Management Principles (Winter 2026)

From CommunityData
CSS350: Management Principles for Computing Professionals
Instructor: Kaylea Champion
Contact: Your messages are important to me! I prefer, in this order:
  1. public messages via Discord (others might have the same question or have the answer)
  2. private messages via Discord
  3. private messages via Canvas Note: all grade-related discussion must happen via Canvas
  4. email only if absolutely necessary to kaylea@uw.edu
If you need to have a discussion with me, I would be happy to meet with you via an office hours appointment. This guarantees you my full attention (but, please book at least 24 hours in advance, I might miss your booking otherwise).
Turnaround time commitment
If I do not respond to your message in 48 hours, please understand that this is unintentional and nudge me via a Discord DM. My inbox and message queues sometimes get flooded due to a very wide range of commitments. This is not your fault, but an unfortunate fact of life. That said, a polite and focused request will receive a faster reply; an unprofessional request might get eaten by my spam filter; a message containing information unrelated to your question might be misunderstood or misfiled.
You can call me "Doctor Champion" or "Professor Champion"! Please note that there is another Champion in the department (Mia) and I am not her :-). I'm the one with the purple hair!
I use she/her pronouns, and I'll do my best to use your name and pronouns correctly, but please (please!) help me get it right if I'm wrong. Your comfort -- and your name and pronouns -- matter to me!
Textbook:
We do not have a required textbook. You will instead engage with material from a wide range of sources. All of these sources should be free of charge providing you use the version on Canvas or the UW Library Proxy. If you have difficulty accessing any material, let me know right away via a public message on Discord.
Course Meetings:
Tuesday / Thursday
5:45 PM to 7:45 PM
UW1 building room 220
Course Websites
  • We will use Canvas for announcements and turning in assignments.
  • We will use Discord for chat, including to ask questions and share information around the course material. (Invitation link is in the Class Setup Checklist on Canvas.)
  • Course absence form: It is important to tell me if you are not coming to class at least one hour before class begins.
  • Everything else will be linked on this page.
  • Got a question? Maybe it's on my UWB CSS 350 FAQs page?
  • Optional! Pitch in to the Spotify playlist for this quarter's class. Share what's fun, what's cool, what's speaking to you this quarter, what more people should know about: the Management Principles Winter 2026 Spotify Playlist. Otherwise we're just going to listen to things Prof. Champion picked ;).
Course Catalog Description of Topics:
Through a team software project, explores critical interpersonal, communication, leadership, decision-making, social, and cultural theories drawn from contemporary research in anthropology, sociology, psychology, and business. Prerequisite: CSS 301, which may be taken concurrently; may not be repeated.
In addition, the course serves as a prerequisite for CSS 370 Analysis and Design. This course is a graduation requirement for the BA in Applied Computing and BS in Computer Science and Software Engineering, but is often taken by students from other programs as well. I want to point out that although the description in the catalog talks about a 'software project', this course has only writing prerequisites, not technical prerequisites, and therefore cannot require you to write code. To manage this disconnect, we consider the fact that software projects begin with ideas -- plans, requirements, and designs -- and focus our work on these early stages. You'll express your design in technical form, but there is no requirement to write code or produce software per se.


Overview and Learning Objectives[edit]

Management is a collection of practices, philosophies, skills, and strategies for completing work.

As students of computing in the twenty-first century, I expect that many of you taking this course will, after graduation, work in jobs that involve the building and maintaining of technology, although your day to day activities may look as varied as stress-testing hardware to imagining new front-end interactions to reviewing piles of data to understand a system compromise to jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to fix an angry database. This class seeks to inform these experiences by helping you learn the management processes and practices in common use in a range of industries and settings, and how to think more broadly and more deeply about how organizations function so that you can be a successful member of one.

I will consider the course a complete success if every student is able to do all of these things at the end of the quarter:

  • Understand the role and purpose of management and leadership in technology organizations.
  • Write and speak fluently about key concepts in management and organizational behavior, including collaboration, innovation, and creativity.
  • Analyze a range of work situations with respect to management principles.
  • Recall, compare, and give examples of organizational approaches that evidence suggests will be more or less successful.
  • Demonstrate an ability to critically apply ideas from the course to a series of activities, including a demonstrator project.
  • Identify areas of ethical concern in management.
  • Identify opportunities to improve cybersecurity in management.

I also have a "stretch goal": I want your work in this class to help you, in some direct way. Maybe it's having a great answer in a job interview when it's time to convince the interviewer that you have a lot to offer. Maybe it's having a piece of work you can feel good about sharing with others. Maybe it's applying your CSS350 thinking to a new assignment at work. Maybe it's seeing your world in a new way that helps you solve a problem. Or maybe it's just having an answer when someone asks skeptical questions about what you got out of studying Management! This goal is hard to measure but it's my hope for you and what I'm working for every day during the quarter.

Class format and structure[edit]

In general, the organization of the course has three key elements:

  1. a "flipped" classroom design
  2. project-based / problem-oriented
  3. simulations of a workplace environment

A "flipped" approach means I try to maximize interaction in our face-to-face time. Out of class, you'll engage with readings and videos on your own and we use synchronous meetings to answer questions, do activities, address challenges or concerns, work through solutions, complete short quizzes, and hold semi-structured discussions in the form of cases—discussed in detail below. Project-based means we learn through producing artifacts, and a problem orientation means we work through complex, open-ended, real-world problems.

This is a 5-credit class; you should plan to spend 10 hours per week working on class work as well as 4 hours per week in class and as much as 1 hour per week in open coworking periods or office hours. If you are spending substantially more than this, you should consider setting up an office hours appointment with me to think through learning strategies to boost your efficiency. If you are spending substantially less than this, you may find you are losing out on opportunities to learn, grow, and demonstrate your skills.

