Wk5 A1 – A3: Assignment Instructions
Assignment Overview:

For this assignment, you will performing an earned value analysis using MsProject, and then writing a performance evaluation report.

Learning Connection:

This assignment is directly linked to the following key learning outcomes from the course syllabus:

Use MsProject to baseline a project, mark progress and report on variance.
Use Earned Value analysis to provide both variance and forecasting performance measures for a simulated project
Plan and conduct a tactical evaluation using both qualitative and quantitative measures
In addition to these key learning outcomes, you will also have the opportunity to evidence the following skills through completing this assignment:

Critical thinking
Problem solving
Quantitative analysis
Professional writing
Assignment Instructions:

This is a more detailed assignment, and it will require you to work with some case study files. Please be sure to start this assignment early to allow for sufficient time. Below are the assignment guidelines and files.

Assignment Files:

To complete this assignment, you will use the following three files:
Lazrtrim Case Study Overview — PJM6125 – Case Study – Lazertrim.pdf
Lazrtrim MsProject File — The LazerTrim User Manual_PJM6125_AssignmentUploadVersion.mpp
Lazrtrim Actual Data & Earned Value Analysis Worksheet — PJM6125_Week5_Excel_Lazrtrim_EV_Worksheet.xlsx
Guide to Files

File 1 — Laztrim Case Study Overview — The Laztrim Case Study file provides an overview of a sample case study you will be using. This will provide you some context to the evaluation you will be using and allow you to make some reasonable assumptions about the context of the project.
File 2 — Laztrim MsProject File — This is where you will find details about the schedule of the project and progress to date. You will use this file to enter in actual data (provided in file 3) so that you can perform an analysis of performance. You will want to make sure that the baseline is set (see lecture 01 for how to verify this), and make sure that you set the status date to 10/30/15.
File 3 — Actual Data & Earned Value Worksheet — This worksheet has two tabs. Tab one is the Actual data you will enter into the Laztrim MsProject file (see lesson 01 lecture to see how to do this). Tab two is the earned value calculations table, where you can enter the data from the MsProject file after you have entered the actual data to see all the earned value calculations (see Lecture 01 if you are uncertain as to how to do this).
Creating Earned Value Data:
For this assignment, you will use the above files to create a status report for the project. To create this report, you will first need to calculate the earned value data for the above sample case study. Please complete the following steps prior to writing the report:

Read the Laztrim Case Study Overview (attached above)
Review the Laztrim MsProject file (attached above)
Review the Actual Data and Earned value worksheet (attached above)
Enter the actual Laztrim data from File 3 into the MsProject file (file 2)
Enter the Earned Value data from the MsProject file (file 2) into the earned value calculations worksheet (file 3)
Use the earned value calculations from the worksheet as the basis for your report
Writing the Performance Report
Using the earned value data gathered from the case, write a 2 page status report using the following structure:

Part 1: Executive summary — provide a high level summary of your report. This should be written last, as you want to summarize your report
Part 2: Current status & evaluation of earned value data (don’t just give me the data, explain what it means and tell me what when right and wrong in the project)
Part 3: Forecast performance (using earned value metrics, state what the future performance will be)
Part 4: Recommendations (be specific; give a concrete recommendation or two and explain what the implications are for the project)
Here are some general guidelines for formatting:

Use section headers so that it is clear what the sections of the report are
This report should be single spaced; it should appear as a professional report, not an academic paper
Make good use of tables and/or charts to report the data
Be concrete; reference the case study and specifics regarding performance
Include page numbers
Write no more than two pages

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