Unit 3: Professional Practice Authorised Assignment Brief 2025–2026, ESOFT Metro Campus

Authorised Assignment Brief

Submission Format

The assignment submission is in the form of:

A) A proposal pack presenting the detailed plan with necessary research about holding a conference. The recommended length is 10–15 A4-sized pages although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit. You may attach an appendix with additional details and be generous with the use of figures and graphics

The pack should be accompanied by a meeting log with a brief synopsis of the regular group meetings held by your group for this project. The pack can be presented in the form of a variety of documents such as fliers, posters, timetables, written proposal structure, presentation, desktop publishing documents, etc

B) An individual written evaluative report

The report should discuss and critically analyse your role in and contribution to your team’s group project. Identify and suggest opportunities for future growth and personal development. The recommended word limit is 1,500–2,000 words, although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit

C) An individual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Personal Plan

You are required to examine the need for continuing professional development (CPD) and its role in the workplace and for higher-level learning. You need to do so in the context of the present exercise of developing a proposal for a conference and presenting it your client. The recommended word limit is 1,500–2,000 words, although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit.

You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs and sub-sections as appropriate, and all work must be supported with research and referenced using an appropriate referencing system such as Harvard. You will also need to provide a bibliography using an appropriate referencing system such as Harvard. Inaccurate use of referencing may lead to issues of plagiarism if not applied correctly.

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1 Demonstrate a range of interpersonal and transferable communication skills to a target audience

LO2  Apply critical reasoning and thinking to a range of problem-solving scenarios

LO3 Discuss the importance and dynamics of working within a team and the impact of team working in different environments

LO4 Examine the need for continuing professional development (CPD) and its role within the workplace and for higher-level learning.

Transferable skills and competencies developed

Computing-related cognitive skills

• Problem solving and critical analysis
• Recognise and analyse criteria and specifications appropriate to specific problems and plan strategies for their solutions
• Deploy appropriate theory, practices and tools for the design, implementation and evaluation of computer-based systems
• Analysing facts and circumstances to determine the cause of a problem and identifying and selecting appropriate solutions
• Research for evidence-based decision making
• Conceptual and critical thinking, analysis, synthesis and evaluation
• Support, manage and communicate change by identifying barriers and overcoming them
• Producing reports, providing management information based on the collation, analysis and interpretation of data

Computing-related practical skills

• The ability to evaluate systems in terms of quality attributes and possible trade-offs presented within the given problem
• The ability to plan and manage projects to deliver computing systems within constraints of requirements, timescale and budget
• The ability to recognise any risks and safety aspects that may be involved in the deployment of computing systems within a given context
• The ability to deploy effectively the tools used for the construction and documentation of computer applications, with particular emphasis on understanding the whole process involved in the effective deployment of computers to solve practical problems
• The ability to critically evaluate and analyse complex problems, including those with incomplete information, and devise appropriate solutions within the constraints of a budget

Generic skills for employability

• Effective teamworking and group communication, role development, capitalising expertise of each member to inform good decision making
• Time management, planning ahead and work cooperatively to assign tasks, assess progress and deliver on time

Vocational Scenario

You work in a team of junior business analysts at We do Conferences!*, a consulting company that specialises in organising events and conferences for selective clients.

Your role encompasses:

• documenting business problems and user needs, creating solution requirements aligning to best practice, and presenting them in a meaningful and logical way appropriate to the audience
• investigating business situations and analysing problems and opportunities for improvement; you investigate and analyze business processes and understand data and business information needs
• interacting with stakeholders through leading workshops, conducting interviews and using other techniques to understand the business problems and user needs effectively.

The company has been approached by a client called Blackhole Explorations. Blackhole Explorations is a relatively new venture, based on the idea of commercial space exploration and tourism. They are working on developing their own space vehicles, satellites and launch technologies but also work with existing national and commercial space organisations and companies, and the network of existing spaceports for launches. They would like your company to advise them on organising a conference on a particular area of commercial space exploration and space tourism, and then coordinate the organisation of the
conference.

The client has set certain high-level requirements for the conference.

