Florida Guardian Ad Litem: 10,000 volunteers by the year 2015
Directions:
Collect and package the following materials of your project to assure you have all the items needed to present a clear and complete project (the final project will be posted in Module 7). Using these materials, provide an 810-page project update report that includes the following:
1. Title page.
2. Page on goals and outcomes, listing with description.
3. Page on progress made toward each goal and outcome in a narrative format.
4. Page on changes: Which goals and milestones have been abandoned, added, and modified and why.
5. Page or pages on support received, support rejected, and research thus far completed in a narrative format. In your narrative, make sure you address the following:
a. Identify the interim measures and pressure points that demonstrate greater or lesser support you have for the project.
b. Identify the stakeholders who are supporting and who are not (either explicitly against or not providing help).
c. Discuss the issues that tend to restrain support, and (if need be) explain what you will do about that in an adjusted project plan outline. For purposes of this course, the project completion date cannot be modified (a possibility in some professional settings). So if serious problems arise, the only option is revision of the project itself. Provide an adjusted project plan, if necessary, that includes a statement of what problems are arising, what it means for the project itself (e.g., whether reducing the scope or modifying the goals), and, if appropriate, how the project would be modified differently if changing the timeline were possible. This would be your contingency plan based upon factors that are important for project completion.
6. Page or pages of data draft charts, tables, graphs, and/or data spreadsheets or listings to be analyzed and used in final project and its presentation (you may use more than one page to demonstrate types of exhibits anticipated to be included to show evidence and substance for project justification and rationale). At this point, a description of these charts is all that is necessary, but in the final project package, they will each be a separate chart per page with graphical and narrative explanation and interpretation of data. These charts will highlight the KPIs.
7. Page or pages on milestones yet to complete, and how they will be accomplished (you may use a Pert Chart, Gantt chart, Outlook project chart, or critical path chart demonstrating what has been and needs to be accomplished, critical steps, and contingent actions or work-arounds). Again, summarize those accomplished and those left to complete.
8. Page on project budget and expenses incurred. This can be in a simple Excel spreadsheet format. If the project is over budget, explain why and what actions you will take to either access additional funding or what parts of the project might need to be cut or modified.
9. Page summarizing percent complete, interim lessons learned, and next steps.
10. Page on additional references, annotated.
Make sure your writing is clear, concise, and in an organized manner; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.