BUSS420 – Project Management

Portfolio Project Directions and Rubric

This Portfolio Project is worth 30% of your grade per the following breakdown:

Portfolio Project Weekly Assignments are work 15% of your grade

Portfolio Project Final Sumission and Reflection are work 15% of your grade

Outcomes

Completing this Assessment will help you to meet the following:

Course Outcomes

• Create a project management plan utilizing Microsoft Project.
• Assemble an action plan for project management implementation, completion and measurement. (Partially met)
• Examine actions required to obtain necessary resources for project completion.
  
  

Program Outcomes

• Display a working knowledge of strategic business applications, evaluative techniques, and management processes as well as the role business plays in a global economy.
• Apply contemporary knowledge and skill sets to work effectively in the business community.

Institutional Outcomes

• Information Literacy and Communication – Utilize appropriate current technology and resources to locate and evaluate information needed to accomplish a goal, and then communicate findings in visual, written and/or oral formats.
• Thinking Abilities – Employ strategies for reflection on learning and practice in order to adjust learning processes for continual improvement.
• Community and Career – Participate in social, learning, and professional communities for personal and career growth.

Deadline
Deliverable items for the Portfolio Project will be required at different points during the course. Details for each submission are included below in the Deliverable Descriptions.

Scenario

As we cover throughout this course, a project is an effort that creates a new product or service within a definite time period and through multiple related (and sometimes interdependent) activities or tasks.   Stakeholders are those interested parties who either work on the project or benefit from the results of the project.  Project management, then, is the concerted effort to use appropriate skills, knowledge, and resources to effectively meet stakeholders’ expectations.

This Portfolio Project involves the creation of a project in which you will prepare for your college graduation day and party for an expected 50 guests.  You have a budget of $5,000 to complete this project.  In order for the project to be considered a success, you must complete all parts of the project, including invitations reaching the right people, attendees having a good time, and not going over budget. Some details like this will be provided to you, while you will exercise your creativity to supply a few other details, such as what to purchase (i.e. cap and gown, special party invitation paper, etc.).

You will need to use resources to complete this project and will have a deadline to get everything done.  Use three friends or family members who will help you with some of the activities. Refer to the project schedule shown in Appendix A of the Portfolio Project Template.  Feel free to change their names to people in your circle in order to make this project more real for you.

Directions

As outlined below, you will create this Portfolio Project by working on various parts of the project in Microsoft Project in Weeks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  The final Portfolio Project will be due in Week 7.  You will use the template provided to complete the written pieces and will also submit your link to the Microsoft Project workbook you are working in.

Deliverable Descriptions

Week 2:

• Due by the end of Week 2 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Review the project schedule shown in Appendix A of the Portfolio Project Template.  In the supplied template, provide the following.  The answers to each prompt should be 100 words or more and you need to cite at least one scholarly resource to support your responses.

• Create a brief project overview (i.e. describe the details of the Portfolio Project, including scope).
• Describe the objectives for completing this project. 

Week 3:

• Due by the end of Week 3 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Using Microsoft Project (MS Project), create a file for this Portfolio Project and enter the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).  The format to use is a hierarchical indentured list.  Decide on predecessors for the tasks, assign who is responsible for each activity, and create a network diagram.  Follow the software directions provided in the weekly lecture.

After entering all requested data, save your project then upload your project file (.mpp) to the Week 3 Portfolio Project assignment labeled W3P.

You will also upload  a copy of your new project file in your initial post for the W3 discussion and follow the prompts to round-out your post and respond to others.

Week 4:

• Due by the end of Week 4 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Continuing with your Portfolio Project, review the project that you began building in Week 3 and the schedule shown in Appendix A of the Portfolio Project Template.

In MS Project, open your existing project file and complete the following tasks using the software directions provided in the lecture:

• Enter the durations you estimate for each task.
• Create a Gantt chart.
• Determine and indicate the critical path. 
• Set up a baseline. 
• Monitor and control the schedule. 
• Edit task information. 
• Create reports.

* Note: As you learned in the lecture, a Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows the timing of activities related to your project.  It is a quick and easy way to see activities along a time scale, visually seeing how long each activity takes to perform.  Gantt charts can also show who is responsible for each activity and which activities are dependent on each other.  In MS Project, you can indicate you want to see critical tasks and then the program displays the critical path of tasks in the Gantt chart.

