FIT2002 IT Project Management Semester 2 – 2023 Assignment One (Team Project)
Due Dates:
(a) TeamChartersubmission(5%):thereisasingleTeamCharterforeachteam,andoneteammember
submits the file using Moodle, and all the other team members must confirm the student statement in
Moodle before the deadline: 23.55 Friday 11th August 2023
(b) Mainsubmission(95%):submiteverythingelseasanindividualusingMoodlebeforethedeadline:
23.55 Friday 8th September 2023 Value: 40% of the overall unit assessment. Mode of Submission: Online on Moodle.
WHAT IS A TEAM PROJECT?
A “Team Project” is NOT the same as a traditional “Group Project”.
In a “Team Project” the members of a team work on closely related problems (in this case projects within a portfolio of 4 projects). Students submit some work as a team, in this case, (a) the “Team Charter”. Students also submit other work as an individual, in this case, (b) the “Main Submission” (that is, all other components of the assignment).
Even though the “Main Submission” is an individual piece of work, you are expected to work alongside the other members of your team in the unit’s applied sessions as a number of elements of the individual “Main submission” depend upon decisions that you make collectively as a team (e.g. the allocation of resources across the portfolio of projects).
If, after reading the above, you are still unclear about the difference between a “Team Project” and a traditional “Group Project” then contact your tutor and/or Chief Examiner
FORMING TEAMS
Students must form their teams (from attendees of the same tutorial/applied learning session) and elect a team leader to support the coordination of activities. Students should form their teams in the Week 2 or Week 3 applied class (no later). Once confirmed, no change of team member is permitted without prior approval from the FIT2002 lecturer (Dr. Sanaz Nikfalazar). Students should form teams of 4 (if possible) or teams of 3 (otherwise).
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The aim of this assignment is to provide students with the opportunity to learn and demonstrate their analytical and project management skills through the development of an information technology (IT) project management case study. The assignment aims to assess the following aspects of student learning about project management:
(c) Skills in communicating projects.
(d) Skills and knowledge from the ten knowledge areas of the PMBOK. (e) Communication skills in relation to different types of stakeholders. (f) Working in a team.
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1
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SPECIFICATION AND DELIVERABLES
This assignment relates to a project currently at the project planning phase with Monash University Australia Counselling Service. In this assignment, you are to undertake the roles of project managers within an IT consultancy that Monash University has contracted to support the delivery of a portfolio of 4 projects that are intended to improve the mental wellbeing of undergraduate and postgraduate students at Monash University Australia.
Note: students are not required to develop an actual product as part of this process!
From Week 3 until Week 7 teams will work together in the weekly Applied Sessions to consider how to apply the PMBOK knowledge areas in the different aspects of the assignment, including the Development of a Team Charter; Project Integration Management; Project Scope Management; Project Schedule Management; Project Cost Management.
While the assignment requires the team to work together to plan the delivery of four projects, each team member will be required to take responsibility for one of the four projects. The individual component of the assessment (“Main Submission”) will be based on the individual’s work on this one project.
INSTRUCTIONS
Each Applied Session will address different components of the assignment (see “Specification” below) and you should come to the session prepared to discuss and work on these as a team, and where required present your progress to the tutor, who will provide support and advice.
Monash University plans to implement a new service for students using open-source technologies created by Action Lab. Your project liaison at Monash University is Dr Jessica Watterson (Senior Researcher in Public Health) and she will be available to answer questions and conduct interviews with the technology and service providers with Monash on behalf of FIT2002 project teams in weeks 3, 4, 5 and 6) as well as answer any questions about the portfolio submitted by students to the Ed Discussion Category “Assignment/A1 Client Questions” etc.
There are two submissions:
a. Team submission (Team Charter) due Week 3 (23.55 Friday 11th August 2023).
b. Individual submission (Deliverables + Reflection) due Week 7 (23.5 Friday 8th September 2023 ).
Submissions (group and individual) must take the form of a single PDF document.
5. Group submission should be named: <
6. Individual submissions should be named: <
group number (assigned by your tutor); <
PLAGIARISM DECLARATION
The moment you upload your assignment on Moodle, you are required to accept the Student Statement (which includes a declaration that you have not plagiarised during the preparation of your assignment solution). You are required to ACCEPT the Student Statement; otherwise, you won’t be able to submit your assignment electronically and your assignment will NOT be assessed.
