MSc Programme and Project Management students hear from industry experts
The Management School’s MSc Programme and Project Management students attended an industrial speaker event designed to explore the role of project planning theory in practice. Five guest speakers from a range of industries and sectors spoke at the half-day event that addressed the topic of “Project planning: theory and reality”. The panel of speakers were:
- Kiera Vogel, Director of Planned Maintenance for M&Y Maintenance (Regenda Group Housing Association)
- Mike Ludbrook, Managing Director, Value Time Consulting Ltd
- David Williams, Senior Project Manager, University of Liverpool’s facilities, residential and commercial services
- Mark Graham, Project Manager, United Utilities
- Jake Holloway, Xceed group
The speakers gave insight into their project planning experience in maintenance, public sector, construction, utilities and IT. Across all talks the common themes centred on the importance of stakeholder management, communication and negotiation in the planning process. The sessions were interactive and students debated with the speakers issues including leadership, estimating and risk management. Dr Jo Meehan who organised the event said, “It was great to hear interesting and entertaining stories from a fantastic guest panel, and it was encouraging that the clear messages from the speakers resonate well with the content of our programme”.
Dr Roula Michaelides, Programme Director, said “it is important that our programmes engage with industry to ensure that our students apply theories and critical thinking to real-world situations that are complex and uncertain. The guest speakers were able to provide insight into how the theories work in practice and how the students’ learning can be developed”.