Project Management

Overview

Software project management methodologies, issue tracking systems, and team collaboration practices.

Agile Methodologies

Scrum Framework

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Scrum Framework │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ Product Sprint Sprint Sprint │ │ Backlog → Planning → Execution → Review/Retro │ │ │ │ │ │ ▼ ▼ │ │ Sprint Daily Standup │ │ Backlog (15 min) │ │ │ │ Roles: │ │ • Product Owner: Backlog priority, stakeholder voice │ │ • Scrum Master: Process facilitation, impediment removal │ │ • Development Team: Self-organizing, cross-functional │ │ │ │ Artifacts: │ │ • Product Backlog: Prioritized feature list │ │ • Sprint Backlog: Committed sprint work │ │ • Increment: Potentially shippable product │ │ │ │ Events: │ │ • Sprint Planning: What & How for sprint │ │ • Daily Standup: Sync & impediments │ │ • Sprint Review: Demo to stakeholders │ │ • Sprint Retrospective: Process improvement │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Kanban Board

┌──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐ │ Backlog │ To Do │ In Progress │ Review │ Done │ │ │ (WIP: 5) │ (WIP: 3) │ (WIP: 2) │ │ ├──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Feature │ │ │ Bug fix │ │ │ API │ │ │ Login │ │ │ Auth │ │ │ │ Request │ │ │ #123 │ │ │ endpoint │ │ │ page │ │ │ module │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ └──────────┘ │ │ @alice │ │ │ @bob │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ ┌──────────┐ │ └──────────┘ │ └──────────┘ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Tech │ │ │ Refactor │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Database │ │ │ │ Debt │ │ │ auth │ │ │ Tests │ │ │ │ migration│ │ │ └──────────┘ │ └──────────┘ │ │ @charlie │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ │ └──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘

Key Principles: • Visualize work • Limit Work In Progress (WIP) • Manage flow • Make policies explicit • Implement feedback loops • Improve collaboratively

User Stories

User Story Format

As a [type of user] I want [goal/desire] So that [benefit/value]

Example

As a registered user I want to reset my password via email So that I can regain access to my account if I forget my password

Acceptance Criteria (Given-When-Then)

Given I am on the login page When I click "Forgot Password" And I enter my registered email And I click "Send Reset Link" Then I should receive an email with a password reset link And the link should expire after 24 hours

INVEST Criteria

□ Independent - Can be developed separately □ Negotiable - Details can be discussed □ Valuable - Delivers user/business value □ Estimable - Can be sized □ Small - Fits in a sprint □ Testable - Has clear acceptance criteria

Story Points & Estimation

Fibonacci Scale

1 - Trivial (< 1 hour) 2 - Simple (few hours) 3 - Straightforward (half day) 5 - Medium complexity (1-2 days) 8 - Complex (3-5 days) 13 - Very complex (1+ week) 21 - Epic (break it down!)

Planning Poker

1. Product Owner presents story
2. Team discusses & asks questions
3. Each member secretly selects estimate
4. All reveal simultaneously
5. Discuss outliers
6. Re-vote if needed
7. Reach consensus

Velocity Calculation

Sprint 1: 32 points completed Sprint 2: 28 points completed Sprint 3: 35 points completed Average Velocity: 31.7 points/sprint

Issue Tracking

GitHub Issues

Issue Template: Bug Report

name: Bug Report about: Report a bug to help us improve labels: bug, needs-triage

Description

A clear description of the bug.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Go to '...'
2. Click on '...'
3. Scroll down to '...'
4. See error

Expected Behavior

What should happen.

Actual Behavior

What actually happens.

Environment

• OS: [e.g., macOS 14.0]
• Browser: [e.g., Chrome 120]
• Version: [e.g., 2.1.0]

Screenshots

If applicable, add screenshots.

Additional Context

Any other relevant information.

Issue Template: Feature Request

name: Feature Request about: Suggest a new feature labels: enhancement

Problem Statement

What problem does this solve?

Proposed Solution

How should this work?

Alternatives Considered

Other approaches you've thought about.

Additional Context

Mockups, examples, or references.

