Work in pair. Role play the following situation.

 

Role A – COF Solutions representative

You work for the COF Solutions and are meeting a prospective customer. Tell him/her about your company’s range of products and services and special offers.

 

 

Role B - Customer

You are a business owner who wants to buy furniture for their new office. You need ten desk + chair sets. You are interested if there are any discounts for large orders. Discuss the delivery of goods and terms of payment.

 

The customer agrees to place an order with COF Solutions. In small groups prepare a draft contract using the example in Exercise 7.

When finished read your contract to the rest of the class, discuss your variants and agree on the final version of the contract.

 

3D Project Management

1. Read three definitions of project management. Use your dictionary to help you understand.

· The discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria.

 

· The body of knowledge concerned with principles, techniques, and tools used in planning, control, monitoring, and review of projects.

 

· The planning and organization of an organization's resources in order to move a specific task, event or duty toward completion.

Based on these definitions, try to define a project and identify main phases of project management.

 

Project	Phases of project management

 

In small groups discuss what kind projects you have worked on in your professional and personal life. Use the list of topic areas below to you’re your discussion. Were they completed successfully? Describe your experiences.

• education
• home repair
• planning a family holiday
• charity
• community action
• fundraising
• starting a business, etc.

Read about how project management skills are used in different careers.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN ACTION

Project management skills can be used in most careers as well as in our daily life. Project managers can be seen in many industry sectors including agriculture and natural resources; arts, media, and entertainment; energy and utilities; engineering and design; fashion and interiors; finance and business. Below we explore various careers and some of the ways in which project management knowledge can be implemented.

Business Owners

Business owners definitely need to have some project management skills. With all successful businesses, the product or service being delivered to the customer meets their needs in many ways. The product or service is of the quality desired, the costs are aligned with what the consumer expected, and the timeline of the product or service meets the deadline for the buyer of that item.

The pillars of project management are delivering a product/service within schedule, cost, scope, and quality requirements. Business owners need planning, organizing, and scoping skills and the ability to analyze, communicate, budget, staff, equip, implement, and deliver.

Engineers

Engineers apply the principles of science and mathematics to develop economical solutions to technical problems. As a project life cycle develops from a kickoff meeting to the implementation and delivery of a product or service, engineers link scientific discoveries to commercial applications that meet societal and consumer needs.

Engineers use many project management skills, especially when they must specify functional requirements. They demonstrate attention to quality as they evaluate a design’s overall effectiveness, cost, reliability, and safety similar to the project manager reviewing the criteria for the customer’s acceptance of delivery of the product or service.

Construction Managers

Construction managers plan, direct, coordinate, and budget a wide variety of residential, commercial, and industrial construction projects including homes, stores, offices, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants, schools, and hospitals. Strong scheduling skills are essential for this role. Communication skills are often used in coordinating design and construction processes, teams executing the work, and governance of special trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring) as well as government representatives for the permit processes.

A construction manager may be called a project manager or project engineer. The construction manager ensures that the project is completed on time and within budget while meeting quality specifications and codes and maintaining a safe work environment.