Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork

Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Project Management

Edinburgh 08

Roger Atkinson

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork• Background

• 3 Conferences – Time, Reflections, Rhythm

• IJPM 26(3) 2008

• Bid to BMAF

• The Team

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork

• Objectives of the PMnetwork

• Identify participants

• Do something … e.g. Create an External Examiners Group

• Distribute that something

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork• Activities to date:

– Lancaster University 7th Apr 08

• Emergent ideas/outputs:

– Create a Guest Lecture Group

– Vienna in May

• Pmnetwork.org.uk

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork.org.uk

Building the Web Presence

Steve Barron

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork.org.uk

Evolving Purpose of the site:

1. A presence to attract a community

2. Promote the 1st Workshop

3. Communicate Outcomes from W1

4. Broaden the Purpose: Capture Information and Support the Community

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork.org.uk

Capture Information:

• Who Are We? 31 Institutions at W1

• External Examiner Community

• Guest Speaker Database

• PM Courses Database

• Bournemouth University Conferences

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

PMnetwork.org.uk

Capture Information:

• Wiki – examples of excellence in teaching and learning

• Wikispaces (has keywords)

• PBwiki

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Educating Professional Project Managers

Denise Bower & Miles Shepherd

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Some questions for HE…• Is project management a profession?• Can project management develop into a profession?• What are the implications of profession for HE

institutions?– adherence to a recognised body of knowledge?

– accreditation of HE courses by professional bodies?

• Can HE courses produce professional project managers?

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Is Project Management a Profession?

• In sociological studies of professions and professionalism, there is no mention of project management.

• Under most definitions of profession, project management does not qualify (Zwerman and Thomas 2001).

• Many countries do not even recognise PM as an occupation

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Can PM Develop into a Profession?

• Project Management Institute (PMI) mission is ‘to further the professionalization of project management’.

• APM pursuit of a Royal Charter.• General implications:

– barriers to entry – market closure– lack of effectively from either major users or from government

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Taught Programmes and BoKs?• Professional societies recognise importance of

knowledge.• Traditional professions have unique ‘body of

knowledge’:– Extensive range of publications – Segmented– Not ‘owned’ by segments of the societies

• Professional knowledge includes what is known but not recorded (body of tacit knowledge in any profession)

• Mastery of this body of knowledge critical

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

HE and BoKs?

• PMAs have defined their own ‘Bodies of Knowledge’ (BoK) and claim ownership

• Current BOKs seen as narrow and opinion based (lack of formal research)

• Purpose undeclared (Certification base or guides for practitioners.

• Many university courses are based closely on BoKs and this too is a cause for concern (Winter and Thomas 2004)

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Accreditation by PMAs?• Linked to BoK issues

• US domination of ‘profession’ via PMI (260,000 members in 171 countries)

• Lack of ‘academic’ credibility

• Poor course design

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Professional Closure• PMI aim ‘to further the professionalization of project

management’ is clearly seeking formal recognition as a profession.

• International Project Management Association (IPMA) aim ‘the enhancement in Project Management and the advancement of Project Management as a profession.

• Largest IPMA member association, Association for Project Management (APM), is seeking a Royal Charter .

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Can HE Courses Produce Professional Project Managers?

Answer must be a resounding ‘NO!’

But this is not our role

However, there is a place for us alongside the Professional Societies

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Exploring the Actuality of Complex Projects –

to improve practitioner development

Miles Shepherd & Roger Atkinson

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Problematic Projects

• Well articulated literature of sub-optimal project performance

• Crosses all disciplines, from engineering through Information Technology to Social Sciences and society as a whole

• Wasted resources cannot be tolerated, particularly in the public sector

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Problematic Projects

Well Applied

Project Performance

Underlying Theory

Theory Application

Inadequate or incomplete

Adequate or well developed

Poorly Taught

Poorly Learned

Poorly Applied

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Period Central Concept Main Thrust Means

1960s Scheduling Coordinating activities Information technology, planning

1970s Teamwork Cooperation between participants

Process facilitation, role definition

1980s Uncertainty reduction

Making stable decisions Search for information, selective redundancy Risk management

1990s Simultaneity Orchestrating contending demands

Responsiveness Collaboration

2000s Adaptation Strategic focus Globalization

One size does not fit all Connect PM to business Off-shore projects

Adaptive approach Build a project strategy Virtual coordination

Changing Emphasis

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Actuality• A participative cooperative enquiry based on a range

of atypical events and activities experienced by actors in context

• Allows holistic and shared understanding of practice• Encourages…a multiple perspectives approach• Requires a conscious effort to understand the

relationship between actor and structure in context

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Research Design

Actuality ofLearning

Secondary Data PM

Literature

Pedagogical

Literature

Review of

Results

Actuality of

Projects

Primary Data

Synthesis

Project Management Network for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Actuality of Learning

Outcomes expected to discuss:

Levels (undergraduate vs postgraduate)

Content (possible curricular content)

Professional arguments

Pedagogic possibilities:

Rhythms (speed, cadence and syncopation)

Approaches