The asynchronous elements of this course[edit]

  1. Read, watch, or listen to a range of materials from a variety of sources; some of these will be created directly by me, but some of them will be excellent work produced by others.
  2. Engage in project work in a regular cadence.

I expect you to finish all readings and watch all lectures outside of our class meeting times before the class sessions on which they are assigned. Please note that this means I will not generally deliver lectures during our class meetings. Please also note that this means you are fully responsible for reading all readings and watching all recorded lecture material before you come to the associated synchronous part of class.

I expect you to check in and participate in the Discord discussion. I plan to check and respond to conversation there at least daily throughout the quarter.

The synchronous elements of the course:[edit]

There will be two weekly class meetings and optional open coworking periods. Class meetings will happen at the normal time and in the normal place, unless I communicate otherwise. Open coworking periods are times where you can drop in and ask questions. I'll try to announce when they're coming up in a weekly announcement e-mail and I'll definitely mention them on Discord. For my more focused attention, please book an office hours appointment with me. These booking links include a 'cancel' link: please use the link to cancel (don't just decline the meeting!). Please note that if you book your appointment less than 24 hours in advance, I may not see your booking, so do ping me on Discord to confirm. Why should students book office hours appointments?

Each session is scheduled to run for a maximum of 120 minutes; we'll take a break half way through -- it's always my goal to end a bit early. Because this class is schedule for an evening timeslot, I will be putting extra effort into keeping the energy up in the room and include elements of physical motion and interaction.

I will use the class meetings to do several things:

  1. Conduct each day's case study discussion involving an instructor-mediated conversation using input from each of you.
  2. Discuss and work through any questions or challenges you encounter in the materials assigned for that day.
  3. Conduct group activities and short quizzes
  4. Allow time for group work and the 1-on-1 meeting assignment (usually this will be 30 minutes per class).

Open coworking periods will include:

  1. Time for you to ask your questions
  2. Time to work on your assignments with immediate help at hand

Attending open coworking periods and office hours is optional.

Websites and Technology Expectations[edit]

There are a number of expectations that you will be able to connect to certain websites. In order to complete this class, I expect you to be able to access and use the following web resources:

  • wiki.communitydata.science — This website will host the syllabus for the course. I expect you to be able to visit it regularly. If you're reading this, you have access.
  • UW's Canvas — We'll be using Canvas for posting announcements, uploading course-restricted files, turning in assignments, and distributing grades, comments, and similar. It is the student's responsibility to verify that the correct file is submitted. If you have difficulties using Canvas, please contact UW-IT or see this knowledge base article.
  • UW Library Proxy — I'm going to expect that you can use the UW Libraries proxy to access material that UW subscribes to from off campus.
  • Discord — Discord is a chat system that we'll be using in the course to stay in touch between class and to discuss things asynchronously. It has screensharing and voice chat as well. There is a mobile app as well as a downloadable desktop app that you may find useful but you should be able to do everything you need to while using the web interface version. If you've got a question about an assignment, this is almost certainly going to be the the fastest and best way to get my attention. One benefit of asking a question on Discord is that others in the class will be able to see our answer to you! Instructions on joining the Discord server are in the Class Setup Checklist. You'll see that there are a series of channels we've created. If you don't see an obvious place to ask your question, go ahead and ask it in the #general-discussion channel.
  • Panopto — UW uses the video hosting service Panopto which I will be using to share all the lectures and recorded parts for this course.
  • Google Docs — I'll be using Google Docs to host a series of web forms. This includes the form you'll need to fill out to tell me that you're going to miss class. You will need to be able to access Google to use this.
  • AI tools: Chat GPT, Microsoft CoPilot, and Gemini

These websites, in turn, use a range of hosting providers including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft. As a result, participation in this course requires students to access Internet resources that may not be accessible directly in some places outside of the UWB campus. Anybody taking the class must ensure that they can access all Internet resources required for this course reliably and safely. For students who are off-campus temporarily and are in a situation where direct access to these required resources is not possible, UW-IT recommends that students use the official UW VPN, called Husky OnNet VPN. UW-IT advises students to use the VPN with the “All Internet Traffic” option enabled (see the UW Libraries instructions and UW-IT’s FAQs). Doing so will route all incoming and outgoing Internet through UW servers while it is enabled.

Students who are outside the US should be aware that they may be subject to laws, policies and/or technological systems which restrict the use of any VPNs. UW does not guarantee students’ access to UW resources when students are off-campus, and students are responsible for their own compliance with all laws regarding the use of Husky OnNet and all other UW resources. You cannot successfully complete the course if you do not have sufficient access to a network and network-based services.

Having problems with the checklist? Running into terms you don't understand? I'll collect Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Using this Syllabus[edit]

You should expect this syllabus to be a dynamic document (not a 'contract'). Although the core expectations for this class are fixed, the details of projects, readings, and assignments will shift based on how the class goes, guest speakers that I arrange, my own readings in this area, etc. As a result, there are four important things to keep in mind:

  • Although details on this syllabus will change, I will try to ensure that I never change readings more than six days before they are due. This means that if I don't fill in a reading marked "[To Be Decided]" six days before it's due, it is dropped. If I don't change something marked "[Tentative]" before the deadline, then it is assigned. This also means that if you plan to read more than six days ahead, contact me first.
  • Because this syllabus is a wiki, you will be able to track every change by clicking the history button on this page when I make changes. I will summarize these changes in the weekly announcement on Canvas] sent that will be emailed to everybody in the class. Closely monitor your email or the announcements section on the course website on Canvas to make sure you don't miss these announcements.
  • I will ask the class for voluntary anonymous feedback frequently — especially toward the beginning of the quarter. Please let me know what is working and what can be improved. In the past, I have made many adjustments to courses that I teach while the quarter progressed based on this feedback.
  • Many readings are marked as "[Available through UW libraries]". Most of these will be accessible to anybody who connects from the UW network. This means that if you're on campus, it will likely work. Although you can go through the UW libraries website to get most of these, the easiest way to get things using the UW library proxy bookmarklet. This is a little button you can drag-and-drop onto your bookmarks toolbar on your browser. When you press the button, it will ask you to log in using your UW NetID and then will automatically send your traffic through UW libraries. You can also use the other tools on this UW libraries webpage.

