SYST4080 Project Management

SYST4080 – Project Management

Fall 2006

CLASS LEADER: / James R. Marlatt (Jim)
Resume: James Marlatt
E-mail:
Phone: 720-933-5541
Office:Law 74 / Home Page:
Office Hours: / MW 11 am to 12 pm
Mondays2 pm to 3 pm
Classroom Location/Days/Time / Fleming 103 MW 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

As organizations are expecting more and more from their resources, the growth and acceptance of structured project management methodologies are gaining widespread acceptance. In fact many organizations will not even consider someone for a project management position unless they are a certified professional project manager.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and experience they need to meet the following objectives:

Describe the PMI project management life cycle
Apply the PMI framework to sample cases in class
Create project charters for the group project and for sample cases in class
Design a project management framework for the group project
Compare different types of project management methodologies for the purpose of identifying their strengths and weaknesses as they relate to sample class cases. Make sure to cover the construction industry as part of this discussion.
Develop work breakdown structures and schedules for sample cases and the group project
Define roles and responsibilities for project stakeholders
Design a risk management framework and identify, quantify and mitigate project risks
Formulate and execute a project communications plan
Evaluate and critique project management frameworks discussed in class (sample cases, student projects and guest speakers)
Defend, and where appropriate, modify the group project framework based on input from other students, project client, project mentors and any other sources of feedback
Demonstrate knowledge necessary to sit for the PMI certification exam

COURSE MATERIALS:

Gido & Clements, Successful Project Management, third edition, 2006

COURSE CONDUCT:

We will spend time at the beginning of the semester reviewing the syllabus, the learning environment and getting to know each other. Based on this information, I may make some changes to maximize our learning potential. These changes will be communicated in class or via e-mail

The class time during each week will be organized as follows:

Review new concepts assigned for the day’s class,
Apply these concepts to case and project examples,
Review sample PMI exam questions,
Review assignments for the next class.

All reading assignments are to be read prior to the first day of the week. All written assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Because assignments may be discussed in class when due, no late assignments will be accepted without written approval one week in advance. Any assignments turned in after the due date/time will receive an automatic zero.

Exams must be taken when scheduled, per the syllabus, unless written approval is received at least one week in advance. Any missed exams will receive an automatic zero.

Disabilities:

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit a
letter to me from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may
be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on
documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, or

Religious Observances:
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every
effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of
religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or
required attendance. In this class, please inform me of any conflicts during the first week of the semester for written approval of assignment/exam due date changes.
See policy details at

Learning Environment:
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate
learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to behavioral standards may
be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility to treat
students with understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion
and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which students express opinions.
See policies at
and at

Honor Code:
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for
knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution.
Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic
dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All
incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council
(; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation
of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions
from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited
to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Additional information on
the Honor Code can be found at

COURSE COMMUNICATIONS:

You will be responsible for any information I communicate to you during class or via e-mail. I expect you to check for messages at least once every 24 hours M-F. You are responsible for all messages sent after the first class period. Go to for more details on the campus e-mail policy.

I will communicate any clarifications, changes and/or additions during class or via the class e-mail list.

COURSE PERFORMANCE MEASURES / Points
First Deliverable - September 20th
Second Deliverable – October 25th
Final Deliverable – December 6th / 100
150
250
Class Participation / 100
Midterm Exam – October 11th
Final Exam–Tuesday, Dec. 19th1:30 pm to 4:00 pm / 150
250
Total / 1000

The following percentages define the course grading scale. If you miss an assignment, there will be no opportunity to make it up.

Grades: Points are converted to grades according to the following:
866 <= 895 B+ 766 <= 795 C+666 <= 695 D+ 0 <= 595 F
926 <= 1000 A 826 <= 865 B 726 <= 765 C626 <= 665 D
896 <= 925 A- 796 <= 825 B- 696 <= 725 C-596 <= 625 D-

CLASS PARTICIPATION:

Attendance and contribution to class discussion

Students are expected to attend every class and to participate in the class discussions. Class participation grades are based on two aspects: your attendance in class and your contributions to the class discussions. Contributions to discussions will focus on the quality, not the quantity of the contribution; therefore students who participate often will not necessarily receive a better grade than those who participate less often. One must recognize, however, that there is an art to quality participation that is only learned by trial and error. Therefore, students are encouraged to begin contributing to the discussions early in the semester.