GENERATIVE AI: No restrictions on use of generative AI for this assessment. Any use of generative AI must be appropriately acknowledged (see Learn HQ).
LATE SUBMISSION
1. Submission must be made by the due date. Unless an extension or special consideration has been granted, or otherwise specified in the learning management system, students who submit an assessment task after the due date will receive a late-submission penalty of 10 percent of the available marks in that task. A further penalty of 10 percent of the available marks will be applied for each additional day (24- hour period), or part thereof, the assessment task is overdue.
2. If you can’t complete an assessment (due to exceptional circumstances beyond your control), you may
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be eligible for a short extension or special consideration. A short extension is two calendar days and is available once for each eligible assessment. The first short extension for a unit will be granted without a reason given. All subsequent extensions require a reason when the application is submitted. Special consideration is a longer extension (for more than two days). Eligible students must supply a reason and supporting documentation.
3. For more details of the Short Extension and Special Consideration procedure and how to apply, visit:
https://www.monash.edu/students/admin/exams/changes/special-consideration
Your team is a project management consultancy partnership that undertakes contracts from clients and works with them to plan and manage internal service development projects that include IT design and development. The projects that you plan and manage are implemented by a combination of the client’s staff and contractors that you source through the online contractor marketplace https://www.upwork.com.
THE CLIENT(S)
Monash University Australia Counselling Service aims to helps students with problems like coping with study or university life, stress, anxiety and depression, loneliness, drug and alcohol abuse and addictions, negative feelings and suicidal thoughts, relationship and family issues.
THE CONTRACT
In recent years there has been a significant rise in mental health referrals to the service, and a growing recognition that many students (particularly internal students) are reluctant or unsure how to access mental health services. The University has therefore decided to allocate $2.1M AUD to undertake an upgrade to the mental health support for students and as part of that your partnership to undertake the project. The project will integrate the 3 systems mentioned below (which have been developed and deployed for a different context) into a new integrated online mental health support service for Monash students. While two of the systems were developed for parents, the new integrated service is targeted exclusively at Monash students and therefore the projects will require the new development of appropriate content.
The portfolio of projects must be completed within 12 months of the contract start date.
THE PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS
At this point the requirements of the projects have not been clarified in detail. All you have been provided with are the brief descriptions below. You should do some background research on Monash University Australia Counselling Service (website and other publications) and the systems mentioned, and use the weekly check-in sessions wisely, that is, come up with questions for the client team members that will help you to understand what the requirements of the projects are and what successful project would look like. Make sure you post questions for the client managers to the Ed Discussion Category “Assignment/A1 Client Questions”. Note: the tutors have no further information about the projects than you have and in Applied Sessions will only advise by asking pertinent questions.
Project 1: GMCI https://growingmindscheckin.com
GMCI is an open source online system design and developed by Joshua Seguin and Rob Rendell (Action Lab) and was developed to allow parents to triage their children by completing a number of validated questionnaires. Based on the responses to the questionnaires GMCI recommends appropriate online services according to the likely needs of the child. In the new service the goal is to have students use GMCI to perform a mental health triage on themselves and recommend an online or face–to-face service.
Project 2: Induk https://training-pip.web.app/dashboard and https://induk.io
Induk is an open source platform that has been developed by Jue (Grace) Xie (Action Lab) to allow psychologists to develop and deploy self-directed interventions. It is shortly going to be used to provide a service, Partners in Parenting, by Headspace, for parents to learn how to reduce the risk of their teenagers developing anxiety and depression. In the new service it is envisaged the content will be produced for Induk that will allow students to learn about how to reduce the risk of developing anxiety and depression.
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Project 3: OurVoice https://www.ourvoice.app
OurVoice is an open-source system originally designed and developed by Dinislam Abdulgalimov (Action Lab) to provide a safe space online for employees to anonymously discuss issues and concerns about their work environments. OurVoice maintains anonymity, safety and the quality of discussion by slowing down the interaction between users (i.e., the frequency that posts are published) and moderating all posts and comments before they are published. In the new service the goal is to use OurVoice to provide Monash University with a safe and anonymous space to discuss their concerns and questions about mental health.
