73435 - Project Management

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course each student:

• knows the basic principles of project management and the approaches usually used in software development, starting from the traditional ones up to the iterative and adaptive approaches typical of agile methodologies;
• knows some tools to support the project management and some practical aspects by means of laboratory activities;
• is able to participate and/or manage a software development project.

Course contents

• Introduction to project management.
• Definition of project, program, portfolio.
• Definition of scope, quality, resources and their interrelationship.
• Definition of project management.
• Definition of processes and knowledge areas involved in project management according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).
• Management of integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, procurement, and stakeholders.
• The life cycle of a project and its management: traditional, incremental, iterative, and adaptive.
• Scoping process group.
• Planning process group.
• Launching/executing process group.
• Monitoring and controlling process group
• Closing process group.
• Exercises.
• Seminars.

Readings/Bibliography

• Lecture Notes.
• Project Management Institute, “Guida al Project Management: Body of Knowledge (Guida al PMBOK)”, 5a edizione, 2014, ISBN: 978-1628250046.
• Project Management Institute, “Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide”, 5^th edition, 2013, ISBN: 978-1628250138.
• Project Management Institute, “Agile Practice Guide”, 2017, ISBN: 978-1628251999.
• F.P. Brooks, “The mythical man-month: essays on software engineering - Anniversary Edition”, 1995, Addison-Wesley, ISBN: 978-0201835953.
• R.K. Wysocki, “Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme, 6th Edition”, 2011, Wiley, ISBN: 978-1-1180-1619-0.
• M. Chemuturi e T.M. Cagley, “Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques”, 2010, J.Ross Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-60427-034-1.
• Osterwalder e Y. Pigneur, “Business Model Generation”, 2010, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 978-0470-87641-1.

Teaching methods

Lectures propose both theoretical and practical aspects concerning the different topics. Examples and exercises help students to understand the practical use of the proposed methodologies, templates, and tools.

Assessment methods

A final oral examination assesses the achievement of learning objectives:

• knowledge of project management principles and of approaches usually used in software development;
• knowledge of processes, templates, and tools to support the project management with some details of the practical aspects;
• ability to manage a software development project.

To be admitted to the final examination, the student must submit a project simulation, previously agreed with the teacher. During the oral examination, the student discusses the project simulation submitted and must answer questions to assess the knowledge and skills acquired during the course.

Teaching tools

Lecture notes, slides, seminars, exercises, examples.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Antonio Boschetti