LFKK10278U Project Management

Volume 2013/2014
Education
MSc Programme in Forest and Nature Management
MSc Programme in Agricultural Economics
MSc Programme in Animal Science
MSc Programme in Landscape Architecture
Content

Projects are increasingly becoming the organisational principle in most science related sectors. Technological innovation, organisational development and change processes, development aid and capacity-building, and most consultancy jobs are organised as projects. The ability to participate in and manage projects efficiently is fundamental for science professionals.

The course is an introductory course to project management. The course will deal with project management concepts and models. Project management phases, topics and activities will be introduced including factors influencing the planning of the different project phases: definition, planning, execution and closure.

Participants will be introduced to the elements of planning, implementation and evaluation of ongoing project management based on detailed planning and scheduling, project follow-up and ongoing leadership.

During the course participants will be introduced to and work with swot analysis, stakeholder analysis, risk analysis, objective definition, work break-down structure, milestone plan and estimation of time and cost.

Leadership in projects will be introduced focusing on techniques for managing task complexity, establishing and leading teamwork, managing meetings, process facilitation and providing individual and team feedback.

Learning Outcome
The objective of the course is to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to participate in high performance projects. On completion of the course the participant will be able to design project management processes based on critical reflection on their own personal experiences, the dynamics of project management, the concrete task and the organisational and cultural characteristics of the context.

On completion of the course the student will be able to:

Knowledge
• Define and explain project management concepts, models, phases, topics and activities.
• Explain factors influencing the planning during project planning, start-up, execution, evaluation and close-out phases.
• Characterise the dynamics of project management and leadership.

Skills
• Plan and organise specific project management activities considering project complexity level.
• Plan, implement, evaluate and critically reflect on main project processes based on identification of project scope, work break-down structure, milestone plan, resource and time schedule.
• Plan, implement and evaluate application of project planning tools such as complexity, interest, risk analyses, and project scoping.

Competences
• Lead and facilitate a project team performing overall and ongoing project management activities.
• Evaluate overall project planning and provide constructive feedback.
• Analyse and manage central management and leadership issues in relation to project process facilitation, meeting management, teambuilding and team performance.
• Reflect on own project management practise and apply experiences in future practise.
Students will work with a project during most of the course. The project will be done in groups and the content of the project will be chosen by the group. The pedagogical idea is that working with a concrete project is the best way of learning about manageing projects and learning about useful tools and technics. A number of lectures and practical and theoretical excersises will support the learning process. An important part of the learning process will be ongoing evaluation and reflection.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 1
  • Guidance
  • 5
  • Lectures
  • 40
  • Preparation
  • 44
  • Project work
  • 92
  • Theory exercises
  • 24
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 min.
At the oral examination, each student will be examined individually in a general project management topic on the basis of the project reports and course curriculum.
Weight: 100% oral examination in project reports and curriculum
Exam registration requirements
Active participation in group based project work during the course is required. The project reports are used as a basis for the exam and have to be assessed "passed" for students to take the exam.
Aid
Without aids
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
To obtain the grade 12 the student is required to fulfill the described learning outcome