PROJ6003 Project Execution and Control - Project Status Reporting – Presentation

Assessment Task

Critically reflect on the assigned Case Study, which is available at the Key Learning Resources link or will be sent to you as an announcement by your Learning Facilitator via the Announcement link in the main navigation menu of PROJ6003: Project Execution and Control. In this assessment, you will further analyse the Case Study that was introduced in Assessments 1 and 2. You will participate in a discussion with your classmates (a 5 to 10-minute presentation, approximately) demonstrating your understanding of Project Status reporting.

You will effectively identify project status reports and discuss their challenges and pitfalls, explaining the difference between the status reports provided for teams, sponsors and steering committee, considering their unique needs, as well as creating and justifying a sample of a status report that would be submitted to a chosen stakeholder of the project from the given Case Study.

This assessment allows you to practise professional communication with peers, either face-to-face or virtually.

Note: At the discretion of your Learning Facilitator, this assessment can be delivered in class as a presentation/discussion, using recordings for online classes and in-class presentation for face-to-face delivery. This might require initiating the task ahead of the submission deadline, which will be communicated by your Learning Facilitator.

Please refer to the Task Instructions for details on how to complete this task.

Context

In Project Management, communicating the status of the project and engaging with the stakeholders are critical aspects to maintain their support on the project. As a Project Manager (PM), you are managing the execution as well as constantly monitoring and controlling the project, but you are also ensuring that your stakeholders are aware of the project’s progress with the level of detail that they need. How would you communicate project progress and status to key stakeholders? How would you ensure that they have sufficient information to make key decisions and assist you in further progress of your project? This will depend on the stakeholder group, their power and interest, and their communication preferences and requirements.

PMs will need to answer these questions and, many times, they are put in the spotlight to present their progress in meetings to top management to discuss and provide their solutions and ideas for problem-solving if changes are needed. This assessment allows you to practise doing just that! You will build your understanding of a range of project status reports as well as practice professional communication with peers, either face-to-face or virtually, and demonstrate how you can keep track of your project while keeping your stakeholders satisfied.

Instructions

To complete this assessment task, you must:

1. Read and analyse the given Case Study.
   • Refer to your subject notes, lecture slides and any additional research you may conduct that may add value to your report.
2. Prepare a script/essay for the main post/presentation, to be submitted on the Discussion Forum, of 750 words (+/-10%) containing the following:

a) Identify, at least, three (3) effective status reports used in project management.

b) Discuss challenges and pitfalls for each of the project status

c) Explain the difference between the project status reports provided for teams, sponsors and steering committee, considering their unique needs.

d) Create and justify a sample of a project status report that would be submitted to a chosen stakeholder of the project from the given Case

OPTION 1 – Discussion in class – Presentation and Responses

3. You will, then, deliver a presentation on project status reports based on your script and respond to at least one (1) other classmate in

• Face-to-Face students will participate in the discussions, during class, in the second week of Module The main post of 750 words (+/-10%) will be written in the Discussion Forum prior to class, and you will then participate in the discussions in class with a minimum of one (1) response to other student.
• Students will have between 5–10 minutes to deliver a presentation based on their
• Students can use a number of visual aids to support the presentation.
• Students will respond to at least one (1) other classmate by participating in the discussions in class.
• Students will be marked for the presentation and response to other classmates in class and the scripts they have submitted on the forum.
• While the script can serve as a guide for your presentation, please ensure to use a wide range of presentation techniques to engage, persuade and sustain your audience’s

OPTION 2 – Recording/Writing on Blackboard – Presentation and Responses

If submitting on the Discussion Forum – recorded/written post (F2F/Virtual/Online):

3. You will, then, deliver a presentation on project status reports based on your script and respond to at least one (1) other classmate on the Discussion Forum directly, as instructed by your Learning
   • Note: To meet the deadline of the assessment, the recording of your presentation needs to be posted by Friday of Week 6.1 with the response posted by Sunday of Week 6.1.

• Students will have between 5–10 minutes to deliver a presentation based on their
• Students can use a number of visual aids to support the
• Students will respond to at least one (1) other classmate either in writing (250 words) or as a recording (2–3 minutes).
• Students will be marked for the recording and response to other classmates on the forum and the scripts they have submitted on the forum.
• While the script can serve as a guide for your presentation, please ensure to use a wide range of presentation techniques to engage, persuade and sustain your audience’s

1. The written portion of your assessment should consist of:
   • A brief Introduction paragraph that will also serve as your statement of purpose for the discussion—this means that you will tell the reader what you are going to cover in the discussion.
   • Body paragraphs in which you will cover all four (4) requirements listed above (a to d). This section will contain the information that is required to demonstrate your understanding of the case study and key Project Management concepts under discussion by applying them into your project.
2. Any visual aids – tables/diagrams/illustrations – can be used to support the discussion.
3. A brief Conclusion paragraph summarising any findings or recommendations from the discussion.
   1. There should not be any new information in the conclusion.
4. A list of References providing every source cited within your report.
   1. Only cited sources are listed in the References.
   2. They should be listed alphabetically.
   3. They need to be valid and linked with the topic/content provided within the report.

Referencing

It is essential that you use appropriate APA style for citing and referencing research. Please see more information on referencing in the Academic Skills webpage.