The courses focuses on the management of the execution phase of projects. Students will learn practices and tools to monitor and control projects, making corrective decisions and introduce changes to plans to ensure the project achieves its objectives.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Identify the contextual factors affecting project monitoring and control during the project execution phase. (Ask + Remember)
2. Implement evidence-based project control. (Acquire + Understand)
3. Gauge the quality of available evidence to evaluate the project progress. ( Appraise + analyse)
4. Ascertain the appropriate corrective actions based on relevant approaches and evidence to ensure that project status is effectively monitored, managed and communicated. (Aggregate + evaluate)
5. Recognize the implications of the courses of actions on project outcomes. (Apply + evaluate)
6. Devise a project execution report for future project monitoring and control (Assess + create)

Research-Led Teaching

Project Monitoring and Control is a research-led course. The core results of this work relate to the theoretical foundations of project management.

Field Trips

There are no field trips for this course

Additional Course Costs

There are no additional course costs

Examination Material or equipment

There is no examination for this course

Required Resources

Required text:

There are no required texts for this course

Recommended Resources

• Optional reference: 

Praxis Framework

Adrian Dooly

ISBN: 978-1-903494-43-1

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) 6th ed.

The Project Management Institute 

ISBN: 978-1-628-25184-5

May be some copies in library however in class I will show you how to obtain a soft copy for no cost.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Written comments
• Verbal comments
• Feedback to the whole class, to groups, to individuals, focus groups

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Lecture - Week 1: Introduction	A. Course overview and academic integrity session B. Syndicates C. Theoretical Foundations
2	Lecture - Week 2: The Project Lifecycle	A. Anatomy of a project B. Stakeholder engagement C. Risk & Issue Management
3	Lecture - Week 3: Project execution	A. Controlling Quality B. Project execution management C. Controlling Change
4	Lecture - Week 4: Monitoring & controlling the time and money	A. Time tracking B. Budget tracking C. Reporting using the reporting dashboard
5	Lecture - Week 5: Project reporting dashboards - Part I	A. Understand Dashboards and Reporting B. Define Dashboard and Reporting Goals and Priorities
6	Lecture - Week 6: Project reporting dashboards - Part II	A. Design Effective Dashboards and Reporting B. Build and Test Dashboards and Reports ***Guest lecturer Dr Alicia Aitken, Transformation and Change Capability Lead - ANZ Bank & Chairman - International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM)
7	Lecture - Week 7: Seminar preparation	A. The project simulation B. Syndicate meeting
8	Seminar - Week 8: Project Dashboard & simulation session S1	A. Project reporting Dashboard presentations B. Briefing for simulation iteration #1
9	Seminar - Week 9: Simulation session S2	A. Presentation of Dashboards for iteration #1 B. Briefing for iteration #2
10	Seminar - Week 10: Simulation session S3	A. Presentation of Dashboards for iteration #2 B. Briefing for iteration #3
11	Seminar - Week 11: Simulation session S4	A. Presentation of Dashboards for iteration #3 B. Briefing for iteration #4
12	Seminar - Week 12: Simulation session S5 and wrap up	A. Presentation of Dashboards for iteration #4 B. Summary of course C. Close

Tutorial Registration

There are no tutorials for this course

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Position Paper	40 %	10/03/2020	23/04/2020	1,2,3,4,5,6
Project Reporting Dashboard	45 %	20/04/2020	02/07/2020	1,2,3,4,5,6
Weekly Dashboard Simulations	15 %	*	*	1,2,3

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

Participation is expected in all classes and assessments. ***Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many students will not be able to return to Australia to participate in class. It has been decided therefore, that this lecture will be run completely online and technology such as Zoom, Echo ALP , discussion boards as well as others, will be used to assess participation. This will provide a unique opportunity for students in this cohort to understand the challenges when working in projects with distributed teams.***

Examination(s)

There is no examination as part of this course

Assessment Task 1

Position Paper

This is an individual (not a syndicate) assignment.

