Fundamentals of Project Management 2020-21 SUM

The Assessment Task

The assignment is to test all aspects of project work and to build up a “project toolbox” that can be deployed in the role of project manager or as part of a project team. There will be access to shared resources, industry and site experts. Software and plans will be made available. Prince2® principles and standards will be expected and the use of Prince2 proformas where possible, some adaption of these proformas can be accommodated.  All the proformas will be provided within the assignment folder on NILE. Agile techniques will be introduced and should be demonstrated.

Students (in self-selected groups of no more than 5) are to produce a Project Initiation Document (PID).  There is also a presentation element to this assessment . Students will assess whether all members of the group have performed equally and will be asked to sign a document relating to this with the completed work.

The Project: Construction of a Community Centre

The University of Northampton is the UK’s first Changemaker Campus and one of only 50 universities across the world globally recognised for its commitment to affecting positive social change by promoting social justice, sustainability, and supporting students who become the Changemakers of the Future.  We want to build a community centre on the campus, with the aim of serving and nurturing our local community.  Our mission is to promote, enable and facilitate a wide variety of inclusive activities in order to improve the lives of the people in our community.

Through the Changemaker Challenges we actively encourage staff and student expertise to make positive contribution to their community, and for this project, we want to ensure we include two of the four key areas:

1. Contributing to making Northamptonshire the best county in the UK for children to flourish and learn

2. Contribute to making Northamptonshire the leading county in the UK for Health and Wellbeing

We already have permission to build on campus, on the plot of land between the river and the sports facilities.  There is already a good road link to the land.

Once the facilities have been built, we want to encourage students, staff at the university and the wider community to volunteer and help run the community centre.  It will be run as a charity.

As a group, you have been asked to produce a Project Initiation Document, including a detailed Business case (to include the business options).  It is important to establish what the benefits are from both a financial and non-financial aspect.

High level Requirements and Constraints

1. Currently we have funding from the National Lottery of £350,000 and are looking to obtain any additional finance from local investors. The land has already been purchased and is not included in this amount.

2. Once all the planning has been completed, the work should be planned to start no later than August 2021 and completed by the end of August 2022.

3. The project must include construction of an innovative multifunctional building to accommodate community activities.

4. The typical facilities we want to offer are to include:

    

1. Youth Clubs

2. Drama classes for all ages

3. Baby and toddler groups

4. Health and wellbeing groups

5. Senior Citizens

6. Local musicians and artists

7. Gardening enthusiasts to help with mental stress

8. Talks,  workshops and courses

9. Catering facilities

10. Parking facilities

11. At least half the plot should be dedicated to a community garden/allotment

12. A parking area for at least 30 vehicles.

13. A fence should be erected around the outdoor spaces to ensure young children are safe.

     

5. The project should be driven by new technology, innovation and sustainability principles.

6. The project, once completed, should be self-sustaining from a financial perspective, therefore consideration during the design needs to accommodate the need for income generation (hiring of spaces for parties and events to both individuals and businesses, restaurant/café, shop selling local crafts/food grown on the allotment etc.,).  Also, the facilities we will be offering will also bring in some income but the intension is that these should be free wherever possible.

It will be necessary to consult with the client to fully appreciate what their needs are for the project as only an outline has been provided.   Once you have identified additional requirements for the project, you are expected to produce a prioritised list (MoSCoW), and draw up the design plans. 

All group work should be uploaded to your NILE group area in a timely manner. Include agendas and minutes of all group meetings held and include a RACI matrix for your team members and stakeholders.

Project Deliverables:

1. Assign roles and responsibilities for the project team (RACI matrix).

2. Prepare a PID (with Business Case including all aspects as shown below.  Ensure you include a detailed prioritised requirements list for the considered options.

3. Log Risks in an Excel spreadsheet as located under Axelos Prince2® downloads - Risk register – and identify the Main Risks for the Business Case for the options (do nothing, do the minimal, do something).

4. Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project. Break down the work to level 2 or level 3, as appropriate. Enter the WBS on your chosen software and be sure that it is based on the project brief provided here, the devised scope statement and other relevant information. Produce the project schedule  (the Gantt chart)  in MS Project/Excel or similar software.  Include the original MS Project /Excel file in your final submission.

