Assume you are back at the beginning of ET Solar project and have been appointed by Kate… 1 answer below »
Assessment 1 Instructions
Part A: Planning Execution Plan
Part B: Risk Management Plan
Instructions for Part A – Planning Execution Plan
Please read the information in The ATA case study on Kate Greenwood’s experience as an international project manager at The Alternative Technology Association (ATA). Make sure you watch ALL of the ATA videos before you begin your assessment activities. You may need to review these specific videos for this assessment task:
Video 1: Introduction to the ATA and its East Timor project Video 2: Business case and planning
Background
The ATA is a small Australian Non-Government and Not-for-profit Organisation (NGO & NFP) that started an East Timor (ET) Solar Project in the early 2000s. For further information on The ATA’s activities in this area, please refer to their website (http://www.ata.org.au/).
Assume you are back at the beginning of ET Solar project and have been appointed by Kate Greenwood to assist her in planning the execution of this project. Your first task is to put together a Project Execution Plan framework so that Kate can discuss her approach with the CEO before proceeding with further work. This Plan and the associated Business Case will be the main documents on which The ATA Board bases its approval decision. Also, The ATA is planning to approach Google for funding support and will require a sound Project Execution Plan in addition to the Business Case (the Business Case is not part of this task).
At this point, you should have done some research on the type of project execution plans that are in use in various industries. As a minimum, having worked through Modules 1 and 2, you should know the major sections in the project execution plan. You may have noticed through your research that regardless of the industry sector from which the project execution plan comes, the format, (i.e., section headings) is roughly the same.
If you feel out of your depth with too many unknowns and uncertainties or even a feeling of ‘I don’t know what I am doing’- welcome to the world of project management. It is not uncommon that a manager ventures into a discipline that he/she is not familiar with and has to learn ‘on the run’. Between the PMBoK reference, the Module’s notes and your own research, there should be more than sufficient information for you to tackle this task. We are looking for the thinking that supports your decisions and/or recommendations, and the underpinning logic, not how well you can repeat what you have been taught or have read.
The scope of the task for Part A
Kate requires only an outline of all the section and subsection headings of the project execution plan. For example, the plan begins with an Executive summary, Project description and then the Project management plan with the relevant sub-plans. Under each heading and subheading that you have chosen to include in the Plan, within the context of the East Timor Solar project, explain the reason why these sections are needed and the issues that you believe are important to address, with reference to academic and/or professional publications. Similarly, if you have excluded certain sections from the Plan, why they are omitted and what could be the potential risk of not including them, again with references to the published work.
At this stage, available information on East Timor in relation to this project is sketchy, though, through Kate’s video, you should already have some ideas about the issues she faced during the execution phase of the project. You should include the issues she mentioned in the video under the relevant heading or subheadings as matters that require either further investigation or work so that they can be addressed. Also, you are welcome to conduct further independent research on East Timor to assist you in putting this project execution framework together.
Instructions for Part B – Risk Management Plan
Google has agreed to fund ATA’s East Timor Solar project, but has requested a copy of the Project Risk Management Planas part of their due diligence before final ‘sign-off’. Since you are a diligent international project manager assistant, you have already discussed the need for a risk management plan with Kate. In light of Google’s request, Kate has asked you to put together a risk management brief for consideration.
At this stage, we recommend that you watch ALL the relevant videos provided, specifically:
Video 3: Stakeholder engagement and management Video 4: Project risks
Background
In Module 3, we discussed the project planning and explored the impact of cultural diversity on planning. We examined issues relating to scheduling, resource planning and cost estimation that are peculiar to international projects. In Module 4 we discussed risk management from an international project management perspective. Since international projects are by nature characterised by their high uncertainty, risk management is an important element of international project management.
The scope of the task
You are expected to use the risk management cycle as a guide and describe how the ATA should proceed with each stage of the cycle in order to come up with a sound project risk management plan for this project. You are expected to use the information provided to you on Kate’s video(s) and information from a credible source in relation to East Timor’s environment. For example, who would you include in risk workshop during the risk identification stage to find out more about importing licencing requirements? After ascertaining the requirements, and assuming there may be potential delays, how would you analyse and prioritise the risk? You are allowed to make some assumptions, provided you can justify how and why you make those assumptions. Using the fictitious import licencing example again, you may wish to mandate that any risks that cause a delay in the activity completion date greater than five working days are identified as critical, and structure the risk matrix accordingly. The reason could be you have assumed the Australian installation expert could only be in East Timor for a fixed period of time, therefore there is no ‘float’ for the installation activity on the schedule. There is room for some assumptions since you don’t have all the facts at hand but they need to be sensible, logical and based on certain facts (which require referencing) – don’t just make things up!