You are to write a position paper explaining and justifying your views on your answer to this question. Note that this question has no right or wrong answer, and you are not expected to choose a “correct” view. Instead you will be assessed on how you can form and express your views within the context of the criteria below.

Be sure to focus your discussion, as well as your references and literature, within that period. When writing your position paper you should address the following criteria by which your paper will be assessed:

• The Project Management Office (PMO) has been in existence for a number or years, after researching the history of the PMO, do you believe that it has helped in the successful delivery of projects in organisations, or has it hindered project managers doing their job?
• Discuss up to three (3) new ideas, models or concepts in PMO which could have some real and positive impacts on how the PMO could support an organisation and PM's and explain why.
• Explain how the role of PMO has changed and evolved in the modern organisation.
• Discuss and explain the relevance of the PMO in modern project management.
• Analyse and integrate information from the appropriate literature on emerging trends in project management to inform yourself on what could be a better option other than the PMO.

 

Your position paper must clearly explain and justify your position, and must support your position from modern literature. For the integration of literature, quality is better than quantity – five highly relevant and fully integrated references are usually more effective than ten with a mere passing relevance. Students should seek to clearly show how their own research has informed their views.

Rationale

This assessment is intended to assess your ability to:

• be able to critically evaluate the relevance and function of the PMO; and...
• analyse and integrate information from the appropriate literature on emerging trends in project management.

 

Marking criteria

Marking Item /Possible Marks

Do you believe that it has helped in the successful delivery of projects in organisations, or has it hindered project managers doing their job?

/20

Discuss up to three (3) new ideas, models or concepts in PMO which could have some real and positive impacts on how the PMO could support an organisation and PM's and explain why.

/20

Explain how the role of PMO has changed and evolved in the modern organisation.

/20

Discuss and explain the relevance of the PMO in modern project management.

/20

Analyse and integrate information from the appropriate literature on emerging trends in project management to inform yourself on what could be a better option other than the PMO.

/20

TOTAL

/100

Value: 40%

Due Date: 10 March

Form of submission: Turnitin

Date for Return of Assessment: 23 April

Word count: 2500 words

Assessment Task 2

Project Reporting Dashboard

Participating as a syndicate member, you will develop a project reporting dashboard to be used in the simulation part of this course. The course convener will decide membership in Week 1 using auto-assignment feature in Wattle.

During the simulation part of the course, your project will be the subject of various internal and external developments—most of which will demand a response (in the form of progressive revisions to the plan and updating of the reporting dashboards).

The later sequence of periodic project status reports are meant to simulate a period of time [monthly/weekly] in your project.

Value: 45%

Due Date: 20 April

Form of submission: Turnitin

Date for Return of Assessment: 02 July

Marking criteria will be available on Wattle at least two weeks prior to due date.

Assessment Task 3

Weekly Dashboard Simulations

Participation (as a syndicate member) in the simulated execution of a selected project case study. This component of assessment has is based on four status reports using dashboards as created in assessment 2.

The simulate project status report is a concise summary of the project’s current “state-of-health”. This is to follow the reporting dashboard you will develop in the first half of the semester.

In each of four successive weeks of class we will simulate one period of execution of the project plan presented in week 1.

The simulated project status reporting dashboard must contain critical current information about: stakeholders, risks, issues, outlays, and labour. It also makes recommendations about desirable changes to the current project plan.

Value: 15%

Due Date: Weekly during the second half of the semester

Form of submission: Turnitin

Date for Return of Assessment: 02 July

Marking criteria will be available on Wattle at least two weeks prior to due date.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item.

All requests for extensions to assessment in RSM courses must be submitted to the RSM School Office with a completed application form and supporting documentation. The RSM Extension Application Form and further information on this process can be found at https://www.rsm.anu.edu.au/education/education-programs/notices-for-students/extension-application-procedure/

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Please see relevant assessment task details above

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Unless specified otherwise in the assignment requirements, resubmissions are permitted up until the due date and time, but not allowed afterwards.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students