SCI20020 Introduction to Project Management and Leadership

Academic Year 2023/2024

Project management and leadership skills are relevant to everyone at some stage of their professional or personal lives. Personal examples include: organising a 21st birthday party; planning a wedding; building a house and so on. In your career it is very likely that you will at some stage be either working as a member of a project team or as a project manager leading the team. In addition, the communciation and leadership skills covered in the module will be directly relevant to all careers.

In the workplace, projects vary greatly and examples include designing a new product, testing a new system, marketing a new product; producing a promotional video, purchasing and installing a new manufacturing system and so on.

This module introduces the principles of project management. This is achieved through a blend of theory, practical examples and case studies - the emphasis of the module is on real life practical project management problems and how to address them.

Project management requires practice and participants will work in teams in lectures on a hypothetical project. You will also work in teams in lectures to come up with approaches to typical "dilemmas" that a project manager may face. However, grading is done on an individual basis so that you get graded on your own work and your contribution to the project as opposed to getting a "group grade".

Participants will also become familiar with Microsoft Project (or similar package) as a tool to help in project management.

Successful project managers and leaders must be able to manage their own time and establish personal goals. The course will explore time management and present practical tips for improving your time management skills. In addition a decision making methodolgy will be investigated to provide you with a framework for making decisions in the future. It will also deal with communication skills and the thorny issue of how to deal with difficult people.

This module has proved popular with a wide range of students from Business, Law, Engineering, Science, Nursing, Sports Science, Arts and so on.

Lecture attendance is MANDATORY as much of the learning is derived from group work in the lectures.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

What Will I learn?
- Time management - how to manage your time to get a project completed on time.
- Understand and be able to plan a project.
- Understand the importance of and how to use, delegation in management.
- Improve your communication skills by participating in group discussions
- Use Microsoft Project (or similar package) to create project plans and Gantt charts
- Define and explain the role of motivation and goal setting in project management
- Understand the issues and approaches to dealing with difficult people
- Become familiar with some of the principle of behavioural science and how they influence decision making
- Understand the importance of communication and negotiation in project management and leadership.
- Understand and apply a structured process in effective decision making.

Indicative Module Content:

Introduction to different aspects of project management (PM): nature of projects and PM, project budget, scope, schedule, quality, HR requirements, communications, risk, procurement and stakeholders.

Time management techniques, prioritisation and use of lists. Nature of leadership. Stephen Covey's 7 habits. Behavioural Science: cognitive biases, influencing people, and decision making methodology. Thinking environments. Conversations and leadership. Negotiation techniques.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Computer Aided Lab

6
Specified Learning Activities

30
Autonomous Student Learning

50
Total

110
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
There are 2 lectures per week. These take place in an active learning environment where students sit in groups of up to 9. In many lectures a dilemma is presented and is discussed in each group with a short feedback session after the discussion. Time is set aside at the end of each lecture so that each group can work on their group project in class. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
BMGT10150 - Project Management, COMP20140 - Intro to Project Management, EEME40080 - Project Management, MEEN40310 - Project Management


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Group Project: Team Project running through trimester. Week 11 n/a Graded No

15
Journal: Learning Journal Week 12 n/a Graded No

85

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
Repeat Within Two Trimesters
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Name Role
Mrs Niamh Byrne McKenna Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Ms Orla Sherwood Tutor
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Autumn
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 Thurs 15:00 - 15:50
External & School Exams Offering 1 Week(s) - 12 Thurs 15:00 - 15:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 15:00 - 15:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Tues 15:00 - 15:50
Autumn
      
Spring
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 33 Thurs 15:00 - 15:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 22, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32 Thurs 15:00 - 15:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 15:00 - 15:50
Spring