Editing Management Principles (Winter 2026) (section)

=== Project === 

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 ====
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 ====
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 ====
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.