School of Project Management
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BUSM4613 Project Management Techniques Assessment 3a: MS Project Option 1
Assessment Type: Individual Project Plan
Word limit: N/A
Due date:
Weighting
Overview
Thursday of Week 7, 23:59 Melbourne time 30%
The aim of this assignment is to understand and apply the concept of systematic project planning and scheduling to an event/project using MS Project
Learning Outcomes
CLO 1 Select and apply appropriate project management techniques to manage project duration and cost
CLO 2 Analyse and apply principles of cost control, cash flow planning and financial administration to ensure effective project management
CLO 3 Control project cost and duration
Upon successful completion of this assessment you will be able to apply planning techniques on any kind of projects.
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Assessment details
Brief
You work for “Reasonable Builders”. The company is negotiating a contract to build two units on a vacant block of land in Essendon. The owner of the company has asked you to give him a time line and cost in which these two units can be built and to provide him with MS Project Schedule using MS Project. This will help him to negotiate the price with the Client. This is the first time for you to develop a multi project plan/schedule. Recently, you have learnt a great deal in using MS Project and you are eager to use your skills on this project. From the company records you can get hold of a guiding schedule for one unit and your job is now to schedule the construction of both units in a most effective way. The schedule for one unit is below.
You think of two apparent ways of doing the job:
1. Build the units one after the other but then you think it would take twice as long to build all the units and the
Client may not be happy about it neither your boss.
2. Build two units together but it would possibly double the resource requirements.
You conclude that you need to work on a mixed strategy. You will link some tasks across
“Units” so if one task finishes in one Unit that can be started in the other Unit. You also find out that some tasks can be started together, and resources can be shared/distributed. Where they cannot be shared you can advise your boss to recruit/contract more resources but obviously, it will cost more. After some trials you are ready to present your Master Plan (Project file that contains two Units together). Along with your Master Plan you write a project report that highlights:
a) How have you optimised the time and the resources?
b) What is the duration and cost of the whole project and what is critical path and what are the critical activities? c) What are the resources required and their numbers for this project according to your plan?
Task Name
Duration
Predecess
ors
Resource Names
1
Plans and Site
36 days
2
Create site plans
2 days
Draftsperson
3
Arrange council permit
2 days
2
Draftsperson
4
Prepare site
7 days
3FS + 14
days
Labourer (300%) Carpenter
5
Organise Materials
4 days
4SS
Supervisor
6
Lay Foundations
7 days
4,5
Concreter, Carpenter, Labourer (200%)
7
Plumbing for
Sewerage
3 days
6
Plumber
8
Pour Slab
1 day
7
Concreter (300%), Carpenter, Labourer
9
Foundations Comp
0 days
8
10
To Lock Up
25 Days
11
Erect Framing
4 days
9
Carpenter (400%)
12
Lay roofing
12 days
11
Roof Tiler (200%), Labourer (200%)
13
Brick Walls
6 days
12
Bricklayer (400%)
14
Fit windows and doors
3 days
13, 11
Carpenter (200%)
15
Lockup
0 days
14
16
Fit Out
35 days
17
Electrical cables
2 days
15
Electrician
18
Internal plumbing
3 days
17SS
Plumber
19
Plaster walls
6 days
18,17
Plasterer (300%)
20
Internal doors and trim
4 days
19
Carpenter (200%)
21
Install kitchen
4 days
20
Cabinet maker (200%)
22
Install bathroom
6 days
21SS
Cabinet maker, Plumber
23
Final electrical fittings
2 days
22, 21
Electrician
24
Final plumbing fittings
2 days
23SS
Plumber
25
Paint
6 days
24
Painter (300%)
26
Council approval
1 day
25
27
Construction
complete
0 days
26FS +
7days
2
Assessment details (continued)
Brief (continued)
Guide to Standard Rates: You may change if you wish
Resource
Std
Rate
per
hour
1
Draftsperson
$40
2
Electrician
$33
3
Plumber
$35
4
Concreter
$18
5
Carpenter
$19
6
Labourer
$12
7
Painter
$14
8
Supervisor
$28
9
Cabinet Maker
$20.50
1
0
Roof Tiler
$15
1
1
Bricklayer
$13
1
2
Plasterer
$14
Your boss appreciates your work and successfully negotiates the project with the Client. The duration and cost that you estimated becomes the baseline. The Client agrees to provide all the material to be used and contracts your company for providing the services on Cost plus Fixed Fee basis.
The project gets underway. Unfortunately, Draftsperson leaves your company just a day before the project is going to start. It takes your boss a week to arrange a new draftsperson. As he is a new person, it takes him at least 2 days longer than planned to finish his job. When the slab is being poured for Unit 1 the concrete mixer breaks down. You stop the work for that day and complete the rest of the job the next day. You also find out that erecting the frame takes at least 3 days more than what you have planned for. You constantly update the project to monitor the changes.
When the project is approximately half way through, your boss asks you to develop a formal progress report so that it can be sent to the Client.
