Timelines and Reports
Objectives
Links

Timelines

One of the most important steps in planning and implementing a project is setting a timeline. That can be a little daunting in your first few attempts as you may not have any idea what the steps are and what needs to be done. It is important to know that timelines are often fluid documents, meaning they change often. It may be that one task takes shorter (or longer) than expected. Or, that there is a milestone due date set for the future for which you are unsure of all the parts. So, we find that we are constantly altering and adjusting the timeline according to what is happening in reality.

When creating a timeline, we typically start with the major milestones and work out from there. For this course, the major milestones will be: Needs Analysis, Design Document, Alpha Test, Beta Test, Server Migration and Presentation. These dates will be given to you by your instructor.
Writing Professional Reports

As there will be many reports associated with this project and we are working with a client, it is important that the reports be professional in design. This includes the following:
  1. A title page with project name, project logo, team members, report name and date
  2. A table of contents
  3. Well defined sections using consistent headers
  4. Readable fonts
  5. NO spelling and/or grammar errors
  6. Appendicies for extraneous information

Additionally, it is important that reports are handed in ON TIME!
Communication

One of the keys to a successful project is team communication. Fortunately, in this day and age, there are many tools that assist teams in staying on track. Below I have listed a few that may be of assistance in this process: