Course manual: How to start, progress and finish your team project successfully and pleasantly
TIL 5050-12 TIL Design Project Answer complex questions with systems engineering
Part 2: Preparation
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
1
course coordinator and lecturer
Contents Enrolment .............................................................................................................. 2
1.
1.1 How to enrol................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Enrolment acceptance and when to enrol .................................................................. 2 1.3 What to arrange in the preceding period ................................................................... 3 1.4 Team ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.4.1 Team enrolment ..................................................................................................... 3 1.4.2 Team acceptance ................................................................................................... 3 1.4.3 Finding companies ................................................................................................ 3 1.4.4. Final choice of assignment ................................................................................... 4
2.
Discussions with the coordinator, coaching.......................................................... 4
3.
Writing a PVS (Project vision and scope document) ........................................... 4 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 4 When to start with the PVS and when it should be ready ......................................... 5 For whom: the course coordinator and all coaches ................................................... 5 Content of a PVS and explanation ............................................................................... 5 The kick-off meeting; acceptance of PVS and practical agreements ......................... 6 Major changes to the PVS (exceptional cases) ........................................................... 7
1.
Enrolment
1.1
How to enrol
Enrolment is on an individual basis. You can mention in your enrolment form that you already found team members, but that does not automatically guarantee that your team is accepted (see 1.4). ‘Singles’ contact the course coordinator regularly and he will match them by email.
1.2
Enrolment acceptance and when to enrol
Enrolment forms are on Blackboard and the MSc TIL website (Projects section) of the current year. Please enrol as soon as you have the required EC points in OSIRIS. The course has an acceptance procedure. You are fine if your fulfil all of the following: 1) You have successfully completed subjects amounting to a total of at least 45 credits four weeks before the first day of the educational period in which the project will commence; 2) You have finished TIL4030-14 (2016-17: TIL4030-16) successfully. And, your enrolment form should be accepted four weeks before day 1 of the course quarter. All 3 requirements are non-negotiable. You must wait for the next period if you don’t fulfil them. Check: The course takes 2,5-3,5 days per week, do not overestimate your capabilities. Please enrol in the right course period on Blackboard. Fill in the right enrolment form as well.
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
2
course coordinator and lecturer
Course period
Beginning of preceding period: Find & match with company or agency Enrol and prepare Project Vision and Scope (PVS) doc Contact coordinator always Q1 (Sept-Nov) Summer Q2 (Nov-Jan) Q1 Q3(Feb-Apr) Q2 Q4 (May-Jul) Q3 Table 1: Enrolment and course periods
1.3
Options
Possible Regular Regular Regular
What to arrange in the preceding period
Take enough time and start at least 2-3 months before you plan to follow the course, because • • • •
•
You need time to find a company, government agency or TUD lecturer and agree with them about a potential project in the next period. You have to build a team. A team has to prepare a project vision and scope document (PVS) in the period before it starts with the research part of the project. The team and draft version of the PVS have to be accepted by the course coordinator before he contacts possible TUD coaches. The PVS has to be accepted by the commissioner, the TUD coaches and the course coordinator at the kick-off meeting. The course coordinator has to find suitable TUD coaches, which have time in their busy schedules and expert knowledge to guide you. He will help you with the content of your PVS when necessary if you communicate with him from an early stage. You have a start-up meeting with him and one or more follow-up meetings to help you select the right topic and company. This also helps to raise your PVS to the level required for the kick-off meeting.
1.4
Team
1.4.1
Team enrolment
If you enrol as a team, keep in mind that the course coordinator may disagree with the team's composition and may oblige you to change it. ‘Being nice friends’ does not necessarily correspond with good teamwork. If you do not want to work with one or more other students, because of whatever (personal) reason(s), also mention this before the team is established. Otherwise you may repeat the same issues you had with them in the past and your team will be less successful. You can fill in one or more interesting project ideas in your enrolment form. These can either be suggestions or results from your contacts with companies or agencies (1.4.3). 1.4.2
Team acceptance
You may propose a ‘balanced’ team: 4-5 students with different bachelor and the max number of MSc TIL specialisations you can reasonably find, a m/f mix. A mix of nationalities (cultures) is voluntary. Prevent a completely non-Dutch team if possible (see 1.4.3). The course coordinator assesses the balance of your team (see 1.) and makes the final decision about the team composition. Every student that fulfils the requirements of 1.2 will be accepted. As a consequence, the course coordinator may (at a later stage) add a student to a team of 4 or reallocate a student from a team of 5 to an incomplete team of 3. 1.4.3
Finding companies
A suggested way of working as a (partial) team is the following: 1) Vote about area/direction of your project: traffic/planning/policy, logistics internal, external/freight transport or more detailed level (facility such as airport or transport mode).
