Required:

Develop a Revised Project Management Plan and Report to Management

Background:

You have recently been appointed as a project manager in a large IT organisation.

Your organisation has asked you to review the management of a medium$-$sized project $($up to $5$

million euros in value$),$ which will be completed within two $(2)$ years of its commencement.

The project has at least $20$ main activities. The project commenced eight $(8)$ months ago. The first

six $(6)$ weeks were spent developing the project charter and preparing the original project

management plan.

Project execution $($carrying out the work$)$ commenced immediately after the project management

plan was completed and approved. There will be a one $(1)$ month project closing period at the end

of the project. During this time, equipment will be tested and commissioned $($if relevant to your

project$),$ and the project will be finalised. The project deadline is firm and subject to any justifiable

contingencies.

The existing business case and project charter are not detailed. Similarly, the project management

plan is poorly detailed or described, including a basic Gantt chart and high$-$level budget. There are

several issues with the project:

$1.$ The project is two $(2)$ months behind schedule. Part of this delay has resulted from a poor

understanding of lead times for delivering particular project components. There are no other

significant factors that should impact project delivery.

$2.$ There is poor sequencing of critical activities because there is only a basic project plan and

schedule. They do not have precise scheduled completion dates.

$3.$ There have been delays in procuring some critical project resources. There may be alternative

suppliers.

$4.$ While there were several specialised personnel for particular aspects of the project available at

Module Code: B$7$IS$130$

Module Name: IT Project Management

Lecturer: William Schofield

the start, they were not booked ahead of when they were required. Most of these resources are

now booked for several months ahead. Few alternatives are available.

$5.$ Due to the influence of several stakeholders, there has been significant scope creep, which, with

the current rate of progress, will delay delivery by one $(1)$ month. This scope creep also threatens

to impact the project's business case.

$6.$ Some project components have not been delivered or built to the required quality

specification. Consequently, there have been delays while defects have been rectified.

$7.$ Communication between the project manager, project sponsor, stakeholders, contractors,

consultants and other key personnel has not been good. There are several cases where essential

information has not been communicated well. This poor communication has impacted project

progress.

You have been charged with delivering a revised project management plan to deliver the project on

time and providing a report to the Project Sponsor explaining your actions.

You're Task

Developing a Revised Project Plan

$1.$ Define your organisation and project. $(10$ marks$)$

Nominate an organisation of your choice and the IT discipline or disciplines in which it is operating.

Nominate a suitable project $($for example, mobile phone network, IT Software or Hardware

installation$)$ to use as an example.

$2.$ Prepare a revised project charter, including an updated business case. $(10$ marks$)$

This document should include an executive summary of the revised project charter.

$3.$ Prepare an updated project management plan for completing the project within its original

timeline. $(60$ marks$)$

The project management plan should include plans for all phases$/$stages of the project based on the

following Project Management Knowledge Areas:

a$.$ project integration management

b$.$ project scope management

c$.$ project time management

d$.$ project cost management

e$.$ project quality management

f$.$ project human resource management

g$.$ project communications management

h$.$ project procurement management

$4.$ Report to Project Sponsor $(20$ marks$)$

Write a report to your Project Sponsor that:

a$.$ Outline the steps you have taken to deliver the project within its original timeframe $($as

extended by the permitted scope creep of one $(1)$ month$)$

b$.$ Explains why they have been taken,

c$.$ Demonstrates how they will enable the project to be completed within its original

timeframe

d$.$ Discusses the additional costs that will be incurred to achieve this target

Notes:

The project charter should include a revised business case and link the project

with your organisation's strategic plan. Based on this business case, the project

sponsor will decide the project's future. You may assume that the project

sponsor has allowed the project timeline to be increased by one $(1)$ month to

allow for the scope creep already approved. However, further scope creep is

not permitted.

The project scope management plan should include a Work Breakdown Structure and a section on

controlling scope creep. Three $(3)$ le