I have never professed to being an expert at revision. Whilst I was pretty studious at school, at University I discovered a whole world of distractions – mostly sporting and involving alcohol – that meant that I was not the most conscientious of students, and I managed to get through my final exams with only a serious amount of last minute cramming. It remains a supreme irony to me that I now sit on the other side of the fence as a lecturer; strongly advising students to work diligently throughout the term and not leave revision to the last minute!
One approach to understanding uncertainty in its most general sense is to consider some simple examples of uncertainty and use them to derive a general approach to managing uncertainty that can guide us in our daily lives. Let’s consider what the weather may have in store for us on a particular day – will it rain or will it brighten up? In the United Kingdom this is a particularly tricky uncertainty, and one that we need to deal with, if we are not to risk a soaking or to overheat in winter clothes should the sun emerge after a cool and cloudy start. And so if we are prudent we will check the weather forecast before we go out, and will take a decision on what preventative action to take, for example, carrying an umbrella or a sun hat, to minimize the consequences of the uncertainty. We will then get on with our day, all the time keeping a watchful eye on the weather to see if our plans for the day will need to change. This is a trivial example of uncertainty, where generally speaking the repercussions of error are not disastrous. Continue reading An intuitive model for how we manage project uncertainty:→
My close family and friends know from experience that the last two weeks in November are my least favourite of the calendar year, closely followed by the last two weeks in January. This is not due to SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) or the necessity to get organised for a big family Christmas. Instead it is down to the stress induced by a massive marking load which falls year after year on these dates – November is assignment marking time and January exam marking time. Continue reading Marking, marking everywhere and not a moment to lose→
The MSc in the Management of Projects (known as MOP) is a large, very successful taught MSc programme offered by the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester. Each year around 300 anxious looking MOP students descend on the University from over 30 countries. This year I have students from China, Japan, India, Ecuador, Lebanon, El Salvador, Ireland to name just a few. 85% of students are not native English speakers and it is our job as faculty to teach, encourage and support YOU the students to succeed on this programme.
As many of you know I teach a popular optional unit on the programme entitled Project Finance for Infrastructure projects. I have been teaching this unit since 2008 and during that time have taught and assessed over 1000 MOP students. Out of this experience and my own journey through a taught Masters programme, albeit at a competitor institution, I would like to share my thoughts on how to maximise the chances of success on this MSc programme. Continue reading Surviving and Thriving on The Management of Projects MSc→
In last month’s post we discussed the similarities between a PhD and a project and the first two lessons from the world of project management. This month we turn our attention to three further project management techniques that can be effectively deployed through a PhD.