• They would like the conference to be between 3 to 5 days and have both public and closed invited sessions
• They would like to have at least a day for a public exposition, where companies and organisations have stalls showcasing their technology and wares for the public,      investors and other clients
• On other days, they would like a number of sessions with presentations around various topics
• There will be specialised workshops on particular topics, with their own sessions and organisation committees as well as discussion panels. Some sessions will have an hour-    long presentation by eminent personalities (known as keynote speakers), which will be      an hour long
• The other presentations could be peer-reviewed research papers on the topic of the session, or invited presentations, and should ideally be around 30 minutes
• There should be at least one conference dinner but also provisions for other engaging social activities and regular refreshments and tea/coffee breaks
• The attendance capacity of the exposition, workshops or technical sessions will be determined by the location, but the client hopes the public exposition can accommodate a few hundred and the technical sessions between 50 to 100 attendees
• Attendance at the conference should be by paid registration or an invitation (without fee) by the organisers
• The registrations should be flexible and have provision to be on multiple tiers (e.g. for just the exposition, or the exposition plus the technical sessions, or just for particular days, special rates for students etc)
• The rates should be set in accordance with the expected attendance
• The client would also like the conference to be self-funded or even profit making, with some part of it covered by sponsorships that are to be sought from various               stakeholders
• There should be provision for live streaming the talks and the workshops to maximise the number of registrants. The rate should be set based in accordance with the         expected uptake
• Pay special attention to developing a contingency plan for things which could possibly go wrong.

As a team, your task is to prepare and present a brief for the client towards planning and organising the said conference, involving various stakeholders (public, private etc.) with details on proposed locations, feasibility, organisation, committees, and an execution plan. You should also have a plan for training the client’s organisation on the actual conduct of the conference.

*We do Conferences! is not a real company. A real or fictitious company can be chosen to meet local assessment needs.

Assignment Activity and Guidance

Conference Proposal Pack

A proposal pack prepared by your group with a detailed plan, having the necessary research about holding a conference for Blackhole Explorations, on a particular selected area related to space exploration and space tourism.

Prepare a comprehensive proposal pack along the following lines.

• Choose an area of space exploration and space tourism. The proposal should be focused on developing a conference in that area for Blackhole Explorations, assuming the active participation of the client (the client will need training for some parts, e.g. as members of committees evaluating submissions by prospective participants)
• Demonstrate effective design and delivery in planning the conference for the client. Use multiple/different communication styles and formats
• Research and demonstrate the use of different problem-solving techniques for the design and delivery of the conference
• Justify the use and application of a range of methodologies in the design and delivery of the conference. Demonstrate that critical reasoning has been applied in the justification of the choices you make
• The proposal should have suggested schedules and timelines with justifications. Demonstrate effective time-management skills in planning of the conference
• Design a professional schedule to support the planning of the conference. Use project management software to convey the schedule. Plan for contingencies and justify the time allocated to various activities
• The proposal should be well structured, using clear headers and sections
• The proposal should lay down criteria meeting what would be considered a success and suggest plans to achieve them
• The proposal should be detailed and suggest possible options and scenarios for the client to choose from.

The group will be expected to meet at regular intervals for the purpose of developing this proposal. A meeting log should be kept with a brief synopsis of each meeting (a page or fewer per meeting). For ease, you may want to decide on a structured format for the log to follow throughout. The meeting log should be attached to the proposal.

Evaluation and Reflection Report

Produce an evaluative report that discusses and critically analyses your role in and contribution to your team’s group project, the performance of your group and the role of teamwork. The report should evaluate the delivery of the conference proposal to Blackhole Explorations.

The report should include:

• evaluation of your role and contribution to your team’s group conference pack preparation
• evaluation of the application of your and your group members’ interpersonal skills and its effectiveness in the design of the conference pack
• evaluation of the overall success of the preparation of the conference pack, in terms of how well critical reasoning and thinking were applied to achieve the end goal
• discussion of the importance of team dynamics in the success and/or failure of the planned conference. Were there any specific aspects of this assignment where you felt the team dynamics were particularly important?
• analysis of the team dynamics for your group in terms of the major and minor roles that different team members had. Discuss the effectiveness of this organisation and of teamwork in achieving your goals.

