Assessment Brief 2024/2025

Please make sure you carefully read and understand the question or task. If you have

unanswered questions, please post these on the course Moodle Discussion Forum, and we’ll respond.

Assignment Information

1. QUESTION/ DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY

This assignment is worth 50% of the overall course mark.

Instructions on how to complete:

•   To pass this assignment you need to include a schedule created using GanttProject. Please refer to the  A-Grade  example  provided  and  to  your  tutorial  notes  to  identify  all  the components that need to be included.

•   All the information you need is in the project briefing notes below. Read the case study carefully as you will be marked on your attention to detail.

•   Any tasks that are not specified can be considered to be out of scope.

•    Number each page.

•    Instructions on submitting the completed assignment can be found on Moodle.

•   This is not an academic essay. You do not need to include references.

•    Use the models and templates discussed in the course or you will lose marks.

Read the case study provided below and complete the following:

1.   Identify four deliverables.

2.   Develop a work breakdown structure.

3.   Develop a schedule. Your gantt chart should include work packages, milestones, and predecessors.  You   should  add  columns  to   show  resources  and  percentage  (%) complete.

4.   Develop a budget.

5.   Develop a risk log with a minimum of two project specific risks.

6.   Develop a governance model.

There is no specific word count. Use the models and templates that have been discussed in the course.

PLEASE NOTE: You must submit 1 document only. When you have developed a gantt chart you need to take a screenshot and insert it into the word document.

Climate Conference Case Study

This case study has been created for the purpose of the exercise.

The University would like to organise a climate change conference. The intended invitees would include students, academics, interested parties, government representatives, and activists.

The Adam Smith Business School Management Committee (ASBSMC) is hosting the conference. The committee is made up of the following people:

Chair:                           Anna Williams

Committee:                Alex O’Neil, James Smith, Peter Jones and Amy Black

The sponsor of the conference, Anna Williams, will also chair the project board. The ASBSMC committee members have all agreed to be on the project board.

Unlike most projects, there is no business case. Instead, the chairperson has sent you ane-mail with the following dot points:

•  The conference will run for one day on 31st  May 2025.

•  500 people will attend.

•  She has asked you to develop a budget as part of the planning process. You do not need to consider profit and loss. The budget just needs to include costs for the project activities and the project team.

•  You have access to three resources. Mary is a marketing specialist. She is available for 20 hours every week at a cost of £50 per hour. John is an IT specialist, and he is available for 20 hours every week at a cost of £60 per hour. Sophie is an administration specialist, and she is available for 30 hours every week at a cost of £40 per hour. You need to estimate how many hours each week you will need these resources. Additionally, your hourly rate is £80 per hour, and you will need to estimate how many hours you will need to work on the project.

•  Bute Hall, the largest venue in the University, will be provided at no cost. This is where the conference will take place and participants will take all refreshments and meals.

•  The speakers and the timetable are out of scope, but you will need to consider having team members at the conference to assist with activities.

•  All delegates will register online and pay their fees upfront. The university does not currently have asystem to do this.

•  Delegates will collect their conference packs on arrival and pick up a printed badge that shows their name and university/college. The badge will act as their meal ticket and enable them to access the venue.

•  The conference pack includes a reusable canvas tote bag, branded with the conference logo, a reusable water bottle,a pen, and a notepad.

•  Delegates will need drinks on arrival, lunch, and afternoon tea.

•  End-of-day cleaning will be required.

•  The project activities need to include marketing.

Your first step is to clarify the scope. To check on all the requirements you make an appointment to meet with Anna.

Your question: You mention Bute Hall as the venue. Can I confirm that is free to use?

A: Yes, that is correct, although the university is now looking at closing down the campus sometime in the summer for some deep cleaning!

Your question: You also mention that the ASBSMC will organise all the speakers and deal with their associated travel and costs, so this is not in scope. They will also organise the timetable for the day. Can I confirm this is the case?

A: Yes, that is correct

Your question: You have set a limit of 500 people attending the conference – is that due to the number of people allowed in Bute Hall? Does that include the speakers and staff?

A:  Yes,  the  university  only  allows  500  people  inside  the  venue  -  so  I  think  we  limit  conference attendees to 480 and allow 20 places for speakers, the caterers, and staff.

Your question: You state that all delegates will have to register online for the conference and pay their fees upfront. The university doesn’t currently have a system to do this. Can I confirm you are asking me to identify a solution to enable delegates to register and pay on-line?

A: Yes, Iam

Your question: There is a company called ON-line Today that I have used before. They charge £4 per delegate for the on-line registration. This would be  much easier that installing our own on-line registration system – are you Ok ifI use this company to do our registration for us?

A: Yes, Iam - sounds like a great solution

Your question: About the delegates packs…. you say delegates will collect their conference packs on arrival and pickup a printed badge showing their name and university/college. The badge will act as their meal ticket and enable them to access the venue. The conference pack includes a reusable canvas tote bag, branded with the conference logo, a reusable water bottle,a pen, and notepad. I have been to the university gift shop, and they can supply everything you have listed as a total package for £20 per delegate. The badge will be plastic on a lanyard, and we will insert a name tag into it. The canvas tote bag is blue, measuring 20 inches x 20 inches and made out of cotton. The water bottle is a 500ml clear plastic bottle with the university logo printed two inches high on the front. The pen is six inches long, blue, and will be a biro. The note pad will have the conference details on the front, made out of recycled paper, contain 20, A4 sheets. The project team will need to put everything together – each component will come separately. Is this what you had in mind?

A: That sounds really good - I have seen some of the things that are sold in the university gift shop and am happy with the quality.

Your question: You have said the delegates will need drinks on arrival, lunch, and afternoon tea. This is in the scope of the project. What did you have in mind?

A: I thought just tea and coffee on arrival,a cake or something nice for morning tea and afternoon tea, and perhaps a buffet for lunch?

Your question: The university catering department can cater for conferences. They do a one-day catering menu with much of what you have just mentioned for £20 per person. Would you be happy for them to cater?

A: Yes, go ahead with that. Iwent to a conference last week that they catered for, and the food was lovely.

Your question: You said there would be some cleaning up tasks at the end of the day which you wanted to include in the scope of the project?

A: I did, but I have since changed that requirement as the regular cleaning staff will now do that. Can you please remove it from the scope of the project?

Your question: You have said that marketing activities need to be included in the project. I can use Mary, who is a marketing specialist, to take responsibility for the marketing activities. This should be  an  easy  conference  to  market.  I  suggest  three  months  before  the  conference starts,  Mary promotes the conference on the university Facebook page, puts the details on the university web page, and sends some flyers to other universities in the UK. She can then monitor how many people have bought tickets and let you knowhow the marketing is going... I suspect the tickets will be sold out quickly – climate change is very topical at the moment!

A: Sounds good tome - thankyou

Further details

The assessment also comes with some tips on how to best complete it and outlines what is expected. During the course, there is plenty of opportunity to practice what you have learned. Provided you

complete the course activities and share your answers on the forums, you will have received feedback on your work.

Intended Learning Outcomes being assessed

•     Develop and evaluate project plans on the basis of timing, cost and risk.

•     Demonstrate a basic understanding of the project management process and how this is applied in the workplace.