Organization Scheme[edit]

This course is structured around the life cycle of a job: hiring, planning and getting work done with others, and even departures (as well as finding your next role). My style of teaching is active, project-based, and case-oriented, and I try to infuse historical perspectives, current research, security, and ethics into each topic, although the total clock-time of each of these elements will vary.

Assignments[edit]

The assignments in this class are designed to give you an opportunity to try your hand at using the conceptual material taught in the class, including numerous in-class exercises. We will do one group project and have one short writing assignment reflecting on that project and course topics. Quizzes will be short and low-stakes. There will be no exams.

Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due at the end of the day (i.e., 11:59pm on the day they are listed as being due, Pacific time zone).

In Class: Discuss, Interact, Collaborate[edit]

Class will be split roughly into quarters: one quarter activity, one quarter discussion, one quarter spent conducting meetings, and one quarter allowing for group co-working.

Activities[edit]

When possible, class will include a range of activities and games intended to reinforce the themes we are learning. I will expect you to reflect on your experience in these activities and to apply class vocabulary and concepts to them. Therefore, your participation is expected and required.

Case discussion[edit]

The course includes discussions using the case study method: a particular form of instructor-mediated discussion. A standard "case" usually involves reading an example—an event, or about an organization or group. It is important to realize that I will not summarize case material in class and I will not cover it in lecture. I expect you all to have read it and we will jump in and start discussing it.

Cases ask students to put themselves in the positions of individuals facing difficult situations to tease out the tensions and forces at play in the case and to construct — through group discussion — the broader lessons and takeaways. Cases are a wonderful way to connect the sometimes abstract concepts taught in many academic courses to real examples of the type of ambiguous situations that you will likely encounter in your career. Generally speaking, there are multiple right answers in cases, and there are definitely poorly-prepared answers versus carefully-considered ones!

I have placed detailed information on case study-based discussion on the case discussion section of my assessment page. This describes both the rubrics I will use to assess your case discussion and how I will compute the final grades in the course.

Cold Calling[edit]

Cases rely roughly on the socratic method where instructors teaching cases cold call on students—i.e., instructors call on people without asking for volunteers first. I will be doing this in each class. Modern technical work environments include very similar situations: very few lectures (except for "all hands" type meetings and "training" activities), and a range of types of team meetings and group conversations, where you will be expected to be prepared and then participate in key moments.

Because I understand that cold calling can intimidate some students, I will be circulating a list of questions (labeled "Reading Note" in the syllabus) that we will discuss. These will be finalized at least 6 days in advance. I will only cold call to ask questions for which you have time to prepare your answers, or where the general format / structure has been announced in advance so that you can prepare. Although it is a very good idea to write out answers to these questions in advance, I will not be collecting these answers. You are welcome to work with other students to brainstorm possible answers. Although I may also ask spontaneous questions that I do not distribute ahead of time, I will never cold call when asking these questions.

I have written a computer program that will generate a random list of students each day and I will use this list to randomly cold call students in the class. To try to maintain participation balance, the program will try to ensure that everybody is cold called a similar number of times during the quarter. Although there is always some chance that you will called upon next, you will become less likely to be called upon relative to your classmates each time you are called upon.

Due
as made available in class
Turn in
None. Will be assessed 'live' in class with grades released at the end of the quarter.

Weekly Team Meetings (1/week: Tuesdays)[edit]

It is typical for teams to have regular meetings; we'll do the same. During your allocated meeting time, you'll update the manager on your progress and any issues that are coming up. You'll update your team Jira and send notes to your team chat.

Due
Tuesdays
Turn in
All individual contributors will send notes to the team chat, and the manager will update the Jira and submit a screenshot.

Management Team Meetings (1/week: Thursdays)[edit]

I will meet with the management team each week -- management as a role will rotate among members of your group. The manager will report on your team's activities, ask questions, share feedback with me, and then share notes from the meeting back to your team chat.

Due
Thursdays
Turn in
See assignment-specific notes; your message will be assessed from Discord (see rubric on Canvas).

Skiplevel 1-on-1 Meetings (1/quarter/person)[edit]

It is very typical in professional life to have a weekly 1-on-1 meeting between an employee and a supervisor for perhaps 30 minutes. The purpose of these meetings is to allow the supervisor to coach and mentor the employee, provide feedback on their work, and allow for questions and discussion. Given that "management" of your group will rotate among peers, this is a tough thing to simulate exactly. Our solution will be a skiplevel 1-on-1 -- a skiplevel meeting is also a common pattern in professional life, and it means you meet with your boss's boss; these are typically not on a weekly cadence and involve more mentoring and less reporting. We will have one 15 minute, 1-on-1 meeting over the course of the quarter, scheduled during the last 30 minutes of the class (when others are doing group work); if you do not schedule this to occur during class, you'll need to schedule it during my office hours. If we put this into the language of teaching and learning, we'd call it an oral exam.

Due
Before the end of the quarter. See Canvas for the scheduling link.
Turn In
none -- you'll receive feedback from me.

Steps:

  1. We will sit in a corner of the classroom.
  2. You will come prepared: these conversations are friendly but are also evaluative.
  3. I will ask:
    1. A course content question (based on topics we've covered so far). This will not be a 'trivia' or 'trick' question -- but rather a conceptual question, with a range of right answers.
    2. How are things going in the course so far? What questions do you have for me? (Example answers: I understand x and y, but I didn't really understand topic A, and I'm worried about C).

Tips:

  1. My availability can be very tight at the end of the quarter. Don't wait.

Out of Class: Read, Watch, Write, and Create[edit]

Each class session will require advance preparation from you, including engagement with class materials and working on course projects. More details on the class materials are in the daily schedule, and more details on course projects are in the assignments section.

