Project Management
As part of the Spotlight Series, Emma Mescall contacted a number of the existing Communities of Practice already established here at UCD about how they came together, their function, the objectives and how the changes brough on by Covid affected them.
This profile was provided by Frank Desmond (IT Programme Management Office Manager), Marian O'Connor (Senior Project Manager, Office of the Registrar) and Brídín Walsh (Head of IT Programme & Risk Management) on behalf of the PM CoP
Who are you?
Frank Desmond (IT Programme Management Office Manager), Marian O’Connor (Senior Project Manager, Office of the Registrar) and Brídín Walsh (Head of IT Programme & Risk Management) coordinate the group’s activities.
What is the purpose of the group?
The purpose of the PM – CoP is to tap into the experience of project managers across the university to build and share knowledge, skills, tools, and ways of working, as well as to develop an informal network of like-minded individuals.
How often do you meet?
Meetings are currently scheduled on an ad hoc basis when members have topics of interest to present and discuss. In addition, within Google Currents, there is a UCD PM CoP group where people can post messages, and access shared documents & templates.
Goals/Objectives?
The key objectives of the Project Management CoP are:
– Provide a friendly forum for like-minded people from different areas of the university to share experiences of things that work or don’t work in managing projects.
– Agree on common terminology and definition of the key roles and responsibilities involved in a project.
– Share experiences of the project management framework and methodologies used. In particular to consider how cross-university projects might be addressed.
– Share ideas and knowledge on PM training opportunities, conferences, seminars, online resources, etc
– Templates – sharing templates, aiming for reuse and continuous improvement of what we have.
– Tools – what tools are available, what works well, what doesn’t?
What is the time commitment and how do you measure engagement?
The time commitment is very much dependent on the number of meetings and then engagement by the membership in organizing events etc. A recommendation perhaps is to incorporate what might be expected from members at the outset when signing up.
Engagement is measured by the numbers signed up, number attending events and then engaging in the community beyond attendance, i.e. participating and sharing of practice.
Who is the group for?
The group is for project managers, programme managers and other interested people who play a role in managing projects in UCD. New members are always welcome and anyone interested in joining can connect via our Google Community.
