CHOOSING YOUR PROJECT
a. Area of Study – It’s best to do something that is related to your degree programme. It can also be related to your current work or profession. The reasoning behind this is that we want you to focus on Project Management and how it will relate to your area of interest.
b. Business case does NOT mean a business.
Consider hosting an event or starting up a programme. There are thousands of charities out there that undertake some sort of clever fundraising initiatives. Google away.
c. If you’re still stuck on ideas, consider:
Example:
Jane is studying business and works part-time as an assistant at a law practice. Ideally, she would choose a project that incorporates her studies and takes advantage of her working knowledge of the legal system (she’s not a barrister so can’t provide actual legal advice.)
Most likely, while in that office, she has come across a few areas that she has found to be lacking in support or in need of a bit more attention. (Think, “If only we had….”). Well, besides a coffee and muffin delivery service, she’s not having any waves of inspiration.
Now, outside of work, Jane’s interests include basketball, reading and painting. She even volunteers by teaching arts and crafts classes once a week at the local senior centre. While teaching, she hears about the woes that some of the elderly attendees have encountered with legal issues related to estates, medical bills, wills, etc. Hmmm, maybe she could work with some first-year barristers to get them to come in and provide reduced fee services. It’ would be a business and she knows the legal system. “Ok”, she thinks, “There’s an idea.”
But, as she is walking around the senior centre’s craft room, she notices that a number of the students want to take their work outside but because of their mobility scooters, it’s proving a difficult task. If only there was a device that would allow them to attach an easel to their scooters or walkers. Hmmm, there’s an idea.
Looking further, she sees that some of those scooters are looking a little worse for wear. Wouldn’t it be funny if some of them were painted like V-8 racecars?
d. Choosing a less than ideal project for your assignment
Example
Jane also considers herself a pseudo-environmentalist. She recycles – but still isn’t quite sure if pizza boxes can go into the recycling bins. She understands the benefit of a compost pile but since she’s in a city apartment, this isn’t really feasible. She had fans installed around the unit so she could do without air-conditioning. She’s heard about solar farms and wonders if she could get something like that established in one of the rural senior centres she regularly visits. First though, she needs to figure out exactly what a solar farm entails.
Bottom line: Jane has great intentions, but let’s face it, in the amount of time it will take her to learn all about solar farms - the logistics, the legalities, the zoning - she could have written a business plan for something of which she already has working knowledge.