Project[edit]

You will participate in a group project to create and organize a new organization, then to develop and launch a new product or service inside that organization.

The project as a team member[edit]

When you are acting as a team member, your job is to work on the parts of the project assigned to you. If you have questions or issues, please raise them to your manager.

Doing the project as a manager[edit]

During a two-week span, you will act as the manager of your team, and you will be responsible for additional tasks during that time (Note: this means you will do the same work as the team, as well as a manager task, unless otherwise noted.) Your team will ask questions, and you will do your best to answer them; if you can't answer them, you should relay them to the boss (Dr. Champion) and bring back answers. Your main job will involve coordinating the work of the team, including making sure that communication flows and that task assignments are fair and clear. You are a working manager, so you should expect to also do a share of the group's current tasks, trimmed down slightly to account for your time in management meetings and doing coordination work. In general, you can expect to be assessed on your communication, your fairness, and your diligence.

Notes on Group Work[edit]

In a school context, group work can be frustrating -- but real life organizations are full of group work. The project in this course is designed to be lightweight: the purpose is to practice the processes we are learning about, which are mostly about working together. That means group process is key to this course. Think carefully about what kind of group member you want to be, and how you will respond to potential sources of conflict. In general, groups work well when students have motivations that align with the work of the group, varying skillsets, and display mutual respect. I will assess your work based on the evidence I see in behavioral traces: the records left behind in the tools we use for the course.

Building awareness of your own priorities and skills is crucial to being a good group member. I will be collecting confidential feedback on how groups are functioning, and I reserve the right to rearrange group membership to support everyone's learning.

  • Do you want an excellent grade in the course? Be clear about your expectations and priorities, and seek out groupmates who share your level of commitment.
  • Are your skills still emerging? Be ready to work hard, to learn from classmates, and to be flexible about which tasks you take on (but don't plan to coast on the efforts of others!).
  • Have you made life choices that mean you will need to simply be satisfied with an okay grade? Be transparent with your groupmates and only make commitments you can keep.

Although some technology professionals work alone or nearly so, that is not the model for this course. Most of our learning goals require trying out ideas related to coordinating the work of groups of people.

Extra Credit: Team Bonding Activity[edit]

Many classes include a necessity for students to meet outside of class, and you may find that in order to complete work your group likewise needs to arrange to meet up. But outside-of-work events are also a common way for organizational work teams to develop social relationships -- and research has found this to be valuable if everyone's needs and perspectives are respected. If your group meets up outside class for non-work purposes, take a selfie and send it to me for a little extra credit (available only once and in the first 3 weeks of the quarter). Only one group member needs to send this to me.

Project: Your New Organization[edit]

Your team will create and launch a new organization, and then a product or service, in ways that indicate your understanding of key course concepts as they apply to technology-centric organizations. This overall project has been broken up into multiple tasks, each building on the previous.

Project Task 0 Specification: Managing during startup mode[edit]

Task
Steer your group through the hectic early days and reflect on the experience
Due
Sunday, January 25th
Turn In
Group members do not turn anything in
Manager 1 Turn In
A 300-500 word reflection on the first few weeks of the class.
Tips
  1. If you're not sure what to write, think about some of the following topics, connecting your experience and our course materials: How did the course materials relate to your experience and what we did in class? What did you do well? Where did you struggle? What would you do differently if you had to do it again? Do you think you would like to play a role like this again in the future?
  2. Do not just answer prompts in order! This is not an interview or quiz, these are prompts for you to think about your experience and activities. Format your essay in paragraphs.
  3. Do not use AI tools. This reflection should be something only you could write, because it will directly connect your experience and the course.
  4. Directly cite evidence from readings, Discord, Jira, management meetings, etc.

Project Task 1 Specification: Startup Time[edit]

You and your colleagues are starting a new organization. What kind of organization will you create? How will it be organized?

Task
Found your organization.
Due
Friday, January 23rd
Deliverables
You are done with task 1 if you have a name, an essential scope / concept, and an organization type
Turn In
a link to the team Google doc with your name and scope / concept; a screenshot of your Jira board
Manager 2 Turn In
None, but anticipate doing a report-out during 1/29 Management Meeting

Steps

  1. Devise a team name.
  2. Create a Jira board.
  3. All group members and Dr. Champion need invites to and should join all group environments.
  4. Collaboratively author your scope / concept (one paragraph) and share a link to a Google doc.
Tips
  • Feel free to add customizations / tweak the icons (it will help you tell your environments apart from your classmates')
  • Feel free to use AI tools as a tutor or source for debugging any issues that come up.
  • Note that participation / contribution will be assessed based on the history of collaboration I see in the document, so make sure you are logged in when you write.
  • Review the deliverables for the rest of the course: Make sure your concept will be enjoyable and viable for the duration of the quarter.

Project Task 2 Specification: Communication and Prototyping Tools[edit]

Task
Learn more about prototyping tools and visual / interactive communication tools, then choose what tools your team will use to work together, create other deliverables for your organization, and communicate what you've learned. Your prototype can be paper, wood, plastic, or digital -- this is an opportunity to learn new tools to express your ideas.
Due
Friday, January 30th
Deliverables
You are done with task 2 if:
  1. You have taken at least one LinkedIn Learning tutorial (45min+ duration, options: Figma, Canva, Miro, GitHub, others by approval -- see list of UWB makerspace software tools here and a guide to accessing LinkedIn Learning here)
  2. You have shared your thoughts on the tool and tutorial via Discord
  3. You have contributed to a discussion on the tools you will use as a group (Options: makerspace, Figma, Canva, Miro, GitHub, Google Slides, a wiki, others by approval). Face to face discussion is fine for this, but if you don't reach consensus in class, Discord is a good place to continue the discussion.
  4. The final decision should be a consensus, relayed by the manager.
Turn In
a screenshot of your LinkedInLearning completion certificate; I will also examine your Discord post
Manager 2 Turn In
None, but anticipate doing a report-out during Management Meeting on February 5th
Tips and notes
  • Think about your skills, curiosities, and goals.
  • You can propose different tools than those I've listed -- however, any tool used for group work needs to have the ability to share / collaborate online and I need to be able to see precisely who did what (often this shows up in a 'History' type dropdown), or else tasks need to be divided up so they can be done individually (claiming credit for the work of others is not permitted).
  • Review the deliverables for the rest of the course: What do you want to use when fulfilling those deliverables?

