"to do" list - Project Manager
lessons:
1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6 :: 7 :: 8 :: 9 :: 10 :: 11-14 :: 15 :: 16 :: 17 :: 18 :: 19
Week 1 - Introduction
Team roles have not been assigned so you need to refer to the "to do" list included in the introduction lesson.
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
Week 2 - holiday
Although we have no formal class meeting, teams will be assigned at the beginning of the week.
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
Client Responsibilities
Please contact the client, I suggest you place a phone call and then follow up with an introductory email.
In the introductory email, introduce the team and explain how excited you and the team are to begin working with the client. Ask the client what dates and time work well for them. Let them know that you will be sending them a questionnaire which will serve as the basis of the first meeting, ask if they want this faxed, emailed or snail mailed. DUE 1/21.
Class Milestones
Please cc or forward a copy of the introductory email to me by the due date.
Team Responsibilities
Send a welcome email message to the team. This should be done within 2 days of the team assignment announcement.
Class Milestones
Please cc or forward a copy of the welcome email to me by the due date.
Please coordinate the ice breaker activities which are listed below. Each member of the team will participate in the icebreakers, each member of the team is assigned a specific icebreaker. As the PM you will post to the class message board explaining how the icebreakers helped you get to know your classmates and how it felt to assign tasks and explain them.
You will begin the icebreaker activities by sending out an email to the team explaining the icebreaker process and then assigning them a particular task. This is your first opportunity to involve your team in a group effort. Ask each of your teammates to take responsibility for one of the icebreaker questions. I recommend you do this with an email.
After the icebreakers have been completed, each team member will post their reactions to the activity at the class message forum.
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Ask Designer Dave to please get the ball rolling with our first "ice breaker" which is
Introduce yourself through the eyes of your pet
Explain that Dave should post to send an email to the group. He will list the Question displayed in bold above, he will then email his introduction and he will send a response to everyone else's pet's introduction. Other member of the team may also email responses but Dave is required to. At the end of the activity Dave will be asked to post a note to the message board answering these 2 questions: Do you feel you know your teammates better now that you have completed this icebreaker? Would you use this ice breaker again in a work or social situation?
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Then ask Content Developer Cathy to coordinate the "2 lies and a truth" ice breaker. Ask Cathy to send an email titled:
2 Lies and a Truth
Cathy will explain that each member of the team is asked to list three interesting things about themselves. (I own two iguanas; I once shook hands with Tom Cruise; and I love to water ski.) Two must be lies and one must be true. Other members of the team must vote to determine which interesting thing is a lie. The student with the most incorrect votes wins. Remember the more details you provide the more likely you are to be believed. Before you vote you may want to review your teammates student introductions to look for clues.
Cathy should begin the email discussion and must comment on each students 3 stories after the truth has been revealed. Other students are welcome to make comments but Cathy is required to. After discussion on this ice breaker has stopped Cathy will answer the questions:
Do you feel you know your teammates better now that you have completed this icebreaker? Would you use this ice breaker again in a work or social situation?
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Isaac the Interactive Media Developer will be managing the ice breaker "Miscomm-puter-unication" He will also email the class and explain that everyone needs to share their most embarrassing mishap using a computer. For example, replying to the wrong person in an email, or the story I like to share, I accidentally sent a porn web site to a student, (freefotos.com instead of freefoto.com), that ending "s" made all the difference. This activity is intended to loosen the team up and cause a few to chuckle before we embark on a whole new way of working together.
Isaac is required to begin this activity and to comment on everyone else's responses, again other team members are encouraged to respond. Isaac will also answer the questions: Do you feel you know your teammates better now that you have completed this icebreaker? Would you use this ice breaker again in a work or social situation?
If you do not have an Interactive Media Developer, the Programmer can do this, if you do not have a Programmer the Project Manager will do this.
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There is one final ice breaker that will be used by teams with 5 students. As the Project Manager you will ask Patty Programmer to conduct this activity. The programmers post an email titled
Deserted Island
When describing the post ask the question - If you were on a deserted island and you could only bring one book, what book would you bring? Patty should respond to this question and to each teammates response. The should also add a final posting regarding whether they would use this ice breaker again and if they learned more about their teammates after completing it.
