Five observations on the five-days training on Project Management using Dynamic Scheduling

January 6-10, 2014
Paramaribo, Suriname

On January 6-10, 2014, I had the pleasure to teach a Project Management (PM) course at Anton de Kom University in Suriname. As always, I trained the students in dynamic scheduling, talking about baseline scheduling, risk analysis and project control using examples from their own environment. Below you find my five observations of my nice visit, stay and lectures at this university.

1. Mixed audience: The students consisted of a mix of Master students and professionals, with little to no knowledge on Project Management. The Master students are enrolled in the Master of Science Programme in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources while the professionals have quite a lot of experience in running projects in their own business, but most have not a lot of experience in integrating scheduling, risk and control… so I had a very interested audience.
2. The Project Schedule Game: The game was one of the best lectures in the five days training. Students ware enthusiastic and hard working, and results were very good. The project used was a project at the Brokopondo Reservoir in Suriname. Learning by using examples finetuned to the wishes and needs of the Suriname students! Also visit our previous blog.
3. The country, its people and its students. Walking in the streets of Paramaribo gives you a mixed feeling. Do they really enjoy life, or is there a hard working mentality behind the relaxed atmosphere? It's still an open question to me. However, the students at university gave me a clear and strong impression that they are interested in the topic and they are certainly open and willing to learn. References to sources such as the free online PM Knowledge Center or the available books at our bookstore were highly appreciated. 
4. Earned Schedule: At the beginning of the course, I promised the students that I would talk about a mix of proven principles and novel techniques. And I did! And therefore, I also talked about earned schedule management. I believe the students appreciated this very much, given their feedback. Maybe some students will join us in December at EVM Europe 2014?
5. ProTrack: As a way of thanking the students for the attention, OR-AS has decided to give every participant a free full functional version of ProTrack 3.0, worth € 299 per license, valid for one year, so that means a total value of more than € 5,000. Also the free ORASTalks app has been downloaded by some of the students. We also welcome these students to join the ProTrack Community on facebook.

It was, once again, an experience for life! I appreciated the friendliness, the warm atmosphere (and temperature) and the good welcoming at the university. Thank you…

The students of Suriname (Project Management course) at the campus