PROJECT MANAGEMENT & SOFT SKILLS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
No prerequisites required for this course.
Students will attend some practical exercitations aimed to verify learnings in Project Management and strategies on soft skills’ development.
This course is not quantitatively evaluated by grades; student’s competencies applied during laboratory activities and active participations and involvement during lessons will be considered as a form of evaluation.
The main objective of the course is to provide basic knowledge about Project Management (PM) and Soft Skills development.
This course will discuss the functioning of Project Management and its application within biotechnology; the specificities of the main PM tools, such as BMC (Business Model Canvas); some basic contents about market analysis, Team building, Company and organizations lifecycle, MBO (Management by Objectives), KPI (Key Performance Indicators), Patent.
This course also allow students to understand what Soft Skills are and their applications on the labour market, in particular those identified by the World Economic Forum as the most in-demand skills for the future. Some basic informations about society’s transitions will be provided, in order to understand what impact they have and will have on the labour market and on workers. In addition, students will understand what kind of skills (hard and soft) are the most practical and suitable for achieving high work performances.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Understand what Project Management is and its applications in workplaces (Biotechnology referred)
2. Explain the main historical steps that led to Project Management, such as Taylorism, PERT|CPM, WBS, CCPM, Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Agile, Lean Thinking and PMBoK&PMP
3. Explain and use different strategies for Project Management and tools for a successful PM
4. Use correctly the Business Model Canvas
5. Know different types of Soft Skills needed in workplaces nowdays
6. Understand social transitions that lead to jobs transitions
7. Critically discuss what types of Soft Skills are required for their specific future jobs and know how to develop the Soft Skills they want to acquire
8. Analyze the benefits of Soft Skills in work performances, personal satisfaction and success, self-consciousness.
16 hours (2 CFU) of lessons divided between two topics: Project management (8 hours – 1 CFU) and Soft Skills (8 hours – 1 CFU).
8 hours (1 CFU) of lectures about Project Management:
- Technology transfer
- The market and market analysis
- Team building and team contract
- BMC: Business Model Canvas
- Project Management through history (Taylorism, Gantt, PERT|CPM, WBS, CCPM, Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Agile, Lean Thinking and PMBoK&PMP)
- Company, organizations and SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises): their vision, mission, strategies, objectives
- Customer segments and competitors
- Company lifecycle, Value Chain Model, Management by Objectives (MBO), Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
- Patent
- Practical exercitations in Project Management
8 hours (1 CFU) of lectures about Soft Skills:
- Growth and fixed mindset (C. Dweck)
- Differences between skills, abilities and competencies
- Types of skills: hard and soft
- Society transitions that lead to jobs transitions and different skills needed for a successful work
- Skills assessment
- Discovering Soft Skills:
• Leadership
• Team work
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Active listening
• Managing emotions
• Assertiveness
• Conflict management
• Diversity inclusion
- Practical exercitations about Soft Skills development
- Technology transfer
- The market and market analysis
- Team building and team contract
- BMC: Business Model Canvas
- Project Management through history (Taylorism, Gantt, PERT|CPM, WBS, CCPM, Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Agile, Lean Thinking and PMBoK&PMP)
- Company, organizations and SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises): their vision, mission, strategies, objectives
- Customer segments and competitors
- Company lifecycle, Value Chain Model, Management by Objectives (MBO), Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
- Patent
- Practical exercitations in Project Management
- Growth and fixed mindset (C. Dweck)
- Differences between skills, abilities and competencies
- Types of skills: hard and soft
- Society transitions that lead to jobs transitions and different skills needed for a successful work
- Skills assessment
- Discovering Soft Skills:
• Leadership
• Team work
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Active listening
• Managing emotions
• Assertiveness
• Conflict management
• Diversity inclusion
The course consists of 12 hours of frontal lessons and 4 hours of practical exercitations.
During each lesson a topic is treated starting from the discussion of the general theoretical principles, illustrating some examples (also taken from recent literature) and discussing potential implications from the applicative point of view. Lessons are supported by slides. For practical activities, students will be divided into small groups. After a general introduction to illustrate the objectives and experimental activities, students will be encouraged to independently build a project based on Business Model Canvas as well as working in small groups trying to use and develop strategies related to soft skills.
Attendance to at least 75% of practical activities is mandatory.
The teacher is available to provide information on the course and topics by appointment via e-mail (requests must be made by email – sabrina.terranova@uninsubria.it from the domain @ students.uninsubria.it).
The teacher is available for any in-depth or clarification meetings on the topics covered and on the experimental activity for groups of students.