Activity Project Management: Estimate this Project

About the Project: You work for E-Learning Live, a company that produces
online tutorials for other companies in the metropolitan area. Your company
president has asked you to be the project manager for a new online tutorial (that
is, a simple e-learning course—basic text and graphics, not sophisticated
animation or video) for end users of a new hotel reservations system.

The company that hired E-Learning Live is a chain of hotels whose corporate
headquarters is based in town, and will be transferring all of its hotels in North
American to this new reservations system during the next 8 months. Sandie
Colbert, the Corporate Information Officer (CIO) of the hotel company and the
sponsor of your project, admits that she knows very little about e-learning, but
wants to produce an online tutorial because that’s what all of her competitors are
using when launching new applications. The competitors’ tutorials are all 1.5 to
2 hours; Sandie would like the one that your team produces to be no longer than
1.25 hours. (She believes her software is easier to use and, therefore, should take
less time to teach.)

Sandie also explains that she does not know how long this should take, or how
much it should cost. So, she asks you to provide a schedule for the project,
beginning work January 5 (the first work day after the start of the new year). She
does not have a firm end date, but would like to receive the finished tutorial no
later than June 30.

In addition, she has provided some other information about the project:
• The hotel chain has been around for 30 years and her Information Technology
department has been a part of the company nearly all of those years.
• The software is being developed internally (that is, by members of the
Information Technology department).
• As a result of its longevity, the department has a well-managed software
development process—programmers cannot make changes without approval
• You will have a prototype of the software by the time you start working on
the project.
• The course will be distributed over the Internet; you do not have to publish
any printed materials.

In addition, your company uses the following information about labor rates for
preparing estimates: instructional designers, $60/hour, project managers,
$100/hour, graphic designers, $100/hour; SMEs—not included in the estimate
(the customer is responsible for paying for their services).

One more thing—the client wants you to develop the course using Camtasia,
which retails for approximately $US 299 (including taxes). As of now, your
company does not own a license for that product, and the client cannot provide it
to you.

Task 1: Prepare the charter for this project.

 Note: If information needed for the charter is not available, either make
and label assumptions or explain how you would handle the situation.

Task 2: Using the information provided in the scenario, identify assumptions

that would impact the project outcome.

Task 3: Using the information provided in the activity along with the formulas
provided in the readings prepare a proposed schedule see worksheet :
Scheduling a Project.

Task 4: Using the information provided in the activity along with the formulas
and other guidance provided in the readings and lesson:
a. Identify the proposed project team (to the best of your ability)
b. Prepare a proposed budget for this project see: Worksheet for Preparing the
Budget for a Project

Task 4: Identify the issues that would need to be addressed in the quality
guidelines. If an issue of quality is not indicated in the information about the
project, feel free to make assumptions and choices on your own as this is the way
this process would work in the real world.

End result: After receiving the proposed schedule, project team, budget, and
quality guidelines, your client will determine whether or not he can proceed with
the project.
Project Charter Template

Part 1:Purpose of the project.

Explore:
• Why is the organization
undertaking it?
• What benefit does the
organization hope to receive
at the end?  
Part 2:Scope of the project.
• State what the project covers
and, if needed, what it does
not cover.
• State as objectives if
possible.
• Otherwise state as goals or
topics.  
Part 3:Requirements for the
project, which includes the:
• Drop-dead deadline (if
known now)
• General budget range or not-
to-exceed budget (if known
now)
• Must-include staff (if known
now), especially those with
signature authority on the
budget and those with
approval rights to the
finished project.
• Other requirements or
preferences for the project,
such as the need to publish
content in a particular
content management system
or a preference for a
classroom course.
Part 4: General project start up
activities:
• Establishing a project plan
• Plans for ongoing
communication
Task 2: Identify Assumptions

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Worksheet: Scheduling a Project
This is a worksheet to identify the specific milestones in a project. .
Note that the types of milestones reported to a sponsor differ from those
needed to actually develop a course or communication product. One of the
challenges of scheduling is remembering those additional activities and
making sure that you schedule sufficient time for someone to complete them.

