Project Management

Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and RubricCompetency Name: Applied Project Management
Competency Statement: Demonstrate an understanding of project management, applications, and
tools used.
Final Assessment Title: Project Plan
Competency Objectives:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the foundational concepts of project management,
including the system view of project management and information systems development
life cycle.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the five project management process groups and their
interactions, project integration management, and cost-benefit analysis.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of project quality, communications, and human resources
management.
4. Create a project plan including project scope management and work breakdown, project
timeline, project resources, cost management, and post-appraisal.
Program Learning Outcome(s): N/A
Institutional Learning Outcome(s): N/A
Purpose of this Assessment
People have been undertaking projects since the earliest days of organized human activity. The hunting
parties of our prehistoric ancestors were projects. Large complex undertakings such as the pyramids and
the Great Wall of China are also considered projects. Even something as simple as creating a dinner is
considered a project. We use the term “project” frequently in our daily conversations. For this final
assessment you are expected to demonstrate knowledge of project management, applications, and
tools used by creating a project plan.
Items Required for Submission
The item required for submission is a 15 to 20-page Project Plan.
Step ONE: Choose a Project
Choose a project for your project plan. The project that you choose can be work or community related.
As you choose your project for this assignment, consider the answers to the questions below. For
something to be considered a project, the answer to all of these questions must be “yes.”
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Is it unique?
Does it have a start and end date? (Is it a temporary endeavor?)
Is there a way to determine whether the project has been completed?
Is there a way to determine stakeholder satisfaction?
Is this project complex enough to meaningfully discuss each and every section of the project plan,
yet limited enough to discuss in less than 20 pages? For example, creating a dinner for your family
would not be complex enough to detail a meaningful staffing plan, communications plan, etc.
Creating a dinner at Buckingham Palace would be complex enough, but possibly difficult to discuss
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Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
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thoroughly in 20 pages. Read through all the required sections for the Project Plan before you make
your final decision about your project.
Do you know the project very well? Project Management is a highly transferrable skill from one
profession to another, but most individual project plans rely on intricate, finely grained
understanding of all the particular industry terms, components and relationships. For this plan, you
cannot rely on technical jargon or industry standard operating procedures to describe the sections.
Your plan must explain to a reasonable stakeholder, with very basic knowledge about the project,
exactly what to expect.
Step TWO: Write a Project Plan
Once you have identified a project you must create the project plan. Recall that project planning is at
the heart of the project life cycle and tells everyone involved where you’re going and how you’re going
to get there. The planning phase is when the project plans are documented, the project deliverables and
requirements are defined, and the project schedule is created. It involves creating a set of plans to help
guide your team through the implementation and closure phases of the project. The plans created
during this phase will help you manage time, cost, quality, changes, risk and related issues. It will also
help you control staff and external suppliers, to ensure that you deliver the project on time, on budget
and within schedule.
Your Project Plan must include:
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Introduction
o The Introduction provides a high-level overview of the project and what is included in this
Project Management Plan. This should include a high-level description of the project and
describe the project’s deliverables and benefits. Excessive detail is not necessary in this section
as the other sections of the project plan will include this information. This section should
provide a summarized framework of the project and its purpose. Typically, you would look back
at the Project Charter for information to include in this section.
Project Management Approach
o Explain in general the roles and authorities of project team members. Include information about
which departments, etc., will provide the resources and what resource constraints are to be
considered. If there are decisions to be taken by specific persons, such information should be
included here as well.
Milestone List
o Provide a summary list of milestones, including dates for each milestone. Include an
introductory paragraph in this section, which provides some insight to the major milestones.
This section should also mention or discuss actions taken if any changes to the milestones or
delivery dates are required.
Baselines
o Schedule
§ The schedule baseline provides a reference point for managing project progress as it
pertains to schedule and timeline.
o Cost
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Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
This section contains the cost baseline for the project upon which cost management will
be based. The project will use earned value metrics to track and manage costs while the
cost baseline provides the basis for the tracking, reporting, and management of costs.
o Scope/quality
§ This section should include the quality baseline for the project. The purpose of this
baseline is to provide a basis for ensuring that quality can be measured to determine if
acceptable quality levels have been achieved. It is important for all projects to clearly
define and communicate quality standards and the quality baseline serves this purpose.
