CSE 372: Roles & Responsibilities

In a traditional classroom setting, there are two roles for members of the class: the Instructor and the Student. Here the Instructor is responsible for designing the class, presenting material, and evaluating progress. The Student is responsible for doing the work and learning. These roles are common in the academic setting, but foreign in the workplace.

CSE 372 is modeled after how people are organized in a professional setting. While there will be some traditional instructor-student interaction during the class, other roles will be used most of the time. These roles include: Project Sponsor (Sponsor), Project Manager (PM), Team Lead (Lead), and Individual Contributor (IC).

Project Sponsor (Sponsor)

Your instructor will serve as the Sponsor for a large project that will take the whole semester to complete. The entire class will participate in this project. When the instructor is operating in the Sponsor role, he/she will have three main jobs:

1. Constant communication with the PM: The Sponsor will be in daily contact with the PM. The PM will report on the progress of the team and report on problems they encounter. The Sponsor will give the PM direction, coaching advice, and feedback. It will then be the PM's job to relay that instruction back to the appropriate members of the team.
2. All-Hands Meeting: The Sponsor will host a periodic all-hands meeting. Here the Sponsor will give feedback, course-corrections, motivational speeches, advice, or anything else he/she deems necessary to all members of the team. This will typically be done through a video conference that will be recorded for future playback.
3. Determine how compensation will occur. In the corporate world, a manager at this level will be given an annual budget through which all the members of the team will be paid. It is up to the manager to determine how to distribute this money in the most productive way possible. Typically the best performers get the biggest raise/bonus. In practice, an exponential scale is often employed. Here the second-best performer would get 10% less than the best performer, the third-best performer would get 10% less than the second-best performer, and so on. Compensation in CSE 372 will occur through the grades of course. The Sponsor will collect performance evaluation data from the PM and, based on that data, award project participation grades.

Though the instructor will be operating in the Sponsor role most of the time, you can always reach out to him/her in the Instructor role. Feel free to ask questions about assignments, get clarification on the reading, seek coaching, or even get career advice.

Project Manager (PM)

The PM will serve as the point-person for the project. Drafts of the deliverables for the various milestones will be sent from the PM to the instructor, and the instructor will send feedback to the class through the PM. In other words, a major role of the PM will be to be an intermediary between the instructor and the rest of the class. The PM will communicate with the Sponsor on a daily basis and, aside from grading, most of the communication of the Sponsor to the class will occur through the PM.

The PM can expect to spend about 80% of his/her time managing the project. This includes (but is not limited to) the following activities:

1. Working with the Leads. The PM will spend a great deal of time collecting information from the Leads and sending information back to the Leads. This is a difficult and non-trivial process; one does not just wait for information to come - you need to seek it out. The PM should be in "constant" communication with the individual Leads, having daily conversations.
2. Working with the Sponsor. The PM will be in daily contact with the Sponsor. Any direction from the Sponsor to the members of the class will be channeled through the PM. Also, any feedback/questions from the ICs will be channeled to the Sponsor through the PM.
3. Determining project status. The PM should be constantly worried about the overall health of the project. This is because the PM is the only individual who sees the big picture. The PM should be continually creating, refining, and implementing plans to keep the project healthy.
4. Resource Allocation. The PM should be allocating and reallocating resources to keep the project on track. This takes the form of assigning tasks to teams, moving ICs between teams, assigning/reassigning Leads to teams, and creating/merging teams.
5. Coaching and mentoring the Leads. The PM wants each Lead to be successful. Thus the PM will spend a great deal of time (and heartache) working with the Leads so they can reach their potential.
6. Performance Evaluation. The PM will also play a key role in collecting performance evaluation data. Periodically, the members of the team will send performance evaluation data to the Sponsor/Instructor (via Canvas). The Sponsor/Instructor will then organize this data and send it to the PM. The PM will then distribute to the Lead the feedback for their respective team member. The Leads will work with this data to create a stack rank: an ordered list of the members of the team where the top performer is first and the poorest performer is last. This stack rank will then be sent to the PM. It will be the PM's job to merge the stack ranks of all the Leads into a single team-wide stack rank. From this stack rank, the Sponsor will award compensation (participation grades).

The final 20% will be spent directly contributing to the project. In other words, most of the PM's contribution to the project will be through organization of the team rather than direct work on the project.

Tips for being a successful PM:

• Big Picture: Always keep the big picture in mind. Know about all the deliverables in all the milestones. Know what each team is doing. Know the risks to the project. In many ways, a big part of the PM's job is to collect information.
• Communicate Vision: Make sure everyone is on the same page. Each team lead should unambiguously know what they should be doing and what success looks like.
• Delegate: The PM should do no more work than the Leads or the ICs. Every possible job that can be delegated to the PM's admin team (a group of assistants the PM may choose to call to help with his/her responsibilities) or to the Leads should be passed on. There are several things that only the PM can do. That is plenty of work! Everything else should be delegated.

Each team lead will report directly to the PM. Additionally, the PM will have an "executive team." This team will consist of each Community of Practice (CoP) leads. For example, this team may consist of the chief editor, chief Q/A, and chief SCRUM Manager. The PM may choose to directly preside over the executive team or may appoint a lead to manage them.