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
3
course coordinator and lecturer
2) Have a brainstorm session to make a long list of potential commissioners + reasons why / why not interesting. Check the 'Assignments' folder on Blackboard for a list of potential commissioners. 3) Contact these companies after studying their webinfo, do not ask for problems but offer your expertise to improve their business; Use the flyer; Interested? Are issues or questions already available? What kind of final product do they want? Vague or concrete? Accept rejections, don't take it personal. 4) Check the credibility of your contact person (LinkedIn), the way of dealing with you ("match", previously dealt with students or external consultants?), practical issues (can they receive you in your IP period, travel time/accessibility by public transport, language (foreign team), office space, computer facilities), is coaching available at research or operational level (a manager may work fine, but a CEO as prime contact is way off)? 5) Make a shortlist and contact the course coordinator to choose the best option Then can also start working your the PVS. Use the Course flyer to interest potential customers. You can also put the course coordinator as cc in emails if customers ask for more information. Teams consisting only of non-Dutch students will find it very difficult to find commissioners themselves, so try to find at least one Dutch-speaking student as team member. Choosing a subject that requires a good command of Dutch is also not a good idea. Discuss with the course coordinator to find a solution. A back-up solution is an internal project with a topic from a lecturer, who will then also become one your coaches (if the course coordinator agrees). Don’t wait until the last moment. 1.4.4.
Final choice of assignment
You make the final choice out of the filtered list of companies and topics.
2.
Discussions with the coordinator, coaching 1.
2. 3. 4.
Discussion- and start-up meetings: The students and coordinator can meet for informal meetings and finally, a start-up meeting in which your questions can be addressed. If you already have something on paper, bring it with you or email it. Decisions are made, if possible, regarding an assignment and 'customer'. If so, you can start with the PVS or finalize it. If not, then the search continues. You continue with the PVS after the meeting. Teams may contact the coordinator, specialist teachers, (after coaching team is chosen by the course coordinator) with the weekly coaches, and (if available) the customer coach to discuss the case idea or a draft PVS. You can mention that a lecturer is interested, but the coordinator will ask him or her to join the coaching team. Final topic: Acceptance is case dependent. Depends on content and balance between practice and academics. Available coaching expertise may play a role as well. TUD Coaching team: The course coordinator chooses a coaching team of 2 weekly coaches. A customer chooses its coaches independently. Completion: The coordinator informs all involved when all is arranged and uploads the team information sheet to Blackboard and the team.
3.
Writing a PVS (Project vision and scope document)
3.1
Purpose
Your PVS is an expression of your intentions and expectations. It reflects team consensus and helps to convince your coaches and the course coordinator that you are serious about an assignment and that it is interesting (science, practice) and feasible in the 10-11 weeks. A PVS is 10-20 pages of text. The PVS will be discussed and accepted in the kick-off meeting. Sometimes we ask for some changes in order to guarantee feasibility (goal, questions, scope).
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
4
course coordinator and lecturer
3.2
When to start with the PVS and when it should be ready
You write a PVS in the quarter before you start the actual project. This ensures that you can start on time. You may use the coordinator and the coaching team to discuss the PVS in an informal meeting. This may be necessary if you or your coaches are uncertain about the quality of the PVS (direction/scope, ambition level versus level of pre-knowledge, etc.). If you finish your PVS after the start of the course quarter, then your project also starts and finishes later.
3.3
For whom: the course coordinator and all coaches
The final draft version of the PVS is sent to the course coordinator 1-2 weeks before the kick-off meeting. If he gives his ok, then you can organize a kick-off meeting. Otherwise you have to revise it.
3.4
Content of a PVS and explanation
Give your team/project a name. Scope: Your topic should be in the area of traffic-, transport- or logistics engineering. *The following is based on the information you could collect until the kick-off meeting. It is a set of assumptions; things can be changed later on. Practice and science An IP may deal with very practical problems, but not by cutting corners as practiced by some consultancy companies. The approach should meet the academic criteria mentioned in part 4 of the course manual. Current state analysis Objectives of your project; problem definition; research questions. Problem: A gap between what is and should/could be. What is the nature of the problem: open (no definitive answer) or closed (definitive answer, y/n solution). Rich pictures should be used in this stage. Context analysis: E.g., in what market is the company active? What are main competitors? How does the problem relate to other problems? What is the business policy regarding transport and logistics? In case of a government, similar questions can be asked about the policy field or agenda. Stakeholder analysis: What are the main actors and their interests? What is the problem or challenge according to whom? Are there more problems; is a ranking possible? How are the stakeholders related? Who share interests or visions, or disagree and why? You can use power-interest analysis based on literature references or interviews for this. Future state analysis Design goals: Fills the gap between what do you want to achieve and how. Design questions, methods and product(s). Do you add, improve or reduce functions?
