GEOG 871
Geospatial Technology Project Management

Assignment #3 - Assemble Project Team

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Assignment #3 - Assemble Project Team

Assignment #3 Overview

Submittal: See Canvas Calendar for Submittal Date

Target Word Count: 1200-2000 words (this is just a target to provide a general idea on the level of detail)
Total Points: 40 points - see rubric for specific details

For Assignment #3, you are the project manager for the GIS contractor chosen to carry out the City of Metropolis Geodatabase Design and Development project. You will assemble a project team (the contractor's project team) for the City of Metropolis Geodatabase Development Project. You can assume that your company has already been selected by the City—that is, your company and other companies have submitted proposals in response to the City’s RFP and your proposal was determined to be the most responsive and was formally selected to do the work. Now you, as the contractor’s project manager, have been asked by the City’s project manager (Lucille Geodata) to present information about your project team—the people and their roles for the project.

Your Submittal for Assignment #3

Take a look at the City of Metropolis RFP—particularly the summary of major work elements (subsection 1.2) and expectations on project team roles in 2.3.5. Use the material that you have reviewed in this lesson to identify team members with positions and skills needed to carry out the project work. Assume that the necessary staff are already employees of your firm and are available to work on this project. Since you are taking the role of the contracted company, you should make up a company name and refer to this in your assignment. This assignment identifies and describes members of the contractor's team, NOT any of the City's project team members.

The content for this Assignment consists of an introductory explanation and background of the project. This project introduction does not need to be lengthy but should contain enough detail to explain the project background (based on City RFP), a summary of the project scope and deliverables, overview of the responsibilities of the City Team and the contractor, and mention that this contractor team information is being submitted in response to a request from the City's Project Manager. it is a good idea to put in a list and brief description of all project deliverables (from the RFP). In other words, provide enough detail to provide context to understand the project work and the role of people in the contractor team table.  Then, prepare a table that presents a summary of the contractor’s (your company’s) project team members (not the City’s project team). Content in this table should include:

  • Name of the team member
  • Project functional title (e.g., “Project Manager”, "GIS Analyst", "GIS Database Specialist", "GIS Application Developer" “Field Data Collector”)
  • Hourly billable rate*
  • Description of project role and duties: text information of each team member’s assigned work on the project. Be as complete as possible--citing roles associated with the deliverables shown in Table 2 of RFP.  Make sure you describe all duties and responsibilities to complete all project work and carry out ongoing management and communication activities.

*Select hourly billable rates to the best of your ability. In practice, billable rates, which cover all company employee compensation and overhead, do vary by company, region of the country, and type of project.  Assume that the project manager rate will be in the range of $100 to $175 per hour and the field data collection personnel will be about $40 to $50 per hour (higher for a field data collection supervisor).  Rates for other project roles (e.g., database design, application development) will fall between these ranges.

You should include a Cover Page with a prominent title and all necessary information identifying the course, assignment, author, and date. The main title of the document should be "CONTRACTOR PROJECT TEAM". The Cover Page should also reference "City of Metropolis" and the full project name. At the bottom of the Cover Page (right side is best), include the course name and number, assignment number, your name, and date.

NOTE: Include a made-up name for your company.  Remember that your company has already been selected by the City. The contractor team information does not need to include qualifications or marketing information for your team--just a clear description of role and duties in the project for each team member.

There is no single ideal size for the project team. The number of people on the team and their mix of skills and roles needs to be adequate to carry out all work on the project in a reasonable period of time. As a general rule, it is best to keep the team as small as possible, as long as it has enough people with management and technical skills and clearly defined roles to perform the work. For a project like this, a team size of about 6 to 10 people is appropriate. Some team members may have multiple roles.

Refer to the grading rubric below for guidelines on expected content and format.

Assignment Submittal and Grading

See the Canvas Calendar for the submittal date. Grading information and the grading rubric is below.

This assignment is worth 40 points. The grading approach is explained in the table below.

The instructor may deduct points if the Assignment is turned in late unless a late submittal has been approved by the Instructor prior to the Assignment submittal date.

Assignment #3 Grading Rubric
Grading Category Basis for Scoring Total Possible Points

Point Award Explanation

A. Appropriateness of Identified positions
  • Team table includes positions/roles necessary to complete project work.
  • Team size is appropriate for the project.
  • Roles discuss integration of the team and communication with City personnel.
  • Team titles are effectively named (to convey the functional role of the team members).
12
  • EXCEPTIONAL: 11 to 12 points if the table includes required roles and positions are covered, non-essential roles are NOT included, and the team size is appropriate.
  • INADEQUATE: 1 to 2 points if there are major deficiencies with the types/roles of team members or team size in the table.
  • MINIMALLY ADEQUATE to VERY GOOD: 3 to 10 points if there are deficiencies in the team table that fall between the “Exceptional” and “Inadequate” categories above.
B. Overall Document Organization
  • Cover Page: Main title should be "Contractor Project Team", with your made-up company name. Should also include the full name of the project (with "City of Metropolis").
  • At the bottom of the Cover Page, include the course name and number, assignment number, your name, and date.
  • Introductory text is included (to give necessary background about project scope and deliverables to give context for the project team table).
  • The project team table includes all required information (i.e., columns in the table).
  • Content is referenced to RFP and/or other course materials.
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  • EXCEPTIONAL: 7 to 8 points if effective introductory text is included and the project team table includes all required information.
  • INADEQUATE: 1 to 2 points if a significant number of required items are not included.
  • MINIMALLY ADEQUATE to VERY GOOD: 3 to 6 points if there are deficiencies in content that fall between the “Exceptional” and “Inadequate”
C. Quality/Clarity of Writing Submittal includes an introduction providing background and context for the project team table. Content in the introduction and in the table shows:
  • Good, appropriate choice of words.
  • Sentence construction and lack of grammar and syntax problems.
  • Concise and to the point without redundancies.
  • Length appropriate to the stated requirements without significantly exceeding the stated word count.
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  • EXCEPTIONAL: 11 to 12 points for a very clear, extremely well-written document, with no or insignificant problems in word choice, grammar, etc.
  • INADEQUATE: 1 to 2 points with significant, frequent problems in the introduction, word choice, sentence construction, grammar, and length
  • MINIMALLY ADEQUATE to VERY GOOD: 3 to 10 points for deficiencies in writing quality of clarity between the “Exceptional” and “Inadequate” categories described above.
D. Format Quality Well-formatted text and table addressing the following:
  • Use of numbering and naming for sections/subsections.
  • Choice of fonts (type, style, size for headings and body).
  • Table column width and row height setting and effective use of table borders and shading.
  • Overall vertical and horizontal spacing (line spacing, indents, etc.).
  • Page breaking in a manner that avoids disruption of content.
  • Spelling.
  • Format and readability of any figures included.
  • Overall consistency of format throughout the document.
8
  • EXCEPTIONAL: 8 points for an extremely well-formatted document that is attractive, uses very effective text, table, and graphic formatting, format rules are applied consistently throughout, and overall presentation makes it easy for the reader to navigate and grasp content.
  • INADEQUATE: 1 to 2 points with significant and frequent problems in multiple format parameters to the point where the document is distracting and very hard to understand.
  • MINIMALLY ADEQUATE to VERY GOOD: 3 to 7 points for deficiencies in the selection of format rules and their consistent application between the “Exceptional” and “Very Poor” categories described above.