E-Portfolio: Week 3 - Project Manager Role and Statement of Work

This e-portfolio entry documents the learning and contributions made during Week 3 of the Project Management course. It focuses on the role of a project manager and the importance of a well-defined Statement of Work (SOW). The entry explores the key elements of an SOW, including introduction, purpose, scope, tasks, milestones, deliverables, schedule, standards, and testing. It also highlights the significance of communication skills and information literacy in effectively managing a project. The entry concludes with a reflection on the contribution made to the ongoing 'Getaways Travels' project, emphasizing the importance of understanding the project's requirements and scope.

E-Portfolio:

Week 3
 Undertaken Work: Project manager
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: The GUI and the design of the system plays a
major role in the project. It is the section that includes the details of major elements of the
project. Here each aspect of the project is defined from the perspective of the outcomes of
the project. All the task, outcomes and schedule of the project are decided by the analysis
of this section statement of work. This explains a detailed layout and very helpful for the
project manager to get the details of the project. It is comprised of some important terms
such as introduction, purpose, scope of work, details of the task, milestone, deliverables,
schedule, standards and testing (Landau 2018).
 Communication skills and information literacy: The information gained in this is week is
about the project manager role and what is defined in this part. From the book of
PMBOK, services are offered for particular delivers. The manager of the project is the
person that is responsible for managing the complete project from start to finish. The
communication is required by each member associated with the project with the project
manager of the Getaways Travels (McMohan 2002).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: Project manager is the
person who takes care of each aspect of the project and takes the project from start to end
with his support and coordination of team. The technical aspects associated with project
manager is to find the needs, plans, and scope of the project. The Getaways Travels
requirements are been identified like it need a system of online ticket booking of flight
and other services.
 Contribution to project: In this week, the project manager is decided and the requirements
of the project are being analyzed by the manager of the project. This week was
completely used for the purpose of analysis of the project of “Getaways Travels”. In this
week majors issues was of findings of needs, plan, and the requirement due to lack of
knowledge.
References:
 Landau, P. 2018, Statement of Work: Definition & Examples. ProjectManager.com,
Viewed 1 Jun. 2018, https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/statement-work-
definition-examples
 McMahon, C. and Bruce, C. 2002, Information literacy needs of local staff in cross‐
cultural development projects. Journal of International Development, 14(1), pp.113-
127.

Week 4
 Undertaken Work: SMART Technique
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: This SMART technique is defined by the Robert
S. Rubin that defines the management objectives (Mindtools 2018). This technique is
very useful for the association “Getaways Travels” as SMART expands like the S as
(Sensible, Simple, Specific, Significant), M as (Meaningful, Measurable, and
Motivating), A as (Attainable, Agreed and Achievable), R as (Reasonable, Result based,
Realistic, Resourced and Relevant), and T as (Time limit, Time sensitive, and Time-
bound).
 Communication skills and information literacy: In this technique, the various points must
be kept in mind before developing the project for the “Getaways Travels”. This SMART
technique is the best concept to design the project and develop it. The design concept it
also reviewed and evaluated for more betterment in the design. The SMART technology
is used to provide well communication with the project and the good development
information of the project (Doyle 1994).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: For the technical aspects
the Getaways Travels provides features like flight ticket booking, hotel booking, cab
booking, and so many more feature, it uses the feature of the SMART technique as for
the development purpose and the technical need is of time-based management, resourced,
specific, attainable, measurable. This completely fills the technical aspects of the item
that are provided by the Getaways Travels by using the technique of SMART.
 Contribution to project: In this week the contribution towards this project is that I have
searched for the various similar project that uses the SMART technique for the
implementation of their project. I have also made the points on the discussion about how
we can achieve all the features of the technique of SMART in our project for the purpose
of development and make it very easy and free from any restrictions. It requires 4 days to
complete this research from my end to understand the concept of this technique. The
difficulty faced in this week is for proper communication between the team members.
References:
 Mindtools 2018, SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals Achievable, Viewed 1 June
2018, https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm
 Doyle, C.S., 1994. Information literacy in an information society: A concept for the
information age. Diane Publishing.

