IFSM 438 PRO EXEC
Project Execution (Individual project)
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Overview of the Project Execution, Tracking, and Changes assignment
Your job as Project Manager just got interesting. You have spent considerable time getting ready to actually launch the project and now it is show time! The customer has signed off on spending a significant amount of money and you need to keep things on schedule and within budget. Managing those elements are not easy without tools. Fortunately, you are going to learn how to employ earned value management for tracking project progress and determining when corrective action is needed (and what it should be).
First, read the "Managing the Budget (EVM)" topic in the "Budget Planning" e-Book (Week 8 → Readings). It covers all the aspects of earned value you will learn about in this assignment.
Project Background
This assignment will use the Time Sharing System from "How to Build Work Breakdown Structures" (Week 1 → Readings). The customer has signed off on the project and it is now ready to launch. Your team includes eight resources made up of Project Manager (that is you!), Analysts, Developers, and Testers. The project is planned to start on July 11th, finish on November 30th, and cost $251,335.
Once into execution, you will see some changes (surprises) come up that affect the schedule. Since earned value is calculated from data within the schedule1, that whole picture will change as well. The Excel sheet is pre-loaded with data from schedule snapshots taken at six different points during project execution.
NOTE: There are two parts to this assignment.
Part 1 - Enter Earned Value data into Microsoft Excel
Open the Excel file, "Earned Value Chart" (Week 8 → Assignment).
Several columns are already populated, so you do not have to change them (they are locked down). The Status Date column shows when the snapshots were taken. The three cost columns - Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), and Actual Cost (AC) are values calculated by Microsoft Project. The Budget at Completion (BAC) is a static value, equal to the cost that the customer agreed to pay your company. It only changes if the customer agrees to a contract change, which will not happen in this scenario.
1 Microsoft Project actually calculates these values. They can be viewed using the "Add New Column" feature and searching the column list for the specific value you wish to see.
Project Execution (Individual project)
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The Schedule Performance and Cost Performance columns are for you to fill in (from a drop-down list):
Using the cost columns in each of the five open rows, pick the correct value for Schedule Performance and Cost Performance. The eBook discusses the relationship between PV and EV for Schedule Performance, and between EV and AC for Cost Performance. This will help you compare values in the cost columns and select the right values for Schedule and Cost Performance.
The rest of the columns to the right of Budget at Completion all use a formula for calculating the correct value. All of the formulas are explained in the eBook. Once you have the correct formula, use it to compute the correct value until you have completed all five rows (the first row is prefilled with zeros).
If you are proficient with Excel formulas, feel free to use them instead of calculating the answers manually.
IMPORTANT: The submission file should be named as "LastnameFirstname" "Deliverable for" "Project Execution", such as: MylastnameMyfirstname Earned Value for Project Execution.xlsx
Part 2 - Answers to Questions in Microsoft Word
Open a Microsoft Word document. Copy the following questions and paste them into the document, then answer the following questions.
Question 1: Explain the relationship between PV and EV for Schedule Performance, i.e., when one is higher (or lower) than the other, how does Schedule Performance change? Question 2: What performance factor does SPI affect? Explain what SPI of more (or less) than one means. Question 3: Explain the relationship between EV and AC for Cost Performance. When one is higher (or lower) than the other, how does Cost Performance change? Question 4: What performance factor does SPI affect? Explain SPI of more (or less) than one means.
Project Execution (Individual project)
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For the following questions, use formula notation. Do not explain the answers in text form. Question 5: What formula did you use to calculate CV? Question 6: What formula did you use to calculate SV? Question 7: What formula did you use to calculate CPI? Question 8: What formula did you use to calculate SPI? Question 9: What formula did you use to calculate EAC? Question 10: What formula did you use to calculate ETC (assuming that cost variance is typical)? Formatting Your Questions Document
• Create an APA format title page that includes: The title of report (Questions for Project Execution), your name, Course and Section number and date (use assignment due date); do not include graphics or themes.
• No running header required for this document.
• The body of the paper should be double spaced (or 1.5"), not to exceed 5 pages.
• Answers should be formatted as normal sentences (no numbering, not a run-on sentence as part of the question, no indenting).
• Use 1" margins on all sides.
• Font should be 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern.
• Font should remain consistent throughout the paper, i.e., not changing from one font to another.
• Use at least one external reference and one from the course content (from the class reading content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself) with APA formatted citation and reference. For information on general APA format and specifics related to citing from the class content, refer to Content → Course Resources → Writing Resources. Resources must not use Wikipedia, general information sites, blogs, or discussion groups.
• The list of References must be its own page at the end of the document and it must be in APA format, i.e., double spaced, .5" hanging indent. No more than 10% of the paper may be in the form of a direct citation from an external source. All in-text citations must appear in the References list and all entries in the References list must be used as in-text citations.
• Run Microsoft Word's grammar/spell checker; there should be no errors in grammar, verb tenses, pronouns, spelling, punctuation, first person usage, or contractions.
• Submit your paper as a Word document, or a document that can be read in Word.
Submit this file in your Assignments folder.
IMPORTANT: The submission file should be named as "LastnameFirstname" "Deliverable for" "Project Execution", such as: MylastnameMyfirstname Questions for Project Execution.xlsx
Project Execution (Individual project)
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Grading Rubric
Criteria 90-100%
Far Above Standards 80-89%
Above Standards 70-79%
Meets Standards 60-69%
Below Standards < 60%
Well Below Standards Criterion
Score
Earned Value Calculations in Excel Calculate Earned Value data through project execution
28-30 Points All Schedule and Cost Performance choices correct, all Earned Value entries correct.
24-27 Points No more than 8 Schedule and Cost Performance choices correct, no more than 28 Earned Value entries correct.
21-23 Points No more than 6 Schedule and Cost Performance choices correct, no more than 21 Earned Value entries correct.
18-20 Points No more than 4 Schedule and Cost Performance choices correct, no more than 14 Earned Value entries correct.
0-17 Points Fewer than 3 Schedule and Cost Performance choices correct, fewer than 7 Earned Value entries correct.
30
Earned Value Questions in Word Demonstrate conceptual understanding of Earned Value
28-30 Points All questions answered correctly.
24-27 Points 9 questions answered correctly.
21-23 Points 8 questions answered correctly.
18-20 Points 7 questions answered correctly.
0-17 Points Fewer than 7 questions answered correctly.
30
Research Use at least one external reference and one from the course content (from the class reading content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself) with APA formatted citation (in-text).
18-20 Points
Required references are incorporated, used effectively, and cited using APA style. References used are relevant and timely and contribute strongly to the analysis.
16-17 Points
Required references are relevant, and somewhat support the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.
14-15 Points
Only one reference is used and properly incorporated, and/or reference(s) lack correct APA style.
12-13 Points
A reference may be used, but is not properly incorporated or used, and/or is not effective or appropriate, and/or does not follow APA style for references and citations.
0-11 Points
No course content or external research incorporated, or reference listed is not cited within the text.
20
Format Uses format provided. Includes Title Page and References Page.
18-20 Points Well organized and easy to read. Very few or no errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Double-spaced, written in third person, and presented in a professional format.
16-17 Points Effective organization. has few errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Double-spaced, written in third person, and presented in a professional format.
14-15 Points Some organization. may have some errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Double spaced, and written in third person.
12-13 Points Not well organized, and/or contains several errors in grammar and/or spelling, and/or is not double-spaced and written in third person.
0-11 Points Extremely poorly written, has many errors in grammar and/or spelling, or does not convey the information required.
20