Project Management as an Essential Core Competency in Engineering

J. Michael Bennett Danny Ho

University of Ontario Institute of Technology NFA Estimation Inc.
michael.bennett@uoit.ca danny@nfa-estimation.com

1 Introduction Why are these courses classified as core in

engineering education? Why are they not non-
Project management is emerging as perhaps the key technical electives?
core competency in Engineering in the 21st century First of all, we assume that a regular engineering
industrial workplace. We developed two project student who graduates from any accredited
management courses (basic and advanced) for the engineering school is going to possess adequate
Faculty of Engineering as special topic courses that technical skills and knowledge for his/her engineering
will prepare students and professionals to apply domain (e.g., chemical, civil, computer, electrical,
project management discipline in their study and mechanical, nuclear, software). In today’s world (at
work. The courses are intensive investigations into the school, at work or at home), it is a “given” that one
major principles of project management slanted must multi-task. Can one “manage oneself”? After
towards, but not exclusively about, the management of entering the industry for 2-5 years, one expects to be
engineering projects. We use the Project Management promoted to a senior engineer leading a couple of
Institute’s (PMI’s) Project Management Body of junior engineers and/or student engineers. Can one
Knowledge (PMBoK) 4th Edition [1] as a skeleton and “manage the individuals”? After 5-10 years in the
expand that coverage to IEEE’s Project Management industry, one is expected to undertake a team leader or
Standard [2] and British Standards Institute’s (BSI’s) management role. Can one “manage the team”? Most
Standard [3]. The courses also cover relevant importantly, one must always “manage within the
examples and several case studies from the industry. law”. We illustrate the management triples in a
There is significant class interaction. Each student triangle as shown in Figure 1, with the key (the fourth
researches a current topic in an area of choice and one) written in the middle.
gives a formal presentation and report. We have
offered these courses to universities and companies in
multiple countries, as well as government institutions.
We also conducted a survey as part of a recent
course offering to study the impact of technology to
future professionals. We would like to validate
whether some basic human fundamentals that directly
impact project management, such as punctuality,
keeping appointments, honouring commitments, and
most importantly honesty, have been honoured or
ignored by the upcoming generation of engineers.
We argue that these courses should be classified as
core in engineering education, highlight the contents
of the courses and interpret the results of the survey in Figure 1. The management triples
this paper.
In order to prepare engineers for industry, project
2 Purpose management is mandatory to complement their
technical training. This has been an omission
identified by the Outcomes Based Assessment (OBA)
Criteria of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation
Board (CEAB). In industry, there are too many We asked students (either as an assignment or as a
engineers who tumbled into project management mid-term examination question) to derive a Work
without proper and adequate training. (That is why we Breakdown Structure (WBS) and schedule (with
have offered our training to companies around the activities sequencing, milestones and external
world and to government institutions.) Unfortunately, dependencies) capturing the moment they woke up
in the real world, while on-the-job training is always until they arrived at the university. Students felt that
available, failure will not be tolerated more than once, the exercise benefited their understanding of how to
even though knowledge can only be gained in a hit-or- manage themselves and how to conduct better
miss fashion. Trial and error effort will result in costly planning in the future.
mistakes. In today’s competitive market, there is only Cost Estimation
one standard for success – excellence. The discipline We discussed the Performance Evaluation and
of project management is no exception. Review Technique (PERT) for estimation. We also
We also offer this course at the graduate level for introduced students to the concepts of Function Points
similar reasons. A number of graduate students are [4], Rayleigh Model, Exponential Model, Constructive
new immigrants to this country and they have Cost Model (COCOMO) [5] and Software Life Cycle
professional experience from other countries. While Management (SLIM) [6], as well as practical
pursuing advanced engineering degrees, the course experience with these estimation models. Students
also prepares them for the PMI’s Project Management were exposed to the magnitude of large, medium and
Professional (PMP) Examination. With work small projects in the industry in terms of cost, time and
experience and examination accreditation, those who staff estimation.
eventually attain the PMP status (which is recognized Project Organization Types and Staffing
worldwide), are in better positions to continue with Students only knew about functional organizations.
their career in the local job market. They were not aware of matrixed and projectized
We cannot stress enough that engineering project organizations. We discussed the pros and cons of each
management is the core of the engineering curriculum. type of organization and of being an engineer in these
organizations.
