Templates¶

A library of reusable documents for the labs and the capstone. Copy a template, fill it in, and keep the result in your artefacts folder.

Fill, don't invent

Start from a template every time. They encode the structure that makes a document useful and stop you from leaving out a section you will need later — the field descriptions explain what each part is for, and the worked example shows what a filled-in version looks like.

Templates are not standards

Every template here is a starting structure, not a mandatory form. Organisations use different names, different scoring scales, and different approval routes. Two rules matter more than the layout: each field must mean something to a decision, and the template must not be padded to look thorough. If a section adds nothing to your project, say so and delete it rather than filling it in badly.

What every template contains¶

Each project-artefact template has the same eight elements, so you can navigate an unfamiliar one quickly:

Element	Purpose
Purpose	What the artefact is for, in one sentence
When to use it	The moment in the project, and what it depends on
Instructions	Numbered guidance on filling it in properly
Field descriptions	What belongs in each field, and the mistakes it attracts
Worked example	A filled-in extract from the labs, labelled as invented for teaching
Blank template	The structure to copy
Common mistakes	The ways these artefacts are usually ruined
Related lessons and labs	Where the concept is taught and practised

Spreadsheet-ready versions¶

Every artefact that is genuinely tabular also exists as a CSV in templates/csv/, so you can sort, filter, and chart it. The CSV conventions explain the rules — one row per item, ISO dates, durations in working days, and estimates that carry their basis. Use one authoritative copy: if you maintain both, they will disagree.

Project initiation¶

Template	Use it to…	Introduced in
Project Charter	Authorise a project and bound its scope	Lab 01
Business Case	Justify the investment and state how benefits will be measured	Lab 13
Stakeholder Register	Record and analyse stakeholders, and plan engagement	Module 02
Assumptions and Constraints Register	Separate what you believe from what you cannot change	Lab 04
Feasibility Assessment	Test technical, economic, operational, schedule, and legal viability	Module 02

Planning¶

Template	Use it to…	Introduced in
Scope Statement	Define what is delivered, what is excluded, and how acceptance is judged	Lab 06
Work Breakdown Structure	Decompose scope into work packages	Lab 07
Requirements Traceability Matrix	Prove every requirement has a source, a build item, and a test	Module 05
Project Schedule	Record activities, dependencies, float, and the critical path	Lab 08
Milestone Plan	Define the points where an outcome is verified or a decision is made	Lab 10
Resource Plan	Compare capacity against demand, per skill and per period	Lab 21
RACI Matrix	Assign responsibility and accountability	Module 10
Communications Plan	Plan who gets which information, when, and who escalates what	Lab 12

Agile¶

Template	Use it to…	Introduced in
Product Vision	State the outcome, the users, and how success will be measured	Lab 03
Product Backlog	Hold and order everything that might be built	Lab 14
User Story	Express a requirement with testable acceptance criteria	Lab 14
Definition of Ready	Agree what must be true before work starts	Lab 15
Definition of Done	Agree what "finished" means, observably	Lab 20
Sprint Planning Worksheet	Plan an iteration against real capacity	Lab 15
Sprint Review	Demonstrate the outcome and turn feedback into decisions	Lab 15
Retrospective	Capture improvements with owners and checks	Module 04

Risk and quality¶

Template	Use it to…	Introduced in
Risk Register	Identify, assess, and track uncertain events	Lab 11
Risk Assessment Matrix	Give everyone the same scoring scales and thresholds	Lab 11
Risk Response Plan	Turn significant risks into owned responses with triggers	Lab 17
Quality Management Plan	State quality attributes, assurance, control, and exit criteria	Lab 20
Defect Log	Record defects, their origin, and their resolution	Lab 20
Quality Checklist	Verify a release or handover gate, item by item	Lab 20

Monitoring and control¶

Template	Use it to…	Introduced in
Status Report	Report progress, variance, and decisions needed	Lab 22
Project Dashboard	Show the few measures that reveal trouble, with thresholds and trend	Lab 18
Change Request	Evaluate and record a change against the baseline	Lab 19
Issue Log	Track problems that have already happened	Lab 22
Decision Log	Record what was decided, by whom, and why	Module 11
Lessons Learned Register	Turn what the project learned into changes with owners	Lab 25
Project Closure Report	Compare the outcome with the business case and hand over ownership	Lab 25
Final Project Report	Compare the outcome with the original plan and hand over what remains	Capstone Lesson 3

Authoring templates (contributors)¶

These four are for writing course content, not for running a project. They are exempt from the eight-element structure above because they are specifications for a page rather than project artefacts.

Template	Use it to…
Lesson Template	Write a new lesson
Lab Template	Write a new lab
Case Study Template	Write a new case study
Assessment Template	Write a new quiz or exercise

Before contributing, read NAMING-CONVENTIONS.md and the content-accuracy rules in ARCHITECTURE.md.

Using a template in Markdown¶

Templates are plain Markdown. To use one, copy it into a new file, delete the sections that do not apply, and replace the bracketed placeholders. Keep the headings — they are what make the document navigable, and the repository's checks rely on them.

Checking the arithmetic¶

Several templates depend on calculation. The Calculators and Worksheets page gives the formula, a worked example, and the assumptions behind each one, with a script that reproduces the examples so you can check your own work.