Designing An Academic Project Management Tool
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Like any other type of project, academic projects are subject to deadline overruns. Several factors can explain these delays, including the quality of supervision or the student’s social profile. The success of a project also depends on the level of planning that is done throughout the project. This planning needs to follow proven precepts of project management. To help students and their teams in this aspect as much as possible, we applied the concepts described in the 2021 PMBOK Guide, in which pro forma Gantt charts and a risk register for proactive management were developed. This study was conducted in exploratory mode.
Project Management at the Graduate Level
Time, quality, and budget constraints are difficult to address effectively at the same time by key stakeholders in academic projects. The time constraint, although important, may sometimes receive the least attention. The average length of Ph.D. studies in Canada varies between 4 and 6 years (King, D. et al 2008), and for the master’s degree, about 2 years, according to the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec. The differences observed can be attributed to several factors, such as the social profile of the student researcher—gender, ethnic group, marital status, etc.—the quality of supervision, or an inability of key stakeholders to address and master the management aspect of their projects (Van de Schoot, R. et al. 2013). Indeed, faculty members, research teams, and students are sometimes reluctant to apply proven project management science tools and techniques to meet the requirements and constraints of their academic projects. In this light, we have proposed to develop tools that will help Ph.D. and master’s students (M.Sc.A. and M.Eng.) in planning their projects by drawing inspiration from the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).
Rationale for Selecting the Gantt Chart
Selecting the Gantt chart was obvious, as its efficiency is unanimously recognized in the project management community. We organized informal discussion workshops involving about ten students. After that, we designed two types of Gantt charts based on two software programs: a simplified graphic version, LucidChart and Microsoft Project, and a more detailed WBS (work breakdown structure). We attached a risk register to these charts to promote proactive management of uncertainties that may occur during an academic project.
The Gantt chart dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when it was used to plan production activities in factories. Although it became very popular with the rise of project management sciences, its use in academy projects is still relatively limited, mainly because of this type of project’s complexity, ambiguity, and highly evolving nature. However, a study carried out with students at Purdue University in Indiana (Randolph 1998) in the United States shows that using the Gantt chart in planning coursework projects helps students become more self-reliant and reduce the stress linked to project delivery.
Tools Adapted to Academic Research
For this project, we benefited from the experiences and recommendations of 9 students (4 Ph.D., 4 Master’s with thesis and 1 Master’s with project) and one faculty member. The charts obtained after a few exploratory workshops outline activities that can be found in academic projects in several fields of study.
A healthy and effective collaborative environment within the team is a key component in the success of any project. For this reason, ÉTS has developed a toolbox including a “success plan” guide, available on its website. This guide promotes the implementation of a framework based on the informed commitment of stakeholders to their roles and responsibilities. Thus, it is the responsibility of the students to ensure proper planning of deliverables, optimal management of their agenda and monitoring of work progress in relation to the proposed objectives and milestones. Our Gantt charts and risk register support students in meeting these expectations. We produced two chart templates to work with the tool: the graphic chart acts as a project roadmap, while the chart in MS Project is a more customizable dashboard depending on the project.
Conclusion
This exploratory process allowed us to design six pro forma Gantt charts, including two per student profile, and a risk register. However, the fact that it is based on a limited number of participants means that the results can only be considered preliminary. The work could serve as a foundation for a future holistic study involving a large, diverse, and representative panel of the student community and faculty.