3 The Basic Course Managing Engineering Professionals
We discussed the hiring and firing processes. We
also discussed human behaviour by introducing the
This course is offered to second year software Blanchard [7], Fundamental Inter-Personal
engineering students as an introduction to the methods Relationship Orientation Behaviour (FIRO-B) [8],
and procedures for managing engineering projects. It Myers-Briggs [9], Parker [10] and Porter [11]. We
covers the basics of PMBoK units 1,2,3,6,7 and 9; used Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model Instrument [12]
with emphasis on project planning, scheduling, cost when covering conflict management. Students
estimation, project organizational types and staffing, acknowledged that they knew more about themselves
managing engineering professionals, as well as and felt comfortable coping with others with different
measuring and controlling projects. At the end of the behaviour and temperament.
course, students are expected to be proficient in Measuring and Controlling Projects
managing one’s individual tasks as well as team The concept of earned value (EV) was new to all
activities, to be prepared to manage third and fourth students. It took many examples and exercises to
year individual and team projects, and to be ready to convey the concept, and for students to recognize the
undertake internship professional opportunities in their usefulness of cost variance (CV), schedule variance
areas of engineering. (SV), cost performance index (CPI), schedule
We are not going to repeat the contents of PMBoK, performance index (SPI), etc.
but merely highlighting some of our offerings and Case Studies
findings. Each student researched a topic or experience report
on project management, gave a 15-minute presentation
Project Management Stories (with questions and answers period) and wrote a 5-
Each student was asked to research a unique project page report.
management story and give a 5-minute presentation.
This exercise kicked off the course and students
learned to appreciate the importance of project 4 The Advanced Course
management.
Project Planning and Scheduling This course is offered to fourth year and graduate
engineering students, as well as professionals about to
practice or practising project management in industry. (with questions and answers period) and wrote a 15-
It provides detailed coverage of all PMBoK units (1- page report.
12), the IEEE project management standard, ethics, PMP Mock Examination
etc. At the end of the course, students are expected to Upon completion of each PMBoK unit, we assigned
be proficient in engineering project management and some PMP-type multiple choice questions to students.
to be ready to write the PMP examination. Again, we Similar types of questions were part of the mid-term
are not going into details of PMBoK, but merely and final examination, which acted as a mock PMP
highlighting some of our offerings and findings. examination.

Project Initiation 5 The Survey

We discussed engineering economics and project
management in building successful proposals to There is no silver bullet to successful project
sanction projects. This was complementary to the management. Taking our training and following
Engineering Economics core course. PMBoK or other standards will surely lead to running
Project Management Artifacts projects with less risks and higher probabilities of
We asked students to derive a project charter for success. Nevertheless, there is no replacement to
their fourth year, Master’s or Ph.D. thesis. Students some basic human fundamentals, such as punctuality,
believed that such a contract between them and their keeping appointments, honouring commitments, and
supervisors was highly beneficial. As the final project most importantly honesty; refer to Figure 2 (which is
of the course and upon completion of most lectures, analogous to Figure 1).
students were asked to derive full project management
plans (PMPs) for their capstone theses. Both the
students and their supervisors saw the benefits of
writing and maintaining the project plans.
Project Scope Management
We asked students to consult their supervisors and
establish a Change Control Board (CCB), usually the
capstone thesis supervisory committee, to monitor and
approve changes on their theses. (Students liked the
idea, some supervisors did not!)
