Slides presenting a paper at the ASEE 2018 Annual Conference describing the evolution in content and format of an advanced project management course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The course is for experienced, practicing professionals in the online Master of Engineering management program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

1. Which ship would
you choose?

2. Wayne Pferdehirt, Jeffrey Russell, & John Nelson
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Master of Engineering Management Program
2018 ASEE Annual National Conference
Evolving the Teaching and Practice
of Project Management:
Lessons Learned on the Way to Living Order

3. a better title …
Rethinking the Practice and Teaching
of Project Management

4. This talk will be
successful if…
 You take away one idea you can apply.
 Your understanding of the path to project success is
deeper.
 You leave thinking more deeply about key project
management competencies and how to facilitate
students’ learning.

5. The Authors and Teaching Team
Jeff Russell, PhD, PE
Dean, Continuing Studies
Vice Provost, Lifelong Learning
John Nelson, PE
Chief Technology Officer,
Global Infrastructure Advisors LLC
Wayne Pferdehirt, PE
Director, MEM Program

6. Our Students
• All are working engineers, located across U.S.
and beyond
• Two to thirty years professional experience
• All engineering disciplines
• Seeking to grow as managers and leaders
• Highly motivated

7. The Program
• Launched in 1999
• Typ. 25-30 students admitted each year
• Over 500 graduates
• Major awards for quality from UPCEA, USDLA, Sloan
Foundation
• Consistently ranked among top programs by US N&WR
• Project-based curriculum, continues to evolve

8. The Course: Technical Project Management
• Three credits, graduate level, online
• Fifteen week semester
• Weekly live web conferences
• Major team-selected semester project
• Student-led asynchronous discussions
• Recorded introductions to topics
• High student-student and student-instructor
engagement

9. Key Concepts we teach
and challenge students to apply
• Agility of project’s team, plan, and management is critical.
• Importance of adapting management approach and strategy
to Living Order.
• Delivering Value matters more than the plan.
• Reliable Promising builds trust and results.

10. Reliable Promising
is a critical competency for project teams.

11. Key Concepts we teach
and challenge students to apply (cont’d)
• Apply Lean principles; Pull value-added flow.
• Reward and enable focus on Shared Project Success
among all team partners.
• Throughout the project effective project managers
proactively Engage, Learn, and Adapt.

12. LEAN
Principles
Strategy
Initiation
Solicitation
Teaming
Planning
Scheduling
Risk
Management
Cost/Value
Resources
Monitoring&
Control
Learning&
Adjusting
Sustainability
NextSteps
PuttingIt
Together
THEMES
1
Value
stream
mapping
2 3 4 5
Scenario
Planning
/ Gaming
6
Pull
7
Equity
8
Value
9
Flow
10 11 12 13 14 15
Push Shift Budget Order Standards & Guidelines
SOS
BAU
GEOMETRIC
Value Anarchy Pull Share Target Agility
LIVING
Laufer’s
Principles
Collaboration
Organizational
Push Hierarchy Deterministic
Dynamic Customer
Pull
Anticipate Adaptable
Sustainability
Learning
Organizations
Last Planners /
Dashboards
Linear
/Fixed Respond Price
Week
The Course Roadmap
ties themes to weekly lessons.

13. Key Practices that facilitate
authentic learning
• Weekly, small, interactive web conferences
• Student presentations of cases, practices, and
tools
• Challenging, semester-long team project
• Applications to student’s organization
• Pre- and post-course self assessments

14. Team Projects enable high-
value, collaborative learning.
• Proposal to Project Team
• Team Project Plan
• Strategic Analysis of Project
• Project Organization, Schedule & Budget
• Project Recovery Challenge
• Team Project Presentation
• Team Final Report
• Team Self Evaluations

15. Students tackle real-life, challenging projects.
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge:
Wetlands Reconstruction

16. Students consistently rate the course
as a high-value learning experience.
16
5 = very
important
1 = not
important
Course
Useful in
Future Job
Importance as Part of
MEM Curriculum
348-710 Foundations of Engineering Leadership 4.85 4.75
348-612 Technical Project Management 4.82 4.89
348-611
Engineering Economic Analysis and
Management
4.72 4.61
348-617 Communicating Technical Information 4.83 4.71
348-470
Engineering Problem Solving with
Computers
4.22 3.76
348-615
Independent Reading and Research in
Applied Engineering
4.26 3.99
348-613
International Engineering Strategies &
Operations
4.63 4.35
348-416 Engineering Applications of Statistics 4.32 4.30
348-518
Quality Engineering & Quality
Management
4.54 4.67
348-618
Applied Leadership & Management for
Engineering Organizations
4.86 4.72
Based on student evaluations past 3 years

17. Our Challenges
• Scaling size of course without loss of value.
• Improving pre- and post-course self assessments.
• Adapting to increasing degrees of freedom in
program design: optional residency; multiple entry
semesters.
• Ensuring relevance to all students’ project types
and experience.
• Enhancing active learning design of web
conferences.

18. Our new ebook supports students’
learning of key concepts
To request a copy, email:
Wayne Pferdehirt
wayne.pferdehirt@wisc.edu
Anticipated release of beta
version late Fall 2018

19. Returning to Our Boat
• Failure by John Franklin, 1845-1848
• Two large ships, 3-years’ provisions, crew of 128
• Philosophy: Prepare, confront, conquer
• Success by Roald Amundsen, 1903-1905
• Smaller ship (70 ft, shallow draft, crew of 6), limited
provisions
• Engaged with Intuit culture, adopted caribou fur
clothing, learned to hunt seals and use sled dogs
• Strategy emphasized and built agility of team
• Key was a focus on agility
• Ship, team, strategy and logistics
• Embraced Living Order of trip and used to advantage
• Engage, learn, adapt
• Success was end result, not following a pre-defined
plan or route

20. Copyright 2014 CannonDesign and University of Wisconsin-Madison
What is your one practical
take-away from today?
More than one is allowed

21. Thank You!
College of Engineering
Department of Engineering Professional Development