt Chart must be supported by a Network Diagram that has been logically structured and clearly shows the project’s Critical Path’.
The revised Gantt Chart must have a new saved Baseline’ and be visible on the Gantt Chart. The initial saved baseline must also be visible.
The changed saved project baseline must be embedded into your MSWord® document (Appendix A) in an MSProject 2016 or above .mpp file format only.
3B. Explain the changes you had to make to accommodate the COVID-19 Lockdown restrictions. Explain the impact on the initial Project Schedule and what new issues and risks needed to be considered to achieve the original project objectives.
