Module 2 Tutorial Questions (Due 11:59pm 16th of May, 2021) Project Management
Instructions:
• You must answer all questions. Only include your answer text and question number in your
document.
• The presentation of your document is to be of a professional nature. This means formatting and
styling is present, questions numbers and their answers are clearly present. If an answer is not clearly labelled with the question number it corresponds to, zero (0) marks will be given for that answer. Do not include the question text.
• This assessment involves academic writing. This means all work must be in your own words, and any ideas or knowledge you have used must be properly referenced using the APA style of referencing. A reference list is to be included at the end of the document listing only those references cited within your text – it is highly recommended to use a referencing tool. For more information please refer to Lecture 1: Intro and 2: How to Succeed in this Unit on vUWS.
• All chapters referenced relate to the text Project Management for Information Systems (5th Ed)
• Although all questions must be attempted, only 3 will be assessed. The 3 questions will not be
identified until marks are released.
• Do not include an assignment coversheet, but include your name and student id in the document
header.
Note:
Academic writing entails demonstrating your comprehension and understanding. For this assessment, the knowledge area is Module 2: Project Management.
Although some questions may appear to require an opinion-oriented answer, you are to take the persona of a professional and answer accordingly. Use the textbook and lectures as a starting point for further investigations.
For the following questions read the following chapters:
• Chapter 8 – Project planning: understanding the work
• Chapter 9 – Project planning: estimating
• Chapter 10 – Project planning scheduling and resources
Question 1
a) Explainthedifferencebetween‘effort’and‘elapsedtime’.Whatisthesignificanceofthisdifference for project planning purposes?
b) In longer-term project planning, it is wise to assume that staff will be available for project work for less than 100% of the total available time. What factors will reduce staff availability and what adjustments should be made for them?
Question 2
a) Describe, with examples, what human factors affecting estimating are, and also describe how these
factors can affect estimations.
b) Outlinestrategiesthatcanbeusedtoovercometheseissues.
Professional Development 300578
Page1of2
Question 3
a) Explain what project dependencies are, and what tools a project manager can use to analyse these. b) GiveanexampleofafewdependencieswithinanInformationSystemproject
Question 4
a) Explain what a Gantt chart is, and describe what information you can infer from one.
b) ConsideroneofyourpastassignmentsandcreateaGanttchartfortheprocessofcompletingthe
assignment. You must include a minimum of 8 tasks and a minimum of 2 dependencies. Search online to find a free Gantt chart tool to create your chart in.
For the following questions read the following chapters:
• Chapter 2 – Business strategy and information systems
• Chapter 3 – The business case
• Chapter 13 – Reporting Progress
Question 5
a) Atwhatpointintheprojectlifecycleshouldthebusinesscasebeprepared? b) Whatistheroleoftheprojectmanagerinrelationtothebusinesscase?
Question 6
a) Why is reporting fundamental for project management and when should the reporting requirements
be established?
b) Giveatleastthreereportsthataprojectmanagerorteammayproduceandprovidejustificationfor
such a report.
For the following questions read the following chapters:
• Chapter 21 – Leadership and performance
• Chapter 22 – Managing the team
• Chapter 23 – The project manager
Question 7
Why is it important for project managers to understand the strategy of an organisation that uses their services?
Question 8
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model provides a theory of human motivation. Explain each level of the hierarchy, including references to real world example(s) of how organisations can meet each level.
Question 9
Conflict and stress arise naturally in IS project teams. Some people argue that a little of both is useful, but everyone agrees that too much is destructive. How could you organise your project team to minimise the destructive effect of conflict and stress?
Professional Development 300578
Page2of2