Week 5
 Undertaken Work: Roles and responsibilities
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: In this week of learning, for the company
Getaways Travels the learning is made on the responsibilities and roles defined for any
project by the managing system. For development and implementation of any project,
various roles that are required and kept in mind are planning in which all the
requirements and scope of the project are firstly analyzed, organizing in which the roles,
support and structure is defined for the team, leading in which the manager of the project
lead the project for the development purpose, and at last controlling in which the
evaluation, measurement and correction is done. The main role is to develop the better
interface design for the project (Codeburst, 2017).
 Communication skills and information literacy: For proper communication in the project
proper knowledge should be gained from the resources and also the responsibility and
roles defined to each member involved in the project must be specific. This provides very
good flow of work in the project. This can be made more effective by taking the use of
some initial or already defined project in which these phases are used and make better
response for the Getaways Travels. The GUI of the design can be sorted for the Getaways
Travels (Bisk 2018).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: In technical aspects for the
association of Getaways Travels there must be separation of each part like booking
tickets should be one part, booking hotel should define in other section and book cab in
third section, and so on. This defines the proper roles and the individual effect of the
person that is to be
 Contribution to project: In this week, the role of each member is separated after the
complete analysis of the project. It took 5 days to make proper planning and defines the
proper role of each member. The main problem faced in this week is to divide the task to
each member as some task are very typical as no member of them has the domain
knowledge of that task.
References:
 Codeburst 2017, Project Managers : Roles & Responsibilities – codeburst. Viewed 1 Jun.
2018, https://codeburst.io/project-managers-roles-responsibilities-103bc122195d
 Bisk 2018, Project Team Roles and Responsibilities, viewed 01 June 2018,
https://www.villanovau.com/resources/project-management/project-team-roles-and-
responsibilities/#.WxD0zkiFPIV

Week 6
 Undertaken Work: RACI matrix
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: The RACI matrix is defined in any project for the
better implementation of the project. This schema is required to provide proper
systematic approach to defining the large organization activities and managing them
easily. In this matrix, the R defines the responsibility who is doing the task, A defines the
accountable the one who makes decision, C defines the consulted the one who provides
communication, and at last, I define the informed the one who is updated with the
decisions. This will be helpful for the Getaways Travels for defining roles. It is useful in
defining the GUI in better manner by using RACI matrix (Doglione 2018).
 Communication skills and information literacy: This RACI matrix is very important for
every small and big association for proper planning and defined and keeping track of the
activities happening in the association. This provides the necessary communication for
the employees of the company and defines the workload on the company and each
employee of the company. The interface design can be handled by RACI matrix (Britsch,
2017).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: In the technical aspects,
various books and journals are searched to gain the knowledge about the RACI matrix.
This results into the basic learning about the RACI matrix and how it can be implemented
on the company “Getaways Travels”.
 Contribution to project: In this week, the RACI matrix is taken into consideration which
makes the work easier and defines the load of work systematically and the management is
easy. It took around 4 days to understand the concept of the RACI matrix. The major
issue faced this week is about improper knowledge about the RACI matrix among all the
members of the group.
References:
 DOGLIONE, C 2018, Understanding Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI Matrix).
Project Management, Viewed 1 Jun. 2018,
https://project-management.com/understanding-responsibility-assignment-matrix-raci-
matrix
 Britsch, M. 2017, The RACI Matrix, viewed 31 May 2018,
https://thedigitalbusinessanalyst.co.uk/the-raci-matrix-why-i-am-not-a-fan-84debdd56fdd

Figure 1 RACI matrix

Week 7
 Undertaken Work: Resource Allocation
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: The important concept for any development of
project is resources allocation. In managing any project, the proper resources are to be
provided to the employee's team for developing the project. Allocation must be proper
and specific to each member as per the requirements. The resources manage the quality
of the project. So, for the company “Getaways Travels” the resources allocation must be
specific and justified for each member. For the user interface design, the allocation of
various resources like software and other related requirements must be given (Kurzawska
2018).
 Communication skills and information literacy: The proper allocation can be done with
the help of proper communication. Resources requirement and projected outcome can be
planned by having the proper communication. For developing any project, resources are
the main aspects that are required for starting any project. The GUI design is efficient for
the communication and better communication and interaction (Lucia, Francese and
Tortora 2004).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: The domain knowledge
gained in this week is about the resources required for developing project of the
“Getaways Travels”. The main finding from this allocation of resources defines the
technology, hardware, efforts and so many more. The result of this, no wastage of
resources will be there, and the budget is set properly by proper planning and allocation
of resources.
 Contribution to project: In this week, the leaning is done about the allocation of
resources, as it took 6 days in a week to properly allocate the resources for the project.
The main issue in this week is that due to less communication the resources are wasted
somewhere sometime. So this is the main cause the company “Gateways Travels” can
affect the resources.
References:
 Kurzawska, K 2018, What Is Resource Allocation in Project Management? – TimeCamp,
Viewed 1 Jun. 2018, https://www.timecamp.com/blog/index.php/2018/04/resource-
allocation-project-management
 De Lucia, A., Fasano, F., Francese, R. and Tortora, G. 2004, ADAMS: an Artefact-based
Process Support System. In SEKE (pp. 31-36), viewed 31 May 2018

