Project Management: From Theory to Practice

The main objective of this course is to introduce you to modern methodologies, principles, and tools required for defining and managing projects in today's innovative and fast-changing environments. You are going to learn agile skills and techniques to deliver a selected project. In addition, all participants will get hands-on experience in managing complex projects by creating and managing them by using various tools. Emphasis of this course in on agile project management methodologies.

Course leader

Béla P. Sándor Haarlem University of Applied Science (Lecturer and Entrepreneur) Béla is a business strategy and digital business advisor whose primary focus is in creating business outcomes through developing innovative business strategies.

Target group

Young professionals and university students with intermediary level of English, considering working as a Project Manager or improving your project management skills to the next level

Course aim

Acquired skills
Provide experience in using the concepts, techniques, and tools available to project managers for organizing, planning, and controlling projects.
Help you develop an appreciation for the managerial, cultural, and social aspects of PM.
Raise awareness of the importance of the organization’s strategy during project selection.
Provide an understanding of the critical role of work breakdown structures and networks in planning, scheduling, and estimating the status of projects.
Create an awareness of potential conflicts and scheduling problems that occur on projects.
Demonstrate how to reliably estimate the status of projects.
Understand the difference between plan-based and agile project management and when to apply either.

Description
The summer course in Project Management will introduce the students in the science and art of project management. The students will learn about the principles of project management, the tools and the techniques that are part of every Project Manager’s tool kit and will apply this on case studies and an in-class group project to apply their knowledge on a real project. They will learn about the modern evolution of project management (like Agile).

Students will be asked to think about the sort of projects/industries that they would like to focus on. Skills taught will be applicable to all areas of Project Management, but students will have the opportunity to apply them to particular projects that they personally find interesting in the activity and discussion sections each day. Each day, time will be dedicated to working on individual projects and final assessments.

An essential part of the course will be guest speakers sharing their experience with managing their Projects. They will be talking about the tools, methodologies, and approaches used to make the Project a successful one.

Course outline
Schedule
Day 1
Introduction to the course - Introduction to Project Management, Identifying characteristics of a project, Identifying a Project Manager + Activities: How we define Project Management, Project Manager skills, Identifying projects that interest us.
Day 2
Project lifecycle, Evaluating success, Work breakdown structures + Activities: Advantages of PM, Data collection for evaluation, Project breakdown structure
Day 3
Identifying and prioritizing stakeholders, Stakeholder communications, Project scope, Scope creep + Activities: Stakeholder mapping, Comms and PR planning
Day 4
Project Scheduling + Activities: In advance, students will be asked to identify a scheduling tool/app and to familiarize themselves with them. Class time will be used to present back to one another what has been found and an introduction on how to use the tools/apps that have been identified. This is reflective of industry- not everyone will have access to the same software/programs etc, so this is a useful way of diversifying knowledge about what is available to PMs.
Day 5
Challenges and risk management, Likelihood and consequences + Activities: Introduction to risk assessments
Day 6
Introduction to operations, logistics and strategy planning + Activities: Identifying the ops, logistics and strategies related to our projects
Day 7
Team engagement, How to manage a team, Leadership qualities + Activities: Employability skills, How to engage with industry
Day 8
Project closure and review + Activities: Final data collection and evaluation, Reflection and how to build upon experiences
Day 9
Individual project - Time to work on final assessments
Day 10
Individual project - Time to work on final assessments, Final presentations, Evaluation Teams, Evaluations