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There are a number of reasons I am asking your team to engage in these ice breakers
- team gets to know each other
- team becomes familiar with the class message board and begins using it for team discussion
- PM has an opportunity to assign each team member a task
- team participates in an activity where each member of the team has a specific area of responsibility.
Week 3 - Teams Assigned
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Team Responsibilities
Gather contact information for your team. Create a Web page that will be located at your "Project Website". Name the file contact.html (view example) This needs to be complete by the time of the first client meeting. I recommend you place the file on the "student" web server in a folder named for your client.
Also create an index.html page for the "project site". This page may only link to the "contact.html' page mentioned above. I would like you to create the page as a start to the eventual project site.
Send your instructor the URL of the project page by 2/8
Help the group establish a communication plan. I advise you to err on the side of communicating too much instead of too little. If you have work, family, or school time constraints that make it impossible to meet face to face or check email at certain times, LET YOUR TEAM KNOW. Review the communication plan page for more information on this subject.
Determine times when all (or most) members can meet with client and as a group. Contact client and set up the first meeting so you can meet your first milestone of holding the first client meeting.
Client Responsibilities
Prepare for the first client meeting. A detailed description of this meeting can be found at the Teams assigned - client meeting page, you may also want to take a look at the 1st meeting forms page.
week 4 - roles defined
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Attend the meeting for Project Managers which will be held from 5-6 pm on the third floor of Maggini Lab. Before attending the meeting review this web page
Roles Defined - Project Managers
Project Manager Pitfalls
Watch the video: Project Manager role
At the meeting you will be asked to give an overview of what the team has done so far, and ask any questions that have come up after your reviewed the Web pages and movies.
Class Milestones
The deadline for the first client meeting is today. Please send me an email confirming that the meeting has been held with a brief overview of how the meeting went. After receiving this email I mark off your first class milestone. To confirm your team's status visit the class milestone chart.
Also look over the Teams assigned - client meeting page, at the bottom of the page is a list of what should have been accomplished at the first meeting. If that was not done, work with the team and client to set up additional meeting, send email, make phone calls, etc so that the goals of the first meeting are met within a week to 10 days.
week 5 - guest speakers
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
This week we will be joined by two guest speakers:
Michael Slater from Webvanta who will share his development software which makes it easy to incorporate database driven content into Web site development.
Cameron Huff - Security issues in Web Programming, problems and solutions.
Your attendance in class is optional however I recommend that you attend if possible.
Project Site
Expand the "project site" which began as a single "contact.html" page and should now have an "index.html" page which has links to all the elements of the site (even if the pages have not yet been created). Send me the URL for this site so I can link to it from the "team" page. If you need help with the site, please let me know.
Web Proposal
Begin writing the Strategic Brief, formulating the Workflow Plan.
week 6 - Holiday / Dreamweaver Q and A
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
This week the campus will be closed for the President's Day holiday. I have material and videos which explain how the Content Developers take the template (XHTML, CSS and images) provided by the designers and use Dreamweaver to insert the content from the shell site into the template.
It is not a class requirement that anyone on your team use Dreamweaver, however I am often asked questions about the process and wanted to provide some instruction in the basics of using Dreamweaver. The Dreamweaver Q and A lesson may prove useful
If you have experience in Dreamweaver, please post your comments at the class forum > "Dreamweaver Support" posting.
Web Proposal Responsibilities
As pieces of the Web proposal come in, add them to the project site, or if they are web pages on your classmates sites, add links to these pages.
If you have questions about the proposal or the site, send me a note.
week 7 - comps reviewed
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
This week I will be meeting with the Designers to look over their ideas for the look of the home page, second level pages, and any third level pages. You do not need to attend these meetings.
If you are a Project Manager who intends to use your "project site" as part of your portfolio, you can schedule an appointment time with me and we can discuss your design. This is optional. If you want to meet with me about the "project site" design please visit the class forum > Show Comps to Instructor post, and then respond to my post.
During the class meeting time I will review how to take a Photoshop image of a Web page and convert it to XHTML, CSS and web images. If you feel this information would be useful to you I invite you to review the Comps. to Templates Lesson.
