Project Management

Learning Outcomes:

· LO1 - Learning Outcome 1: describe the need for a project-based approach inside organizations.

· LO2 - Learning Outcome 2: understand the role of project management as strategic element inside organizations.

· LO3 – Learning Outcome 3: critically assess the roles and responsibilities of a project manager;

· LO4 – Learning Outcome 4: evaluate how to select, develop, plan, schedule and measure its outcomes and risks.

Preamble:

The Cardiological Association of European (ESC) is the association in charge of uniting the heart surgeons of the EU-member states and other associatestates. Dissemination takes place in the form of prestigious scientific journals and the organization of congresses. The most important conferences are called ESC Congresses, which are held annually in Barcelona. The choice of the city is made in a 10-year contract, having been awarded to Barcelona until 2030. The organization of the event is conducted through a contract in a public-private partnership arrangement so that the organization is carried out jointly between the universities of the city and the local government. In this case, imagine that you are the coordinator of the research department of one of the university in your city (the leading university in the organization part).

It is expected, according to data from the latest conferences, that more than 8000 people from the field of cardiology will participate, including:

· Cardiologists

· University professors and PhD Students

· Representatives of research centers

· Representatives of private pharma companies

All of them not only belong to European and associate country universities, development centers and companies, but can also come from anywhere in the world. For participants, attending a congressof this type means:

· Disseminate your research in the form of 45-minute conferences and obtain feedback from attendees. In this case, they send a work to the scientific committee and if it is approved, they have the right to hold a conference.

· Know the progress of the work carried out in the field of cardiology

· Offer services by companies in the field of carrdiology

· Generate networking and synergies among attendees

The conferences of the attendees are carried out within some 'slots'. Each slot is 1 hour and has room for 2 conferences of 30 minutes each. There are between 10-16 slots that run in parallel, that is, in the same time slot. There are a total of 5 time slots per day. With all this, some 500 - 600 conferences are expected to be held during the congress.

Obviously, the organization of a congressof this type supposes a great effort in terms of time and costs, not only on the dates of the congressbut also before and after. The following points detail the organization and related activities before, during and after the conference.

Organization:

· The organization of the congressis mainly based on two committees:

· Organizing Committee: It is made up of a president, who organizes the entire congress. Given the complexity of the organization, the president appoints a number of people to be part of the organizing committee and they jointly plan and execute the necessary activities. He is also in charge of creating the scientific committee and a team that will help the organization, normally made up of student volunteers, during the days of the congress.

· Scientific Committee: Depends on the organizing committee. It also has a president and at the same time, he can designate different members of the committee who will be in charge of the acceptance/rejection of the works sent by the participants, proposal of plenary conferences and preparation of the congress agenda. Unlike the organizing committee, the members of this committee must be PhDs.

Before the congress:

The ESC tend to be held during the latest quarter of they year.

As tasks of the organizing committee before the realization of the congressare the following (although there may be more):

· Find a congress location

· Outsourcing of a catering company during the days of the congress

· Create the support group for the organization

· Creation and maintenance of the website

· Disseminate the findings in other congresses prior to the date and in related publications.

· Create accreditations and other complementary material for attendees on the day of the congress.

The scientific committee will be in charge of the following:

· Reception of the works sent by the participants to the congress interested in holding a conference

· Approve or reject jobs

· Organize plenary sessions. Sessions in which the speaker is a prestigious scientist and that his congressis of interest to the whole society

· Create a conference agenda for the days of the congress

The web page of the congress is basic for the realization of the conferences and it is where it brings together all the information regarding the event and acts as an exchange of information. The information and functionality that does not need to be operational from day one but can be released in phases. So that:

· From the previous year's congressuntil 6-7 months before the congress, the website must be active, indicating at least the dates of the conference, the location and the possibility for users to contact the organizers.

· From 6-7 months before the congress it is necessary to have:

· Exact information on the place of the congressas well as a list of recommendations to arrive. It can be in the same organizing university or in convention and congress centers, etc.

· Functionality related to the submission of papers by the attendees to participate in the congress(period from-to the participants can send the papers and the maximum date in which the scientific committee will communicate the inclusion/exclusion of the papers in the conference)

· Functionality related to the payment to attend the conference

· 2-3 months before the conferences, it is necessary to have the congressprogram finished for the attendees with all the programming.

During the congress:

· The congress lasts for two days and all the staff (organizing committee, scientific committee and the organization team) must be at the congress all the time. During all these days, the organizing committee is responsible for:

· Organize the activities of the organization team

· Networking among congress attendees to obtain feedback and apply corrective measures if necessary.

· The scientific committee will be in charge of:

· Ensure that the conferences, especially the plenaries, are carried out successfully

· Networking among congress attendees

· The organization team:

· During the first two days of the congress, the accreditations and other complementary materials will be delivered to those attending the congress.

· They will give support to those attending the congress as well as to both committees if necessary.

Definition

The student will need to read the preamble to understand the organization of the event and prepare a project plan that will be turned in in two phases, the initial phase of the project plan (as per the deadline mentioned above), and the final project plan (end of the semester, as an assignment for “Task 3”).

Tasks

1. Write the necessary sections for the project plan:

Time planning:

1. Definition of activities

2. Milestone plan and main deliverables

3. General Schedule: should include project phases and milestones with a Gantt schedule

WORDCOUNT - 500

Materials:

https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-&-Events/ESC-Congress

Rubrics

	Exceptional 90-100	Good 80-89	Fair 70-79	Marginal fail 60-69
Knowledge & Understanding (20%)	Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key project management concepts and uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner.	Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant project management concepts and demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary.	Student understands the task and provides minimum project management theory and/or some use of vocabulary.	Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key project management concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary.
Application (30%)	Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the project management topics delivered in class.	Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from project management the topics delivered in class.	Student applies some relevant knowledge from the project management topics delivered in class. Misunderstanding may be evident.	Student applies little relevant knowledge from the project management topics delivered in class. Misunderstands are evident.
Critical Thinking (30%)	Student critically assesses in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions adding relevant authors and references.	Student critically assesses in good ways, drawing conclusions from relevant authors and references.	Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. Authors and references may not be relevant.	Student makes little or none critical thinking insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources.
Communication (20%)	Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck	Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck	Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the wordcount limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident.	Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed wordcount excessively and misspelling errors are evident.