Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Review of eCornell Class 'Introduction to Project Leadership'

I have finished Introduction to Project Leadership, my first class at eCornell. When I complete all six courses I will receive a Certificate in Project Leadership from Cornell University’s College of Engineering.

The first class featured a lot of quality leadership and management information broken down into manageable chunks. The pace of the course and the way the information was presented helped me to fit learning into my workday. Within each module the concepts are presented in several different ways, including an audiovisual presentation, a story, and supplemental articles.

Different resources I used in the course include the following:

McBer Competency Map

“Lessons for an Accidental Profession,” Jeffrey Pinto and Om Kharbanda

“Leadership as the Legitimation of Doubt,” organizational theorist Karl Weick's chapter to the Bennis, Spreitzer, and Cummings text, The Future of Leadership: Today’s Top Thinkers on Leadership Speak to the Next Generation.

Stakeholder-management planning resources at mindtools.com

Managing project uncertainty: From variation to chaos by De Meyer, Loch and Pich.

The hardest part of the class for me was completing the test on how to manage tasks and style using the Project Uncertainty Profile.

I found great benefit in attending both of the instructor's "office hours" in the online chat forum. Last Sunday I had an enlightening conversation with a few of my fellow students from around the world on the ideas presented in the class as well as how best to communicate concerns to a project manager without the conversation resulting in irritation or defensiveness.

I look forward to starting my second class on Wednesday!

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

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