2 marks this semester! 50% each.
- Plan your project! /20. (-> Powerpoint + Video to be sent by 14/3/24)
Your company has a new IOT project : they want to produce and sell a new connected sport item. The idea is first to collect movement-related data, analyse it and draw conclusions in terms of performance or detect potential problems (bad postures for instance and so on). Later on, the company aims at communicating their findings to the customers via a (paying) application.
You are in charge of managing that project.
They will outsource the technological side of the project, as they don’t have in-house IT engineers or data scientists to develop and test the necessary sensors, analytical software, or build the application. In-house resources will :
1/ « Build » the new product i.e. : make it, integrate the new IOT components , test (and QA test) it, then pack it, ready for shipping
2/ Advertise, sell it, send it to the customers
3/ Re-organise the company’s customer service, to face and fix the problems the new product may experience.
4/ Organise a new Data Analytics department (where data analysts will work with the collected data and draw reports first ; later on they will check the results that’ll be fed into the application, once it is built and operational). 2 people will be recruited in that department (one senior + one junior profiles), but the company expects the team will grow over time, once the app is released.
You will have to :
1/ Initiate the project :
-> clearly establish the scope of the project (what it aims at delivering, what is not within its remit ; clearly define the boundaries)
– > gather the requirements from all relevant stakeholders, and write out the design and functional specifications (specs)
-> identify and clearly list the deliverables
-> produce the first draft of the plan/schedule, in order to get an estimate of the time, costs and needs for resources, and identify where you need to plan for contingency.
2/ As you are given the go ahead, you will then properly plan the project ; while building your WBS, take the time to consider whether you need a traditional or an agile approach (or a mix of both -> 😊) :
-> please produce several versions of your plan, showing :
– the schedule (with start and finish dates) on a GANTT chart ,
– the cost generated by each task of your WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
– the resource allocation, per task
-> do not forget to plan in measures for contingency
-> please quickly produce a risk assessment analysis (summarizing where you may have problems, bottlenecks and so on, hence justifying your contingency plan/measures)
3/ Share your plan with your project team (me !), sending me your (bundled) documents and running through it all for me via video, to help me understand everything about the project !
Tips/recommendations :
The project: If you want to opt for a real life project, please do!
If you want to work with the above scenario, please choose whatever object you want this assignment to be about (you have carte blanche !). For instance, it may be a new connected saddle for horse-riding, connected handles for a bike, and so on.
In order to get some inspiration about requirements, have a look at the document on Teams (Van Heek et al 2014 -> Please just look at the requirements part 4, not the conclusions of that research paper).
Finally, for the overall project, please do not go too far into details : as this is fiction, I only want you to come up with 7 concise documents (however bear in mind that in reality, you would have to go into precise details, so as to make your planning as accurate as possible).
The documents to provide are:
Phase 1:
– >1. The project initiation document (PID), that will define:
— the project scope
— the project description
— the assumptions (and constraints)
— the deliverables : a table that will resume the main titles + reference numbers of the requirements (expressed in document No 2, the requirements document)
— the work schedule (big deadlines only)
— an estimate of your resources (both human and materials) in order to establish a budget estimate
— the list of your stakeholders
-> 2. The requirements document (a table in 3 columns, featuring a reference number, a description of each line of requirement and an indication as to whether this requirement must be fulfilled (=necessary) or not (=desirable)
-> 3. The functional & design spec document (a quick drawing to illustrate a solution aiming at fulfil some of the requirements)
Phase 2:
-> 4. The GANTT Chart – showing the start and finish dates, and duration
-> 5. Your WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) showing the costs (in days and euros)
-> 6. Your resource allocation plan
-> 7. Your risk register, a table in 8 columns, as displayed on the “Project Redflag” illustration (https://www.micrositepro.fr/formations/management/2023/12/24/project-management-part-2/)
- Alex’s appraisal : /20. (-> Powerpoint + Video to be sent by 25/2/24 if possible)
Please present how you will conduct Alex’s appraisal, by :
– producing the assessment sheet that’ll feature SMART objectives
– writing your remarks, assessing Alex’s performance against these objectives
– issuing your recommendations to help him progress, as well as your positive comments, congratulating him on what he has achieved so far
– setting up his new, next (SMART) objectives, and making decisions as to whether :
– you reward him (or not) for his progress
– propose to him further training
You will build a powerpoint presentation to show how you conduct the appraisal, and comment /explain that powerpoint by a video.
