Rationale

Project Management is an increasingly important component in any big or small industry and constitutes a pillar of the effective coordination, development and execution of long-term programmes or short-term projects. Throughout this introductory course, the students will gain an insight of the fundamental concepts, principles and applied techniques for cost-effective project management. The course aims to cover the technical, behavioural, managerial and cultural aspects that are crucial in the successful completion of a project, by analysing the strategic and organisational issues. It also aims to provide the relevant skills and tools that determine a project’s successful results. This course will also introduce project management topics such as resource management, time and cost constraints and project scope.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course students will be expected to:
(i)    Define the discipline of project management and its significance within an organisation’s overall strategy and culture.
(ii)   Identify the main elements of the project management life cycle: planning, control, and resource allocation and compose one for a specific project.
(iii)  Articulate the phases of project selection and prioritisation.
(iv)  Evaluate the factors that are important to project selection and prioritisation.
(v)   Explain the critical role of the different work breakdown structures, in planning, scheduling and estimating the status of projects.
(vi)  Describe the basic tools and techniques that are employed to organise and manage a project.
(vii) Explain the behavioural and cultural components that contribute to the effective management of a project and consequently to stakeholder communication.
(viii) Describe the main principles of leadership, team work planning and communication.
(ix)  Describe the project management documentation process and the deliverable stakeholder and customer estimations that are gradually produced by a project manager.
(x)   Describe how the different components of a Project Management System interact to each other.
(xi)  Discuss the way project managers coordinate different internal and external responses, adjust to changes and communicate results to stakeholders.