Continuing Professional Development: Personal Plan

You are required to examine the need for continuing professional development (CPD) and its role in the workplace and for higher-level learning. You need to do so in the context of the present exercise of developing a proposal for a conference and presenting it your client.

The plan should:

• discuss the importance of CPD and its possible contribution to your learning and motivation
• review different motivational theories, the impact they can have on workplace performance and how it applied in the present case; justify the role of CPD and               development planning in building motivation
• in view of your experience with the present exercise of developing a conference pack for your client, produce a development plan that outlines responsibilities, performance objectives and required skills for future goals
• What could you do to improve your contribution and team participation and how could           CPD (continuing professional development) contribute to your aims? How would you        measure this? Evaluate a range of evidence criteria that is used as a measure for effective CPD.

Recommended resources

Please note this is not a definitive list of resources but it will help you begin your research by acting as a starting point of reference.

Websites

https://aerospace.csis.org/ (2022) Spaceports of the World [online]. Available at: https://aerospace.csis.org/data/spaceports-of-the-world/ [Accessed 10 June 2024]

https://asq.org/ (2022) WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT? [online]. Available at: https://asq.org/quality-resources/project-management [Accessed 10 June 2024]

http//www.conferenceconsultants.com/ (n.d.) Conference Consultants Worldwide [online] Available at: http//www.conferenceconsultants.com/ [Accessed 10 June 2024]

https://fellow.app/ (2021) Team Roles and Responsibilities: How to Effectively Define Them [online]. Available at: https://fellow.app/blog/productivity/how-to-effectively-define-team-roles-and-responsibilities/ [Accessed 10 June 2024]

Scientific Conference examples (2022) The International Professional Development Association [online]. Available at: https://ipda.org.uk/ [Accessed 10 June 2024]

https://kissflow.com/ (2022) Dependencies in Project Management – A Complete Guide [online]. Available at: https://kissflow.com/project/dependencies-in-project-management/
[Accessed 10 June 2024]

https://www.peoplegoal.com/ (2022) 6 Reasons Why Development Planning is Important [online]. Available at: https://www.peoplegoal.com/blog/development-planning [Accessed 10 June 2024]

Scientific Conference example (2022) ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing [online]. Available at: https://www.podc.org/ [Accessed 10 June 2024]

https://www.projectmanager.com/ (2022) 25 Must-Have Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets [online]. Available at: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/8-must-pm-excel-templates [Accessed 10 June 2024]

Journals and articles

Imam, H. & Zaheer, M. (2021) Shared leadership and project success: The roles of knowledge sharing, cohesion and trust in the team. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 39, Issue 5, 2021, pp. 463-473, ISSN 0263-7863. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.02.006 [Accessed 10 June 2024]

Textbooks

Aspire Training and Consulting, (n.d.) E-book on Professional Development. Available at: https://aspire-solidus-production.s3-ap-southeast-
2.amazonaws.com/assets/CXPRP003/samples/CXPRP003.pdf [Accessed 10 June 2024]

Cottrell, S. (2001) Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument. 2nd edn. Palgrave Macmillan.

Chris Croft (2022) Project Management QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Precise Planning, Strategic Resource Management, and Delivering World Class Results. QuickStart Guides™ – Business

Forde, C. et al (2006) Professional Development, Reflection and Enquiry. Sage Publications.

Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V. (2007) Continuing Professional Development. 2nd edn. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

MindTools Ltd (2014) E-book on Personal Development Plan. Available at: https://www.crowe-associates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MindTools-Career-
PersonalDevelopmentPlanning.pdf Accessed 10 June 2024]

Winstanley, D. (2005) Personal Effectiveness: A guide to action. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

HN Global

Reading Lists. Available at:

https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/learning-zone/reading-lists

Student Resource Library. Available at:

https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/subjects/resource-libraries

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Answer

Request Answer of this Assignment