Overview
I was tasked in creating a mock company called R-Solutions that specialises in developing educational games for children, in particular for subjects of History and Archaeology. The mock BBC CBeebies, has launched a tendering process for a contract to develop an app based on their tv show Lost World, which is scheduled to air in 2023. The app is called 'Walk’n Talk Dino and serves as a companion to the show.
It is I, the Managing Director, who has created this Tender Proposal to secure the contract for my company to develop Walk’n Talk Dino.
What is special with this project?
This project is the ultimate demonstration of my Production and overall Project Management skills. I breakdown the key features in terms of their implementation, tools/resources, hiring staff and freelance and calculating the estimated time to completion for each and every deliverable stage.
I utilised software such as Microsoft Project to create a Gantt Chart that depicts the timeline and stages of the project and I use Excel to theoretically highlight all the costs and earnings associated with the production of the project.
Project Production Plan/Gantt Chart
Using Microsoft Project, I created a professional production plan that details all the elements associated with the development of the project.
The production plan was first plotted into various Task Planning Sheets (categorised via Themes, as seen in previous section’s Figure) for a streamlined process of referencing into Microsoft Project.
Using this software made the Gantt Chart easier to read and refer to individual elements such as staff and tools/software involved with development of a feature.
This is useful for clients or staff to understand the production process, as all the numerous, but important details have been visually represented in an easy to process way.
(Read more by zooming in on images)
Overview of Gantt Chart in Microsoft Project
Resource catalogue to help reference roles on Microsoft Project
Example of Task Planning Sheet mentioned above (also in proposal document’s appendices)
Microsoft’s Team Planner – Proper utilisation of this can resolve scheduling errors and over-allocations of staff.
Milestones – Easier to glance at to understand production milestone and time frames for each part of production.
Example of how it appears on the Gantt Chart to the right, after parameters are set up on the left
Video Key Feature plotted on Gantt Chart – Blue circle shows the bracket that contains all the total duration ‘blocks’ of this development task. Blocks have resources assigned to them in order to see full names rather than abbreviations of them.
Financial Data and Project Payment Plan
Using Excel, I was able to visually represent the total commission received from the Project Payment Plan and all the outgoings of the project such as budget, salaries, overheads, resources, equipment and any allocated costs necessary for the project.
This meticulously displays all necessary financial data related to project, making the production process straightforward for any client and their financial team to view and assess.
(Read more by zooming in on images)
Total project cost that can be seen in the other images. Contingency and Profit Margins have been measured and taken into account with entire project cost
Office Overheads based on rates around mock company location in Bournemouth
Project Overheads at their highest amount of loading. This represents the longest time the employees at the company will be working on Walk’n Talk Dino compared to the other projects concurrently worked on.
The contract requires the project manager to meet with the client every first Wednesday to update them on the app’s progress. This has been expensed and represented to meet the contract requirements.
Example of 4 employee salaries based on how many days per week they work on the project (20% = 1 Day). This mock up proposal assumes employees are working on other concurrent projects at the company during the week.
Mock Freelancer costs using salary averages of similar roles in the UK (January 2022)
IT Overheads based on the cost and usability of these items (January 2022 prices)
Project specific costs to help employees with their work that can fit within the project budget