Project management and leadership education facilitated as projects

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences and reflections of delivering postgraduate project management (PM) education by structuring the courses as projects with milestones and incorporating the “language of projects” into the course lexicon. Design/methodology/approach – An action research approach was taken to use learner reflections to assess the effectiveness of interactive learning environment and project management language to stimulate richer learning experiences. Findings – Participating students apply the principles of learning to their own practice as they learn to incorporate theories and reflect on their impact for their projects, within their own contexts. They report this to be an effective approach as it reinforces their learning and highlights practical outcomes. Success of this approach is attributed to integrating principles from a wide range of interdependent disciplines including action learning, leadership, project management, reflective practice, sense-making, stakeholder engagement, problem-based learning and knowledge management. Reflecting on the impacts of soft skills in their own projects enhances learning outcomes and develops their professional capabilities. Research limitations/implications – The new teaching approach and extended model have evolved through adaptations over three successive semesters with moderate student numbers. Feedback has been through subjective self-assessment by participating students. Further evaluation will build a more robust assessment of the effectiveness of the approach and model. Practical implications – Structuring postgraduate project management education as a project can be adopted by other educators to enhance the learning outcomes. Social implications – Enhanced project management capabilities will reduce failure and costs. Originality/value – A new approach to learning is proposed and a new model, “Iron Triangle Plus” is presented, that together enhance learning for project leadership education and applied as a more effective way to lead projects.