Digital Project Management 2019-20

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 – 17 September 2019 – 15:30 – 17:00
  • Administrative items [slides]
  • Let’s run a pico-project together in class
From Fundamentals to Classic Mistakes – 24 September 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
Basics (part I) – 27 September 2019 – 15:30 – 17:00
  • Digital Project Management fundamentals [slides]
    • PMI fundamentals vs. Rapid Development
    • The four dimensions of a digital project and their relation to the classic mistakes
    • Initial documents: SOW and Project Charter
  • Homework-1 assigned
    • In order to communicate the groups, please use this form
    • The teaching assistant will send you an email with your group ID
    • Use the template [doc]
    • To deliver this assignment reply to the email the teaching assistant sent you
Basics (part II) – 8 October 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • More Fundamentals in Project Management [slides]
    • PMI fundamentals
    • Projects and Organizations
    • Program Management
    • Procurement Management
Project Selection and Planning – 15 October 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • Project Selection and Success Factors [slides]
  • Planning Phase (part I) [slides]
    • phases in details
Requirements – 18 October 2019 – 15.30 – 17.00
  • Planning Phase (part II) [slides]
  • On requirements [slides] FAILED (not in the MID TERM REVIEW)
    • importance of requirements
    • characteristics & Issues
    • types
    • requirement gathering techniques
Work Breakdown Structures – 22 October 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • [slides]
    • Introduction to Planning, Estimating, Scheduling
    • Work Breakdown Structures: Types, Formats, Techniques and Guidelines
  • Homework-2 assigned
Estimation – 25 October 2019 – 15:30 – 17:00
  • Estimation [slides]
    • Measuring size, complexity and effort
    • Estimation Methodologies
    • Issues & Guidelines
Scheduling – 29 October 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • Scheduling [slides]
    • Fundamentals
    • Techniques: Network Diagrams & Bar Charts
    • Optimization Techniques
  • Preview of MID-TERM REVIEW [slides]
MID-TERM REVIEW – 5 november 2019 – 15:30 – 17:00 !!! ROOM 5.03 !!!
SCRUM – 12 November 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • using SCRUM to teach SCRUM
    • requirements written in class [gdoc]
    • overall process [blackboard][diagram]
    • user stories: INVEST criteria, 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).
  • Homework-3 assigned [instructions]
Change Management – 15 november 2019 – 15.30 – 17.00
  • [slides]
    • The Feature-Creep Phenomenon
    • Feature Set Control
    • Project Recovery
Project Control – 19 november 2018 – 15.30 – 18.00
Risk management – 22 November 2019 – 15:30 – 17:00
  • [slides]
    • Risk Assessment: Risk Identification, Risk Analysis & Risk Prioritization
    • Risk Control: Risk Management Planning, Risk Resolution & Risk Monitoring
Open Project (part I) – 26 November 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • [slides]
    • Epics and User Stories
    • Tasks
    • Tasks Hierarchies and Relations
People Dimension – 29 November 2019 – 15:30 – 17.00
  • [slides]
    • Project Roles
    • Staffing profile
    • Hiring
    • Team models and successful projects
    • Mythical Man-Month
    • Optimal team size
    • Tools: RAM and Skill Matrix
Open Project (part II) – 3 December 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • [slides]
    • Estimation (Story Points)
    • Backlogs
    • Product Backlog and Sprints
Open Project (part III) – 6 December 2019 – 15:30 – 18:00
  • [slide]
    • Assigning resources to tasks
    • Scheduling
    • Timeline and Burndown Chart
    • Homework-4 assigned [instructions]
Project Quality Management – 10 December 2019 – 15.30 – 17.00
  • Project Quality Management [slides]
    • Software Quality Assurance
    • Integration
    • Test planning
    • Types of testing
    • Test metrics
    • Test Environments
      Final phases – 13 december 2018 – 15:30 – 17.00
      • Final phases [slides]
        • Migration
        • Roll-Out [check-list], Training, Documentation, Shipping Details, and Installation
        • Maintenance
        • Post Project Reviews (Post-mortems)
        • Success tips
        • Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
      Invited Talk – 20 december 2018 – 15:30 – 17.00

      Homework Assignments

      Why
      • Apply, in a simplified context, some of the points presented in class
      • Develop project related capabilities
      • Develop teamwork ability
      What
      How
      • 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”
      Marks
      • Homework 1: 7 points
      • Homework 2: 5 points
      • Homework 3: 8 points
      • Homework 4: 10 points
      • NOTE: up to 3 extra points will be awarded to exceptional homeworks
      Due day
      • If you follow the classes
        • Homework 1 – 15 October 2019
        • Homework 2 – 28 October 2019
        • Homework 3 – 22 November 2019
        • 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
      Q/A

      If you have got a question about the homework assignements, for check this document.

      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.