Managing Software Development COMP3120

Course overview

Course description

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of project management as it applies to managing small software development.  Through the course students will gain a basic understanding of the importance and role played by project management in successful software development.

Students will be introduced to the following aspects of project management related to managing small software development:

• the strengths and weaknesses of traditional and agile approaches to project management
• leadership and management as applied to small teams of software developers
• professionalism, including ethics
• project governance and communication
• business context and its impact upon software development
• the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) - PM Skills and Processes
• project planning, control and reporting
• quality and risk management
• team work and people skills

Through the course students will gain sufficient knowledge of the basic principles of software project management that they may support a project manger to carry out the project administrative functions of a program office and understand the context in which project management is conducted.

Rationale

It is recognised that our graduates are unlikely to take up project management roles within the first 2-3 years after graduation. It is important, however, that they understand the importance of quality project management to the successful delivery of software projects and that they have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the concepts to be able to support their project managers.

Ideas

This course will carry responsibility for introducing:-

• project management standards (PMBOK)
• agile and traditional project management
• risk management and its application to software projects;
• techniques for estimating size, resources, schedule and cost;
• practical ways to measure and therefore help control the progress of a software development, and
• the basic ideas of maturity frameworks and standards that can be used to guide effective improvements.

Topics

The following broad topics will be covered

• Leadership and Management
• Professional and ethical behaviour
• Team work and people skills
• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), including PM Skills and Processes
• Traditional versus Agile project management
• Project Governance and reporting

Technical skills

On successful completion students will be able to:

• identify and describe how different project contexts will impact upon all aspects of a software development project
• identify and describe the key phases of project management and the key skills associated with each
• determine an appropriate project management approach through an evaluation of the business context and project scope and knowledge of agile and traditional project management approaches
• demonstrate through application, knowledge of the key project management skills, such as product and work break-down structure, schedule; governance including progress reporting, risk and quality management
• as part of a small team research and produce a concise piece of writing suitable for presentation to senior management
• demonstrate an ability to present their ideas both formally and informally to a group of their peers.

Textbooks

Rory Burke (2010), "Fundamentals of Project Management - Tools and Techniques"

Cynthia Snyder Stackpole (2010), "A User's Manual to the PMBOK Guide"

Attendance

Class attendance and participation is expected: this is not an on-line course.

Workload

Twelve two-hour lectures, Thirteen one-hour lectures and seven two-hour workshop sessions.