Project Initiation Document: Construction of a Community Centre

Task

Task

The assignment is to test all aspects of project work and to build up a “project toolbox” that can be deployed in the role of project manager or as part of a project team. There will be access to shared resources, industry and site experts. Software and plans will be made available. Prince2 principles and standards will be expected and the use of Prince2 proformas where possible, some adaption of these proformas can be accommodated.  All the proformas will be provided within the assignment folder on NILE. Agile techniques will be introduced and should be demonstrated.

Students (in self-selected groups of no more than 5) are to produce a Project Initiation Document (PID).  There is also a presentation element to this assessment . Students will assess whether all members of the group have performed equally and will be asked to sign a document relating to this with the completed work.

Construction of a Community Centre

The University of Northampton is the UK’s first Changemaker Campus and one of only 50 universities across the world globally recognised for its commitment to affecting positive social change by promoting social justice, sustainability, and supporting students who become the Changemakers of the Future.  We want to build a community centre on the campus, with the aim of serving and nurturing our local community. Our mission is to promote, enable and facilitate a wide variety of inclusive activities in order to improve the lives of the people in our community.

Through the Changemaker Challenges we actively encourage staff and student expertise to make positive contribution to their community, and for this project, we want to ensure we include two of the four key areas:

1.Contributing to making Northamptonshire the best county in the UK for children to flourish and learn

2.Contribute to making Northamptonshire the leading county in the UK for Health and Wellbeing

We already have permission to build on campus, on the plot of land between the river and the sports facilities.  There is already a good road link to the land.

Once the facilities have been built, we want to encourage students, staff at the university and the wider community to volunteer and help run the community centre.  It will be run as a charity.

As a group, you have been asked to produce a Project Initiation Document, including a detailed Business case (to include the business options).  It is important to establish what the benefits are from both a financial and non-financial aspect.

High level Requirements and Constraints

It will be necessary to consult with the client to fully appreciate what their needs are for the project as only an outline has been provided.Once you have identified additional requirements for the project, you are expected to produce a prioritised list (MoSCoW), and draw up the design plans.

All group work should be uploaded to your NILE group area in a timely manner. Include agendas and minutes of all group meetings held and include a RACI matrix for your team members and stakeholders.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

• Compare, contrast and critically evaluate different theoretical approaches to project management in terms of frameworks, models and techniques and ascertain how they could align and be deployed to the needs of specific projects.  
• Systematically select and implement a variety of analytical methods to assess the feasible financial options for a given project and critically evaluate the perceived commercial viability of specific scenarios.
• Diagnostically select and utilise a range of strategies and technologies to cultivate and deploy best practice initiatives in the handling of risk, quality, resources and time issues within the project management processes.
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and engage with groups, in oral, written form, exhibiting a masters level of academic rigour and the practical and analytic competencies needed for engaging with a project team.