Project 4: Integration
The final project in the portfolio requires the integration of the three new services, both with each other and with the existing Counselling Service online presence. Integration involves multiple elements and not only includes technical integration, where consistent messaging and content is maintained across all three systems, but also ensures that the new online service integrates with the existing counselling service, and that issues such as safeguarding and other concerns are addressed.
ASSIGNMENT TASKS
To formulate a successful portfolio, your team and you (as a project manager for your individual project) will complete the following deliverables. Discussion of the Team Charter and the 5 deliverables will be the focus of Applied Sessions as indicated below:
● Team Charter
● Deliverable 1: Project Integration Management
● Deliverable 2: Project Scope Management
● Deliverable 3: Project Schedule Management
● Deliverable 4: Project Cost Management
● Reflective report on Team Performance
TEAM CHARTER
Applied Session: Week 2 & Week 3
Submit: 23.55 Friday 11th August 2023
A team charter template is available on the Week 2 Moodle page for the unit and teams will be established during the Week 2 applied sessions. After establishing a team, students should develop a charter addressing their objective, their approach to working as a team, their plans for communications and meetings, and their approach to conflict resolution (e.g., disagreements, team member absence, poor performance by team members) and what the team policy will be for change management and risk (e.g., team members unavailable as a result of sickness or disruption due to issues outside of their control). The charter should be prepared, signed by all team members, and submitted by each member to Moodle by 23.55 Friday 11th August 2023. The charter will serve as a reference for team planning and collaboration.
Team Charter: structure & requirements:
Requirements Weight
A completed copy of the team charter template available on the Week 2 Moodle 5% page for the unit, signed by all team members.
Signed copy of the team charter
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1
DELIVERABLE 1: Project integration management
Applied Session: Week 3
Teams should start with an overview of how each of the projects are related and integrated within the portfolio. Start by developing a business justification for the projects and use this for resource allocation and project prioritisation (which your team will be asked to present in stand-up meetings during the Week 4 Applied Session). Each student should take responsibility (as the project manager) for one project, and you should negotiate with each other on the allocation setting of priorities and allocation of resources and priorities that is best for the portfolio overall. Each student will need to develop a project charter for their own project to include high level information, including objectives, resources and a schedule. Your analysis and decisions can be re-visited and updated during the Week 5 Applied Session (once each team has explored their projects in more depth).
Deliverable 1: structure & requirements:
Deliverable 1
Task Task 1.1
Requirements Weight
1. Compare each project as follows (in tabular form or any other 10% reasonable presentation):
● the name of each project
● how each project supports Monash University’s business strategy
● an assessment of the potential financial and other benefits
● an initial assessment of the value of each project.
2. Write a clear and well-justified memo (<400 words) to the Counselling Service executive team
A project charter for the project in the portfolio for which you are the 5% project manager.
Project Integration Management
1. A justified weighted scoring model for evaluating the four projects which should include:
● five criteria (must include NPV and ROI)
● weights for each criterion
● scores and the weighted scores.
2. A bar chart presentation of the model and results.
3. A succinct write-up (<400 words) of the weighted scoring model, the results and the recommendations.
NOTE: Tasks 1.1 and 1.2 should be developed through collaboration of the whole team as they relate to all projects in the portfolio, however each member must describe these deliverables IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1
DELIVERABLE 2: Project Scope Management
Applied Session: Week 3 & Week 4
You need to scope the project for which you are responsible in the context of the group portfolio. Make full use of the interview sessions with project liaison and any information you can find out about the systems and similar systems implemented elsewhere.
1. Develop a scope statement for your project; this should include:
a. a description of your project’s deliverables
b. at least 4 of the most significant requirements/characteristics, including their source (e.g. identified
by the customer, project manager, business objectives etc)
c. at least 2 of the most significant quality requirements and 2 of the most significant potential risks
for the project.
2. Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) up to Level 3 or Level 4 (as appropriate) in list format.
a. The WBS should be consistent with the project charter and scope statement.
b. A draft of the list should be presented to tutors during Week 4 Applied Session for informal feedback. After the first round of feedback you should use ProjectLibre or MS Project to develop a
Gantt chart and assign preliminary dependencies and sequences (project time management).
