44007 Swit

MIS 44007 Fall 2015

Section 001-201580  CRN=15831

Project Management and Team Dynamics – Syllabus

Instructor: Dawn Swit

Semester: Fall 2015

Class Meetings: Thursdays 5:30 PM – 8:15 PM

Office Hours: I don’t have an office.  To see me, please schedule via email (dawn.m.swit@gmail.com).  My best time to meet with you would be before or after class.

Phone: (216) 469-5037

Room: Business Administration Bldg 215

Text: Project Management for Dummies by Stanley E. Portny.  Optional Text: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Fourth Edition

Prerequisites: Junior or Senior class standing recommended.  Any students not at Junior or Senior level risk being deregistered from the class.

Project Management and Team Dynamics

An overview and hands on experience of project management.  This course starts with initiation and proceeds through planning, execution, and closing out a project. As a framework it uses the Project Management Institute’s PMBOK Guide – Project Management Body of Knowledge (Fourth Edition).  This is a recognized standard for the project management profession worldwide.

Critical to the success of any project is a well-functioning, highly motivated team.  Putting together the right team with a clear focus can mean the difference between a successful project (on time and within budget) and a failure.  History is littered with examples of failed projects, especially large software projects.  We can learn a lot from these unfortunate experiences and, hopefully, avoid repeats in the future.

The course begins with the Meyers-Briggs personality inventory which will help in later class team exercises.  Teams will be formed for ad-hoc exercises that will help students learn good team behavior, giving other team members appropriate feedback, practicing leadership, and tracking progress.  These team exercises will teach the importance of good peer feedback; feedback that is caring, helpful, and appreciated.

Projects in the 21^st century are now often done with a very diverse workgroup.  It is not uncommon to have teams composed of members from many different places in the world all collaborating in real time to accomplish one goal.  This is global execution of projects.  Understanding the differences in the cultural environment and how people interact with each other in different places in the world can make or break a project team.  It is the hidden assumptions about person to person interaction that different cultures have that need to be made explicit.  Without making everything explicit, too often people misinterpret behavior, take offense, and quit working together.  Of course, this leads to project failures.

Upon completion of this course, students should:

·         Understand the meaning of project management and the phases of a project as defined by PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge

·         Understand the key activities that occur in each phase of a project

·         Understand the core responsibilities of a Project Manager

·         Understand how team dynamics can affect the performance of a team

·         Understand contributing factors to why projects may fail

·         Be familiar with the history of project management

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND COURSE FORMAT (refer to the Schedule for the calendar and specifics):

§         Class Attendance and Discussions: You are expected to be punctual for each class meeting. An absence, excused or unexcused, does not relieve you of any course requirements. Since attending class is a necessary condition for participation in other activities, you cannot afford to miss classes. You are expected to read the assigned text material before coming to class in order to make sessions more meaningful and productive. I do not believe in makeups as they are unfair to other students.  Attendance and Discussion will count toward 30% of your grade.

§         Quizzes: There will be six (6) quizzes over the semester. Students will have the option of dropping the quiz with the lowest score. Quizzes will count towards 40% of your grade.

§        Assignments and Presentations: There will be several assignments during the semester.  These are written assignments where you will write a document related to a project.  During the course of a project several written documents are required during the different stages of initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling and ending with closing out a project.  You will have a chance to write these documents and receive feedback on your writing.  You will also give a presentation to the class on a failed project.  You will be graded on the research of the project, your analysis of why the project failed and your overall presentation quality.

§        Extra Credit Opportunities: You can earn extra credit by volunteering to help me, especially during the team activities; for example, prior to class with setup and after class to put the room back in order.  In addition, there are outside the class opportunities with MISA, and some local companies who want help.  Ask about these opportunities, please.

Students' Final Grade will be based on the following percentages:

The final course letter grade will be assigned according to the following breakdown of total points earned (+ and - will also be assigned).

The Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course 

1.      If you are eligible to graduate, it is your responsibility to apply for graduation before the set deadline (May Graduation: Apply before September 15th;  August Graduation: Apply before December 15th December Graduation: Apply before March 15th)  If you apply after the deadline you will be assessed a $200 late fee. Please see your academic advisor as soon as possible if you are uncertain as to your progress toward graduation.  To apply for graduation complete the following steps: Log onto your Flashline account (1) Click on the Student Tools tab (2) Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box (3) Click on Application for Graduation  If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.

2. The course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 8, 2015.  Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.
3. Academic honesty: Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   In addition, it is considered to be cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.  All group members are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of work turned in by the group regardless of which member actual produced it.  Groups, as they plan their work, should budget sufficient time for a thorough review by the team members before submitting an assignment. Plagiarism on a group assignment will impact the grade of all members of the group.

4.      University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these accommodations through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

Graduation Application Deadlines:

If you are eligible to graduate, it is your responsibility to apply for graduation before the set deadline (May Graduation: Apply before September 15th;  August Graduation: Apply before December 15th December Graduation: Apply before March 15th)  If you apply after the deadline you will be assessed a $200 late fee. Please see your academic advisor as soon as possible if you are uncertain as to your progress toward graduation.  To apply for graduation complete the following steps: Log onto your Flashline account (1) Click on the Student Tools tab (2) Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box (3) Click on Application for Graduation.  If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.

Schedule (Tentative – this will change over the semester, watch Blackboard for updates) 

PMFD = Project Management for Dummies

Class starts promptly at 5:30 PM, don’t be late.  Class ends at 8:15 PM, some days we may end early.  If you can’t attend for any reason, you must tell me in advance (email is best option).  Not attending will hurt the class participation portion of your grade.