Project Task 3 Specification: Organization Overview[edit]

Task: An 'Overview' or 'About Us' page describing key facts about your organization.

Due
Friday, February 6th at 11:59 p.m.
Deliverables
A visual overview of your company
Turn In
  1. A screenshot of your part of the overview
  2. A description of why each of your contributions make sense
Manager 2 Turn In
Screenshots and links with a narrative describing your performance on this task (300-500 words). The manager is accountable for distribution of work assignments for the overview, documented on Jira, such that everyone has the opportunity to earn full credit for the assignment, and sharing links / evidence with Dr. Champion.
Steps
  1. Market Research: Visit the web presence of at least 5 organizations that you identify as being similar or related to yours in some way (same industry? competitor product?).
  2. Identify traits of their public presence (Overview, About Us, etc.) as presented as features on their website. Which of these informational elements will your about us or overview contain? Which will you not bother with?
    1. Create the features your research indicates are expected or typical, and / or your own ideas
    2. Minimum standard (maximum grade: 2.0) -- 5 elements
    3. Typical standard (maximum grade: 3.0) -- 7 elements
    4. Top standard (maximum grade: 4.0) -- 10 elements
  3. Produce a visual artifact (website mockup, poster-style slide or a series of slides, miro board, etc.) presenting these items
Tips
  1. For each of the steps above, it's up to the manager how to split things up. For example, will 1 person do many analyses, or will several people do fewer? Will you negotiate assignments, form subteams, take volunteers who work independently, or co-work on these items? How will you bring your findings together and identify next steps? The manager will be assessed on their fairness and organizational skill, and the group members will be assessed on their execution.
  2. Managers in this class are working managers: don't just hand out assignments and disappear -- take on tasks with your team.
  3. What's an 'element'? Fair question. Some examples are: a logo, a color / brand scheme, a mission statement, notes about your history, contact and customer service information, photos of your headquarters or office locations, etc. What is typical for your type of company?
  4. This is not a web design course, and I'm not looking for showstopping graphics. Feel free to make liberal use of prototyping tools to mock up your 'About'.

Project Task 4: Innovation[edit]

Task: Develop and propose a prototype of a new product or service. Keep this a secret within your group until it is time to present your work! If you are interested in using the UWB Collaboratory to create your prototype, note these details.

Due
Friday, February 13th
Deliverables
  1. An interactive or multimedia version of your prototype
  2. A narrative description of the product or service (300-1000 words)
Turn In
  1. Screenshots, photos, links, objects to represent your prototype, and text or links to text to represent your description
Manager 3 Turn In
  1. Screenshots and links with a narrative describing your performance on this task. The manager is accountable for distribution of work assignments for the prototype, documented on Jira, such that everyone has the opportunity to earn full credit for the assignment, and sharing links to the prototype and documentation with Dr. Champion.

Project Task 5 Specification: Organizational Unit[edit]

Task: Propose an organizational unit that can deliver your product or service, with a budget and revenue model.

Due
Friday, February 20
Deliverables
a narrative or detailed presentation document
Turn In
A description of what you did on the project and a link to the team's proposal. This should include a proposed structure, budget, and projections with contributions visible.
Manager 3 Turn In
Screenshots and links with a narrative describing your performance on this task. The manager is accountable for distribution of work assignments for the task, documented on Jira, such that everyone has the opportunity to earn full credit for the assignment.

Steps:

  1. Identify human resources: How many people do you need? How much will you pay them?
  2. Identify working conditions: How will you organize work? Where will work be done? How much will this cost?
  3. Identify other costs: manufacturing, equipment, licensing, training, raw materials
  4. Identify sources of revenue. What kinds of projections can you make about the revenue you will make and when an investment in this unit might turn a profit?

Project Task 6 Specification: Responding to Disruptive Technologies[edit]

Task: Perform a SWOT analysis with respect to AI. What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with respect to your organization, product, and organizational unit?

Due
Friday, February 27, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time
Deliverables
a summary grid with bullet points in each of four quadrants and a details document explaining each bullet point
Turn In
a link to the document
Manager 4 Turn In

Screenshots and links with a narrative describing your performance on this task. The manager is accountable for distribution of work assignments, documented on Jira, such that everyone has the opportunity to earn full credit for the assignment, and sharing a link to the draft with Dr. Champion.

Tips:

  • Follow the SWOT analysis process in your group and document the results.
  • A table with four large text areas, followed by text explanations divided by sections, is a straightforward way to format this.

Project Task 7 Specification: Presentation[edit]

Time to unveil your innovation and make your pitch for your organization, your product or service prototype, and the organizational unit you propose to deliver that product or service.

Due
Tuesday, March 10th, in class
Deliverables
  • A presentation of the organization, prototype, and organizational unit.
Turn In
  • Individual assessment is based on participation in the presentation's creation and delivery
Manager 4 Turn In

Screenshots and links with a narrative describing your performance on this task. The manager is accountable for distribution of work assignments, documented on Jira, such that everyone has the opportunity to earn full credit for the assignment, and sharing a link to the presentation with Dr. Champion.