Project Scope and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
o State the scope of the project in this section. The scope statement from the project charter
should be used as a starting point; however, the project plan needs to include a much more
detailed scope than the charter. This detail should include what the project does and does not
include. The more detail included in this section, the better the product. This will help to clarify
what is included in the project and help to avoid any confusion from project team members and
stakeholders.
o The WBS provides the work packages to be performed for the completion of the project.
Change Management Plan
o This section should describe your change control process. Ideally, this process will be some type
of organizational standard, which is repeatable and done on most or all projects when a change
is necessary. Changes to any project must be carefully considered and the impact of the change
must be clear in order to make any type of approval decisions. Many organizations have change
control boards (CCBs), which review proposed changes and either approve or deny them. This is
an effective way to provide oversight and to ensure adequate feedback and review of the
change is obtained. This section should also identify who has approval authority for changes to
the project, who submits the changes, and how they are tracked and monitored.
Communications Management Plan
o The purpose of the Communications Management Plan is to define the communication
requirements for the project and how information will be distributed to ensure project success.
You should give considerable thought to how you want to manage communications on every
project. By having a solid communications management approach you’ll find that many project
management problems can be avoided. In this section you should provide an overview of your
communications management approach. Generally, the Communications Management Plan
defines the following:
§ Communication requirements based on roles
§ What information will be communicated
§ How the information will be communicated
§ When will information be distributed
§ Who does the communication
§ Who receives the communication
§ Communications conduct
Cost Management Plan
o The Cost Management Plan clearly defines how the costs on a project will be managed
throughout the project’s lifecycle. It sets the format and standards by which the project costs
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Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
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are measured, reported, and controlled. Working within the cost management guidelines is
imperative for all project team members to ensure successful completion of the project. These
guidelines may include which level of the WBS cost accounts will be created in, and the
establishment of acceptable variances. The Cost Management Plan:
§ Identifies who is responsible for managing costs
§ Identifies who has the authority to approve changes to the project or its budget
§ How cost performance is quantitatively measured and reported upon
§ Report formats, frequency, and to whom they are presented
Procurement Management Plan
o The Procurement Management Plan should be defined to clearly identify the necessary steps
and responsibilities for procurement from the beginning to the end of a project. The project
manager must ensure that the plan facilitates the successful completion of the project and does
not become an overwhelming task in itself to manage. The project manager will work with the
project team, contracts/purchasing department, and other key players to manage the
procurement activities.
Project Scope Management Plan
o It is important that the approach to managing the project’s scope be clearly defined and
documented in detail. Failure to clearly establish and communicate project scope can result in
delays, unnecessary work, failure to achieve deliverables, cost overruns, or other unintended
consequences. This section provides a summary of the Scope Management Plan in which it
addresses the following:
§ Who has authority and responsibility for scope management
§ How the scope is defined (i.e. Scope Statement, WBS, WBS Dictionary, Statement of
Work, etc.)
§ How the scope is measured and verified (i.e. Quality Checklists, Scope Baseline, Work
Performance Measurements, etc.)
§ The scope change process (who initiates, who authorizes, etc.)
§ Who is responsible for accepting the final project deliverable and approving acceptance
of project scope
Schedule Management Plan
o This section provides a general framework for the approach, which will be taken to create the
project schedule. Effective schedule management is necessary for ensuring tasks are completed
on time, resources are allocated appropriately, and helping to measure project performance.
This section should include discussion of the scheduling tool/format, schedule milestones, and
schedule development roles and responsibilities.
PERT Chart Development
o The Program Evaluations Review Technique (PERT) is a technique used to plan, schedule, and
control projects. This tool uses a precedence diagram technique which means an activity
proceeds an activity and is represented through the use of associated graphics; arrows and
nodes. When creating a PERT chart be sure to include the tasks or activities and present them as
arrows. Then ensure the Milestone/Dates are captured as nodes. If you choose to code the
activities and milestone dates, be sure to provide a key for the coded activities so the chart can
be interpreted correctly.