Technical perspective: You graduate at a technical university. This implies that your topic should include a technical application or perspective. Projects with a purely managerial, financial or economic topic do not fit in this course. The course coordinator will help you to refocus if necessary. Methodology and tools for analysis and design A project starts with the problem (requirements), not with the solution (tools).
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
5
course coordinator and lecturer
Suggest a set of methods, including the systems engineering approach. Give arguments for your choice. Research and design usually ask for different methods. Don’t propose tools you are not comfortable with or like to learn. There is limited time to learn new content, but you can surely improve on what you already have learned. *Frequently used tools in logistic projects are inventory optimization, process analysis (workload and touch times, equipment), lean six sigma, calculation or simulation tools. *Examples of tools in traffic engineering are calculation, modeling or simulation *Examples of tools to redesign transport-related buildings are traffic flow analysis, queuing models, sketches and calculation models *Examples of tools used in spatial redesign are sketches and simple calculations. An IP project is not a way to just develop a tool or to become an expert in tool development A tool is a means to help the customer reduce or solve the problem(s) stated in the PVS. Tools like modeling or simulation require a lot of experience and time. Be careful not to use a tool that only 1 team member is familiar with. A model is not a black box. Use a tool that the coaches and customer understand and the latter can use in practice. Always reserve the option to use a qualitative method (MCA) or a combination of quali- and quantitative methods (MCBA, other). Do not suggest a tool because you mastered it to some extent in an earlier course, or because it is freely available or suggested by other students and then start looking for a problem. Tools used to analyze problems in another domain (like traffic engineering) are in most cases not suitable for logistic or freight transport problems (and vice versa). If you want to design a product that is based on some software check if the company is able or willing to use the same software as well. If they suggest that your use a tool (e.g. simulation), don’t take that as given, but first carry out your own problem analysis and then choose a design tool. Data needed Specify e x p e c t e d d ata needs and potential d a t a sources. Sometimes companies already have substantive data and staff to help you analyse it. In other cases reliable quantitative data is not available (on time). In that case you have to collect it yourself or choose a qualitative approach. Include references to (scientific) literature (if already available). Section 1.4 of the Course Overview manual explains its purpose. Mention some of your earlier group projects related with the domain as this project. Mention reference projects in other regions or countries to compare and learn from. Mention the proposed deliverables (report, advice, other). Add a planning diagram for the whole period with reservations for exams or holidays. Add contact data of the weekly coaches, the customer coach, the course coordinator and you (with student numbers and mobile phone numbers). Mention your team’s contact persons for the coordinator and for the company (or agency).
3.5
The kick-off meeting; acceptance of PVS and practical agreements
You send the PVS to all invited for the planned kick-off meeting (see meeting schedule in Part 3: Execution document). The PVS will be accepted as your first project document by the end of the kickoff meeting, or, if revisions are necessary, after a revised version is received and accepted. It is usually not necessary to have an additional meeting about that. You can discuss the changes during the next progress meeting with your coaches.
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
6
course coordinator and lecturer
A kick-off meeting has an agenda and starts with a presentation of about 20 minutes. It should be prepared very well. All team members should be present (unless you ask the course coordinator for permission) and all your coaches including the customer coach. A Skype meeting is not advised, because we like to evaluate the customer as well. Try to avoid a situation where •
•
Only one TUD coach is present, as these coaches may not have cooperated before and may not meet or talk very often. It is also possible that one of the weekly coaches is unfamiliar with the course. The coordinator will always try to involve at least one topic expert as coach and another coach who can assist with certain parts of the project (such as evaluation of a design) and has experience with process management. If you can’t find a common meeting date, ask the course coordinator to allow an exception; The customer coach is not present, because then we loose the option to agree on everything from the start of the project. This may lead to confusion later on.
In case of a customer who does not really know what he or she wants, take the active role and start framing, make choices asap and inform your coaches and the coordinator about this (potentially) noncooperative behaviour. Time lost at the beginning of a project remains lost. In the kick-off meeting you have the option to schedule next meetings. It is not advisable to do this beyond the mid-term meeting. Then your progress becomes more decisive for the planning.
3.6
Major changes to the PVS (exceptional cases)
Major changes of the project, which make the PVS ineffective after the kick-off, should be discussed with the course coordinator. Such changes are for instance a change of main research and or design questions and the planned product or outcomes. It is not acceptable to skip the development of a design fully or partially unless special circumstances demand so and the course coordinator explicitly agrees with this. Do not wait until it is too late to discuss such changes. The mid-term (MT-) meeting or –interviews are not the right moment to discover this. The main methodological ‘umbrella’ is always a systems engineering method. This allows transparency of the process and the outcomes of the project. A transparent methodology also provides opportunities for follow-up projects.
Now you are ready for the next step: Execution (Part 3).
March 2017
Dr. Jaap Vleugel
7
course coordinator and lecturer
