Project Overview: Objectives, Scope, Constraints, Resources, Reporting, and Schedule

Overview of the Project

Provide a couple of paragraphs that outline the main reasons for undertaking the project. What is the project all about? Give a little background to the issue or problem which you are addressing, why you have chosen this project.

Scope

This is where you make it clear what you will be doing as well as what you will not be doing.  What are the boundaries?

Objectives for the Project 

Define three or even four measurable objectives which define your project and against which your project can be tested. This is very important. You must clearly and specifically state what the project objectives are, perhaps using bullet points for emphasis. Your success will be judged against these.  

Here is an example of a set of objectives:

The objectives of this project are to:

1. Research the area of … and to make recommendations for the implementation phase of the marketing campaign prior to September 2021

2. Design, implement a marketing campaign … including:

3. Provide an evaluation of… processes prior to implementation companywide in June 2021

4. Produce…. which will… by 1^st September 2021 and to be completed by 31^st December 2021

If there are any constraints imposed on the project you must identify them. These are normally constraints imposed by the sponsor, such as the target hardware or the operating system. Time and lack of knowledge are not constraints, nor is the availability of key personnel!  You must plan to work around these issues.

Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues 

List any legal, ethical and professional issues raised in the project.  These might be:

Legal – For example, personal data that will be accessed or stored.

Ethical – For example, are there any human subjects to be used in research?

Professional – For example, here is a need to make clear to the organisation the extent of your expertise.

Clearly identify what resources you will need for the project, and their source. For example, access to telephone, PC printer etc.

Identify key persons to whom progress must be reported, as well as how often this must be done. The student will be required to discuss their progress with their University supervisor on a regular basis.

This lists all the tasks the student will need to undertake to complete the project, including the planning of your project and writing up. In addition to the tasks listed in the example schedule he/she may need to include tasks for learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge, meetings with the organisation, designing and undertaking questionnaire surveys, interviewing, and desk research. The student should not build any ‘slack’ into the schedule – this is an estimate of their time to complete each task which you will use to manage the project. It is perfectly acceptable for the student to modify their schedule from time to time to take account of deviations. They may wish to produce a Gantt chart. This is a graphical representation of their schedule and allows you and their supervisor to get a quick idea of what tasks should be currently active and which should be complete. Gantt charts can be produced using excel or you may use another project planning tool (such as Microsoft Project).

If there is any further information that you feel the supervisor should know, include it here.

Signed and agreed