Assessment Brief
Module Name: Fundamentals of Project Management 2020-21 SUM
|
Module Code |
Level |
Credit Value |
Module Leader |
|
BSOM071 |
7 |
20 |
Debbie
Alexander |
|
Assessment
title:
|
PJ1 Presentation of Outline Business Case and PID documentation |
|
Weighting: |
60% |
|
Submission
dates: |
Presentation
16th/ 23rd August PID 30th
August 2021 |
|
Feedback
and Grades due:
|
30th
September 2021 |
Please
read this assessment brief in its entirety before starting work on the
Assessment Task.
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:
a. Youth Clubs
b. Drama classes
for all ages
c. Baby and
toddler groups
d. Health and
wellbeing groups
e. Senior
Citizens
f.
Local musicians and artists
g. Gardening
enthusiasts to help with mental stress
h. Talks, workshops and courses
i.
Catering facilities
j.
Parking facilities
k. At least half
the plot should be dedicated to a community garden/allotment
l.
A parking area for at least 30 vehicles.
m. 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.