Project Task 8 Specification: Organization Feedback[edit]

Task: give feedback to other groups

Due
Deliverables
a paragraph of highly specific feedback for other groups; grading will be according to my detailed rubric for giving feedback in brief
Turn In
a text submission on Canvas
Tips
  • Plan to offer at least 2 concrete suggestions, questions, confusions, or criticisms for each group you are assigned to review.
  • You will work individually; each group will get feedback from multiple peers as well as from me.
  • If you're not sure what to write based on the demo you saw, contact the team manager with questions.
  • The feedback should be your view and grounded in your observations: do not use AI tools for this assignment.

Project Task 9 Specification: Final Version of Your Organization and Prototype[edit]

Task: Based on Tasks 1-8 and all content covered in the course, develop a final version of your company profile, proposed innovation, and organizational unit.

Due
Thursday, March 19
Turn In
All links and media to fully assess your project and contribution

Final Paper: Reflection on Management Principles[edit]

You will write a reflective essay on your experience in the course and our course content. There are many ways to successfully complete this assignment. See the brief reflection rubric for details on my expectations in terms of the content of the reflection. A successful essay will do the following things:

  1. Use content and concepts from the course.
  2. Use evidence from your experience and the company project.
  3. Cite your sources; these sources must be real, they must provide support for the statements associated with the citation, and they must be viewable by me. Note that AI tools are notorious for fabricating these and use of AI tools for this assignment is forbidden.
  4. Be 1000-1500 words. Under 900 is very unlikely to achieve the depth I am seeking here, and over 1600 words is unfair to others.
  5. Do not use AI tools.

If you are not sure what to write, think about what happened in the project and choose some of these prompts as jumping off points (do not treat the following as questions to answer in order!), being sure to combine both your experience and course content in whatever route you choose: Did any of the readings or activities surprise, frustrate, or intrigue you? What did you learn and where did you find your previous knowledge helpful? What kind of work did you end up doing, and how well did you do? Was the project easy or hard, which parts, how, and why? Walk through each topic we covered, and consider how course concepts applied (or fail to apply) to the situations you faced in developing your project. Did anything surprise you or change your mind during the project? Did you experience any failures or problems? How did you solve them? Based on your experience, what is your advice for the students who take this course next? What did you learn about yourself and the ways you prefer to work? Based on your experience in this course and your understanding of the world of work, what topics and lessons do you think will be most important in the future workplace, how, and why? How do you think you did as a manager, and how did your colleagues do? How did your performance compare to what we learned about what management looks like?

Do not write in a long single paragraph or send me a list of bullets; instead, write a standard essay with an introduction, key points, and conclusion. Choose and use a formatting standard and stick to it (APA, Chicago, ACM, etc.). Do not use AI tools. Do use examples and evidence. This should be an essay that only you could write, because it's about specific events in your experience of the course.

Due
Sunday, March 22
Turn in
a well-formatted essay via Canvas

Grading[edit]

I will follow the detailed grading rubric described on my assessment page. Please read it carefully. I will assign grades for each of the following items on the UW 4.0 grade scale according to the weights below:

  • In-class activities, including case discussion, quizzes, exit tickets, feedback in task 8: 50%
  • Your performance as a manager: 5%
  • Skiplevel 1-on-1: 5%
  • Tasks 1, 2, and 3 (startup, tools, overview): 5%
  • Task 4 (innovation): 5%
  • Task 5 (unit org): 5%
  • Task 6 (disruption): 5%
  • Task 7 (present): 5%
  • Task 9 (final version, revision of tasks 4 and 5): 10%
  • Reflection: 5%

Impact of Missing Class If you must miss class, must be late, or must leave early, file the class absence form to alert me. Not filing this form ('no call, no show') will impact your in-class activities grade. Advance notice lets you avoid a penalty, but it does not serve as a makeup. There is no direct way to make up for missing in-class activities. Instead, you can expect to be called upon more often in subsequent classes to balance out your participation. Please note that if you miss too many classes, it will eventually become impossible to receive full credit for the in-class activities portion of the grade as I will not be cold calling the same person an excessive number of times in a single class session.

In addition, if you must miss class, must be late, or must leave early on weeks when you are assigned to be the manager, you should arrange to swap duties with a team member.


Grade Questions Everyone makes mistakes and I want to fix mine as quickly as possible. If you have questions about a grade, book a private timeslot on my calendar within 1 week of the grade being released. In a grade consultation session, I will ask you to take the lead: show me in specific detail how your work fulfills the rubric for the assignment type overall, how you fulfilled the criteria for the specific assignment, and how your work meets the learning goals of the course.

Mapping Percentage to the 4.0 Scale Instructors have discretion in how we make use of the 4.0 grading scale; we select the weight for each element of the course, the number of points available, and we decide how best to map a percentage of those points into the 4.0 system. This mapping, and the evenness of spacing within the mapping, may vary from class to class, and it may be quite different from what you are accustomed to seeing elsewhere at UWB (or feel unnatural, if you grew up as I did, receiving letter grades!). For this quarter of this class, I will map an overall 97.0% to a 4.0 and a 60.0% to a 0.7, with even spacing in between. This means to receive a 2.0 for the course, you need a 74.6% in the class. Doing the bare minimum is a high-risk approach (what if life gets busy or messy later in the quarter?), and I don't recommend it. Instead, come to class prepared and do all the work on schedule.

Late Policy Note assignment due dates are on Fridays. You may choose one task from among tasks 1-6 for which you want to use one 48-hour extension per quarter, no questions asked. Use Canvas to make your request so that it is private and trackable. I suggest not using your extension unless you cannot avoid it (you might need it later!). Note that assignments in this class tend to build upon one another; being late with an assignment means less time to do the next stage. In addition, the group nature of the assignments means that if your work lands late, you may need to work much harder to resolve code conflicts and coordination problems. Do not expect your groupmates to do extra work to accommodate your need for an extension.

No extension is possible for the Demo and Feedback assignments as those involve coordinating the entire class community and have very tight timing. No extension is possible for Task 9 (final version) and the Reflection assignment because they sits at the very end of the quarter and I must submit grades on time.

