Instructor	Assistant Professor, Business Administration & MIS
Where to find me	Office Also by email and appointment
How to reach me	Phone: (612) 330-3000 Campus Box 315 Email: professor@augsburg.edu
Web Sites:	Blackboard at augnet.augsburg.edu has supporting documents
Course Description (from the Catalog)	Develops project management skills needed to define, plan, lea, monitor and complete projects. Combines theories, techniques, group activities, and computer tools such as Microsoft Project. Emphasizes technical and communications skills needed to manage inevitable changes. (Prereq.: ACC 221, BUS 242, and either MIS 175 or 370)
Textbook to buy	Schwalbe, Kathy, Information Technology Project Management, 2^nd Ed, Course Technology, 2001. Data files for the text (appendix A) can be found at the publisher’s web site: www.course.com.
successful completion of MIS 376 means you can . . .	1. Understand the genesis of project management and its importance to improving the success of information technology and other projects 2. Demonstrate knowledge of project management terms and techniques— § The triple constraint of project management § The project management knowledge areas and process groups § The project life cycle § Tools and techniques of project management such as: - Project selection methods - Work breakdown structures - Network diagrams and critical path analysis - Cost estimates - Earned value analysis - Motivation theory and team building 3. Apply project management concepts by working on a semester-long group project as team leader or active team member 4. Use Microsoft Project 2000 and other software to help plan and manage a project 5. Appreciate and explain the importance of good project management 6. Study other texts and articles related to project management 7. Demonstrate competence in giving oral presentations. This course meets Augsburg's speaking graduation skill.
Class approach	Lecture, student presentations, class projects and student participation will be used to aid in the understanding and application of project management.
How your learning will be evaluated	Individual presentation 15% Team project & presentation 20% Exam 1 15% Exam 2 15% Exam 3 15% Homework Assignments 15% Lessons Learned & self-assessment 5% Final grades will be determined on overall percentages—94% for a 4.0, 89% for a 3.5, 84% for a 3.0, 79% for a 2.5, 74% for a 2.0, 69% for a 1.5, 64% for a 1.0, 59% for a 0.5 (0.0 for percentages below 59%).
Policies for MIS 376	Homework—Read assignments in the textbook prior to class as shown on the Preliminary Schedule below. Prepare for individual presentations, study for exams and contribute to your group project. Participation—I expect you to participate actively in class by asking questions, working on class exercises, and sharing your personal experience related to topics discussed. I expect you to be in class—your final grade will be reduced by .5 for each 6 hours of class that you miss without pre-approval. Honesty—You will sign a statement at the start of the class reaffirming your commitment to Augsburg’s academic honesty policy. If I find that the work you submit to me is not your own your score will be zero for that item (and potentially zero for the class). Makeup Exams—You must obtain my advance approval (with a valid reason) in order to take a makeup exam. You may leave a telephone message or send me an email in case of a last-minute emergency.
Presentations	The ability to communicate your ideas orally to a group of people is a critical skill in the business world in general and in project management in particular. For this reason, MIS 376 has been designed to fulfill the speaking graduation skill requirement. You will have opportunities both individually and as part of a team to demonstrate your ability to deliver effective business presentations. Individual Presentations—You will prepare a 10 – 20 minute formal, business presentation on a topic related to project management. Your presentation must include information from at least 3 outside sources (besides the class textbook) and the use visual aids like PowerPoint, transparencies, HTML, etc. You need to turn in your list of sources and copies of any visual aids and speaker’s notes that you use. Here are some suggested topics— § How to give great presentations § How to build effective teams § Understanding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (or a part) § Emotional IQ § Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (7 students each presenting 1 habit with additional information, and relating it to project management) § Critical chain (see The Critical Chain by Goldratt) § Managing e-business/e-commerce projects § Project Office You need to choose a topic and a date to present your topic by February 14^th. I’ll have a sign-up sheet in class. Team Presentations—As part of a project team, you will participate in the final team presentation to the class. Team presentations will be scheduled during the last 2 regular class sessions before the final. Presentations will be evaluated and graded on content, delivery and response.