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Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
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Quality Management Plan
o This section discusses how quality management will be used to ensure that the deliverables for
the project meet a formally established standard of acceptance. All project deliverables should
be defined in order to provide a foundation and understanding of the tasks at hand and what
work must be planned. Quality management is the process by which the organization not only
completes the work but completes the work to an acceptable standard. Without a thorough
Quality Management Plan, work may be completed in a substandard or unacceptable manner.
This section should include quality roles and responsibilities, quality control, quality assurance,
and quality monitoring.
Risk Management Plan
o This section provides a general description for the approach taken to identify and manage the
risks associated with the project. It should be a short paragraph or two summarizing the
approach to risk management on this project.
Stakeholder Management Plan
Staffing/Human Resource Management Plan
o Discuss how you plan to staff the project. This section should include discussion on matrixed or
projectized organizational structure, depending on which is being used for this project. This
section should also include how resources will be procured and managed as well as the key
resources needed for the project.
Step THREE: Complete Checklist for Submission
Before you submit your work, check to see if you have met the criteria noted below. Did you:
ü Make sure your plan contains all required components as indicated in the guidelines, with clear
and complete descriptions for each?
ü Demonstrate sophisticated understanding of project management, applications, and tools
throughout the project plan?
ü Show that you fully understand the depth and breadth of the subject matter as well as all
related concepts as they relate to project management?
ü Make sure there are no errors in content or interpretation of the material?
ü Use or apply project management methodologies throughout the project plan?
ü Review your plan to see that it is logical, well written, and of the required length? Use accurate
spelling, grammar, and punctuation? Follow APA formatting standards?
Step FOUR: Submit Your Work
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Your completed files should be submitted through the Final Assessment page of your competency.
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Please note, for files smaller than 10MB (e.g., most Word documents), use the corresponding
“+UPLOAD STUDENT FILE” button to upload your Final Assessment documents.
Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
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Applied Project Management Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
Scoring Rubric for Final Assessment
Criterion
Project Plan
EMERGING
Contains some
required
components as
indicated in the
guidelines with
limited descriptions
for each.
DEVELOPING
Contains most
required
components as
indicated in the
guidelines with
descriptions for
each.
PROFICIENT
Contains all required
components as
indicated in the
guidelines with
descriptions for each.
Project
Management
Demonstrates no
greater than surface
understanding of
project
management,
applications, and
tools.
Misunderstands key
project management
concepts. Significant
errors in content or
interpretation of the
material. May not
use or apply project
management
methodologies.
Demonstrates
partial
understanding of
project
management,
applications, and
tools.
Missing the depth
and breadth of the
subject matter as
well as all related
concepts as they
relate to project
management.
Several
(more than five)
errors in content or
interpretation of the
material. Uses or
applies project
management
methodologies.
The project plan is
somewhat logical
and well written; too
long or short. Some
errors in spelling,
grammar, and/or
punctuation. APA
standards are
somewhat followed
but with numerous
errors.
Demonstrates
adequate
understanding of
project management,
applications, and
tools.
Application
Writing
Mechanics
The project plan
lacks clarity and may
be confusing; too
long or short.
Numerous errors in
spelling, grammar,
and/or punctuation.
Limited, if any,
adherence to APA
standards.
Final Assessment: Outline and Rubric
Demonstrates some
understanding of the
depth and breadth of
the subject matter as
well as all related
concepts as they
relate to project
management. Fewer
than four errors in
content or
interpretation of the
material. Uses or
applies project
management
methodologies.
The project plan is
logical, well written,
and of the required
length. There may be
one or two minor
errors in spelling,
grammar, and/or
punctuation. APA
formatting standards
are followed with a
few minor errors.
EXEMPLARY
Contains all
required
components as
indicated in the
guidelines with
clear and
complete
descriptions for
each.
Demonstrates
sophisticated
understanding of
project
management,
applications, and
tools.
Fully understands
the depth and
breadth of the
subject matter as
well as all related
concepts as they
relate to project
management. No
errors in content
or interpretation
of the material.
Uses or applies
project
management
methodologies.
The project plan is
logical, well
written, and of
the required
length. Spelling,
grammar, and
punctuation are
accurate. APA
formatting
standards are
followed.
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