Project Management - BUAD 465 and OLS 665 - Syllabus - Fall 2024

Sep 13, 2026

Project Management course syllabus for BUAD 465 and OLS 665 (Lindy Backues, PhD) covering how organizations succeed through effective project and program management. The course develops technical project logic skills for scope, schedule, and resources, data collection for monitoring and control, and leadership capabilities including governance, buy-in, vision, conflict resolution, and communication. Students also build self-management, apply systems and matrix thinking to social complexity and non-linear work, and practice leadership for the common good across cross-cultural, multi-stakeholder environments with multiple partners, supported by Moodle readings and Zoom-based class sessions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Course Description

Course Objectives

Books and Materials

Requirements and Evaluations

Class Assignments

Attendance, Preparation, & Participation

Postmortem Analysis

Individual Critical Path Exercises

Project Management BUAD 465 and OLS 665 Lindy Backues, PhD Associate Professor of Business and Leadership e-mail: [lindy.backues@emu.edu](lindy.backues@emu.edu) Fall 2024 Thursday, 8-10pm On-line Office: Main Campus, CC 206b Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11am-1 .30pm EST Course Description Most organizations manage their work and accomplish their missions through a multitude of projects. Organizational success takes effective management skills to not only manage individual projects but also direct the web of complex programs of multiple, interrelated projects, skillfully working with diverse stakeholders, demanding deadlines, and available resources. Focusing on the promotion of leadership for the common good as a project manager adds another level of complexity. Course participants will improve their capacity to balance the art and science of managing projects by building technical competencies, adopting practices of leadership and self-management, and by focusing on leadership for the common good competencies and abilities to manage complexities, non-linearity, and organic human workplace environments designed to accomplish a task or tasks, produce goods, or provide services. Course Objectives By the end of this course students should be able to: 1. Develop technical skills to create a project logic system and effectively manage scope, schedule, and resources; collect and analyze data to monitor, evaluate, and control project success. 2. Understand and practice leadership skills within a project context by creating a governance system, promoting buy-in, inspiring others through a vision, resolving conflict, communicating effectively, and motivating team members. 3. Manage social complexity, design work projects with matrix thinking in mind, and resist linear models that do not properly reflect actual, concrete, iterative and communal work processes when they are successful and well-designed. 4. Increase self-management in organizational skills, analytical thinking, time management, and self-awareness. 5. Understand practicing leadership for the common good values and paradigms, including how to work with multiple, diverse stakeholders in crosscultural contexts, navigate complex environments, and work with multiple implementing partners. Books and Materials Croft , Chris. (2022) . Project Management QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Precise Planning, Strategic Resource Management, and Delivering World-Class Results. ClydeBank Media (ISBN: 978-1-63610-058-6) . There is an Audible version and a Kindle Version of this text available at Amazon. Various readings and tools posted at Moodle. Our Zoom Link is: [https://zoom.us/my/l](https://zoom.us/my/l)indy. backues Requirements and Evaluations Students should come to class prepared to discuss the assignments scheduled for that class period (all assignments are assigned for the day they are listed on the course schedule) . Thus, for each of the assigned readings found below, it is very important that you follow the proper pedagogical sequence. Please try to avoid coming to class , listening (and attempting to participate), and then reading the chapter or readings assigned that day. Rather, read the assigned chapter or readings for the day/week in question, enter into class familiar with the topic we are covering that day/week and perhaps even with questions prompted by the assigned reading materials. With this sequence, you will get far more from lectures, and you will be positioned to better participated in class and in the learning process. Class Assignments Attendance, Preparation, & Participation: Be present, be prepared, and fully participate in class discussions and activities to earn full points – it is expected that you will always have your camera on and I very much wish for you to participate in the class in a quiet, undisturbed room or place where you can always have your microphone on (unmut

FAQs

What competencies does the course aim to develop by the end of the term?

Students develop technical skills for scope, schedule, and resource management, along with leadership abilities such as governance, communication, conflict resolution, and motivation. The course also emphasizes self-management and leadership for the common good in complex, cross-cultural stakeholder settings.

How are course objectives connected to project logic, data, and control?

The syllabus specifies building a project logic system and effectively managing scope, schedule, and resources. It also requires collecting and analyzing data to monitor, evaluate, and control project success.

What are the main graded assignments and their evaluation weights?

Attendance, preparation, and participation comprise 10% of the final grade. Postmortem analysis is another 10%, due September 29, and the syllabus also includes critical path exercises with multiple submission points across the semester.

Sep 13, 2026

Uploaded by Maya Linwood