Web Proposal Responsibilities
Determine what needs to be done in order to complete the Web Proposal. If it is your responsibility then work on it. If what you needs comes from the client or a teammate, send them a note, give them a specific deadline and offer to answer questions.
Class Milestones
50% of the content should be in by this date, please check in with your CD to determine the status of the content. Send me a progress report regarding the status of the content. Once I have confirmation that the content is in I will check off this milestone - class milestone chart.
week 8 - site standards
Check the homework page an assignment may be due this week
This week we will be discussing how to use the Firefox Web Developers toolbar to test for XHTML and CSS2 standards, as well as 508 accessibility standards. We will also discuss the use of color, screen size, and consistency of the design across browsers and platforms.
All of these standards apply to the "client" site, they are not required at the "project site". Having said that, if you would like to attend the class and try and make your site conform to these standards you are welcome.
Your attendance in class is optional however I recommend that you review the class materials which are a part of the Standards Lesson
Web Proposal Responsibilities
Sign up for the Web Proposal meeting. Contact your teammates to determine what time slots work best for them, then access the class forum > Web Proposal Sign up and indicate the time slot you would like to reserve.
Set a deadline for 3-5 days before the proposal meeting so you have time to print out the elements of the proposal and compile them into the Web Proposal. This gives you time to make any modification or adjustments and to handle folks who are late with their work.
If a portion of the proposal does not come in on time, do not do it yourself, just leave it out of the proposal and I will handle the issue in the team meeting.
Review the Web Proposal Lesson. If you have any questions, send me a note. If you want me to review your proposal before the actual meeting, send it to me at least 3 days before the proposal meeting.
Client Responsibilities
Set up an appointment with the client to review the proposal. You can meet as quickly as the day after our meeting or as late as 1 week after the proposal meeting.
week 9 - Web Proposal
Contact your team to confirm the web proposal meeting with me.
Please bring a copy of the proposal for me and one for the team. Remote members will also need to have a digital or printed copy of the proposal.
I may write on my copy, I will return it to you at the end of the meeting.
Assign someone on your team to take notes on my comments and suggestions.
The day after the proposal meeting implement any changes I suggested. Then meet with the client and show them the proposal.
The client needs to sign the contract and initial the comps, storyboard, and list of deliverables. They need to either send you an email verifying that each page of the shell site is correct or initial each printed page.
The team needs to sign the contract (remote members can send email signatures)
Leave the client a complete copy of the proposal. Bring back a copy of the signed proposal, and print out the email verifying the shell site. (if you want a copy for yourself Xerox these document) The designer or content developer can give those documents to me on 3/22 when we meet, or you can leave them in my box and send me an email.
week 10 - Signed proposal is due
Make sure I have the signed proposal by sending it in with the DES or CD. Another option is to put it in my box on the 3rd floor of Maggini Hall. The designer is making the template this week, production will begin next week.
week 11 - 14 - web site production
Take a nap, you don't have anything to do until the site is completed and we begin testing. if during the course of the site production issues arise and your team needs your help, provide it. However you are mostly done for now.
Reminder - HTML exams are due 3/29
Team and client productions are due 4/2
SEO forum discussion is due 4/11
Visit the homework page for online forms.
week 15 - testing begins
Contact client and ask them to provide the names of 10 typical users. Develop test questions which will be used by your typical users. Ask for feedback from the team regarding the questions which will be asked. These questions will be used by the CD for classmate testing, Designers for client testing and Project managers for "typical user" testing. The test report is due 5/10
We will also have a "post mortem meeting" this week where we explore what worked and what didn't work for the project.
week 16 - freelance options
Gather testing results and begin to create the testing report, assist team in interpreting test results. Explore freelance resources found in lesson 16.
week 17 - handoff
begin planning the handoff process. You will be asking the client if they want you to load the site onto the web, if they will do it with you, or if it will be done by someone else. Begin compiling the client manual.
week 18 - make final CD
Finish up the client manual, place the manual, the project site, the client site, and all PSD or Flash files on a CD or DVD. Create copies for the client, the instructor and the team.
week 19 - final exam
Come to class, present the site and your team during the final presentation of projects. Give everyone the final CD or DVD.