As the value of this course stems from class discussion and participation, your attendance at class sessions is critical to learning the material and to enhancing the discussions. Therefore, your participation grade will include your class attendance. If you never speak out in class or if you miss several classes, you will receive a participation grade of D. If you speak out occasionally, bur rarely say anything inspired, and you attend virtually all the sessions, your participation will be a C+. The best grades will be given to students who make contributions to the discussions. These involve applying conceptual material from the readings or lectures, doing some outside readings and applying them to the discussion, integrating comments from previous classes into the current discussion, taking issues (in a constructive manner) with a classmate's or instructor’s analysis and/or pulling together material from several different sources.

The instructor reserves the right to call on students, particularly on students who have not participated in a while. Students who are shy or uncomfortable with participation are encouraged to make an appointment with the instructor. This discussion should take place early in the semester to minimize the impact on the student's participation grade.

Group project:

You will break into teams of from 4 to 5 students during the first week of class to work on a project with a local company that I have identified. You will self-select from this list of project opportunities. The project will utilize many of the concepts we will be learning in class to initiate, plan, execute, control and close a project successfully.

First Deliverable 100 points (Due September 20th)

Your deliverable must include at a minimum:

Project charter,Hitachi Project Training Session 1.ppt
Roles and Responsibilities,Sample Roles and Responsibilities
Meeting notes,
Status reports (bi-weekly),Hitachi Status Reporting & Asking Effective Questions.ppt, Another Sample Status Report
Client communication,
Attention to detail, creativity, organization, consistency among the parts, spelling, grammar and presentation.

Second Deliverable 150 points (Due October 25th)

Your deliverable must include at a minimum:

Communications Plan, Sample Stakeholder's Analysis
Work Break Down Structure, (see Hitachi Project Training Session 1 above)
Risk Management Plan, Risk Management Example
Other Deliverables as defined in your project charter,
Network diagram,
Meeting notes,
Lessons learned,
Status reports (bi-weekly),
Client communications (both directions),
Attention to detail, creativity, how well recommendations address the real problem(s), organization, consistency among the parts, spelling, grammar and presentation,
Feedback form for project team members if appropriate (each team member completes this form for all of their teammates)...\Confidential Peer Review Form.doc

Third Deliverable 250 points (Due December 6th)

Your deliverable must include at a minimum:

Presentation Slides
Deliverables as defined in your project charter,
Meeting notes,
Lessons learned,
Status reports (bi-weekly),
Client communications (both directions),
Attention to detail, creativity, how well recommendations address the real problem(s), organization, consistency among the parts, spelling, grammar and presentation,
Feedback form for project team members if appropriate (each team member completes this form for all of their teammates),
Project CD.

Please bind your deliverables in a 3-ring binder, including the current and all prior deliverables each time with your team member names and contact information noted on the cover. Please also turn in a CD with your final deliverable with all of your deliverables saved to it (using file names that are easy to understand), and your project name and team member names noted on it. Documents turned in after class time on the assigned date will not be accepted. You will receive a zero for any missing documents or sections. No exceptions. Assume that I will keep your final deliverable, so make an extra copy for yourselves and at least one for your client. Hitachi Consulting will be providing a mentor to work with you on your projects. This individual will provide input for 20% of your project grade. Your client will also be asked to provide input for 30% of your project grade. It is typical in business projects to have multiple stakeholders that you have to communicate with on a regular basis. This project is structured in a similar way with your client, myself and Hitachi all being stakeholders.

Team Organization-As part of this project, you must produce three distinct deliverables (see project deliverables above) through active participation of all team members, your client, Hitachi and your client’s customers if appropriate.

The team will be responsible for organizing and managing itself, including allocating work within the team. Each deliverable must be divided up among the team members, where each member participates materially in each deliverable.

A project team can fire an individual from the team at any point during the project. The group must first issue a written warning to the person describing the issue(s) and give the person one week to correct the issue(s). I must be copied on this correspondence. If the issue(s) are not corrected, the group can then vote the person off the team. I must be presented with evidence of the vote. This vote must be at least three fifths in favor of firing the individual (evidence must include signatures on a document explaining the reasons the person was fired). Any person fired from a group will be responsible for completing a project on their own.