This report presents the progress of the project and contains the following:
1.Current status of the project
2.Tracking Gantt Chart
3.Variances tables for time and cost.
Assume the Project Start Date. Assume the working time as 8hr/day from 8:30am – 5:30pm with one hour break. Assume any missing data such as Public holidays, Xmas Period and state this upfront in your Planning Report.
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Referencing guidelines
You must acknowledge all the courses of information you have used in your assessments.
Refer to the RMIT Easy Cite referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the appropriated style. You can also refer to the library referencing page for more tools such as EndNote, referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing.
Use RMIT Harvard referencing style for this assessment.
Submission format
Upload as one single folder via the Assignments submission page within Canvas.
Academic integrity and plagiarism
Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas.
You should take extreme care that you have:
Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your
assessment through the appropriate referencing methods,
Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if
necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites.
If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate
referencing, as if they were your own.
RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct.
Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:
Failure to properly document a source
Copyright material from the internet or databases
Collusion between students.
For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.
Assessment declaration
When you submit work electronically, you agree to the Assessment declaration.
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Criteria Ratings Points HD D CR P N
General sections Outstanding. General sections of the report include the title page,
Excellent.
Very good.
Good.
Poor.
executive summary, table of contents, and an introduction to the report.
Make sure you include all these sections in your report. The table of contents should include all contents and indicate the
page numbers. The executive summary should provide a snapshot of the results of each section of the report. Your reader should get a good understanding of the result of your planning by reading the executive summary. The introduction section is an introduction to the report. Use this space to introduce the report to the reader. By reading this section, the reader should be able to gain a good understanding of
what the report is about.
The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.
The
document
includes
most the outlined information in this criterion.
The
document
includes
some of the outlined
information
in this criterion.
The
document
includes few of the outlined
information in this criterion.
The document
includes none of the outlined information in this criterion.
2 to >1.59 1.59 to >1.39 1.39 to >1.19 1.19 to >0.99 0.99 to >0 2 pts
Planning report Outstanding. The first part of the report is the planning of the time,
Excellent.
Very good.
Good.
Poor.
cost, and resources. Planning report should clearly explain how you have optimised time and resources for this project. It should demonstrate the calculation and the result for the project duration and cost. The critical path and critical activities should be clearly reported. The type and the number of resources should also be tabulated in the report. Make sure your project plan includes this information:
• Optimisation of Time and Resources • Project Time and cost • Critical Path and Activities • List of resources required and their numbers •Printed Gantt Chart • Printed Activity Network.
The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.
The
document
includes
most the outlined information in this criterion.
The
document
includes
some of the outlined
information
in this criterion.
The
document
includes few of the outlined
information in this criterion.
The document
includes none of the outlined information in this criterion.
10 to >7.99 7.99 to >6.99 6.99 to >5.99 5.99 to >4.99 4.99 to >0 10 pts
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MS Project Master plan file
The project plan report should be accompanied by a MS Project that shows how you implemented the planning. The Master plan file should demonstrate correct implementation of the following points: • Calendar set up • Relationships logic • Resourcing appropriate • Over-allocation removed • Critical Path highlighted.
Outstanding.
The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.
Excellent.
The document includes most the outlined information in this criterion.
Very good.
The document includes some of the outlined
information in this criterion.
Good.
The document includes few of the outlined
information in this criterion.
Poor.
The document includes none of the outlined
information in this criterion.
6 to>4.79 4.79 to >4.19 4.19 to >3.59 3.59 to >2.99 2.99 to>0 6 pts
Tracking report Outstanding.
Excellent.
Very good.
Good.
Poor.
The tracking report describes the current status of the project. The report should show how you dealt with the project variations and the revised plan for the project. Make sure your tracking report includes this information: • Printed Gantt chart showing progress • Printed Tracking Gantt Chart • Printed Variances tables for time and cost.
The document includes all the outlined information in this
criterion.
The document includes most the outlined information in this criterion.
The
document
includes some of the outlined
information in this criterion.
The
document
includes few of the outlined
information in this criterion.
The document includes none of the outlined
information in this criterion.
8 to >6.39 6.39 to >5.59 5.59 to >4.79 4.79 to >3.99 3.99 to >0 8 pts
MS Project Tracking File Outstanding. The tracking report should be accompanied by a MS
Excellent.
The document
Very good. The
Good. The
Poor.
The document
Project tracking file that shows the progress of the project and its current status. The tracking file should include: • Baseline properly set • Input delays as mentioned • Tracked Progress approx 50%.
The document includes all
the outlined information
in this criterion.
includes most the outlined information in this criterion.
document
includes some of the outlined
information in this criterion.
document
includes few of the outlined
information in this criterion.
includes none of the outlined
information in this criterion.
4 to >3.19 3.19 to >2.79 2.79 to >2.39 2.39 to >1.99 1.99 to >0 4 pts Total: 30 pts
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