5. Identify at least fifteen milestones for this project. Produce a network diagram showing the critical path.

6. Prepare a detailed cost estimate for the project, using any rigorous techniques with which you are familiar. You will conduct an investment appraisal using both ARR and Payback methods, determining which option is the best through ranking the appraisal results in a table.  You will then work out detailed costings for each option ensuring that you have factored in the use of Energy Saving methods and Sustainability.  There will be many assumptions you will have to make regarding income generation and projections, but provide as much detail as possible.

7. Presentation of your project.  During the presentation, students are expected to use drawings and sketches to show the proposed layout and facilities. Students will be encouraged to use 2D or 3D software (try Sketchup as it is free) for their presentation to show their final layouts and designs.

The assignment is split into sections, to align with some of the PRINCE2 proformas.  The project is contrived to mimic as closely as possible a real project. Obviously, this involves some role play and a vivid imagination. Please ask if you need clarification as to my expectations for this assignment.

Word Limits

The maximum word limit for this assignment is 2000 words per student. This is a group assignment, therefore if there are four in a group the approximate word count should be 8000 words in total.  

Please ensure only one member of the group submits the final documentation.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

• Compare, contrast and critically evaluate different theoretical approaches to project management in terms of frameworks, models and techniques and ascertain how they could align and be deployed to the needs of specific projects.  

• Systematically select and implement a variety of analytical methods to assess the feasible financial options for a given project and critically evaluate the perceived commercial viability of specific scenarios. 

• Diagnostically select and utilise a range of strategies and technologies to cultivate and deploy best practice initiatives in the handling of risk, quality, resources and time issues within the project management processes. 

• Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and engage with groups, in oral, written form, exhibiting a masters level of academic rigour and the practical and analytic competencies needed for engaging with a project team. 

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in the way relevant for this assessment. Please see the grading rubric on NILE for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed. 

Assessment Support

Specific support sessions for this assessment will be provided by the module team and notified through NILE. You can also access individual support and guidance for your assessments from Library and Learning Services.  Visit the Skills Hub to access this support and to discover the online support also available for assessments and academic skills. 

Academic Integrity and Misconduct

Unless this is a group assessment, the work you produce must be your own, with work taken from any other source properly referenced and attributed. For the avoidance of doubt this means that it is an infringement of academic integrity and, therefore, academic misconduct to ask someone else to carry out all or some of the work for you, whether paid or unpaid, or to use the work of another student whether current or previously submitted.

For further guidance on what constitutes plagiarism, contract cheating or collusion, or any other infringement of academic integrity, please read the University’s Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy.  Also useful resources to help with understanding academic integrity are available from UNPAC .

N.B. The penalties for academic misconduct are severe and can include failing the assessment, failing the module and expulsion from the university.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Submit your work’ area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload your report. The deadline for this is 11.59pm (UK local time) on the date of submission. Please note that essays and text based reports should be submitted as word documents and not PDFs or Mac files. 

Written work submitted to TURNITIN will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software.  Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its own proprietary database. Work 

 

When you upload your work correctly to TURNITIN you will receive a receipt which is your record and proof of submission.  If your assessment is not submitted to TURNITIN, rather than a receipt, you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission. 

N.B Work emailed directly to your tutor will not be marked. 

Late submission of work

For first sits, if an item of assessment is submitted late and an extension has not been granted, the following will apply:

• Within one week of the original deadline – work will be marked and returned with full feedback, and awarded a maximum bare pass grade.

• More than one week from original deadline – grade achievable LG (L indicating late).

For resits there are no allowances for work submitted late and it will be treated as a non-submission. 

Please see the Assessment and Feedback Policy for full information on the processes related to assessment, grading and feedback, including anonymous grading.  You will also find the generic grading criteria for achievement at  University Grading Criteria.  Also explained there are the meanings of the various G grades at the bottom of the grading scale including LG mentioned above.

Extensions

The University of Northampton’s general policy with regard to extensions is to be supportive of students who have genuine difficulties, but not against pressures of work that could have reasonably been anticipated.

 

For full details please refer to the Extensions Policy.  Extensions are only available for first sits – they are not available for resits.

Mitigating Circumstances

For guidance on Mitigating circumstances please go to Mitigating Circumstances where you will find detailed guidance on the policy as well as guidance and the form for making an application.

Please note, however, that an application to defer an assessment on the grounds of mitigating circumstances should normally be made in advance of the submission deadline or examination date.

 

Feedback and Grades

These can be accessed through clicking on the Feedback and Grades tab on NILE. Feedback will be provided by a rubric with summary comments.