Research Project- Planning Project

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You are the new project manager at Garden Decks of Beauty, a local company for the past 12 years in the Lexington, KY area.  Your first assignment will be for the Melrose family (Todd and Margo, plus two yippy dogs to drive the neighbors nuts) who moved into their new home two years ago and now wish to replace the 8’ by 3’ slab of concrete (the stoop) which their backyard facing French Doors step onto with a new luxurious deck area with hot-tub and accoutrements.  Their backyard is 80’ wide and 120’ deep and runs at a 5% slope straight down the back.  By the way, Todd and Margo are Iron Triangle lovers – Time/Cost/Quality.  Win them and you win their neighbors’ business.Customer’s Basic Requirements

  • A two-area deck with the upper level (will step on from the French Doors), being a 5 meter by 7-meter rectangular area
  • One end of the upper level will have a 5 meter by 3 meters by 3.5-meter-tall pergola – you may use a kit or build and design from scratch
  • You will have a single step down to the second circular area which will be 7 meters in diameter and have a 2.5 meter square hot-tub on the far side – this will need electrical, and you will acquire and facilitate the installation through the vendor
  • You will be able to step from the circular area to the yard on a paving stone path which will run out to the garden – the path will be 7 meters long and 1 meter wide – this path will have electrical yard lights
  • There will be a 25’ diameter area halfway down the path which will have a built in fire pit with seating (4 seats / benches) – the area will use gravel and border stones
  • All deck areas will be edged with decorative railing
  • The deck framing will set on 4”x4” footers which will be concreted 1 meter into the ground (below frost line) – you will used galvanized hangers to support frame supports
  • The lower area will have built in flower boxes 2’x 3’ – three of them
  • The upper area will have a gas grill with built in gas service
  • You will need a building permit and it will cost 50 dollars
  • All railing will have decorative lighting running along it
  • Both main deck areas will be fully landscaped around the perimeter with plants, decorative stones, perennials, and bushes. – your team will do the landscaping
  • You will have an experienced construction crew of 4 FTE’s which will cost $80/hour including benefits and 1.5-time overtime applies
  • You will have a team of 2 experienced landscape professionals who will cost $75/ hour and overtime applies.
  • Need a couple outdoor, 110 electrical outlets for Xmas lights, etc.
  • You will need electrical you will vendor out – determine cost
  • You will vendor out the hot-tub installation – determine cost
  • You will need a vendor to install and run the gas-line – determine cost
  • The deck will be fully sealed with a medium brown stain / preservative
  • You will use treated lumber for all framing, and you will decide on what product to use for surface boards (wood, synthetic, etc.)
  • The upper level will have two built in seats near the grill area (wood) – not under the pergola
  • You will need to determine the timeline – will precipitate from the Work Breakdown Structure
  • Assume you have all the tools you need
  • Any requirements not specifically stated are at your discretion.
  • A 5 foot by 12-foot 2×8 raised bed tomato and pepper area just to the left of where you might walk off the center of the upper deck with drip irrigation installed and drip irrigation faucet at one corner of the raised bed.

Project Deliverables (Documents to be created) – Everything will be due at the end of Week 7 (Sunday, As a team, it is extremely important to all of you that you participate in the creation of every document listed below in some way.  That you leave this course with the knowledge of what the document is for and what it typically contains. You will need to create all of the documents as a team and you will use those documents to create slides for your project status presentation using a Power Point.Documents:

  1. Project Charter
  2. RACI (you can use EXCEL)
  3. Statement of Work (SOW)
  4. Scope Document
  5. Very Basic Drawing https://financesonline.com/best-free-landscape-design-software/
  6. Procurement Process (materials and vendors)
  7. Assumptions and Constraints Document
  8. Risk and Issues Log (you can use EXCEL)
  9. Communication Plan (you can use EXCEL)
  10. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (you can use EXCEL)
  11. Quality Document
  12. Change Request Process Document
  13. Milestone Time-line Breakdown
  14. Budget (this will come out of the WBS)
  15. Project Status Report – this is prepared on a PowerPoint slide deck and will go to leadership.  The report must contain:
    1. Color coded status
    2. Budget Section
    3. Risk Section
    4. Issues Section
    5. Current past achievements
    6. Work areas currently underway (WIP – work in progress)

Part 3 – How to Approach the Group ProjectInternet Research – using the internet to research topics is a researcher’s best friend.  Possible topics:

  • Deck construction basics
  • Hot tubs for sale and installation
  • How to pick the best gas grill
  • How to run a gas line to a grill
  • Landscape planning
  • Estimating construction labor costs
  • Lowes or Home Depot sites for material costs
  • How to build a fire-pit and cost of materials
  • Procurement and contract basics
  • Building a deck flower box
  • Wayfair site for pergolas or patio furniture
  • How to build a pergola (YouTube videos)

Other resources:

  • Your textbook
  • UC Library

Final Note:I know that many of you are thinking “I have no experience with construction, building decks, landscaping, etc…”  What you must realize is that when you seek employment as a project manager, you will always have this conundrum of wondering how much you really need to know about the area of work the project lies within (telecom, healthcare, IT, travel, constructions, finance, insurance etc…) to be an effective, successful project manager.   Some employers will place great importance on the amount of knowledge you have in a particular area, others like myself, will not.  What you must be ready to do is learn/absorb as much knowledge in the area of project work as soon as possible.  Be ready to explore all your options to gain and find the knowledge you need to function effectively.  You need enough vocabulary and understanding to operate and communicate well. 

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