Assignment

In this assignment, start the process of building your own dream home (this is a theme that we will carry on throughout this course) why a dream home? A dream home is a concept that we can all relate to and it has all of the elements of a project according to the PMBOK Guide: A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Assignment Purpose

In this assignment you will create your dream homes project charter. According to the PMBOK Guide: A project charter is a document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

To prepare for this assignment, read the following sections of the PMBOK Guide:

• Section 4.1.3.1 Project Charter
• Section 4.1.1.1 Business Documents
• Section 5.2 Collect Requirements
• Section 6.2.3.3 Milestone List
• Section 13.1 Identify Stakeholders
• Section 9.1.3.1 Resource Management Plan

Assignment Objectives

Your personal learning objectives for this assignment are to:

• Develop an understanding of how a project charter is used within a project environment.
• Demonstrate a practical understanding of the information content needed within a project charter.
• Describe a project using project management terminology, concepts and industry best practices as outlined in the PMBOK Guide.

Dream Home Charter Background

One of the objectives of this assignment is for you to demonstrate appropriate information content that would be provided in a project charter. As such, the amount of information provided to you is limited you are expected to make up information where gaps exist in the provided information, and present what information you feel would be appropriate to complete the assignment. (Note: You are not expected to be an expert in house design, and you will not be assessed on the accuracy of the information provided only on the appropriateness of the information and how the information is presented.)

Dream Home Details

• For this project, you take on the role of the homeowners creating a project charter (as defined in section 4.1.3.1 of the PMBOK Guide) to define your dream home.
• The bank has approved you for a $300,000 loan to build your dream home on lakefront (or riverfront) property or in a town/city of your choice.
• The work on the project can be divided up into several main areas:
  • 1) Landscaping (excavation, foundation, grading, driveway);
  • 2) House Construction (frame, roof, siding);
  • 3) Inside Work (floors, ceilings);
  • 4) Infrastructure (electrical, plumbing and mechanical);
  • 5) Management (management activities); and
  • 6) Other (inspections and milestones).

With this minimal, high-level information, you can now begin the journey to your dream home by defining the project charter.

Project Charter Template

For this assignment you will be creating a project charter based on the template introduced in the PMBOK Guide section 4.1.3.1.

Length: This assignment should be approximately 6-9 pages (not including cover page, Table of Contents or bibliography).

Marks Allocation: The following grading template will be used to assess the assignment:

Section	Maximum Mark
FORMAT: (Professional, business-quality document)	3
GENERIC CONTENTS: (title page, Table of Contents, bibliography)	3
PRESENTATION / GRAMMAR AND SPELLING: (Articulate, clear, concise, well developed (avoid verbose and excessive prose)	3
Project Charter Sections
Project Background	6
Project Purpose (Goal)	6
Project Objectives	6
Out-of-Scope Items	3
High-Level Assumptions	7
High-Level Constraints	7
Known Problems, Anticipated Issues, and Potential Risks	7
High-Level Requirements	7
Deliverables	7
High-Level Milestones	7
Project Stakeholders	7
Project Managers Responsibilities and Authority	7
Payment Schedule	7
Approval Statement and Sign-off	7
Total	100

Please note: There is a project charter writing guide below that provides detailed and specific instructions as to what information content needs to go into each section. The writing guide and the instructions contained within it are to be considered essential and are part of this assignment.

Project Charter Writing Guide[1]

This writing guide provides critical background information for the project charter assignment. What follows are some general guidelines and then specific section-by-section guidance on how to approach the assignment.

• Your Objective: Your objective on this project is to demonstrate your knowledge of the project management related tools and techniques covered in the course notes and the PMBOK Guide. While creative writing can be fun, it should not distract you from demonstrating the PMBOKs learning objectives.
• Individual or Team assignment: If you wish, you can team up with one or more other students and work as a group on this and/or any other course assignment. Please let the facilitator know if you have a teaming arrangement in place, and make sure that all group members names appear on your assignment.
• Follow the template: When creating your assignment, be sure to attempt each section, as grades have been allocated to each section. No marks can be awarded for a missing section, and marks cannot be awarded for information that is not called for in the template.
• Third-Party Material: While research for this project is encouraged, you need to both cite and reference any third-party material that you use in your assignment. You are free to use any standard citing and reference methodology.
• Identification: Please ensure that your name and the course title are clearly indicated on all assignment submissions. If you are part of a group, then please make sure that the names of all group members are included on the assignment.
• Late Submissions: If a valid reason exists and you cannot submit the assignment on time, you must notify the facilitator at least 24 hours in advance of the due date. Extensions are possible under certain conditions. If an assignment is submitted late without approval, it can be subject to late penalties as well as being returned with only a grade assessment (without accompanying detailed feedback and comments).

What follows is a section-by-section guide as to the type of information that needs to appear in your assignment.

