SIT374/SIT764 Project Management

Workshop 2
Objectives:

To update the Project Proposal to reflect the new and updated information.
To identify the organizational structure
To outline the project life cycle
To define the steps required to complete the project

Related Textbook Chapter:

Chapter 2 The Project Management and Information Technology Context

This workshop will work with the initial project proposal you completed in the last
workshop, and update your project proposal by adding new and updated information
about the project.
Many of the theories and concepts of project management are not difficult to understand.
What is difficult is implementing them in various environments. Project managers must
consider many different issues when managing projects, as each project environment is
unique. Understanding organizations, matching project life cycle to the project
environment, and accordingly defining project steps are the important components
involved in understanding the project environment.
1. Identify the organizational structure
As a project manager, you cannot run projects in isolation, as projects refer to
interacting parts or components of an organization that work within an environment
to fulfil some purpose. If project managers lead projects in isolation, it is unlikely that
they will truly serve the needs of the organization. Therefore, projects must operate in
a broad organizational environment, and project managers need to consider projects
within the greater organizational context.
When you start a project you must discover many aspects of the organisation that the
project will exist within and how the organisation is managed and where information
on the many aspects of the project can be discovered and potentially assigned as part
of the planning and implementing phase. Without this knowledge you run the risk of
reinventing the wheel, wasting resources, developing plans that make incorrect
assumptions and so on.
Things to do:
-

Identify the organizational structure of assignment 1 project.

Document the organization structure in the corresponding section of your project

proposal.
Identify the departments you need to get involved, informed and work with, and
how they fit into the project.
You are encouraged to discuss any questions about the organizational structure of
the project with your classmates and tutor.

Note: Given the example in the textbook (Figure 2-3 on page 49), it is expected that
you present this structure in a meaningful way so that hierarchy is clearly defined
and each area is clearly defined in terms of what their roles are and how they
contribute to the organisation. This enables you to understand the command
structure and to identify those people that can help, contribute and provide advice on
the project as it develops. It is NOT sufficient to just simply provide a graphic with
department names.
2. Outline the project life cycle
A project life cycle is a collection of project phases. It defines what work will be
performed in each phase, what deliverables will be produced and when, who is
involved in each phase, and how management will control and approve work
produced in each phase.
Project phases vary by project or industry. In traditional project management, general
phases of a project life cycle are: concept, development, implementation, and closingout (pages 57-59 of chapter 2 in the textbook). Just as a project has a life cycle, so
does a product (pages 59-62 of chapter 2 in the textbook).
Many projects, however, do not follow the traditional project life cycle. They still
have general phases with some similar characteristics, but they are much more
flexible. It is a good practice to think of projects as having phases that connect to the
beginning and end of the process.
Things to do:
-

Investigate the traditional project life cycle and product life cycles, and outline the
project life cycle you expect the project will need to follow in order to succeed.
Justify why you feel the chosen or designed project life cycle / methodology best
suits this project.
You are encouraged to discuss any questions about the project life cycle with your
classmates and tutor.

Note: It is expected that you investigate the traditional project life cycle and product
life cycles, and decide which model / methodology you feel is best used to complete
the project. The model / methodology determines the Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS) and ultimately the planning and implementation timeline and budget.

You must determine this model early prior to developing a Gantt chart as the
individual tasks will reflect the model you choose. For instance the waterfall model
generally requires all the design is completed before the construction starts but the
incremental model allows for incremental design and development to take place.
Which model is suitable depends on the nature of the project (more information can
be found on pages 60-62 of chapter 2 in the textbook).
You are required to explain the model you decided on and to justify the model in the
context of the project you were defining.

3. Define the steps required to complete the project

The project life cycle model provides an overview of the project development. You
still need to go further to define the steps of each phase in the project life cycle so that
the project can be planned and managed effectively. Developing a plan that outlines
the key steps of the project allows you to focus on specifics and start the process of
defining the complexity of the project.
This task defines, from a broad perspective, the key steps and milestones that are
required to plan, implement and run the project from beginning to completion. At this
moment, you are not required to provide timelines or schedules for each part of the
project. Instead, you should give a general overview of the individual, identifiable
tasks that comprise the project life cycle.
Things to do:
-

Based on your chosen or designed project life cycle model, define the key steps of
each phase that are required to complete the project.
Document the defined steps in the corresponding section of your project proposal.
You are encouraged to discuss any questions about the project steps with your
classmates and tutor.

At this stage, your project proposal has been updated with more and new information
about the project. As you learn more and ask questions, the project proposal will continue
to change. There will be many objectives that will be discovered as a consequence of this
process and should be reflected in the project proposal.
After this workshop, please try to independently complete Task 2 of assignment 1 by
yourself and submit it to Task 2 drop box on CloudDeakin on time. Dont worry about
any possible problems in your current project proposal document, as you can still make
changes to what you did before to improve the proposal before the due date of
assignment 1.
Save your updated project proposal in a safe place as you will use it in the following
workshops and assignment tasks.