Team Lead (Lead)

The class will be sub-divided into teams. Though usually the PM oversees this process, it could be done any way the class sees fit. The number of teams, the composition of the teams, and the role of the teams is also up to the class. The Lead will perform the following activities:

1. Determine team status. The Leads will spend a great deal of time collecting information from the ICs and sending information back to the ICs. This is a difficult and non-trivial process; one does not just wait for information to come - you need to seek it out. The Lead should be in "constant" communication with the ICs, having daily conversations.
2. Working with the PM. The Leads will be in daily contact with the PM. Any direction from the PM to the members of the class will be channeled through the Leads. Also, any feedback/questions from the ICs will be channeled to the PM through the Leads.
3. Coaching and mentoring the ICs. The Lead wants each IC to be successful. Thus the Lead will spend a great deal of time (and heartache) working with the ICs so they can reach their potential.
4. Performance Evaluation. During performance evaluation time, all members of the team (including the Leads) send data to the PM about the performance of project members they have personally witnessed. The PM will then organize this data and pass it back to the Leads for evaluation. The Leads will carefully read all this evaluation data and sort the members of the team from the most effective to the least effective. This sorting is called a "stack rank." The Leads will then send this stack rank to the PM who will merge the various stacks to create a class-wide stack rank. From this stack rank, the Sponsor will award compensation (participation grades). Finally, Leads will hold performance evaluation meetings with each member of the team once the result of the stack rank has been determined. The Lead will give the members of his/her team constructive feedback which will hopefully improve their performance during the next evaluation period.

Normally the PM selects the Leads. This can be done by selecting the PM candidates and by carefully reading the Icebreaker posts. The PM will probably contact several members of the class to get help with this process.

If you are selected as a Lead, expect to spend about 25% of your time directing the efforts of your team and the remainder of your time directly contributing to the project. Work with the PM to make the entire project successful realizing that your primary stewardship will be the success of your slice of the project and the contribution of your team. You may need to try many different techniques before you find how you can do this the best. Please feel free to experiment.

Tips for being a successful Lead:

• Collect and Process Information: Gather data from the ICs. This data could be solution fragments for the milestone deliverables, or it could be feedback or questions. A good lead does not simply pass this data on to the PM, but rather processes it. This means to combine the data from all the sources and present it in the most useful way possible to the PM. Often this means to generalize the data ("four of my five ICs encountered this problem") and other times it means to suggest solutions ("we have encountered this problem and see this is a solution. Should we move forward?").
• Clarify and Specify Instructions: Often instructions from the PM are very high-level. It is the Lead's job to translate this into specific action for the ICs. This involves taking into account the specific needs of the team's assignment as well as the specific skills of the ICs.
• Shield the PM from Unnecessary Details: Make sure the PM has all the information necessary to do his or her job. However, do not overwhelm him or her with too many unnecessary details. It is a fine balance - passing on the correct information.
• Shield the ICs from Unnecessary Details: The Lead should do everything possible to make the ICs work efficiently. The Lead should protect the ICs from distractions or unnecessary tasks.

Individual Contributor (IC)

Most of the class will serve as ICs. Expect the vast majority of your interactions to be with your Lead and the other members of your team. If you need to communicate with the PM or the Sponsor, this usually happens through your Lead. In other words, unless it is regarding your grade, work through your Lead. Anything other than this is called "jumping the chain of command" and is considered bad form.

Each IC will perform the following activities:

1. Perform tasks. As an IC, your stewardship is focused on the task your Lead set before you. Work to accomplish this task to the best of your ability regardless of other troubles that may exist. In other words, because your Lead and your PM are both inexperienced, you can expect some rough sailing. This is normal; don't worry about it.
2. Give feedback. Your secondary stewardship is the overall quality of the product and that of the class. If you find anything that could be improved, do not hesitate to tell your Lead.
3. Performance Evaluation. ICs will also be involved in the performance evaluation process. During performance evaluation time, each IC will send feedback to the PM. This feedback will consist of observations made about any member of the class, regardless of which team the person may be a member of. A few days after the evaluation data was sent, the IC can expect to meet with his/her Lead to get specific feedback as to what he or she can do to improve his/her performance.

Tips for being a successful IC:

• Be indispensable: Do something that no one else can do or is willing to do. I give this advice to all my kids when the start working and they quickly gain the admiration of their employers. As project tasks are laid out, be on the lookout for stuff that you can do uniquely well or that others are avoiding.
• Be easy to work with: Be polite and positive with all of your interactions with your coworkers/classmates. “Difficult” and “Argumentative” are not adjectives you want people to associate with you. Shoot for: enthusiastic, funny, helpful, energetic, focused, pleasant, patient.
• Be reliable: Be the person who never misses a deadline and never drops a ball. One missed deliverable will stick in people’s mind forever. Avoid that stigma!
• Be a hard worker: Always put in your 9 hours (how much time each student should devote to a 3-credit class every week. This is for the average/typical student to get the average grade B-). Volunteer to do tasks and never publicly complain about the workload.

Each team lead will be assigned to a Community of Practice (CoP). These CoPs include:

• Editor: Manages the deliverables for the semester. Editors accept content from other members of the class and assemble the document which will be submitted. Please click here to learn more about the Editor CoP
• Q/A: Determines the level of quality of the project and identifies defects. Please click here to learn more about the Q/A CoP
• SCRUM Master: If the teams are large (greater than 5 members), then each team may have a SCRUM master. This individual conducts meetings and ensures that every member of the team is operating at optimal efficiency. Please click here to learn more about the SCRUM CoP
• Technical Specialist: Each member of the class who is not the PM, a Lead, an Editor, a Q/A, or a SCRUM Master is a technical specialist. Each technical specialist will focus on one aspect of the project. The exact assignments will vary according to the project details. Please click here to learn more about the Technical Specialist CoP

Final Notes

Note that your grade in the class will be directly correlated with your contribution to the project. The more you participate, the higher your grade will tend to be. Regardless of your position (PM, Lead, or IC), how you contribute in your position will lead to your grade.