To develop a project plan for the Playground Project using Microsoft Project, you$$ll need to follow these steps:

$1.$ Set Up the Project Calendar:

o Define the project start date as Monday, $6$th of May $2024.$

o Set working hours from $8$ am to $5$ pm with an hour off for lunch.

o Establish the working week from Monday to Friday.

$2.$ Input Resources:

o Work Resources: Include resources like Excavator $($EXC$)$ at $$250/$hour and Labour $($LAB$)$ at $$40/$hour$.$

o Material Resources: Add materials such as concrete at $$200/$m$^3.$

o Cost Resources: Include lump sum costs for subcontractors or equipment purchases.

$3.$ Create Tasks and Assign Resources:

o Break down the project into tasks and subtasks.

o Assign the appropriate resources to each task.

$4.$ Calculate Durations and Costs:

o Estimate the duration for each task based on the resources and work hours.

o Use MS Project to calculate the cost for each task automatically.

$5.$ Develop the Gantt Chart:

o MS Project will generate a Gantt chart that visualizes the project schedule.

o Ensure resources are shown on the Gantt chart.

$6.$ Budget and Cash Flow:

o Create a budget based on the costs of tasks and resources.

o Develop a cash flow statement to manage the project$$s financials.

$7.$ Optimize the Program:

o Resolve any over$-$allocations of resources.

o Look for opportunities to shorten the project duration and reduce costs.

$8.$ Submission:

o Once your project plan is complete, submit the MS Project file as per the instructions.

Remember to refer to the marking guideline in section $4\mathrm{.}3$ for specific requirements on how the project will be evaluated. Good luck with your project planning!