If you experience a severe or extraordinary interruption to your ability to complete class work in a timely manner, I expect to follow the UWB policy around incompletes and to work with you, the advising office, and the disability services office as required to navigate your difficult situation.

Schedule[edit]

First Impressions and Getting Started[edit]

Tuesday, Jan 6 -- Before You Begin[edit]

Before Class

In-class Goals

  • Review class structure and plan for the quarter
  • Dive in on content: Why is this a class?
  • Getting-acquainted activity -- interview intros
  • Remaining time: Start the class checklist

In-class materials

Optional Materials

Wednesday, January 7: DUE: Class Checklist[edit]

Required Task: Complete the class setup checklist on Canvas.

As with most other assignments, you must complete this task by 11:59pm Seattle time.

Thursday, January 8 -- First Day on the Job[edit]

Before Class:

In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • Groups assigned and announced.
  • Team Kick-off Activities

In-class Materials

Optional Materials

Teamwork and Getting Work Done[edit]

Manager 1 Week 1[edit]

Theme
Psychological perspectives

Tuesday, January 13 -- Forming (Who am I?)[edit]

Before Class:

  • Read the Reading Note
  • Watch the lecture video
  • Read this blog post on Have-Do-Be vs Be-Do-Have -- the framing originated with Steven Covey, but I think the examples in the blog post might speak well to where we are right now.
  • Read this Wikipedia article on the "Tuckman's ladder" concept of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing
  • Read this article: John D. Mayer, Richard D. Roberts, Sigal G. Barsade. 2008. "Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence." Annual Review of Psychology. 59:507-536. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093646 Download via Canvas Link

In-class Goals

  • Clean up student information collection
  • Finish Discussion of Reading Note 1
  • Class Discussion of Reading Note 2
  • Your first team meeting!

In-class Materials

Optional Materials

  • Interested in learning more about Deep Listening? This Forbes interview on deep listening offers more details.

Thursday, January 15 -- Forming (Who am I in this organization?)[edit]

Before Class:

  • Read "Here's a list of all the tech careers we can think of" from a career blog -- how familiar are you with these roles?
  • Use Discord to connect with your team and start discussing how you will approach the project.

In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion (Finish Reading Note 2)
  • Management team meeting
  • What Kind of Dev Day (in-class lab)
  • Exit ticket: Reflection

In-class Materials

Manager 1 Week 2[edit]

Theme
Communication studies perspectives

Tuesday, January 20 -- Storming (Who are we?)[edit]

Case study
Flint water crisis

Before Class:

In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • Team Meeting
  • Group work time
  • Exit ticket: reflection


Thursday, January 22 -- Storming (Who are we in this organization?)[edit]

Before Class:

  • Read the Reading Note
  • Watch the lecture video on Rocks, Goals and Values.
  • Read 'the mergers paper' from Kiene et al.: Charles Kiene, Aaron Shaw, and Benjamin Mako Hill. 2018. Managing Organizational Culture in Online Group Mergers. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 2, CSCW, Article 89 (November 2018), 21 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3274358

In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion:
    • Finish Reading Note 3
    • Reading Note 4
  • Management team meeting
  • Group work time


Friday: January 23[edit]

Task 1 Due

Manager 2 Week 1[edit]

Theme
Sociological perspectives

Tuesday, January 27 -- Norming (How are we working together?)[edit]

Before Class:

  • Read Reading Note 5
  • Read Norms and Values, by Dr. Christian Wickert.
  • Read Broken Windows: Exploring the Applicability of a Controversial Theory on Code Quality, an article by Diomidis Spinellis, Panos Louridas, Maria Kechagia, and Tushar Sharma.

In-class Goals

  • Guest speaker -- Using the Collaboratory
  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • In-class activity: Communication grounding
  • Team meeting


Thursday, January 29 -- Norming (How are we working together in an organization?)[edit]

Before Class:

  • Finish any open items from reading note 5

In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion (see reading note 5)
  • Management Team Meeting
  • In-class activity: Anticipating norms
  • Exit Ticket Reflection


Friday: January 30[edit]

Task 2 Due

Manager 2 Week 2[edit]

Theme
Management science perspectives

Tuesday, February 3 -- Performing (How are we moving forward?)[edit]

Note
topics shuffled down from the previous week

Before Class:

In-class Goals

  • Guest Speaker, Greg V Wilson
  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • Team meeting


Thursday, February 5 -- Performing (How are we moving forward in an organization?)[edit]

Before Class:

In-class Goals

  • Finish any leftover discussion items from Tuesday
  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • Management Team Meeting


Friday: February 6[edit]

Task 3 Due

Manager 3 Week 1[edit]

Theme
Entrepreneurship, creativity studies

Tuesday, February 10 -- Innovation and Creative Thinking[edit]

Nexus Mods Case Study

Before Class:


In-class Goals

  • Class Discussion (see reading note)
  • Team Meeting
  • Creativity activity
  • Post-activity Exit Ticket


Optional Materials

  • If you're interested in the management theory we're using today, read this article from Ibo Van De Poel: On the Role of Outsiders in Technical Development Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2000.

