Digital Project Management 2017-18

2017-18 Course Syllabus

The course provides an overview of the roles, responsibilities, and management methods of the digital project manager. The course assumes no prior knowledge in management techniques and is intended to teach students how to develop approaches and styles of management for digit

al projects. The course assumes a basic understanding of software analysis, design and development techniques.

  1. To provide students with a clear understanding of the unique risks, issues, and critical success factors associated with digital projects
  2. To introduce students to the role and function of project management
  3. To explain the stages and process of the project life cycle
  4. To understand the various techniques for planning and managing a digital project
  5. To examine basic methodologies for software design, development, testing, implementation and deployment
  6. To examine various techniques for managing a team working on digital projects
  7. To understand the need and techniques for managing users and user expectations
  8. To learn project planning and tracking techniques
  9. To understand SCRUM as a modern agile approach to Digital Project Management
  10. To provide students with hints on how to handle the final stages of a project

Classes

Introduction – 28 February 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • Administrative items [slides]
  • digital transformation [slides]
A Pico-project – 5 March 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
Classic Mistakes – 14 March 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • A Case Study by McConnet (on Internet Archive) to work on.
  • Can you identify errors? Try to name them using one of the following gdocs [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The mistakes can relate to people, process, product and technology.
  • This is the version we worked on during the lecture
More on Classic Mistakes – 19 March 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
Basics – 21 March 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • Digital Project Management (part I) [slides]
  • Homework-1 assigned
Planning – 26 March 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • Digital Project Management (part II) [slides]
  • Planning Phase (part I) [slides]
    • phases in details
    • lifecycle planning
Planning – 4 APRIL 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00 
  • Planning Phase (part II) [slides]
    • Matching Lifecycles to Project
    • Project plans
    • Project Survival Test [link]
ReQUIREMENTS – 9 April 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • Invited Talk on “An agile approach to customer base acquisition” by Paolo Meola [Abstract & Bio][slides]
  • On requirements [slide]
    • importance of requirements
    • characteristics & Issues
    • types
    • requirement gathering techniques
Work Breakdown Structures – 11 April 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • [slides]
    • Introduction to Planning, Estimating, Scheduling
    • Work Breakdown Structures: Types, Formats, Techniques and Guidelines
Open Project (part I) – 23 April 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • [slides]
    • Epics and User Stories
    • Tasks
    • Tasks Hierarchies and Relations
  • Homework-2 assigned
Estimation & Scheduling – 7 May 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • Estimation [slides]
    • Measuring size, complexity and effort
    • Estimation Methodologies
    • Issues & Guidelines
  • Scheduling [slides]
    • Fundamentals
    • Techniques: Network Diagrams & Bar Charts
    • Optimization Techniques
SCRUM – 14 May 2018 – 10.15 – 13.0
  • using SCRUM to teach SCRUM
    • requirements written in class
    • overall process [diagram]
    • user stories: story points and business value
    • roles: Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Scrum Master
    • Artifacts: product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Release Backlog
    • tools: Burndown Chart and Task Board
    • Meetings: sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review and sprint retrospective
  • Reference: P. Deemer, G. Benefield, C. Larman, B. Vodde (2009). “The Scrum Primer” (free for download).
Change Management – 16 May 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • [slides]
    • The Feature-Creep Phenomenon
    • Feature Set Control
    • Project Recovery
risk management – 21 May 2018 – 10.15 – 11.00
  • [slides]
    • Risk Assessment: Risk Identification, Risk Analysis & Risk Prioritization
    • Risk Control: Risk Management Planning, Risk Resolution & Risk Monitoring
Project Control – 21 May 2018 – 11.15 – 13.00
Open Project (part II) – 23 MAY 2018 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • [slides]
    • Estimation (Story Points)
    • Backlogs
    • Product Backlog and Sprints
  • Homework-3 assigned
People Dimension – 28 May 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • [slides]
    • Project Roles
    • Staffing profile
    • Hiring
    • Team models and successful projects
    • Mythical Man-Month
    • Optimal team size
    • Tools: RAM and Skill Matrix
Project Quality Management – 30 May 17 – 13.30 – 15.00
  • Project Quality Management [slides]
    • Software Quality Assurance
    • Integration
    • Test planning
    • Types of testing
    • Test metrics
    • Test Environments
Open Project (part III) – 4 June 2018 – 10.15 – 13.00
  • Assigning resources to tasks
  • Scheduling
  • Timeline and Burndown Chart
  • Homework-4 assigned
      Final phases  – 6 June 2018 – 13.45 – 15.15
      • Final phases [slides]
        • Final Steps: Migration, Roll-Out, Training,.doc, Shipping Details, and Installation
        • Maintenance
        • Post Project Reviews (Post-mortems)
        • Success tips
        • Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
      • Exam Preview [slides]

      Homework Assignments

      Why
      • Apply, in a simplified context, some of the points presented in class
      • Develop project related capabilities
      • Develop teamwork ability
      What
      • Homework 1 (5 points): Statement of Work for your project [template]
      • Homework 2 (8 points): SCRUM requirements for your project in open project
      • Homework 3 (8 points): Write the WBS of a SCRUM sprint in open project
      • Homework 4 (10 points): Add estimation to your WBS and schedule it in open project
      How
      • in order to communicate the groups, please use this form. You will receive an email giving you access to our installation of Open Project. For any problem, please refer to lor.onofrio – at – gmail.com and cc emanuele.dellavalle – at – polimi.it.
      • work in team (up to 3 people)
      • Working alone is possible, but you should believe in the italian byword “Chi fa da se, fa per tre”; literally, “who works alone works for three”, more broadly, “If you want something done, do it yourself”
      Due day
      • If you follow the classes
        • Homework 1 – 8 April 2018
        • Homework 2 – 7 May 2018
        • Homework 3 – 30 May 2018
        • Homework 4 – 1 week before the exam session
      • If you do not follow the classes
        • Homework 1, 2, 3 and 4 – 1 week before the exam session

      Grading

      The exam consist in a practical part (30% of the grade) and a theoretical part (70% of the grade).

      • The theoretical part will be evaluated with a written and (optionally) an oral test. The written test is composed of questions to be answered in free text, regarding any of the course subjects, and exercises, regarding the more technical content. The oral test consists of a discussion about the written test and the practical part of the exam. It can include also questions on any subject of the course.
      • The practical part consists in simulating the activities of a digital project manager. This activities will be partially conducted in class during the course and partially at home (as homework). The student will.doc those activities in written reports. The evaluation is based on the content of those reports and (optionally) on an oral discussion.

      Textbooks

      Recommended texts (not mandatory).

      These provide two very different viewpoints: In-the-trenches vs. PMI textbook perspective

      More reading

      Acknowledgements

      This course is largely based on Prof. John Musser class notes on “Principles of Software Project Management”. Original information is available at http://www.projectreference.com/. Reuse and republish permission was granted.