Team Projects	The semester long project provides you an opportunity to learn and apply a structured approach to project management in a team setting. Each team of 3 – 5 students will choose one of these options and the following tasks: Option I— Study a Real Project Using the experiences of your team members or their friends and colleagues, collect as much information as possible about a real project and analyze how the project was managed. Compare the theory you are learning in class with the practice used in the project. Consider project charters, work breakdown structures, Gantt charts, PM software, critical path analysis, earned value analysis, risk assessment, communication plans, status reports, etc. Include references and actual project documentation wherever possible (you may censor the material if necessary). Write a report describing the project, what project management practices were used and whether or not the project was a success. Include examples of what went right and what went wrong in the project like those in the textbook. Summarize the theory versus the practice of project management in this project. Did the project manager(s) use the tools and techniques discussed in class? Why or why not? Might the project have benefited from following more of the theories of project management? How? Attach samples of the project documents. Option II—Do a Real Project Instead of studying a project your team could do a project for a real client. The team will need to find a project to develop a small web site, or build a database, etc. Instead of producing the analysis report in Option I your team will produce and deliver the product to the client, whether that’s a web site, a database, a report, etc. Your team will use the project management tools and techniques we have covered in class to deliver your product. Information about projects that have been requested by community groups will be distributed in class. —Tasks done by all groups— Team Analysis—Have members of your project team take some form of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test (on the web at www.keirsey.com, or www.personalitytype.com or www.personalitypathways.com — feel free to find some other site or source). Include the results with your team’s first status report. As part of your final project report, summarize the results of your team’s profiles and what people thought about them, then document how your team worked together. What roles did different people take on and why? How were team assignments made? How were communications handled? What interfaces were required between different people/tasks? Did knowing MBTI profiles make any difference in team dynamics? What could you have done differently to be more effective as a team, if anything? You can also use other team-building tools or analogies in describing your team’s dynamics. Project Management Tools—Use tools such as a project charter, WBS, Gantt chart, responsibility assignment matrix, status reports via e-mail, team meetings, etc. to help you manage this group project (Option I or Option II). Include copies of tools used and discuss how effective they were in helping manage this project. The Gantt chart (created using Project 2000) should reflect the work that was actually done for the group project and list your team members’ names by each task. The project manager should be in charge of this part of the project and include an assessment of how well he/she thought the project was run and which tools were most effective. In other words, what lessons did you learn from managing this project? Team Web Site—Create a web site for this group project that includes as much of the above information as possible. Make the web site easy to read and navigate and include team member names on the main page. You can link to Word or Project files versus converting everything to html. Try to post information to your team’s web site as soon as possible to use it as a communications tool. You can use the Blackboard account for this class or any web space, if desired. Include hard copy printouts of your web site with the Project Notebook, below. Project Notebook—By the last day of class, each team will hand a project notebook with the following content: 1. Cover page and detailed table of contents. List the project name, team members, date and project web site URL on the cover page. Be sure to number all pages for reference in the table of contents. 2. A 3 – 4 page, single-spaced project report. This report should briefly describe the whole project answering questions like: Why did you do this project? What did you produce? Was the project a success? If not, why not. What project management tools did you use? Did they help? What went right? What went wrong? What did your team learn by doing this project? (Refer to attachments and key deliverables in the body of your report.) 3. Project management documentation including, at least: · Project charter · Scope statement · Initial work breakdown structure (WBS) in chart or outline form · Responsibility matrix · Draft and final Gantt chart (created in MSProject 2000) showing actual work done on the project, including task dependencies and resources · Status reports 4. Your team web site (see above) 5. Attachments of all product-related deliverables (hard copies of web pages, databases, training materials, etc.) Final Team Presentation—Each member of your team should deliver part of the final presentation to the class. The final presentation should be 20 – 30 minutes in length. Present the product(s) of your project as well as the project management process you followed. Team Progress Reports—Your team’s project manager should present the first team progress report on February 28^th. Include at least a project charter, responsibility assignment matrix, and a preliminary Gantt chart by then. A different member of the team should deliver the second progress report on April 11^th.
Lessons Learned and Self-Assessment	You will write and hand in a 2 – 3 page report of lessons learned during the course of our class, including your team project. Also, write a 1 – 2 page self-assessment based on your team project experience, answering the following: § If you were giving your team a grade for your project, what would it be? Why? § What were your roles and responsibilities on the team? How well do you think you performed on this project? § Briefly assess each team member’s performance. If you were going to allocate 100 points across your team members (including yourself) how many points would you allocate to each? §
Homework Assignments	HW1—Chapter 2 Minicase, p. 54. HW2—Chapter 4 Minicase, p. 114, Part 1 only. HW3—Appendix A, pp. 449 – 484. § Create the project file beginning on p. 460. On p. 461, type your first and last name for the Title on the Summary tab of the properties dialog box. Follow the steps through p. 479 to create the Gantt chart like the one shown in Figure A-14 on p. 477. Print the Gantt chart, adjusting the columns so only the duration column shows and adjusting the timescale to show months so it will fit on one page. § Skim the rest of Appendix A and write a 2 – 3 page, double-spaced paper describing some of the features available in Microsoft Project 2000 other than creating Gantt charts. Cite at least 2 references in addition to Appendix A (for example, the help function in MSProject, the web site for MSProject, etc.) HW4—Chapter 6 Minicase, pp. 186 – 187, Part 1 only —OR— Chapter 7 Minicase, pp 222 – 223. HW5—Chapter 8 Minicase, p 263, Part 1 only.