When the term “project management” is used in schools, it often seems like a daunting prospect. After all, we set out to be teachers, not businesspeople.
Yet the reality is that any role involving oversight of a new initiative or ongoing area of development that requires collaboration with others, in school or with external agencies, will require project management. It was something I had to quickly get used when I became a head of PE and it has become especially relevant in my new role as head of student opportunities.
In these roles, I soon came to realise that there are many transferable and complementary skills between teaching and project management.
Communication
Both project management and teaching rely on effective communication.
Project managers need to be able to communicate effectively with stakeholders across all aspects of a business, including customers, team members and other decision makers.
If you replace “customers” with “students” or “parents”, the same processes and requirements exist within the teaching sphere.
Motivation
Teachers need to motivate their students to learn and achieve their goals, and teacher leaders have to motivate colleagues and departments towards a shared set of goals and objectives.
This is the same for project managers, who have to ensure that their team members and direct reports stay on track, perform their functions and meet deadlines.
Time management
Project managers need to create and manage project schedules that ensure all tasks are completed on time.
Teachers need to create and manage schemes of work, curricula and lesson plans that ensure that all learning objectives are met and deadlines for learning are maintained.
Strategic thinking
Both require the ability to think strategically and solve problems. Teachers are constantly identifying issues and problems, and then creating short- or long-term solutions to meet the learning and pastoral needs of their students. Project management requires exactly the same.
So if we accept the premise that teachers are naturally strong project managers, we can now consider what the fundamentals of good project management are in order to make the best use of these skills.
1. Start with a clear goal
What do you want to achieve with the project? Once you know your goal, you can plan how to achieve it. Often this will be dictated, to an extent, by external factors, but once the boundaries of your project are set, work out what you want to get from the work you are going to undertake.
2. Break down the project into smaller tasks
This will make it easier to manage and to track the project’s progress. Rather than setting unwieldy targets and objectives, establish a priority list for actions that are going to have immediate impact and work from there.
3. Estimate the time and resources needed for each task
This will help you to create a realistic timeline and budget for the project. Know who the key decision makers are that will need to sign off on aspects of your work, and ensure they know what is going to be required and when.
4. Communicate with stakeholders regularly
Keep everyone updated on your project’s progress and any changes to the plan. Ensure anyone who will have a direct influence on the project is fully aware of what the plans are and how you are progressing towards the objectives.
5. Be flexible and adaptable
Things don’t always go to plan, so be prepared to make adjustments as needed. Ensure that changes are communicated as discussed above. Make sure you know why you are making adaptations to the plan and check that all your planning documents reflect the current direction the project is taking.
6. Celebrate successes along the way
This will help to keep your team motivated and engaged. Often we look at outcomes in terms of long-term perspectives but it’s worth also establishing short-term goals that will show progress and positive outcomes regularly throughout the process.
7. The value of CPD
Finally, while teachers are well suited to project management as outlined above, there would still be value in schools considering allotting continuing professional development time, where relevant, to project management.
After all, the success of any new project will come down to how well implemented it is and so any time spent helping teachers to hone their existing skills towards project management, for whenever the time comes that they’re needed, will be a worthwhile investment.
For teachers, CPD can help to show that there is nothing to fear from project management, and set them up to become even more effective classroom practitioners and future leaders. That, in turn, will help to give pupils the best educational experience possible.
Philip Mathe is head of student opportunities at British International School Riyadh
