ASSESSMENT TASK

Assuming you are the project manager for a real-life project with which you are familiar (see notes
below):
Part 1.
Write a report within 3000 words on the conduct of the management of your chosen project. Ensure that
you comment upon the financial management, change management and the management of the
various relationships formed during a project. You will need to refer to:
a) academic text books and journal papers for best practice and
b) the documents you produce in Part 2 and any further evidence required to back up your analysis.
For example, if you wished to say that you thought the project planning had been poor then you
would need to give a specific example of poor planning and to discuss how it might have been
done.
Aim to be balanced in your views, giving examples of good practice as well as bad practice where
appropriate.
Part 2.
Produce the following documents using the techniques covered in the course:
1. Outline (one page of A4 typed text) of the scope of the project you have chosen and your own
involvement with it. Include in this a brief outline of the need for the project.
2. A short list of the main requirements of the project.
3. A work breakdown structure (WBS). You should confine this to between 12 and 20 elements.
4. Analysis of between four and six risks (identified from the WBS) involved in your project.
5. A Gantt chart for the major activities of your project and a network analysis of one sub-set of these
activities.
6. A stakeholder map for your project, with a description of the stakeholders and explanation of what
their stakes are and an evaluation of the impact of each stakeholder on the project.
7. A diagram showing the project team structure and an evaluation of whether this organisation was
the best one for your type of project.
8. A one page memorandum to a senior manager, who is not the projects sponsor, setting out the
progress and status of your project at some crucial decision point in the project. - You will be
judged on your ability to extract the most salient facts and data and to synthesise these and
present alternative solutions, including pros and cons, within the confines of a 400 word memo.
9. Analysis of the motivations toward the project, at the beginning, part way through, of a project
team member. Use one of the models to explain the persons motivations.
10. Produce a summary closure report for the project, max 500 words.

SUBMISSION FORMAT
1. Report of 3000 words part 1.
2. Outcomes of tasks 1-10 above part 2 (approx 2000 words)

MARKING CRITERIA
The following criteria will be used to assess the assignment:
Appropriate application of various PM techniques to case study project
Critical evaluation of case study project
Appropriate references to a range of PM literature
Clear structure and presentation
Selection of appropriate case study project

60%
40%

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Having completed this unit the student is expected to demonstrate:
1. mastery of a range of techniques and the ability to handle contradictions in the knowledge
base;
2. analytical and critical thinking with respect to the planning of design and development
projects;
3. independent evaluation and argument of alternative approaches to situation, problems or
issues that occur when managing a project;
4. expert application of a number of different techniques used in the management and control of
projects, including financial aspects;
5. effective leadership and the ability to manage relationships in project teams.
NOTES
This assignment requires to be based on a real life project, it does not necessarily need to be a project
which you personally managed but you must know, or be able to find out, sufficient about it to put yourself
in the position of Project Manager.
The criteria for the ideal project are:
The project should not be confidential - you can change some details to assist with this.
The project must include some activities which take place simultaneously and therefore involve more
than one person, ideally a small team.
The size of the project should be large enough to make the exercises significant, yet small enough to
be outlined within a page of manuscript. A subproject may be appropriate.
The project should be a real one. It will be difficult to work on imaginary events and situations.
You should be able to identify a client for the project ie. Someone who requires the project to be
done, names may be changed for confidentiality.
The timescale of the project may be anything from a few weeks to two or three years.
A completed or nearly completed project will be easier to use than one that has only just started.
It is suggested that you use the activities you have to carry out numbered 1 - 10 to compare what should
have happened using the project management techniques presented in this course to what happened in
real life.