Project Cost Management
For software engineering students, we introduced
novel estimation techniques such as a neural-fuzzy
algorithm [13] for those who might be interested in
advanced research. Figure 2. Basic human fundamental triples
Project Quality Management
This was complementary to the Software Quality As part of the recent course offering, we conducted a
Assurance course and provided a management survey (based on a real life example) to study the
viewpoint on quality planning, assurance and control. impact of technology on these human fundamentals
Human Resource Management for the upcoming generation. We like to tease our
We discussed downsizing and the more commonly students by saying that two individuals, while walking
used term, rightsizing. These topics elicited the most inside a shopping mall, were so busy texting each
class participation and even brought up discussions other to find out where they were that eventually they
outside the scope of the course. bumped into each other “heads on”. While technology
Project Procurement Management has enabled communications easily, would over-
We discussed offshoring and outsourcing. Again, reliance on technology create “the tool and a fool”
these topics elicited much class discussion (many of problem? Is the upcoming generation seeing last-
our students are immigrants). Just like any project, we minute changes via technology to appointments and
discussed the need to go through initiating, planning, commitments as part of the norm?
execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing for Our survey was targeted towards the upcoming
any offshoring and outsourcing projects. We also generation, specifically the undergraduate and
analyzed the cost and benefits of these projects. graduate students, who would attain their professional
Case Studies designations shortly after graduation. Although
Each student researched a topic or experience report participation is entirely optional, we received 118
on project management, gave a 1-hour presentation enthusiastic responses, with just a few opt-out. There
were 10 multiple choice questions that would take less “I no longer care to discuss the matter.”
than 5 minutes to answer. There were no right or On the other hand, we note the following.
wrong answers. Instant responses were the best “I try to meet all commitments and hope to do so in
answers. The Appendix listed the questions. The the_future.”
answers ranged from ratings of very likely (5), “The issue here is very poor time management skills,
somewhat likely (4), neutral (3), somewhat unlikely lack of foresight and pro-activity; causing these
(2), to very unlikely (1). The results were normalized scheduling problems in the first place. There is no
and presented as percentages ranging from very likely reason for a 15-30 minute phone appointment to be
(100%) to very unlikely (0%). missed.”
“I am a reasonably organized person and have never
Table 1. Results of survey had so much work that I could not find time, and plan
around a 15-30 minutes call. I meet my
commitments.”
Questions Scores (%) Questions Scores (%)
1 51 6 65 We have also received feedback from many that they
2 85 7 76 are frustrated by the overuse and misuse of
technology. It appears that the majority of the group is
3 68 8 87 still observing the basic human fundamentals of
4 68 9 58 courtesy. However, we realize that we have only
solicited answers on paper, in an artificial
5 60 10 64 environment. In real life situations, the actual
circumstances can influence the scores. The bottom-
We are not going to repeat the questions, but merely line is: how do you manage these professionals? What
highlighting our interpretation of the results. are their approaches to management and how do they
Q1. In hectic and adverse moments, half of the manage in the future?
group will forget about their commitments. The result
is rather astonishing! Note that these are just answers 6 Discussion
on paper. In real life situations, more will forget!
Note how we presented the importance of this We have been grateful to develop two project
commitment: deemed unimportant to the provider but management courses. The basic course provides an
how about the requester? introduction to project management. The advanced
Q2 and Q3. Luckily, a very high percentage will course can be tailored as a fourth year course, graduate
notify the other party in advance and a high percentage course, or professional training in the industry. We
will honour the make-up session. received positive comments from many who passed
Q4 and Q6. These questions bring up the “tool and the PMP examination after taking our training. Based
a fool” scenario. There was one written comment on the results of positive course evaluations, good
asking whether the other party actually received the e- news on PMP examination results and informal
mail. One does not know, and what does one do about student feedbacks, we feel that engineering project
it? management is well on the way to becoming a key
Q5 and Q10. These questions follow the Porter core competency in engineering, just as the CEAB’s
assessment when one is being challenged (or OBA initiative requires.
cornered). It appears that the upcoming generation Basic human fundamentals form the backbone of
does not have a high level of tolerance. successful project management. The results of our
Q7 and Q8. We feel relieved by the high survey reaffirm that these fundamentals are still
percentages for these answers – feeling guilty and observed and followed by the majority of engineering
making up the omission. students. We will continue to stress their importance
as part of our project management course offerings.
We also present some written comments. On one
hand, we note the following.