Deliverable 2: structure & requirements:
Deliverable 2 Task Task 2.1
Criteria Weight
For the project for which you are responsible for, develop a 5% project scope statement (<400 words) that describes the project’s deliverables, characteristics/requirements and risks.
Project scope management
An accurate and comprehensive WBS (up to Level 3 or Level 4, as appropriate) which is based on the project charter and project scope statement.
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1
DELIVERABLE 3: Project Schedule Management
Applied Session: Week 4 & Week 5
Based on your schedule and cost goals, you should now focus on the schedule management of your individual project. Keep in mind the overall schedule of the portfolio (based on team discussion and information sharing) and the part your project plays.
1. Identify at least 5 milestones for your project with justification for their timing and precedence. Use the SMART criteria for justification and be sure that they reflect customer needs and sponsor guidelines.
1. Make duration estimations of the tasks identified in the WBS (Deliverable 2, task 2). Update the WBS created and Gantt chart in ProjectLibre or MS Project to include these duration estimates.
2. Further develop the dependencies and sequences of the tasks in your project plan and the WBS created and Gantt chart in ProjectLibre or MS Project to reflect these developments.
3. Add the milestones in the correct presentation (note: milestones do not have durations), make sure milestones have relevant dependencies.
4. Create a presentable network diagram for the ‘design phase’ of the new services, that is:
a. Use a diagramming tool such as Visio, Lucidcharts etc. Do NOT use the functions in ProjectLibre or MS Project for this task.
b. clearly labelled (using the legend recommended)
c. includes correct calculations for early/late start/finish and free floats as well as total floats
d. clearly indicates the critical path.
Deliverable 3: structure & requirements:
Running case 3 Task Task 3.1
Criteria Weight
Write a description (<400 words) of your 5 milestones 10% using the SMART criteria. You can create this as a table if
Project schedule management
Develop a project schedule management summary that includes: ● a ProjectLibre or MS Project produced Gantt chart that
accurately depicts the task dependencies, correct task
durations and milestones. (Schedule goal is 3 months)
● a clear and concise summary (<400 words) of your rationale
for the task duration estimates, dependencies and any other assumptions made.
A presentable network diagram for the ‘design phase’ of the new service, that:
● Is designed using a suitable diagramming tool
● is clearly labelled (that includes use of a legend)
● has correct calculations of early/late start/finish and free
floats as well as total floats
● clearly indicates the critical path
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1
DELIVERABLE 4: Project Cost Management
Applied Session: Week 5 & Week 6
Refine the existing cost estimate for the project so that you can have a solid cost baseline for evaluating the project. Prepare and print a one-page cost model for the project:
1. Use the WBS developed for the previous deliverables.
2. Use the hourly rates from contractors you have identified on Upwork.
3. Contingency reserves will be estimated at 20% of the total estimate.
4. The total estimate should be below the budget agreed on with your team for Deliverable 1 and the total
cost of the four projects should be less than the total project portfolio budget.
Note: supporting materials are provided in the unit content on Moodle
Deliverable 4: structure & requirements:
Deliverable 4 Task Task 4.1
Criteria Weight
A good and reasonable one-page cost model for the project. 10% A summary of the main assumptions that underpin cost model and a 10%
brief justification of each (<400 words)
Project cost management
TEAM EVALUATION & CRITIQUE: REFLECTIVE REPORT
You and your team should continuously reflect on your performance as a team throughout the project. Reflective practice is an important capability for all professionals, as it allows them to develop better communication skills, conflict resolution skills, and enhance their future performance. The final task of this assignment requires you to critically reflect upon the work you have done as a team (and an individual). Note that high quality reflections are not a description of what happened, but rather an insightful articulation of how you have evaluated what had happened, and how improvement can be made wherever possible. Topics you should address include:
1. Decision making: how decisions were made and how this contributed positively or negatively to the success of the consultancy contract.
2. Conflict resolution: What challenges you faced (e.g. conflicts, disagreements etc.) and how you supported each other to overcome and resolve these issues (or not).
3. Feedback: What feedback have you given and received from your team members, and how this feedback helped (or did not help) others or you.
4. Improvement: Based on what you have learnt from working together, your suggestions for future improvement?
Reflective Report: structure & requirements
Reflective report
Criteria Weight
A summary of your personal reflections (<400 words) on the performance of your 10% team.
FIT2002 (S2 2023) Assignment 1