Week 8
 Undertaken Work: WBS
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: The WBS is often known as the work breakdown
structure and is defined as the mechanism or procedure used by almost every small as
well as large organizations. It is required when the task or project is very large. In this,
various phases to develop any project are broken down into various different parts or
subparts and the role of each team member is also divided and often each execution takes
place in that specific set order. As it describes the flow of work of the project, the design
implemented for this must be justified (Lynda 2013).
 Communication skills and information literacy: The learning or information gathered in
this week is about the WBS structure, decomposition of the structure, managing the tasks
and execution of plan. Also, for providing the proper communication between the team
members that are working on the project of “Getaways Travels” can be made easier by
achieving the structure of WBS for the company and prepare a Gantt chart for execution
of project. GUI provides user interaction in an effective manner and makes flow of work
easier (OpenUniversity 2018).
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: The technical knowledge
gained from the project is about the WBS structure. After this learning from various
books and websites, it was possibly easier to manage the project of “Getaways Travels”
and the WBS structure of the company is prepared for smooth and proper execution of
the project.
 Contribution to project: In this week, the WBS structure is prepared for the company
“Getaways Travels” for making the project more successful and making the execution
smooth. It took 3 days for me to understand the concept of WBS and for implementation
more 3 days are taken. This week coordination was good for the team as things are
getting more specific and clear.
Figure 2 Getaways Travels WBS structure

Figure 3 WBS structure for Project Manager
References:
 Lynda 2013, Working with work break down structure (WBS) codes, viewed 31 May,
https://www.lynda.com/Office-tutorials/Working-work-breakdown-structure-WBS-
codes/115433/132620-4.html
 The work breakdown structure - Business Fundamentals: Project Management - The
Open University 2018, FutureLearn. viewed 31 May 2018,
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/project-management/0/steps/21748
Week 9
 Undertaken Work: Analysis of issues, problems and constraints
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: For the development of any project, the main
factors that are responsible to identify the best project is by identifying the constraints,
problems, and issues associated with the project. This may result in achieving the best
quality of the project. Problems can be defined in terms of technology, resources, budget,
lack of knowledge, improper development and many more. These problems must be
determined for the company ‘Getaways Travels” earlier in the project. The design issue
must be considered as it makes the application attractive (Winter 2011).
 Communication skills and information literacy: For any project, the issues and constraints
are the biggest factors that can be helpful for the project to determine the success or
strength of the project. The information is collected about the issues and the constraints
that can occur while making this type of project of “Getaways Travels” from such
existing project knowledge and websites. The related issue is then communicated to each
member of the team that can be helpful while development and can be avoided. The
design or GUI of the system of Getaways Travels must be attractive to gain more
customers.
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: In the technical literacy
from this project, the learning is made on the factors that can affect the performance and

development of the project. These factors are determined earlier in the project by taking
help of some existing project similar to “Getaways Travels” and are avoided and reduced
in the project to achieve high quality in the project.
 Contribution to project: This week was based on identifying issues and constraints. To
make this research it took 6 days to identify the issues completely. The communication
was good and the pre-detection of issues can help in making the better quality project for
the Getaways Travels.
References:
 Winter, R. (2011). Problem Analysis for Situational Artefact Construction in Information
Systems. Emerging Themes in Information Systems and Organization Studies, pp.97-
113.