Thursday, February 12 -- Innovation and Creative Thinking Continued[edit]

Before Class:

  • Review case materials

In-class Goals

  • Continue case discussion from Tuesday
  • Management Team Meeting


Friday: February 13[edit]

Task 4 Due

Manager 3 Week 2[edit]

Tuesday, February 17 -- Critical Thinking and Budget Modeling[edit]

Thursday, February 19 -- Reorganizations[edit]

Friday: February 20[edit]

Task 5 Due

Manager 4 Week 1[edit]

Tuesday, February 24 -- Strategy Amid Disruption[edit]

Thursday, February 26 -- Strategy amid Disruption[edit]

Friday: February 27[edit]

Task 6 Due

Organizational Change[edit]

Manager 4 Week 2[edit]

Tuesday, March 3 -- Intellectual Property[edit]

Thursday, March 5 -- Bias and toxicity: What if your organization is terrible?[edit]

Worker-owned / Worker-run Cooperative Week 1[edit]

Manager 5 -- not all groups have a manager this week

Tuesday, March 10 -- Turning Points: Triumphant Moments and Graceful Departures[edit]

Demo Day -- Task 7


Wednesday, March 11[edit]

Feedback due (Task 8)

Thursday, March 12 -- Negotiation and New Beginnings[edit]

Worker-owned / Worker-run Cooperative Week 2[edit]

Finals week! + Manager 5

Tuesday, March 17[edit]

No class meeting. However, this is the designated timeslot for the final exam for this class. I strongly recommend that you plan to co-work with your group during this time (Professor Champion will run an open co-working session during this period).

Thursday, March 19[edit]

Final version of company project due (task 9)

Sunday, March 22[edit]

Reflection on Management Principles Due

Administrative Notes[edit]

UW Bothell STEM has a set of standard policies for undergraduates. In the case that one of the statements in this syllabus contradicts school or UW policy, of course school and UW policy prevail. If you see contradictions or issues with clarity, I hope you will share them with me ASAP so that I may resolve them for everyone's benefit.

Teaching and learning after periods of disruption[edit]

Global events have a tremendous impact on all of us. Many of you missed key portions of the K-12 experience due to the pandemic or have experienced substantial stress due to circumstances beyond your control. We may be struggling to recover our own mental and physical health. Many of us are developing a sense of a "new normal".

As your instructor and colleague, I commit to do my best to approach the course in an adaptive, generous, and empathetic way. I ask that you try to extend a similar attitude towards everyone in the course. When you have questions, feedback, or concerns, please try to share them in an appropriate way. If you require accommodations of any kind at any time, please contact me.

Course-specific Policies[edit]

Your Presence in Class[edit]

As detailed in section on case studies and discussion and in my detailed page on assessment, your homework in the class is to prepare for discussion as well as to work on projects. Case discussion and team standup are an important ways that I will assess your learning. Obviously, you must be in class in order to participate. If you need to miss class for any reason, please fill out the course absence form so that I know you are not coming and do not include you in my cold call list. In the event of an absence, you are responsible for obtaining class notes, handouts, assignments, etc.


Devices in Class[edit]

I ask you to stay focused and avoid distractions for yourself and your peers in the classroom. Spending class time gaming and shopping is a waste of your precious dollars and your precious minutes here --- live, face-to-face opportunities to learn are getting harder to find and they mean so much when we engage with them. That said, you are an adult, and I myself cannot imagine taking a class without being able to take notes on a device and look up topics as they come up. Learning to be present and to control our attention is part of being a modern adult. I promise not to spend class time goofing off online and I think you owe it to yourself to promise the same.

Office Hours[edit]

The best way to get in touch with me about issues in class will in the Discord server via asychronous messages sent to one of the text channels. This is preferable because any questions you have can be answered in a way that is visible to others in the class.

My available hours are visible in this calendar scheduling site. If my planned availability does not work for you, please contact me in the Discord server or over email to arrange a meeting at another time.

Religious Accommodations[edit]

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Student Conduct[edit]

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution. More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/

Safety[edit]

Call SafeCampus at 425-352-5359 anytime–no matter where you work or study–to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested.

Use of AI Tools[edit]

In this course, students are permitted to use AI-based tools (such as UW’s version of Copilot) on some assignments. The instructions for each assignment will include information about whether and how you may use AI-based tools to complete the assignment. All sources, including AI tools, must be properly cited. Use of AI in ways that are inconsistent with the parameters above will be considered academic misconduct and subject to investigation.

Please note that AI results can be biased and inaccurate. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information you use from AI is accurate. Additionally, pay attention to the privacy of your data. Many AI tools will incorporate and use any content you share, so be careful not to unintentionally share copyrighted materials, original work, or personal information.

Learning how to thoughtfully and strategically use AI-based tools may help you develop your skills, refine your work, and prepare you for your future career. If you have any questions about citation or about what constitutes academic integrity in this course or at the University of Washington, please feel free to contact me to discuss your concerns.

Please note that I do not consider grammar/spellchecking to be a prohibited use of AI, even when other uses for AI are not allowed.

Adapted from: UW sample syllabus statements.

Academic Dishonesty[edit]

This includes: cheating on assignments, plagiarizing (misrepresenting work by another author as your own, paraphrasing or quoting sources without acknowledging the original author, or using information from the internet -- including from AI tools -- without proper citation), and submitting the same or similar paper to meet the requirements of more than one course without instructor approval. Please note that fabricated citations are a form of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty in any part of this course is grounds for failure and further disciplinary action. The first incident of plagiarism will result in the student’s receiving a zero on the plagiarized assignment. The second incident of plagiarism will result in the student’s receiving a zero in the class.

Disability Resources[edit]

If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations through their processes at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 425-352-5426 or uwbdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

Mental Health[edit]

Your mental health is important. If you are feeling distressed, anxious, depressed, or in any way struggling with your emotional and psychological wellness, please know that you are not alone. College can be a profoundly difficult time for many of us.

Resources are available for you:

Other Student Support[edit]

Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact campus advising and counseling services for support. Furthermore, please notify the professors if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable us to provide any resources that we may possess. Please also note the student food pantry: the UWB Husky Pantry.

Credit and Notes[edit]

This course was inspired by the course notes shared with me authored by Jeff Stride, Arkady Retik, and Hazeline Asuncion. In developing the content and approach, I drew from research into effective teaching techniques and challenges facing computer science students, including:

  • K. Banweer and D. A. Trytten, "WIP: Code Insight: Combining Code Reading and Debugging Practices for Active Learning in Entry-Level Computer Science Courses," 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Washington, DC, USA, 2024, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893296.


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