Abstract

Project Management is a widely used technique. However, the gap between theoretical knowledge and its practical implementation in everyday work is evident. Often, we see researchers immersing themselves in the content immediately after receiving funding for their projects, thus neglecting the organizational and structural initiatives required at the start of a project.
How does the service look like: At Graz University of Technology, we aim at filling this gap by offering Project Management support for researchers, which has proven particularly useful at the beginning of the project. We always offer tailor made support based on the experience of the project leader and the complexity of the project, in terms of the intensity and the methods we use.
The support of our RMAs consists in organising, preparing, structuring and moderating such project start workshops. We emphasize on the thorough evaluation and discussion of the objectives with all partners. In our experience most misunderstandings originate during this stage. A collective effort of the RMA together with the project team is to draw up a detailed work breakdown structure to unfold the big picture. This action instils commitment on the tasks and responsibilities from all involved persons.
During the project life cycle we organise and coordinate controlling workshops (regarding project status), stakeholder analysis and lessons learned sessions.
For whom we offer this service: This service is particularly helpful for young and relatively inexperienced project leaders as well as for large and complex projects with many partners including industry / enterprises. In projects in which several TU Graz departments are involved or hierarchies play a role, support from TU Graz RMA staff is also considered to be helpful.
What to consider: However, in our everyday supporting business we also face obstacles. First of all, we need to convince our researchers of the advantages, to invest time and resources in these structural duties at the beginning of the project to avoid barriers and misunderstandings during the execution. Secondly, researchers believe that their research content is so specific and therefore cannot be embedded in the tight corset of classical project management methods. And thirdly, it needs persuasion to communicate the integration of external Project Management experts as a real benefit for research projects. Especially the last obstacle turned out to be one of the most important advantages of our support: As research managers are not topical experts they can rather concentrate on organisational issues and structures and question unclear points. With the integration of Project Management experts, the project benefits from a certain “hygiene”: Organisational and communication issues are regularly put on the agenda.
Take away messages and learning outcomes:
Get to know how the quality of project support can be increased with Project Management skills. Discussion of advantages of integrating RMA as project management assistance. Overview on how a Project Management support can look like and what can be pitfalls and advantages. Learn how TU Graz research office upgraded the role of RMAs by Project Management upskilling and certification.