Summer Institute in Project Management: Spring 2023

Date & Time

Wednesday, 26 April 2023 - 9:00am to Wednesday, 31 May 2023 - 11:30am

Location

Online via Zoom

Organizer

Postdoctoral Fellows Office

 

Project Management is increasingly becoming a needed skill in both research and non-academic settings. The PDFO Summer Institute in Project Management is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of topics in research project management, including an introduction to the principles, and key elements of scope, time, cost, quality, stakeholder and risk management for projects in research.

This summer institute is comprised of:

  • 13 hours of class time delivered over 4 two-hour sessions and 2 two-and-a-half hour sessions
    • Classes will present material for each module and will involve class participation and discussion around prepared project case studies provided by the instructor.
  • Read and watch elements, and lists of supporting materials in the form of online readings and videos for each module.
    • The suggested readings and other materials will assist students in examining the concepts of project management, as well as project metrics, project close-out, and essentials of leadership.

Postdocs who complete all six sessions in full will receive a certificate of completion from the PDFO. The Certificate of Completion is sufficient to be used to demonstrate 13 hours of training or professional development units (PDUs) that can be reported to PMI.org as part of pursuing or sustaining a PMP designation.

TIME COMMITMENT AND PRE-WORK

Due to the interactive and cumulative nature of the Summer Institute in Project Management, participants are expected to attend all sessions in full. In order to maximize time during each session, some pre-work will be required before each session.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • All participants must be available to attend all sessions in full.
  • All applicants must hold a current UBC postdoctoral fellowship appointment at the time of application and for the duration of the program.
  • Postdocs who have repeatedly missed PDFO workshops without notice/cancellation may be considered ineligible to attend.

SESSIONS AND CONTENT

Pre-Program Video Module - Available Wednesday, April 19, 2023

A video introduction to the program and the instructor, Robyn Roscoe.

Module #1: Key Principles of Project Management - Wednesday, April 26, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Definition of a project
  • Project life cycle
  • Project initiation – strategic question, driving priority
  • Ten knowledge areas
  • Project planning – key definitions
Module #2: Stakeholders and Risk - Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Stakeholders
    • Definition
    • Classification
    • Prioritization
    • Requirements
    • Expectations
  • Risk
    • Definition
    • Assessment
    • Planning
Module #3: Scope, Quality and Project Time Management - Wednesday, May 10, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM (note extended length)
  • Scope
    • Definition
    • Scope statement
    • Scope creep/seep
  • Quality
    • Definition
    • Characteristics
    • Criteria
  • Project time management
    • Activity relationships
    • Scheduling of project time
    • Schedule crashing
    • Measuring schedule performance and scope management
Module #4: Project Cost Management (Part 1) - Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Expense categories
  • Budget development
  • Measuring budget performance
Module #5: Project Cost Management (Part 2) - Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

This is a continuation of module #4.

  • Executing, controlling and monitoring, and closing – bringing it all together
    • Establishing metrics for managing the project.
  • Establishing control points/mechanisms in scope, time, cost, quality, risk, and team
    • Comparing plan to outputs
    • Confirming completion of stakeholder requirements and expectations
    • Audit considerations
Module #6: Project Team and Communications Management - Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM (note extended length)
  • Project team management
    • Describe/identify project resources required
    • Organization chart/communication plan
    • Decision making approaches
    • Conflict resolution
  • Project communications management
    • Communication planning
    • Performance reporting
  • Final Q&A with instructor

FACILITATOR

Robyn Roscoe

Robyn Roscoe

Robyn Roscoe is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with 20 years of experience in the management of large health research projects, and more than 30 years of experience in project management in the scientific and technical fields. Since 2011, Robyn has been principal of Lyric Management, specializing in management and leadership training and teaching, event coordination and delivery, grant writing and facilitation, and coaching and mentorship.

Robyn has been recognized for excellence in research project management with several awards from the Canadian Association of Research Administration. She holds a BSc from the University of Manitoba.

Robyn is committed to enabling responsible and efficient conduct of research through professional and personal development opportunities in leadership and project management for those working in the research enterprise. Robyn’s work exemplifies her motto of working hard, living well, and giving back, and her values of excellence, integrity, and community.

Registration

Registration in this program is required, and is now open. Those successfully registered in the program will receive an email within two weeks of the program start date.

NO-SHOW PENALTY: If you register and do not attend or cancel after 3pm on the day before the event, it may affect your eligibility to join future events. To avoid this no-show penalty, please cancel by at least 3pm the day before the event by emailing postdoctoral.fellows@ubc.ca.

Accessibility

If you have a disability, medical condition, or accessibility concern that may affect your full participation in the event, please email postdoctoral.fellows@ubc.ca in advance of the event.

PDFO EVENT COMMUNITY AGREEMENT

The PDFO has created a community agreement for our events in order to foster an inclusive, welcoming, and respectful environment in which all event attendees feel safe and supported.

By participating in a PDFO event, we commit ourselves to:

  • Treating one another with kindness, courtesy and respect in all interactions;
  • Engaging in gracious, active listening and valuing others’ opinions;
  • Not dominating discussions so that others can share during the session;
  • Ensuring that any potentially confidential or sensitive information shared as part of the session is not shared outside of the session;
  • Actively participating in the session; and
  • In online sessions, when possible and if comfortable sharing audio and/or video to create a greater sense of community and participation.

DELIVERY FORMAT

Due to the ongoing situation surrounding COVID-19, this program will be delivered online via Zoom. The following suggestions may help to improve the online experience:

  • Use headphones to reduce noise and avoid feedback between your mic and speaker.
  • Ensure that you are in a quiet location so that the audio does not get polluted with unwanted noise.
  • Keep your microphone on mute unless you are speaking during the session.
  • In case of technical problems, time for plugin downloads, etc., please attempt to log into the Zoom meeting 10-15 minutes before the start. You will be placed in the waiting room until the official start time.

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