Oldl No Spac... Heading Heading 2 Heading Paragraph Styles What follows is a section-by-section guide as to the type of information that needs to appear in your assignment. 1) Title Page: You can have fun with your title page (illustrations and graphics), but at a minimum, the title page must have the following information on it . Your name (or the names of all members of your group), The course name, The project name (have fun and think up a name for your project!) The date submitted, and The following statement: All material prepared for this assignment was produced by the author(s), and material from a third party (such as the internet) has been cited and referenced. 2) Table of Contents: The Table of Contents must be generated using your word processor's built-in 'Table of Contents' generation feature (found within the (Reference] Tab of Microsoft Word). If you have not worked with the Table of Contents feature in the past, then this is a good chance to learn some of Microsoft Word's additional features. 3) Project Bickground: In this section you can provide relevant project-related information that would have been previously published and used as an input to the project charter. This information has not been provided for you; instead, you can 'make up' appropriate background information Examples of the types of information that you can present in this section include: Statement of Work (PMBOK Guide section 4.1.1.1). Consider the type of information that would have been previously published in the project's statement of work. Business Case: Consider the type of information that would have been previously published in the project business case (for example 5164_Assignment 1_Project Charter (2) - Last saved by user - Saved to this PC Search -out References Mailings Review View Help AaBbcc AaBbcc AaBb AaBb AABBC 1 Normal 1 No Spac... Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Ed Paragraph Styles Business Case: Consider the type of information that would have been previously published in the project business case (for example, desired project outcomes or project justification information). ALGONQUIN Cante la continuing 4) Project Purpose (Goal): Assume that the reader is unfamiliar with this project and provide a short (one or two sentences), concise statement as to what the project's purpose (or goal) is. In this section you will be evaluated on your understanding of the term project purpose and on how well you can practically demonstrate the use of that term as it relates to this project. 5) Project Objectives (PMBOK Guide Glossary). In this section, you should state what your project's objectives are. You should demonstrate between 3 and 5 objectives for this project- For this section you will be evaluated on your understanding of the term 'project goal' and on how well you can practically demonstrate the use of that term 6) Project Exclusions (Out-Of-Scope Work) (PMBOKB Guide Section 5.3.3.1): Identify examples of work that would be commonly associated with a project of this nature, but will not be completed as part of the project. In this section, you should list several out-of-scope items to demonstrate your understanding of this concept. 28 Review View Help EEEE 2 T EF=* AAE 1 Normal 11 No Spac... Heading 1 Heading 2 Head Paragraph Styles 7) High-Level Assumptions: Provide 3 to 5 examples of high-level project assumptions that would impact the project planning. For this section you will be evaluated on your ability to demonstrate the appropriate assumptions that would be relevant to the planning process 8) High-Level Constraints: Provide examples of 2 to 3 external constraints that would have a direct impact on the project planning. Also provide a very brief description of their impact. (Note: The project's budget and schedule would be considered internal constraints and cannot be used in this section) 9) Known Problems, Anticipated issues, and Potential Risks (PMBOK Guide Glossary). Identify any problems, issues or risks that will need to be overcome, or that might be encountered as part of this project. Ensure that you clearly indicate which of your examples you consider to be problems issues or risks - you will be evaluated on your understanding of these terms. 10) High-Level Requirements are "conditions that are required to be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a contract". There are many types of requirements (PMBOK Guide Section 5.2) - in this section you are to provide examples of requirements as a typical customer would define them Essentially give examples of how a customer might describe what features style, funchonality or elements they would like to have as part of this project (keep in mind your project scope, and restrict your requirements to only those that are relevant to the project's scope). 11) Deliverables (PMBOK Guide Glossary): List ove examples of deviverables that would result as part of fulfilling the project's stated requirements (see previous section). References Mailings Review View Help AaBbCc AaBbcc AaBb AaBbi AABBC 1 Normal 1 No Spac... Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 29 Paragraph Styles 12)Project Milestones (PMBOK Guide section 6.2.3.3). Review the definition of a project milestone and then complete the following milestone table with 4- 6 examples of milestones that would be appropriate for a project of this nature. Milestone Name Milestone Description Milestone Date Of most importance to the milestone section is your supporting description of why the milestone candidate should be considered a milestone for this project and what impact the proposed milestone will have on the overall project planning process. 13) Project Stakeholders (PMBOK@ Guide section 13.1. Identify four project stakeholders who would be appropriate for a project of this nature Consider the following types of information when describing your stakeholders Your first stakeholder should represent your project's voice of the customer. The voice of the customer is defined in the PMBOKB Guide Glossary Support this selection by providing a brief explanation as to why you feel this person should be the voice of the customer, and ensure that you demonstrate your understanding of the role that they will play on the project Identify three stakeholders (for this assignment identify them by the title or role that they play in the project). What elements of the project are they involved in? How do they contribute to the project? . O Focu B ST5164_Assignment 1_Project Charter (2) - Last saved by user - Saved to this PC- Search ayout References Mailings Review View Help A E ALI AaBbcc AaBbcc AaBb AaBbi AABBC 11 Normal 1 No Spac... Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 A. . Paragraph Styles the following types of information when describing your stakeholders: Your first stakeholder should represent your project's voice of the customer. The voice of the customer is defined in the PMBOK Guide Glossary. Support this selection providing a brief explanation as to why you feel this person should be the voice of the customer, and ensure that you demonstrate your understanding of the role that they will play on the project Identify three stakeholders (for this assignment, identify them by the title or role that they play in the project) What elements of the project are they involved in? How do they contribute to the project? What do they need from the project? (Information? or otherwise?) Who do they report to? What are their needs and expectations for this project? Ensure that you provide enough information so that the project manager can accommodate these stakeholders as part of their communication management planning Key to the stakeholder section is to consider what information the project manager would need to know about these stakeholders to be able to proceed with the planning of this project. It is important that you only provide examples of stakeholder information that would be useful and beneficial in the project planning stage States