Project Management (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Schedule

The overall timeline is 12 weeks and the theme-wise bundles (seven) and the deadlines for them are:
- themes 1-2 assignments submitted within the first 3 course weeks
- themes 3-5 assignments submitted by the end of 7. course week
- themes 6-7 assignments submitted by the end of 11. course week
- e-exam (in more detailed, please see above) - course week 12

Theme 1 - Key concepts and terms - the list is long, but they are just concepts discussed shortly!
(1) What is project management, success criteria + other key terms; (2) Proj.mgmt knowledge areas and view on Project management Best Practise Guideline (PMBOK); (3) Lifecycle concepts, PLC and SDLC (Schwalbe); (4) Different types of project (business project, development proj.); (5) Why do IT-projects fail (just grasp) - ensuring the success/ staying on right track success; (6) Room for Agile? Hybrid concepts; (7) Project portfolio mgmt (basic idea)

Theme 2- Initialization and planning stages within the project lifecycle
(1) inititalization phase activities (summary): Project proposal; Business case feat. cost benefit analysis; Project charter; (2) Establishing a project organisation and kick-off meeting,
(3) Planning phase activities: Project management plan, Scope mgmt incl. WBS, Effort analysis, Scheduling

Theme 3 - Resourcing and organizing a project
(1) Project organization types; (2) Stakeholder management; (3) Team working dynamism (evolving teams); (4) Capability management and recruitment problems.

Theme 4 - Project manager and Integration mgmt (execution phase)
(1) What is project integration - a key to success? (2) Responsibilities and requirements for project manager; (3) Controlling and monitoring the project

Theme 5 - Communication and Risk mgmt

Theme 6 - Special viewpoints on Agile
(1) Scaled agile framework; (2) additional second subject is informed later on.

Theme 7 - How to plan and maintain a successful project?
1) Why do IT-projects fail and how to recover them back successful; (2) dependencies across the factors; (3) Benefits realization management (basics);

Exam

Implementation methods, demonstration and Work&Study

The course is run in terms of biweekly system in groups/pairs. The given assignment bundle is instructed in the beginning of the cycle (two weeks) and then reported by team/pair within next two weeks. In-between the teacher is available for supporting teams.

Learning methods are Teacher’s briefings on the topic, biweekly assignments and their reflection mutually by students, visitor lecture(s), assignments on lessons, videos plus literature (magazines, research papers), reading course books and participation on maturity test (course week 12 or so).

Focus of learning is on the information system project management methods and practices and, exercising practical project management problems. Practical project manager problems/challenges are also exercised (Integration management; Scope management; Communication; Team working practices in global settings; Project Manager roles).
- Contact hours ca. 32 h - Note! due to the pandemia, the course is run online.
- Individual assignments and team work 128 h

Recognition of prior learning (RPL):
To get a passing (P) grade and exemption from the course, student must display and demonstrate the competence by certificates from earlier studies or work experience covering the course
objectives and contents. Also, managing an IT-project or holding an active role in IT-projects is subject to the RPL. It is possible to participate in the competence demonstration only once before taking the course.

Materials

A Main reference(s)
- Schwalbe, K. 2018. Information Technology Project Management. ed.8
B Other key references (in general about Project management)
- Olson, D. 2014. Information Systems Project Management. Business Expert Press.
- PMBOK, 2018
- Young, T. 2013. Successful Project Management. Kogan.
- Wells, K., Kloppenborg, T. 2015. Project Management Essentials. Business Expert Press.
B Key readings on a specific theme
- Burke, R. & Barron, S. 2014. Project Management Leadership: Building Creative Teams. Wiley & Sons.
- Harrin, E. 2018. Project Manager: Careers in IT Project Management. BCS Learning & Development.
- Wysocki, R. 2013. Effective Project Management : Traditional, Agile, Extreme. Wiley & Sons.

Articles are found within the related folder of the main theme on Moodle

Teaching methods and instruction

Opening session on the very first course week on Monday 17:00 (or the another time as informed by a Moodle-message) is providing the overview of the course and methods. This session is also recorded. The overall timeline of the course is 12 weeks.

The course is divided into the seven main themes (comparable of course weeks). Each of them is holding a bundle of tasks to be answered in terms of short essays. The required output of one bundle in average is 2,5-4 pages. Teacher's feedback is short.

At the end of the course a minor e-exam

Working life connections

Due to the nature of course, there is no working life connections if not the videos concerned here by people from business companies.

Exam dates and re-exam possibilities

The exams are seen on Moodle pages. So far the plan is to have e-exam holding multichoice questions and an essay type of a study. The exam could be divided into two or three parts along the run of course (course is under construction for the time being)

Re-exams are kept on general exam days

Internationality

(1) International aspect is considered in terms of cases stemming from international companies. (2) The references (books, articles) stand for the global main stream of project management literature. (3) Some videos by international "stars"

Completion alternatives

So far no alternative way of learning available on this course except the RPL

Learning assignments

Studying on the course is based on:
1) Studies on given assignments focusing on a certain theme for example establishing a project organization. Then the study by a student shall provide the suggested number of viewpoints on given theme and own experiences and ponderings are welcome. The instructions is holding a more detailed quidelines for example teacher's advises and tiplist to help the student in finding the relevant viewpoints and references
2) Practical project management problems, events where the student shall give his/her best understanding by writing an essaybabout solution for relaxing a troublesome situation or a minor project management case (for example how to manage scope creep or leaving expert or such). Writing the answer is supported by tips and guidelines to give some ideas for a starting point.
3) Hands-on tasks would be nice but they are highly difficult to fulfill due the type/format of the course (so far they are as options left to be fulfilled in future)

Assessment methods

Evaluation is based on the 1) studies and 2) exam. A more accurate info is available on the course pages. In future it may be possible that the exam becomes more pivotal in evaluation.
Grade 5
The studies are more like insights in given subjects inspired and driven by the suggested references and own findings rather than reporting the facts from the references like they appear on the text. The study is holding too a conclusions part and rationale as an introduction. Length as required. In general, the quality of the text is excellent and rich in facts. Submissions are done in time.

Grade 3
The studies are based on the suggested references, no own findings essentially. Besides the findings/facts from the references, some own thoughts are present on text related to the subject. A short conclusion part at the end and sense making in the beginning are found but the text is more like driven by references (producing the text in a reporting manner). Length close to the required size. In general, the quality of the text is nice offering somewhat an effortless reading experience. Submissions are done in time.

Grade 1
The study is based just on a one of the given references, if any. The text is typically hastily composed by picking some of the facts from the references and the integrity of the study is modest.
Submission is in time or slightly delayed. The learning of the given subject is partial which is evidenced by the quality and the general impression (gut feeling) of the study.

Note! The characterization above doesn't bring forth the alternative ways of producing studies like writing the study fully based on own experiences provided with a thin theory part which could be an excellent study. That's why certain characteristics may give a push up to the score which are explained on the Course Moodle pages and shortly here: relevance of the facts and the size of study; synthetic analysis type of approach in producing the text, insightful findings/own ponderings, use of examples and linkage to project management practicalities, richness of facts (and relevance); the ideas and flow of the text are easy to follow, no plagiarism (a subject to fine)