Research Projects by Design: An Alternative Project Management Course

New

This new half-day workshop has been designed to explore the ideas and techniques of the new discipline of Design Thinking as applied by companies such as IDEO www.ideo.com and the D-School at Stanford University in California www.dschool.stanford.edu

In this half-day course we will explore new ways to project manage that are personally authentic, quick and motivational. We won’t do GANTT charts (they have their place!) but we will look at daily habits such as setting iterative goals and having purpose and vision. We’ll also explore individual and collaborative 'modeling' techniques that allow a more creative and responsive approach to the complexities of our research projects (and their communication). Finally we will look at how creative companies use techniques such as 'prototyping' to test through activity rather than just thinking.

This course is for you if you want to understand how to design your projects to reflect your personality and the complexity and creativity involved in their design, implementation and outcomes.

You are encouraged to attend with an open mind 'beginners mind' and a willingness to discuss real issues and problems that would benefit from a creative solution. You will be encouraged to compete a short action plan to focus on next steps in the design, prototype and feedback process.

PhD and postdoctoral researchers in the Graduate School of Life Sciences

• Design thinking as a new approach to problem solving; examples form industry
• Design project planning, the importance of collaboration, prototyping and feedback (7 stages)
• Iterative daily approaches and good habits (explore the habits of companies such as Toyota)
• Collaboration and Team Working approaches to individual issues: building a creative team
• Creative approaches to fuzzy goals and concepts of operations (the journey)
• Vision and goals: the example of Zen archery-process and target considerations
• Staying on time, setting new conditions and staying true to the values of the process
• Design thinking as a new daily discipline that motivates, refreshes and innovates

Workshop

Half-day (3h)

One-off pilot