Again, it must be stressed that the aim of this task is for you to demonstrate how well you understand the concepts and well you can apply them in this semi-realistic case study. Simply repeating the generic processes taught in the Modules would earn you very little marks.
Please note this is a brief on what you believe should contain in the Project Risk Management Plan. You are not expected to draft a comprehensive Risk Management Plan, there isn't sufficient word allowance for you to do that. Similar to the PEP, there should be an introduction and the outline of the sections/sub-sections accompanied by an explanation and justification, and also the potential risk exposure.
Present your brief in a report format, as if you are actually working for Kate. It should look and sound professional and suitable for tabling in an official meeting.
Preparing your submissions
Prepare your submission as a Word document, up to 2,000 words, +/- 10% and excluding list of references. Make sure you include at least six references to academic publications, using the Harvard referencing style. Refer to the Assessment 1 marking rubric before starting work on this assessment.
Part A: 1,000 words
Part B: 1,000 words
Important Note: Please do not contact The ATA or Kate Greenwood in relation to this task and the coming assessments! La Trobe University does not have a business arrangement or official relationship with The ATA.
Case Study: The ATA The ATA The Alternative Technology Association Copyright The Alternative Technology Association
The Alternative Technology Association (ATA) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports people to live sustainably in their homes and communities. The ATA operates across Australia, and also conducts international projects.
For this case study, we interviewed Kate Greenwood, the International Project Manager from the ATA about their Solar Projects in East Timor.
We recommend you watch this series of interviews with Kate, before starting work on your assessments 1, 2 and 3.
This short video clip provides an overview of The ATA’s solar energy project in Timor Leste (3 minutes), and Kate’s interviews (on the following pages) discuss the project management of this venture.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0ChZXBxsaw&feature=emb_logo Introduction to The ATA and its East Timor Project Video 1: Introduction to The ATA and its East Timor Project
In this video, Allen Lo (La Trobe University) talks to Kate Greenwood (The ATA) about the International Projects which The ATA has conducted in East Timor, including some background on how these projects have been funded and managed in the past. Kate discusses the project objectives, high level planning process and expectations. These expectations included the role of the local community in setting up village management committees, and training local technical support, for sustainable management. Kate also provides a broad summary of the logistical arrangements to complete the project within the limitations. (11 minutes)-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7qM8s8bpY&feature=emb_logo Business Case and Planning Video 2: Business Case and Planning
Kate Greenwood describes how she approached the planning and management for the ATA project in East Timor. She emphasises the importance of having inter-country partners and relationships with the local community, especially in relation to understanding the local culture, language, soliciting local stakeholder ownership, and shared values. Kate also discusses how she went about mapping the project, in collaboration with the relevant Government departments.She gives us a glimpse of The ATA's in-house international project management capability and the issues that she faced when she took over the International Project Manager role. (10 minutes)-https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLE5HAQYUwLAd1tTH_UdzWEleUKVLyHoKw&v=wxrKRPz7MJc&feature=emb_logo Stakeholder Engagement and Management Video 3: Stakeholder Engagement and Management
Kate was asked about the philosophy that she adopted in managing stakeholders, especially when she paused the project after the pilot phase, and how she kept stakeholders engaged. In this video, she continues her discussion of how the decision to pause the project allowed her to develop a more rigorous management plan. She explains some of the measures instigated to support her aims; development of KPI's, control and monitoring, and an end-users survey to establish a monitoring/evaluation baseline. She further explains the reasons why it was important to actively engage the East Timor Government and local stakeholders with the project. (7 minutes)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWMIhyfkgrc&feature=emb_logo Project Risks Video 4: Project Risks
Kate discusses some of the issues which can arise when outside organisations try to engage with local communities, and how utilising local knowledge and experience can help lower barriers to successful project outcomes. Topics covered include language, international procurement and supply chains, currency exchange rate risks, and health and safety risks. (11 minutes)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCH8dNdfjoA&feature=emb_logo Leadership in Managing the East Timor Project Video 5: Leadership in Managing the East Timor Project
In this video, Allen asks Kate about the leadership style she adopted for this project. Kate describes the approach she took, which included a lot of listening to different groups, and becoming more familiar with the technology. She explains how she leveraged the technical strengths of her team and focused on areas that required her attention. She also discusses where she experienced ‘push-back’ to changes, the challenges of being a younger woman in a predominantly older male environment, and how she dealt with those challenges. (7 minutes)-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1jlndwyp6Y&feature=emb_logo
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