GitHub Projects (v2)

Project configuration

fields:

• name: Status type: single_select options:

  • Backlog
  • Ready
  • In Progress
  • In Review
  • Done

• name: Priority type: single_select options:

  • 🔴 High
  • 🟡 Medium
  • 🟢 Low

• name: Sprint type: iteration duration: 2 weeks

• name: Estimate type: number

• name: Team type: single_select options:

  • Frontend
  • Backend
  • DevOps

views:

• name: Kanban Board type: board group_by: Status

• name: Sprint Backlog type: table filter: Sprint = @current sort: Priority

• name: Roadmap type: roadmap date_field: Target Date

Linear Workflow

Linear project structure

teams:

• name: Engineering key: ENG workflows:
  • Backlog → Todo → In Progress → In Review → Done

cycles:

• duration: 2 weeks
• auto_archive: true

labels:

• bug
• feature
• improvement
• tech-debt

priorities:

• Urgent
• High
• Medium
• Low
• No Priority

Linear CLI usage

linear issue create --title "Add OAuth support" --team ENG --priority high linear issue list --team ENG --state "In Progress" linear cycle current

Sprint Planning

Sprint Planning Meeting

Sprint Planning Agenda (2-4 hours)

Part 1: What (1-2 hours)

1. Review sprint goal
2. Product Owner presents prioritized backlog
3. Team asks clarifying questions
4. Select stories for sprint commitment

Part 2: How (1-2 hours)

1. Break stories into tasks
2. Identify dependencies
3. Assign initial owners
4. Validate capacity vs commitment

Sprint Goal Template

"By the end of this sprint, users will be able to [specific capability], enabling [business value]."

Capacity Planning

Team Size: 5 developers Sprint Length: 2 weeks (10 working days) Meetings/Ceremonies: 1 day equivalent PTO/Holidays: 2 days Buffer (bugs, support): 10%

Available Capacity: (5 × 10 - 5 - 2) × 0.9 = 38.7 person-days Historical Velocity: ~35 story points

Definition of Done

Definition of Done (DoD)

Code Complete

• Feature implemented per acceptance criteria
• Unit tests written (>80% coverage)
• Integration tests passing
• No linting errors or warnings
• Self-reviewed code

Review Complete

• Code review approved by 2+ team members
• No blocking comments unresolved
• Security considerations reviewed

Testing Complete

• QA testing passed
• Edge cases tested
• Performance acceptable
• Cross-browser testing (if applicable)

Documentation Complete

• Code documented (JSDoc/comments)
• API documentation updated
• README updated if needed
• Changelog entry added

Deployment Ready

• Feature flag configured (if needed)
• Database migrations tested
• Monitoring/alerts configured
• Merged to main branch

Retrospectives

Retrospective Formats

Mad/Sad/Glad

┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ Mad 😠 │ Sad 😢 │ Glad 😊 │ ├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Constant scope │ Missed sprint │ Great team │ │ changes │ goal │ collaboration │ │ │ │ │ │ Unclear │ Technical debt │ Shipped major │ │ requirements │ growing │ feature │ └─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

Start/Stop/Continue

┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ Start 🟢 │ Stop 🔴 │ Continue 🔵 │ ├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Pair programming│ Long meetings │ Daily standups │ │ │ │ │ │ Sprint demos │ Scope creep │ Code reviews │ │ │ │ │ │ Documentation │ Last-minute │ Knowledge │ │ │ changes │ sharing │ └─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

4 Ls: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For

Sailboat: Wind (helps), Anchors (slows), Rocks (risks)

Action Items Template

Sprint 23 Retrospective Action Items

Metrics to Track

• Sprint burndown consistency
• Bug escape rate
• Deployment frequency
• Lead time for changes

Metrics & Reporting

Key Metrics

DORA Metrics

1. Deployment Frequency: How often code deploys to production
2. Lead Time for Changes: Commit to production time
3. Change Failure Rate: % of deployments causing failures
4. Time to Restore: How long to recover from failures

Sprint Metrics

• Velocity: Story points completed per sprint
• Sprint Burndown: Work remaining over time
• Escaped Defects: Bugs found after release
• Planned vs Delivered: Commitment accuracy

Team Health

• Team satisfaction surveys
• Turnover rate
• Knowledge sharing sessions
• Technical debt ratio

Related Skills

• [[git-workflows]] - Version control

• [[devops-cicd]] - Deployment practices

• [[code-quality]] - Quality standards