Project Grading - The group project represents 50% of your grade in this course. Your individual project score will be based on the group's score for the project. If I feel it is appropriate, I can adjust an individual’s project score by as much as one letter grade to reflect their lack of participation.

Class SCHEDULE & ASSIGNMENTS:

Week 1:August 28th, Review Course Objectives and Syllabus. Review projects and break into project teams on Wednesday, August 30th.

Week 2: September 4th,Measurable Objectives and Scope: Read chapter 1, chapter 2 pages 26 to 30, chapter 4 pages 78 and 79, chapter 5 pages 103 to 107. Think about projects you have done in the past (or currently); would any of these techniques have helped you? Be prepared to discuss case study #2 at the end of chapter 1 in class. PMI practice questions on project initiating and planning.

Reference files: Defining Project Objectives and Scope; project charter template; Defining Project Management.ppt; PM Foundation Article - Stakeholder Alignment.doc; Scope Management Slides Without Answers.ppt

Week 3: September 11th,Hitachi Kickoff September 13th, PMI Exam Value and Process: Go to PMI’s website () and read about the exam requirements, exam process and review the PMBOK table of contents. PMI practice questions on integration.

Reference files: Experience verification.xls; Experience verification - project hours.xls; Part 1 - PMI Background.ppt; Scope Questions

Week 4: September 18th,Accountability and authority: Read chapters 10 and 13. PMI practice questions on integration.

Reference files: Project Manager Authority; Project Integration Slides.ppt; Authority Article;Integration Questions; HR Questions; HR Answers

Week 5: September 25th,Risk Management (FMEA and other approaches): Read Chapter 4 pages 80 to 83. Be prepared to discuss case study # 2 in chapter 4. PMI practice questions on risk management.

Reference files: Risk Management Slides.ppt; Risk Questions; Risk Management Answers

Week 6: October 2nd, Effective Communications: Read pages 107-112, Read chapter 12. Be prepared to discuss case #1 in chapter 12. PMI practice questions on communications.

Reference files: Communications Management Slides.ppt; Communications Questions with answers

Week 7: October 9th, Hitachi Mentoring October 10th, Managing and motivating teams that don’t report to you / team development: Read chapter 11. Be prepared to discuss case #1 in chapter 11. PMI practice questions on human resources. Midterm Exam October 11th.

Week 8: October 16th,Control mechanisms including scope and schedule. Read pages 84-87, chapters 6, 7 and 8. Prepare case #1 at the end of chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8. PMI practice questions on controlling, time, scope, quality, cost and integration.

Reference files: Time Management Slides - Without Answers.ppt; Project Charter Medical Non-Profit

Week 9: October 23rd, Resource planning and staffing: Read chapters 3 and 8. Be prepared to discuss case 1 in chapter 8. PMI practice questions human resources, procurement and professional responsibility.

Reference files: Human Resources Management Slides.ppt

Week 10: October 30th, Control mechanism cost (earned value). Read chapter 9. Prepare case #1 at the end of chapter 9. PMI practice questions on controlling, cost and integration.

Reference files: COST Formulas Table.pdf; Cost Management Slides.ppt; Cost Barn Exercise1.doc; Cost Barn Exercise_Answer Key.doc; Cost Management Questions

Week 11: November 6th,Hitachi Mentoring November 6th, Project Management Software: Read Appendix A, also p.130-131, 169-171, 213, 240 & 273. Do a web search on Project Management Software and be prepared to discuss your findings. Check out . PMI practice questions on executing.

Week 12: November 13th, Project team time to work on projects in class Monday, November 13th. No class on Wednesday, November 15th. Students must have attended at least one mentoring session during the semester to make up for this.

Week 13: November 20th,No classes Fall Break. Have fun and be safe!

Week 14: November 27th, Project closing and knowledge transfer: PMI practice questions on executing and closing.

Week 15: December 4th, Hitachi Competition December 6th, Project presentations

Week 16: December 11th, Course wrap-up, review for final exam.

Other Resources:

37signals - design firm

Agile Software Manifesto

Project Management Institute

PMP Process Map - Exam Review Guide

Quality Assurance Templates:

Training and Project Templates\QA Review Overview.doc

Training and Project Templates\Quality Assurance Workbook Instructions.doc

Training and Project Templates\QA Template.xls

Training and Project Templates\QA Example.xls

Lessons Learned Template