Milestone Percentage Date

of Total
Project
Assessment 10-15% ______________________
Usually not indicated as
separate milestones but
need to be accounted for in
your planning:
Research
• Interviews
• Report of the needs
analysis
• Approval for the report
• Write objectives
• Prepare evaluation plan
• Receive informal
approval for the
objectives and
evaluation plan
Design 15-20% ______________________
Usually not indicated as
separate milestones but
need to be accounted for in
your planning:
• Choosing form and
medium
• Structure (outline, book
elements)
• Preparation of original
design plans
• Review and revision of
design plans with
sponsor
• Review and revision of
design plans with
potential users
• Approval of the content
proposal
• Preparation of product
guidelines (editorial,
technical, production,
and usability
 guidelines)
• Prepare schedule,
budget, and staffing
plans
• Final approval for the
project plan
First draft 25%
______________________
First review (editing, Part of the ______________________
usability, technical). Be total time of
realistic with review time; developing
people cannot review 600 the first
pages of text in a day or draft, but
two. Also, make sure that you need to
you leave time for copying inform
(if distributing printed reviewers
review copies) and mailing when copies
(to and from you) as well are going to
as time for meetings to be sent.
clarify review comments.

Second draft 15%

______________________
Second review
______________________
Third draft (optional) 10%
______________________
Third review (optional)
______________________
Final draft 5%
______________________
Production. Although not 10%
separately reported in a ______________________
schedule, leave sufficient
time for:
• Copyediting
• Preparation of golden
code and a camera-
ready copy
• To printer
Shipping and distribution 1-4 weeks,
depending ______________________
on
publishing
method
Worksheet for Preparing the Budget for a Project

Type of Expense Specific Expense Cost  

Labor § Need analysis  
§ Information design ______________  
§ Writing  
§ Editing ______________  
§ Graphics  
§ Production ______________  
§ Programming
§ Project management
§ SME time (if appropriate)
§ Other
Training  
______________  
 
______________  
 
Gathering source § Purchase of information  
material § Courier fees ______________  
§ Travel and lodging  
§ Other expenses ______________  
 
Copying of drafts  
______________  
§ Quick copy /copy center  
§ Mailing/shipping/courier ______________  
 
______________  
Printing/CD • Printing or duplication  
duplication of the • Packaging (if needed) ______________  
final version  
• Postage or shipping for final
version ______________  
• Inventory  
• Other ______________  
Direct expenses • Equipment  
• Software ______________  
• Additional copying  
______________  
 
Indirect expenses • Administrative expenses ______________  
• Corporate overhead _____________  
 
Contingency Percentage of non-printing costs  
(see Table 7 for suggestions on ______________  
how to calculate the contingency)  
Total Expenses  
______________
Type of Revenue Notes  
Revenue sought Total costs of project (including  
contingency) ______________  
Desired profit (percentage on top  
of labor costs) ______________  
 
Total Revenues  
______________
 
 
Worksheet: Staffing a Course Design or Technical Communication Project

Roles to be Filled in the Sponsor Organization

• Executive sponsor (benefactor): _____________________________
• Ombudsperson: ___________________________________________
• Subject matter expert(s): ____________________________________
• Users (for interviews and pilots of the course or communication
project):
_______________________________________________________

Course Design Expertise (for Course Design Projects)

• Project Manager: _________________________________________
• Instructional Designer: _____________________________________
• Technical Writer: _________________________________________
• Editor: ___________________________________________________
• Graphic artist: ___________________________________________
• Programmer: ____________________________________________

Communication Expertise (for Technical Communication Projects)

• Project Manager: __________________________________________
• Information architect: _____________________________________
• Information developer: ____________________________________
• Editor: ___________________________________________________
• Graphic artist: ___________________________________________
• Usability engineer: _______________________________________
• Production personnel: _____________________________________
• Programmer: ____________________________________________

Consider These Staffing Concerns

• Availability of staff when needed?
• Other projects to which staff are assigned?
• How well do the skills and abilities of people proposed for roles
match the skills and abilities really needed in those roles?
Worksheet: Establishing Quality Guidelines
This is a worksheet to guide you through the process of establishing product guidelines for a
project.
Editorial guidelines Primary style guide
________________________
Primary dictionary
________________________
Corporate (organizational)
extensions (state where they ________________________
are documented and who is
responsible for them)
Project extensions (state
where they are ________________________
documented and who is
responsible for them)
Authoring Guidelines Office software
(only list ones that apply) ________________________
Course authoring software
________________________
Web authoring software
________________________
Desktop publishing
software ________________________
Multimedia production
software
Enterprise software
(Learning Management ________________________
System, Learning Content
Management System,
Course Management
System, or Content
Management System)
Specialized production
software (such as
simulation tools)
Specialized hardware
requirements (if any)
Viewing requirements Browsers and versions
supported
Hardware supported
Mobile operating systems
supported
Project communications Status reporting: What will
be covered, how
frequently published, Who
prepares, who receives
Documenting changes to
agreements: When to do
so, who must approve,
how changes will be
published
Project “sandbox:” Where
it is, the types of
information that should be
provided there