Initial WBS Assignment
Assignment Requirements:
Format: PDF file and Excel file
Initial WBS Assignment
Assignment Requirements:
Format: PDF file and Excel file or Word
File-Naming requirements: Last_name_WBS.pdf /.xlsx /.docx
Tools: Excel / Word (feel free to use MS project if you have and want to)
Note: You may not be familiar with all of the technical aspects of the project, but this project requires that you know something about the typical life cycle of projects and the processes that occur within them, which you have learned in class. Therefore, do not concentrate on the technology or process solutions— focus instead on the management of this project as stated in the case, using the best practices that you have learned.
Assignment Deliverable Content:
Create a preliminary Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) using software that illustrates the possible structure of the project work from general concepts to detailed work packages that you would recommend at this stage as a project manager. Remember that you do not have all details of the project at this point, so you may need to infer what the details are—use only the information you have to develop a preliminary list of activities in the form of a WBS.
Additionally you need to create at least five items (subtask level) of your own based on your experience at work or in life (please highlight these task in yellow). Items from Kavan′s challenge do not count as part of these five.
Don′t forget to also take care of the student provided sections in the activities list (landscaping and production). Production information can be found in the Minka production report attached above labeled “Minka House Lean Manufacturing Work Cell (USI senior design project).pdf”
Feel Free to work Kavan′s creativity assignment into this now if you are complete if not you will have the opportunity to do this at a later time.
Show at least three task detail levels in MOST of the areas of your WBS (major task level and two additional subtask levels).
Include appropriate project management tasks, like team meetings, training, and testing tasks in all appropriate areas of the WBS for this particular case study.
Include all of the features you have learned about in your WBS, including code numbering.
Show very manageable tasks at the work package level (no mega task like ″construct home″. Enter the WBS into software of your choice.
Save the WBS directly from the software into a PDF format document according to the directions given in lab/class. (Screen shots of the WBS are not acceptable.)
General Assignment Guidelines For Students:
While you can use help gained from researching templates found online, your WBS must reflect the content and scale of this MAGIC case only! Most templates found online can contain too many steps that are not appropriate for this project case. Please focus on the MAGIC problem only and do your best to produce proper documentation on your own that you would actually apply to the job. You will be graded as though this were a professional assignment, so be sure you think through what would be needed as though you were producing this for your boss!
Note: Do not attempt to produce a project schedule in MS-Project or assign resources for this assignment. You do not have the necessary detail to produce a schedule, estimate times for tasks, or assign resources to specific tasks at this time, and you will lose points if you do.
Don′t get distracted with the technology solution—think instead about what you, as a project manager, and your team should do, even if you don′t know how the technology components or project steps will all be at this point. Try to imagine as much detail as you can. If you aren′t familiar with the technology concepts, technical terms, or approaches, please ask for help.
There is no single, correct ″answer″ to this assignment. Rather than make you guess a predetermined solution, you need to think out the problem on your own and develop documentation that you consider best. Grades will depend upon what you have included; how you have structured the documentation; the way you have expressed expectations, constraints, deliverables, or other concerns; and the approach you have suggested for organizing and executing the work.
RACI MATRIX ASSIGNMENT
Based on your current understanding of the MAGIC project create a RACI matrix. Follow steps below this should build off your WBS work. Feel Free to work Kavan′s creativity assignment into this now if you are complete if not you will have the opportunity to do this at a later time.
Purpose and Goals
The purpose of defining project roles and responsibilities is to ensure that all project work has an unambiguous owner and that all project team members clearly understand their role and responsibilities. Defining roles and responsibilities should be completed early in project planning, before detailed resource allocation or scheduling.
RACI Matrix
A RACI diagram is used to describe the roles and responsibilities of teams or individuals in delivering a project. It is especially useful in clarifying roles and responsibilities in cross functional/cross departmental projects and initiatives. The goals of the roles and responsibilities matrix are to:
Define roles and responsibilities of project stakeholders
Improve overall project team and stakeholder communication
Proactively identify gaps in assignments, accountability, or resources
Clarify cross-functional interactions between project team members
Document project inter-dependencies with other enterprise initiatives
Define project team interactions with supporting resources and departments
RACI Definitions
The RACI diagram splits project activities into four participatory responsibility types that are then assigned to different roles in the project. These responsibilities types make up the acronym RACI.
Responsible: Those who do work to achieve the activity, there can be multiple resources responsible for an activity.
Accountable: The role/resource who will sign off on the work and judge its completion and how it meets quality standards. There must be only one “A” specified for each activity.
Consulted: Those whose opinions, skills, knowledge are sought to complete the activity. (Two-way communication)
Informed: Those that need to know about the activity. (One-way communication)
RACI Process Steps
Identify all of the functional roles on the project, mapping them to groups or people as appropriate. Enter each role title and desсrіption in the Roles table (in the RACI Matrix Template), and/or list them along the top of the RACI chart in the template. Each column in the RACI chart should be a different role. Including specific team members’ names helps people understand their responsibilities.
Identify all of the activity categories involved in the project and list them down the left side of the RACI chart in the RACI Matrix Template. Each row in the RACI chart should be a separate activity category. Tips:
Avoid obvious or generic activities, such as “attend meetings”.
Preface each activity with an action verb.
When the action verb implies a judgement or decision, add a phrase to indicate the primary outcome (Example: Review and approval to proceed to next phase.)
Activities or decisions should be short and concise, and apply to a role or need, or to a specific person where appropriate.
Identify who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed by filling in the cells for each activity. Tips:Identify issues with the current roles. There should be only one “A” for each activity, and no activity should be missing an “A”.Resolve issues. More than one “A” assigned to an activity is resolved by taking a closer look at the process or activity itself and selecting a logical high-level owner. Often one of the “A”s is someone accountable for a sub-process or just a part of the overall activity. An activity without an “A” is usually less difficult to resolve. You identify the appropriate role to be accountable for the process or activity. (Don’t worry if it doesn’t look exactly like this if you used another template just capture the essence of the RACI.)
D＝Driver: Assists those who are responsible for a task.
R＝Responsible: Assigned to complete the task or deliverable.
A＝Accountable: Has final decision-making authority and accountability for completion. Only 1 per task.
S＝Support: Provides support during implementation.
C＝Consulted: An adviser, stakeholder, or subject matter expert who is consulted before a decision or action.
I＝Informed: Must be informed after a decision or action.
Perform a final cross-check to ensure that changes did not impact other RACI assignments.
Verify the RACI with project stakeholders, pointing out where their responsibilities lie, and publish it in the PMP.
The Project Management Plan is a prepared document that defines how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. At this initial point it may be mostly summarizing the information within the MAGIC case study but as the class moves forward a more detailed document should be formed. Any template used should be tailored as appropriate depending on the size and needs of the project.
Your draft PMP needs to include: A developed Work Breakdown structure, completed draft activities, completed project team members worksheet, and a RACI chart.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Project Management Plan is a prepared document that defines how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. At this initial point it may be mostly summarizing the information within the MAGIC case study but as the class moves forward a more detailed document should be formed. Any template used should be tailored as appropriate depending on the size and needs of the project.
Your draft PMP needs to include: A developed Work Breakdown structure, completed draft activities, completed project team members worksheet, and a RACI chart.