5.1.

3 Practice: Creating a Project Schedule Practice

Principles of Name: Caleb J. Gonzalez
Information Technology
Sem 1 Date: Nov 16, 2022

Reflect (5 points)
Answer the following questions about planning projects.

1. What takes place during pre-planning? (1 point)

Where the information for the project is gathered

2. Why are project charters important? (1 point)

They tell you the overall budget, end dates of the schedule, the key people and agreements
that the team made together.

3. With whom should project managers be in regular communication regarding the

project? (1 point)

The stakeholders and the project team

4. What is one way to prepare for building a project budget? (1 point)

Gathering the information of how many people will be on the team and how many
machines will be used in the project as well.

5. How does the critical path differ from the main project plan? (1 point)
Critical path allows teams to identify the most important tasks in a project. This provides
a higher level of insight into your project's timeline

Analyze (10 points)

Analyze the following information, using the following project scenario:

Talar works for Optimus XT and has been asked by the Activities Committee to
organize the annual clothing drive to coincide with the state's Homelessness
Awareness Day, which is coming up on May 31, just six weeks away. She is allowed
to have three other employees help her on the final day of the drive, when the
clothes need to be organized and delivered to local shelters. The Activities
Committee encourages Talar to hand-out buttons or stickers to participants as a
way to help promote the event. This is Talar's first time being involved in the event.

1. During pre-planning, the Activities Committee establishes the following project

goal: "Optimus XT will promote and organize a clothing drive no later than May 31."
Is this a SMART goal? Why or why not? (2 points)

No, I don’t think this is a SMART goal because it’s missing some parts for it to become a
SMART goal. We know the time she wants the clothing drive to last, but what's the
measure, how much clothes does she want to gather before the end date. It was specific on
how long she wanted the clothing drive to last, but not specific enough to tell her team
how much clothes to organize for the event. This is why I don’t think this was a fully
executed proposed SMART goal.

2. The first draft of the project charter is as follows:

a. Does this charter contain enough information for Talar to get started? Why or why
not? (2 points)

No, it doesn’t have the end date of the events, the key people, the agreements of how the
team will work together. The project mission statement doesn’t seem very thought out or
explained well, I’m assuming the team would love to know how much clothes they should
approximately gather to make sure all the homeless people who attend will receive a
fairfull amount of clothes to provide themselves.

b. What other dates would be useful to add to this project charter? (2 points)

May 31, which is the end date of the event.

3. The Activities Committee asks Talar how much money she thinks she will need to
complete the project successfully. Talar drafts the following budget:

a. Looking at this budget, what are some possible risks that Talar should take into
account? In other words, which of these budget items may be the most difficult for
Talar to control? (2 points)

Transportation would be the most difficult in my

opinion, gas prices could change at any moment and we
never know what could happen on the road, traffic, car
accidents. Maybe she’ll have to drive more miles than
she thought she had to do.

b. What kinds of information from previous budgets

would be helpful for Talar to have on hand when she
presents her budget to the Activities Committee? (2
points)

The amount of time the team took to complete the

event, the places they went to get the clothes from,
materials for the event, and maybe even refreshments
for the team while being at the event.

Synthesize (15 points)

Now it's your turn to create a project plan and
accompanying budget.

Imagine you are a manager for a seafood distributer on the West Coast. Lately, in
part due to overfishing, you have found that the price of rockfish has risen
dramatically. In fact, you are paying twice the amount per pound for rockfish than
you did last year. You have been with your rockfish supplier for a couple years, and
you like their product. However, your company just can't afford to keep buying fish
at double the price. The CEO of the company puts you in charge of finding a new
rockfish supplier. You are in charge of drafting the project name, constructing the
budget, deadlines, and doing the analytical work required to calculate the best
price. You have a week to get the project details to the CEO.
1. Now that you are in charge of finding a new supplier for rockfish, what is your first
step? Why should this be your first step? (1 point)

I should gather as much information I need for the project and make a SMART goal. This
will help prepare the base of the project and why it should be done and how.

2. Using the format in the previous section, create a project charter. Don't forget to
list how many other team members you will need for this project. (3 points)

File Description Status

Mission To find a new rockfish supplier that will Approved

benefit the company before Nov 23, 2022

Sponsor West Coast Approved

Manager Caleb J. Gonzalez Approved

Team Members Jody Hughes Jeremy Orozco Approved

Toni Shappard Evelyn Vaughn
Steve M. Jacobs Ira Velasquez
Israel Douglass Toby Atkinson
Ramiro Dalton Paige Davenport

3. Your boss has seen your preliminary project charter and approved it. However, she
still wants a completed project plan with an accompanying budget by the end of the
week. After thinking about it, you tell your boss that you will need to travel a bit in the
region in order to get the best deal from the supplier. Your CEO agrees that travel
would be necessary. Next, create a sample budget for the trip, which, as you now
realize, is the biggest part of the project since you could potentially secure a cheaper
source of Rockfish while traveling. (3 points)

$2.18 per gallon , 12 gallons into car= $26.16

Every gallon is enough to travel up to 25 miles
Need to fill up car every 300 miles of travel
4. Consider what else would go into your project plan, including a critical path, key
milestones, completion criteria, and documents.

a. List the tasks you would include in the critical path. What kinds of tasks would you
not include in the critical path? Why? (2 points)

Calculate the amount of money we spent on the budget

Compare all the near rockfish suppliers
Have the project charter approved by the boss
Have the rockfish supplier approved

I wouldn’t include how much gas I has to pay to travel and how much money I paid
team members. Doesn’t have to do anything with the progress of the critical path

b. What would you identify as key milestones? How should you communicate when
those milestones have been met? (2 points)
Project charter to be approved
To Find a cheaper rockfish supplier
Rockfish supplier to be approved by the boss
The new rockfish supplier benefits the company

Communicate with the SMEs and have them aware of the project’s success and progress.

c. What would be appropriate completion criteria for your project? (2 points)

To see if the SMART goal and the project’s success is approved by the stakeholders,
making sure they approve every part of the project.

d. What kinds of documents should be incorporated into your project plan? (2

points)
Project Charter
Project schedule
Project Team plan
Project risks plan
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5.1.3 Practice: Creating a Project Schedule