Week 10
 Undertaken Work: Project Schedule
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: The main outcome of this week is that of project
scheduling for the association of Getaways Travels. How can the scheduling of the task
be achieved and can be performed in addition to the total time of execution of the project
is discussed? Also, the delivery of the project task in the association is also determined
for some specific time. The project must be designed and scheduled in such a manner that
it can be easily understood (Barton 1992).
 Communication skills and information literacy: The scheduling of project is one of the
biggest challenges in any project. If it is done systematically and after gaining appropriate
knowledge it can be done easily. The learning is made about the scheduling of task from
various similar plans that are developed. All task is defined and given to each member for
proper communication in the project Getaways Travels. The schedule must be in proper
design for better communication.
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: The technical knowledge
gained in the project schedule is that to define each task to a member, the one who is
having the knowledge about that particular task. This will result in saving more time and
can use that time to think about more betterment of the project of Getaways Travels.
 Contribution to project: In this week, all the task associated to project is defined and
given to each member as per their knowledge. The total time taken to schedule all the
task is 5 days. The main issue was that if all member of the team is not agreeing on the
similar decision then it cause delay to schedule task.
Figure 4 Project Schedule

Figure 5 Project Schedule for Getaways Travels
References:
 Leonard‐Barton, D., 1992. Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing
new product development. Strategic management journal, 13(S1), pp.111-125.


Week 11
 Undertaken Work: Strategic Alignment Plan
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: For any project, alignment plan is very needed
and useful. In the alignment plan, proposed strategic execution takes place where the
factors like goals, results, targets and measures, strategies, and desired outcomes are
discussed in the project. The main goals of Getaways Travels are to provide the platform
where the customer can book flight tickets, cabs, and hotels. Also, this project wants the
service of ordering of food (Benbasat 2000).
 Communication skills and information literacy: In the alignment plan, the main
knowledge gained is about the factors that influence the strategic plan. For the project,
there should be specific desired goals and strategies which can help in getting the target
achievable. This can be made easier by defining proper requirement by the users and that
is possible by proper communication from the users. GUI of the project is helping to
make the strategic plan better.
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: In the technical knowledge,
goal is set for the Getaways Travels that where they want to go. Secondly, the outcomes
are analyzed that how we can get there. Then strategies and the targets are measured and
set to achieve it. And at last, the results can be further improved. This plan helps in
achieving all the needs and requirements for the project of Getaways Travels. The main
outcome of this plan is of getting the better design of the project.
 Contribution to project: The company alignment plan is discussed and prepared for this
week. Around 5 days are taken to develop this strategic plan or alignment plan. This
week there was no difficulty in doing any work as the coordination and knowledge were
sufficiently good.

Figure 6Alignment Plan
References:
 Reich, B.H. and Benbasat, I., 2000. Factors that influence the social dimension of
alignment between business and information technology objectives. MIS quarterly,
pp.81-113

Week 12
 Undertaken Work: Stakeholder Analysis and Management Plan
 Understanding on the basis of artefacts: Management lead to the systematic flow of work
in the project. Stakeholder is the person that take interest in the project. It can be any
association or it can be individual. In the analysis of the stakeholders, the identification of
the requirements of all the secondary and primary keys of any project. Various
stakeholders associated with the association of “Getaways Travels” are gateway of CEO,
customer, admin, and companies of flights, sponsors and so many more. This is the
responsible person who decides the designs and interface of the project (Vidgen 1997).
 Communication skills and information literacy: Information gained from this is about the
management plan and about the analysis of stakeholders. The stakeholders are the person
responsible for identifying the potential and the issues that can disrupt the project. Also,
the learning is made on the benefits of the analysis of stakeholders. This provides the
communication in the process of Getaways Travels that the stakeholders are associated
with the company. The stakeholders will tell the requirements in order to achieve the
appropriate design and interface.
 Technical literacy as demonstrated by the collection of items: The technical leaning that
is gained from this management is that of mapping of the process of stakeholders. The
Getaways Travels is the firm that is associated with so many stakeholders and the
mapping is measured in relation to interest and power.
 Contribution to project: This week, the management plan is discussed and the analysis of
stakeholders is given. It takes 4 days to identify the stakeholders associated with the
Getaways Travels. The main issue in this week was that to identify various different
stakeholders for the association because it requires extreme research.

Figure 7 Analysis of Stakeholder of Getaways Travels
References:
 Vidgen, R., 1997. Stakeholders, soft systems and technology: separation and mediation in
the analysis of information system requirements. Information Systems Journal, 7(1),
pp.21-46.