After entering all requested data, save your project then upload your project file (.mpp) to the Week 4 Portfolio Project assignment labeled W4P.  Also upload a Word document with your answers to the following bulleted items.

Write a paragraph at least 100 words long for each of the following bullets and should include one scholarly resource to support your responses:

• Identify the critical path for the project.
• Describe how inaccurate or changed task durations can affect a project’s timeline. 
• Evaluate what you, as the project manager, can do to control how durations affect your Portfolio Project.

Week 5:

• Due by the end of Week 5 at 11:59 pm, ET.

In MS Project, open your existing project file and complete the following tasks using the software directions provided in the lecture:

• Add an additional resource.  The project schedule in Appendix A of the Portfolio Project Template shows that a list of purchases was created and time was scheduled.  But someone has to go out and make the purchases.  Add a person resource to make those purchases.
• Manage the assigned time for the resource’s task. 
• Evaluate task usage.
• Create Resource Overview and Overallocated Resource reports. 
• With the Task Information window open while adding a resource to a task, enter the data. 
• Change work times for one task.
•   

After entering all requested data, save your project then upload your project file (.mpp) to the Week 5 Portfolio Project assignment labeled W5P.  Also upload a Word document with your answers to the following bulleted items.

Continuing with your Portfolio Project, write a paragraph at least 100 words long for each of the following bullets and include one scholarly resource to support your responses:

• Explain what a “constraint” is and give examples pertaining to your Portfolio Project.
• Evaluate what the term “risk” means for your project.  Who should determine what the risks are?  Describe at least two significant risks, including what category (i.e. financial, legal, etc.), how likely they would occur (i.e. Low-Med-High), and what the specific downside is for each of them if they occur.
• Determine why milestones are important and describe what they are in your Portfolio Project.

Week 6:

• Due by the end of Week 6 at 11:59 pm, ET.

In MS Project, open your existing project file and complete the following tasks using the software directions provided in the lecture:

• Enter resource costs.
• Analyze cash flow. 
• Analyze earned value.
• Create a cash flow report.
• Create an Earned Value Over Time Report. 

After entering all requested data, save your project then upload your project file (.mpp) to the Week 6 Portfolio Project assignment labeled W6P.

Week 7: Final Submission to ePortfolio

• Due by the end of Week 7 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Incorporate feedback you have received on the various parts of the Portfolio Project that you worked on throughout the course.  Upload both your completed Portfolio Project Template and your Portfolio Project MP file (.mpp) to the program outcome in your ePortfolio listed below.  Use the following naming convention:  BUSS420 – Portfolio Project:

• Analyze management processes as well as the role businesses play in a high tech global economy.

For directions on how to upload your project to your ePortfolio and the Course Exhibit process, please see Student Resources in Blackboard on the navigation pane.

Week 7.5: Reflection

• Due by the end of Week 7.5 at 11:59 pm, ET.

For the final piece of your Portfolio Project, you will reflect upon the process you went through to create your Portfolio Project and how the course helped you to be successful.

This reflection will be delivered orally in the format of a PowerPoint with Voiceover.  There should be a minimum of 4 slides plus a title slide.  Include an audio file of your voice on every slide.

For this reflection:

1. Describe both challenges and motivating parts of this Portfolio Project.
2. Analyze the importance of having practical knowledge of how to manage projects in relation to your future career.
3. In your own words reflect on how this project meets the Program and Institutional outcomes as stated on the first page.

Upload and submit your final reflection.

Reflection Grading Criteria

PowerPoint:

• Slides are well organized and the font color, size, and style is easy to read.
• Slides are in bullet-point format and are not written in long paragraphs
• Bullet points highlight main points of the reflection questions

Oral Presentation:

• Student’s voice should be clear and easy to understand
• Student should vary his/her tone of voice and use pauses effectively to place emphasis on important points
• Student should provide additional insight to PowerPoint slides in his/her own words. Student should not read verbatim from the slides.
• Student should avoid non-words (“Um,” “Uh,” “You Know”) and practice using professional language

For specific grading information, please refer to the Portfolio Project Grading Rubric