“Person X should also realize people have some References
other things to do and should not put too much
pressure on anyone.” [1] Project Management Institute, Project Management
“X seems like parents in this situation. I feel that Body of Knowledge, 4th Edition, PMI, 2008.
[2] Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE
parents may be understanding and their demands and
Standard 10581-1987, IEEE, 1987.
expectations are not high.”
[3] British Standards Institute, BS6079-1:2010 Project Q4. Suppose you knew you could not make it and
Management Principles and Guidelines for the Management sent an e-mail to X requesting further delay.
of Projects, BSI, 2010. Unfortunately, due to timing issues in communication
[4] A. Albrect, “Measuring Application Development
(e-mail delay, different time zones), no confirmation
Productivity”, Proceedings of the Joint SHARE/GUIDE/IBM
Application Development Symposium, 1979.
or acknowledgement was received from X. How likely
[5] B, Boehm et. al. Software Cost Estimation with is it for you to notify X via other means of
COCOMO II, Prentice Hall, 2000. communication (e.g., phone call) prior to the
[6] L. Putnam, and W. Myers, Measures for Excellence, scheduled date and time?
Yourdan Press Computing Series, 1992. Q5. At the same time, you were caught in an after-
[7] K. Blanchard, D. Carew, and E. Parisi-Carew, The One school event in the evening. All students attended a
Minute Manager Builds High Performance Teams, William presentation by a potential employer. The presentation
Morrow and Company, 1990. started more than an hour late and was going to
[8] W. Schutz, FIRO Scales Manual, CA: Consulting
overrun till almost 11 p.m. With your current study
Psychologists Press, 1967.
[9] K. Myers, and L. Kirby, Introduction to Type Dynamics load, you needed the time this evening to finish some
and Development, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, assignments due the next day. How likely is it for you
1994. to walk out of this presentation?
[10] G. Parker, Cross-Functional Teams, Jossey-Bass, Q6. Considering your commitment to X, suppose
1994. your e-mail requesting further delay was never
[11] E. Porter, Strength Deployment Inventory, Personal acknowledged and you did not attempt to notify X via
Strength Publishing, 1992. other means of communication. During the after-
[12] K. Thomas, and R. Kilmann, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict school presentation (started late and overran), it was
Mode Instrument, Xicom, 1996.
[13] X. Huang, D. Ho, J. Ren, and L.F. Capretz, System and
also time for you to have the 15-30 minutes phone
Method for Software Estimation, US Patent # US-7328202- discussion with X. How likely is it for you to get out
B2, 2008. of the presentation briefly and notify X of your
situation?
Appendix - Survey Questions Q7. Suppose you stayed at the presentation till the
end and never made an effort to call X. By the time
you arrived home, still having to finish the
Background: X has been helping you a lot throughout
assignments due the next day, still have not had
your lifespan of twenty-some years. You made a
dinner, etc., you saw an angry e-mail from X after
commitment to X to discuss matters (deemed
waiting for your call and blaming you for repeatedly
unimportant to you) over the phone for 15-30 minutes
missing your commitments. How likely is it for you to
on a certain day.
feel being at fault?
Q1. During your hectic and adverse moments
Q8. How likely is it for you to apologize and
(assignments due, term test approaching, feeling
commit to a date/time that you would try your very
lonely and depressed), how likely is it for you to forget
best not to miss again?
about the commitment?
Q9. How likely is it for you to sort through your
Q2. Suppose you did not forget about the
grievances (study load, depression, etc.) and use these
commitment, yet you knew you could not make it.
as your excuses of missing your commitments?
How likely is it for you to notify X prior to or on the
Q10. Suppose you poured your heart out, only to be
committed date?
met with more furious responses from X, saying that
Q3. Suppose X was quite understanding and agreed
you were incapable and irresponsible. How likely is it
with you to postpone the discussion to a later date.
for you to de-commit from the 15-30 minutes
You were still caught in a spiral of more hectic
discussion with X, seeing that you have too many
moments and adverse events. How likely is it for you
important and higher priority items to handle?
to meet this postponed commitment (still deemed
unimportant to you)?