Rationale

This course provides the opportunity to reinforce and build on the pre-acquired project management knowledge and skills to successfully manage increasingly complex project issues and meet desired goals and objectives. This course focuses on new advances in project management processes covering areas such as avoiding mistakes during project execution, consistently communicating progress, dealing with evolving stakeholder expectations through effective stakeholder management, using trend analysis to measure project performance, managing portfolios and programmes and improving project outcomes. The students will learn how to manage projects better through process documentation and continuous project analysis by comparing life cycle models that optimise project planning in complex situations. The course will also expose students to the non-traditional planning approaches and will analyse project management challenges that arise due to significant uncertainties, unexpected environmental, market, socioeconomic changes and leadership and communication issues.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course students will be expected to:
(i)    Describe complex project issues and the ways to overcome uncertainties and behavioural, economic, environmental and political issues.
(ii)   Identify key stakeholder’s needs and expectations in order to effectively engage with them.
(iii)  Assess the status and quality of their relationships with stakeholders.
(iv)  Evaluate project feasibility, and solicit authorisation. 
(v)   Apply advanced communication procedures to consistently deliver information and progress results.
(vi)  Use Project Management Office and Portfolio Management tool.
(vii) Identify the limitations of the traditional approach to project management.
(viii)Discuss how to manage cost, scope, time, risk, quality, and project change according to a set of processes. 
(ix)  Apply project metrics and process documentation to manage projects more efficiently. 
(x)   Explain the significance of continuous development of the project management processes. 
(xi)  Determine broader factors such as organisational, behavioural and political-economic which may affect project performance.