Individual Discussion Engagement - Assignment Help

ndividual Discussion Engagement 1

Assessment 1: Individual Discussion Engagement

Students are required to address the question(s) that would be released on the following pages.  

Each "Individual Discussion Engagement" is worth 10%, making a total score of 20% at the end of the study period (semester).

You must address each "Individual Discussion Engagement" by wiring approx. 500 words. 

No Reference would be required. However, if you bring an argument from someone else, you must cite it within the text and reference it at the end of your work. References WILL be counted in the wording. Therefore, try to minimise the use of references.

Make sure you read the Assessment 1 marking criteria carefully before you start your work. 

Communication skills are important, so proofread your work carefully before you submit it. The standard of your writing will affect your mark.

You can find the pages and their questions below 

Discussion activity: Project goals and scope

You are the Project Manager for a three-day Music Festival to be held in country Victoria across the Australia Day long weekend in January. Past festivals had crowds ranging in size from 8,000 to 12,000. The weather is normally settled and fine at this time of the year. Local accommodation is limited and roads are typically narrow, winding and hilly.

1. What are the appropriate project goals for this type of event?
2. What might be an appropriate scope statement for this event?
3. How do you allocate your budget in each phase of the project life cycle?

• Required Length:  500 words
• Format: Written report (Turnitin-enabled for text similarity)
• Marks Allocated: 10%

Resources

• Project Goals

Writing Goals

Writing clear workable goals takes some practice.You may have heard of the S.M.A.R.T. way of writing goals.  Adopting an approach such as this will support the achievement of goals as energy and resources will be better focused on a specific outcome.

S - Specific (Vague - I want to run/Specific - I want to run a marathon)

M - Measurable (Vague - Run a marathon well/Specific - I want to complete a Marathon in under 4 hours)

A - Achievable (Vague - I will train for this/Specific - I will train by running 4 times per week for 6 months using an incremental distance program)

R - Relevant - (Vague - I will feel better/Specific - My health and general well-being will improve through the training and achievement of this goal)

T - Time bound - (Vague - Run a marathon next year/Specific - Run in the Sydney marathon on Sunday 17th September, 2017)

Reading list:

Read Goetz's article to see how to write clear and relevant goals for a project. (15 minutes)

• Goetz, R. 2010. Defining project goals and objectives. Project Smart. <https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/defining-project-goals-and-objectives.php>. viewed 6 September 2016.

Read Lovallo and Kahneman's article to learn how our innate biases impact on our decision-making. Awareness is the first step in developing preventive measures around our decision-making and helps us develop more realistic goals and objectives. (25 minutes)

• Lovallo, D. & Kahneman, D. 2003. Delusions of success: How optimism undermines executives’ decisions. Harvard Business Review, 81(7): 56-63. Click here if the link above is not working
• Project Scope

Readings

Read Chapter 1 and pages 509-510 and 521-528 from Chapter 11 of Kerzner's textbook to learn about the importance of the interrelatedness of components of Project Management processes. Take note of the five key processes identified in the PMBOK. Pay particular attention to the type of power typically available to a project manager and the attributes, skills and experience required to be successful. Think about why PM’s have this type of power and how it differs from the power held by functional or line managers. (1 hour)

• Kerzner, H. R. 2013. Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling and controlling (11th ed.). New Jersey: Wiley.

Review the key Trade-Offs, Competing Constraints in and how to determine if you are successful in Chapter 5, especially section 5.3, of Project Management Institute's guide. Section 5.3 from the PMBOK details the various areas to consider when defining scope. (1 hour)

• Project Management Institute. 2013. A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (5th ed.). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.

Read Chapter 6 Defining Scope, pages 148-150, of Kloppenborg's textbook to clarify what is deliverable and how you know this has been achieved to the required standard or quality. (20 minutes)

• Kloppenborg, T. J. 2014. Contemporary project management (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning US.

Examples of Scope Statements

Take a few minutes to look over these sites, which provide some examples of scope statements.

Bright hub project management - Examples of Project Scope Statements

ProjectEngineer - Day 1: Create a Scope Statement

This site includes a useful template for preparing scope statements:

Project Management Docs - Project Scope Statement Template

• Project Life Cycle

Readings

Read in Chapter 3, pages 62-64 of Kloppenborg's textbook for detail on a variety of Project Life Cycles.  (10 minutes)

• Kloppenborg, T. J. 2014. Contemporary project management (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning US.

Read the ExecutiveBrief's article to develop your understanding of how and why you would analyse and select a particular life cycle. (10 minutes)

• ExecutiveBrief. 2008. Which life cycle is best for your project?. Project Smart. <https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/which-life-cycle-is-best-for-your-project.php> viewed 22 September 2016.

Read in the PMBOK guide to build knowledge and understanding of differing life cycles. Pay particular attention to 2.4, pages 38 - 46. (25 minutes)

• Project Management Institute. 2013. A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (5th ed.). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.