This module introduces key principles and practices of project management within the context of biomedical design. Students will learn to develop organisational strategies, create and manage project schedules using software tools, and evaluate the skills essential for effective project leadership. The module also explores team development, motivation, and communication, alongside financial planning and control. Emphasis is placed on selecting appropriate project management styles to suit different biomedical design scenarios and challenges.
Organisation strategy: (20%)
Project selection criteria; Project Net present value and pay back. Project organisation structure. Corporate social responsibility. Project definition phase. Scope planning; project logic diagram, work breakdown structure, responsibility matrix, project stakeholder matrix. Cost planning: cost planning map. Project procurement management; Request for Quote (RFQ), Request for information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP). Procurement.
Project Scheduling: (20%)
Project management systems and tools: developing activity on-node networks, activity–on-arrow networks, critical path method, PERT program evaluation review technique, Gantt charting. Project Management Institute (PMI); PMBOK Guide and Standards. International Project Management Association (IPMA). Projects IN Controlled Environments(PRINCE2)
Risk: (10%)
Risk identification, risk quantification, risk response development, risk response control, risk response matrix.
Budget: (10%)
Earned value Analysis. Cost control. Project quality planning; Quality assurance plan. Project Implementation: Monitoring and managing progress. Tracking and managing the project budget. Project creep. Status reports. Performance reporting and closure. Health and Safety procedures and implementation. Project contracts and legal roles.
Team Building: (40%)
Attributes of high performing teams, creating a project team identity, team development. Team member motivation; Strategies for shaping behaviour; motivating workers by designing motivating jobs; skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback. Communication in virtual project teams, international teams, Hofstede’s dimensions of individualism-collectivism and power distance. Project communication plan, Verbal communication and email, Organising productive and effective meetings, facilitating group decision making, Analytical problems solving. Approaches to creative problem solving; imagination, improvement, investment, incubation. Conceptual blocks; constancy, commitment, compression, complacency. Creative problem solving tools. Fostering creativity in others. Leadership skills and project manager skills.
