Study Guide

Objective

The student understands approaches to project management and leadership, is aware of the core project management concepts, and knows how to define a project plan & control the project. Student is able to apply business research and development methods for the analysis of a real life case in project management. Student can critically evaluate and analyze the project results and report the project.

Content

- Project leadership; project work models and methods
- Project work tools at the Initiation & Planning stage: project charter, statement of work, responsibility matrix, communication plan, project proposal
- Project work tools at the Execution & Control stage: work breakdown structure, scheduling & accurate estimations
- Team management, team leadership, clear communication & other project skills
- Evaluating and measuring: project progress and its success
- Project reporting & stakeholder management.

Assignment outline: The course contains a series of questions to check the recommended reading. The main assignment is a reflection-based report, done individually. The student applies business research and development methods for the analysis of a real life project management case.

Location and time

This is a SELF-STUDY course, which includes 3 classes/meetings with the instructor. These meetings are optional for attendance, but it is highly recommended to attend the 1st meeting, Introduction, held on 27.01 at 13-16 pm on campus (a face-to-face meeting). Two other classes/meetings will be held in "off-hours" in the evening time (online).

Online materials will appear in OMA on 27.01 (by 1st online Introduction session).

Materials

COURSE MATERIAL & RECOMMENDED READINGS and VIDEOS:

The course includes a package of materials for self-study (slides and videos).

1) 1st recommended e-book (a "must-read" book for all student and especially for those without practical PM experience):
Verzuh, Eric. (2008, 2011, 2016 or later). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management: A Practical Handbook and Reference, with PM Certification Study Tips. John Wiley & Sons Inc. - Available as a paper book and e-book via MetCat, Metropolia library.

2) 2rd recommended e-books ("look-at" before the PM Certification Exam):
In English: IPMA National Competence Baseline 3.0 (available as .pdf file in this workspace)
In Finnish: Projektijohdon pätevyys 3.0: https://www.pry.fi/files/108/PMAF_NCB_3.0_v1.3.pdf
In Finnish: an e-book especially for those who plan to pass the PM Certification Exam in Finnish, written by the founders of PRY/PMAF (Exam body): Projektiliiketoiminta (with some parts in English): http://pbgroup.aalto.fi/en/the_book_and_the_glossary/projektiliiketoiminta.pdf

3) 3rd recommended e-book (optional book, for those with advanced interests & practical PM experience):
Better Practices of Project Management: Based on IPMA Competences (2013, 2016), by John Hermarij. - Available as a paper book and e-book via MetCat, Metropolia library.

Recommended videos:

The course relies heavily on existing high-quality videos produced by leading PM experts from UK, US and Finland (available in open access). Please utilize these excellent sources! You will find the list of recommended videos in the "Documents", in OMA course space.

Teaching methods

This is a SELF-STUDY course, which includes 3 classes/meetings with the instructor.

NOTE, the 1st meeting, "Introduction", is a FACE-TO-FACE MEETING. If you are interested in a fully online course, pls check a similar implementation called "LY00EB31-3004 Project Management").

-------------------------------------------------
Learning outcomes of the course

The student understands approaches to project management and leadership, is aware of the core project management concepts, and knows how to define a project plan & control the project. Student is able to apply business research and development methods for the analysis of a real life case in project management. Student can critically evaluate and analyze the project results and report the project.

Exam schedules

ASSIGNMENT deliveries & due dates (any earlier deliveries are very welcome!):

Assignment outline: Assignment A is the analysis of real-life project management cases (3 cases altogether in the course, 1 case per delivery). The main Assignment B is a reflection-based report about the project where the student had/is participated, or is/was a project manager/team member.

19.02, Sunday (1st delivery of PM assignment, parts A+B) - you get feedback to part B and improve it for the next iteration.
19.03, Sunday (2nd delivery of PM assignment, parts A+B ) - you get feedback to part B and improve it for the next iteration.
16.04, Sunday (final 3rd delivery of PM assignment, parts A+B) - final version of part B (your project). No feedback, just a grade.

Note, 1st and 2nd deliveries are given feedback (to part B). Each subsequent part can be improved based on feedback.


PM CERTIFICATION EXAM:

If the student decides to take a PM Certification Exam in April-May 2022 organized by Metropolia (participation is voluntary; the date will be announced separately), a successfully passed PM Certification can be recognized as +1 grade to the course grade). The PM Certification Exam has high educational value and therefore is highly recommended and recognized as part of competence development in the course.

Student workload

The course workload is 5 ECTS, which is appx. 130h of work (online meetings, readings, assignments and self-study). Each 1 credit is appx. 27 hours of student work.

Content scheduling

Course contents:

- Project leadership; project work models and methods
- Project work tools at the Initiation & Planing stage: project charter, statement of work, responsibility matrix, communication plan, project proposal
- Project work tools at the Execution & Control stage: work breakdown structure, scheduling & accurate estimations
- Team management, team leadership, clear communication & other project skills
- Evaluating and measuring: project progress and its success
- Project reporting & stakeholder management.

Further information

The course is held in English.

Course instructor

Zinaida Grabovskaia, PhL, Senior lecturer
Head of Master’s Programme in Business Informatics
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Room 250, Leiritie 1, 01600 Vantaa, Finland
tel. +358 40 198 4008
Email: zinaida.grabovskaia@metropolia.fi

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good overall performance: can apply and articulate concepts and information well both verbally and in writing, certain areas of individual or team output require further attention; shows appropriate level of interest and motivation in individual and team activities. Good presentation delivery and analysis.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent performance in all elements of the course: shows interest and motivation in individual and team activities and assignments, fully applies and clearly articulates concepts and information both verbally and in writing. The student is able to support his/her argument with references to the recommended reading and lecture content. Excellent presentation delivery and analysis.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Assessment methods and criteria

The course is assessed on the 0 (failed) – 5 (excellent) grading scale.

Approved / Failed

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Satisfactory

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Good

Good overall performance: can apply and articulate concepts and information well both verbally and in writing, certain areas of individual or team output require further attention; shows appropriate level of interest and motivation in individual and team activities. Good presentation delivery and analysis.

Excellent

Excellent performance in all elements of the course: shows interest and motivation in individual and team activities and assignments, fully applies and clearly articulates concepts and information both verbally and in writing. The student is able to support his/her argument with references to the recommended reading and lecture content. Excellent presentation, delivery and analysis.

Prerequisites

Completed Higher Education Degree.

Further information

The language of tuition is English.