Professional Development INFO3008 Page 1 of 3 Group Assignment Specification – Part B (20%) Project Proposal + Presentation Proposal Note: This is a professional writing assignment. This means the presentation and quality of your writing must be at a professional standard – consistent formatting, title page, page numbers, headers footers, executive summary, etc. In this assignment, you are not to present your comprehension like you would in an academic written assessment. Instead, you are to apply your comprehension to create a professional report that achieves an objective. If you need to provide references, you do not cite as you would with academic writing. Instead, you provide footnotes and/or appendixes. Your mindset for this assignment You are working in the Development Division of Pinnacle Software Inc. Your company creates tailor-made software solutions for corporate clients. Pinnacle Software’s head office is in Sydney, Australia and the company has development teams in Brisbane (Australia), Perth (Australia) and Bangalore (India). The main business of your organisation is to develop tailor-made software solutions based on the client requirements. In your division, you work in a team that has experts in various technical aspects such as database design and development, systems analysis and design and project management. Providing tailor-made software solutions is a very competitive business, with many companies providing such services. In this competitive market, it is vital for Pinnacle Software to win as many clients as possible and provide them with quality software solutions, which are delivered on time and within budget. The marketing division of Pinnacle Software seeks client projects and consults your division before signing any contracts with the client. They put together a client outline for your review and analysis based on a tender they are vying for. This client outline is a result of initial discussions with the tender contact. At this point, the main responsibility of your team is to undertake an analysis of the client outline and to prepare a Project Specification Document & a Project Proposal to submit in response to the tender. If the tender is won, the agreed project is then handed over to a development team in one of the branch offices and managed by your team at the head office. As experts in the area and to win the tender, your team is required to provide a professional level specification document and a project proposal with a recommended solution chosen from 3 alternative solutions that have been evaluated. Your team will also submit a professional presentation of the project proposal. Professional Development INFO3008 Page 2 of 3 Instructions – Project Proposal + Presentation – Part B – 20% Using the information received form the client reply, as well as any feedback on the specification document submitted in part A, you are to formulate a professional project proposal report. A template for this proposal is provided with the sections required. The submission must include every section and must be at a professional standard. You are also to ensure all sections of this proposal is read thoroughly and understood by every team member. The whole team is responsible for what is submitted, so every member has the responsibility to review everything submitted. Submission Requirements of Part B (Project Proposal and Presentation) Due 11:59pm, 4th of February and to be submitted through the “Part B: Final Project Proposal” submission link on vUWS. Only one group member can submit. The nominated group member for Part A will be the nominated person for part B. If there is a change the new delegate must be given to the Unit Coordinator well in advance of the submission date. Failure to notify the Unit Coordinator of the delegate could result in a failure non-submit as no one in the team will be able to submit. Only the nominated group member will see the submission link. The submission is to be a text-based PDF. An image-based PDF will be deemed as a Non-Submit. A text- based PDF is a PDF that allows text to be selected with your cursor. As part of the final submission for this assignment, the group must create a presentation of their proposal. This presentation must be recorded and submitted together with part B, but in a separate submission link. All group members must present. Failure to present will result in a fail non-submit grade. The format of the presentation must be professional, as if it was presented to the board. The presentation should be between 5 and 7 minutes long and can be completed and recorded using zoom. This task requires communication between the group members which is a learning outcome in the unit. The presentation will be marked based on clarity of communication, alternative solution overview, recommendation and justification for the recommendations. Every group member must submit a final peer review through the “Final peer review” submission link on vUWS by the due date of Part B. Failure to complete this will result in a fail non-submit grade and you will fail the unit regardless of your overall mark. Student Contributions This assignment will be developed by student teams. All team members must make a commitment to themselves and each other that they will make every effort to fulfil their allocated responsibilities in this group assignment, to the best of their ability, at all times. It is expected that students set time aside each week to work with their team to complete this project. The nature of this assignment requires cooperation and collaboration with group members. This assessment is not an assignment where you divide up the work and complete it individually without discussion and review within the team. When this happens, it is reflected in the marks. This is because the team submits an incoherent and infeasible proposal. The team as a whole is responsible for what is submitted. Professional Development INFO3008 Page 3 of 3 The student peer review form favours those students who do the work. This means if you do not actively take part or ‘pull your weight’ in terms of workload you will lose marks. This also means, if you find that one student is encroaching on your workload, and you do not address this, then this will reflect in your marks not theirs. This is a common scenario in the workforce where a colleague will steal your workload to either make you look bad, is not a team player, or is trying to earn a bonus or a promotion. If there is a problem within your group which you can’t resolve after attempting to (keep records), please contact the Unit Coordinator earlier rather than later. Individual Student Peer Review Submission You will be required to submit a Part B Peer Review form for Part B. The peer review will be due at the same time as Part B: Project Proposal is due. To receive your final mark for this assessment, you must submit your peer review containing a review yourself and your group members. Failure to submit this will result in a possible Fail Non-Submit grade for the unit. This peer review will be submitted individually (not with your group project) through vUWS. It is advised that you discuss with your team members who is responsible for each section as early as possible – ensuring that each team member has the opportunity to contribute equally. This agreement should be recorded, including the soft deadlines the group has agreed on. For details on how to fill out and complete your peer review please refer to the discussion in lecture in week 1 and 2. Late submission of the peer review will lead to a Fail Non-Submit Grade for you only, not your team.
