Advanced Agricultural Project Management

The short content of the course:

Advanced Agricultural Project Management (1):

Project Management Issues: Setting the Stage for Agricultural Project Management

Concept of Project Management

Project Sustainability

Developing a Project

Project Planning

Project management methodologies, tools and techniques

Some problem solving techniques

Project control

Project Purchasing

Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies

Scoping, strategy setting and final agreement

Project structure and managing meetings

Process and event based methodologies, software packages, flow charts, Imagineering

Mind Mapping, fish bone method, ‘Is and Is Not’ and Brain Storming

Tracking timing and costs, contingencies

Working with suppliers and sub-contractors

Advanced Agricultural Project Management (2):

Agricultural Project Development, Planning, Execution and Evaluation

Introduction To Agricultural Development Projects

Agricultural Development Project Life Cycle

Agricultural Project Design

The Concepts of Stakeholders VS Shareholder

Agricultural Project Monitoring

Agricultural Project Evaluation

Agricultural Project Workflow

Agricultural Project Procurement

Agricultural Project Budgeting.

Agricultural Project Contingencies

Advanced Agricultural Project Management (2):

Agricultural Project Development, Planning, Execution and Evaluation

Managing Agricultural Field Trials

Participatory Impact Monitoring (PIM)

Agricultural Project Finance

Agricultural Project Planning

Agricultural Project Scheduling

Agricultural Project Management: Stakeholder Analysis

Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

Analysis of Project Performance

Advanced Agricultural Project Management (3):

Team Leadership and Motivation in Agricultural Project Management

Team leadership and its importance in Agricultural Project Management

Groups and Aggregations: Points of Distinction

The type and permanence of the leadership of a team

When does a situational leader emerge

How does the team attempts to replace a situational leader, enhance stability, acceptability or renewed or clarified mission or objectives?

Why does a temporary team more problematic to lead than a permanent team?

Why does team disbandment have a negative psychological effect on members and leader?

An Aggregation - ‘Togetherness’ or ‘Awareness’?

Aggregation and Interaction

Team or Group: A Definition and Distinction

Team Dynamics Team Typologies

Team Typological Bases

Command Team

Committees

Temporary Committees

Standing Committees

Task Forces;

Boards.

Command Teams and The Organisational Hierarchy Command Teams and The Organisational Functioning Team Formation

Team Formation Stage 1: Forming

Team Formation Stage 2: Storming

How ‘True-To-Life’ Or Realistic Are The Forming And Norming Stages OF Team Development?

Team Formation Stage 3: Norming

Team Formation Stage 4: Performing or Total Integration Team Formation Stage 5: Adjourning or Disbanding

Deal With The Psychological Effect of Disbandment

Dysfunctional Behaviours

Addressing Dysfunctional Behaviours

Dealing With Aggressiveness

Handling Blocking

Dealing With Interfering Behaviour

Dealing With Intra-Team Competition

Addressing Situations Where Team Members Seek Sympathy

Dealing With Member Withdrawal

Addressing Special Pleading

Leader Behaviour in Dealing with Dysfunctional Behaviours

Being Tactful In Discouraging Distracting Behaviours

Encouraging Desirable Behaviours

Using Tangible Rewards,

Using Intangible Rewards

Bearing Mindful of Team Situation

Applying Appropriate Rewards and, or, Punishment

Promoting Team Functionality

Team Building and Maintenance Roles: Improving Team Effectiveness

Encouraging members

Harmonising

Standard setting

Gatekeeping

Determining the optimum team size

Providing team incentives

Encouraging conflict

Averting Groupthink

Avoiding the risky shift syndrome

Employing transactional analysis

Employing effective diversity management and discouraging resonation

Encouraging members

Harmonising team

Performance Management

Solving Interpersonal Problems Among Team Members.

Helping Team Members To Channel Their Energies Into task performance Establishing Realistic Goals

Developing Effective Communication

Minimising Technical Language

Clarifying Roles

Standard Setting - Establishing Standards And Evaluating Progress.

A Determination Of The Contribution Of Each Team Member To Goal Accomplishment

Recognising and Acknowledging Performance Improvement

Rewarding Exceptional Performance

Establishing Key Competencies

Establishing Acceptable Performance Levels

Noting Performance Indicators

Measuring Competence

Which Individual Members Can Improve Their Performance –

And Subsequently, Their Contribution To The Team As A Who

Harnessing Team Synergy

Gate keeping

Making It Possible For Others To Participate

Ensuring That Introverted Team Members are not Intimidated Or ‘Crushed’ By The Extroverted

Recognising the Ineloquent Team Members

Without Relevant Current

Information to perform evaluative role

R

esonation as an issue in team effectiveness

Recognising Resonation

Taking Steps To Avert or Reduce Resonation

‘Cautioning’ Resonators

Determining The Optimum Team Size.

Numbers That Are Best For The Operational Effectiveness Of A Team –

Team constitutional contingent factors

TTTeam numbers and member interaction

Team Leader’s Direct Communication With Them

Members and the intervening factors

Team communication as Interaction

Necessity of communication reciprocation within teams

Team transaction

Team transitional analysis

The ‘Child’ in the team

The ‘Adult’ in the team

The ‘Parent’ in the team

The Team leader as a transaction analyst

Advanced Agricultural Project Management (3):

Team Leadership and Motivation in Agricultural Project Management

Directing Or Leading in a project setting

The Concept of Motivation

Applying Content Theories of Motivation to Project Settings

Taylor’s Money-Motivator as a reward strategy

Motivator-Hygiene Factor: Using Herzberg’s ideas as a basis for an effective ‘Employee Relations Strategy’

Applying Equity Theory: Recognising Inequity

Goal-Setting Theory: Performance Management Application

Expectancy Theory: What does Valence holds for project management targets?

Improving Project Sustainability Through an Equitable Reward System

Reinforcement Theories:

Reinforcement Theory

Motivation & Contingency Theory: Accounting for Situational Variables

Is Performance Related Pay (PRP) applicable to a Project Management Setting?

Designing An Effective Motivation

Strategy: Accounting for Internal and External Project Dynamics

Introducing Talent Management: Creating and Equitable Solution

The extent to which salary or wages inducement motivate workers

Advanced Agricultural Project (4): Agricultural Project Design, Data Elicitation, Interpretation and Presentation and Financial Risk Management

Agricultural Project Research Management (APRM)

Agricultural Project Research Design

Agricultural Project Research Data Gathering

Agricultural Project Research Data Analysis;

Agricultural Project Data Presentation

Sources of Information

Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Reviewing Literature

Choosing The Methodology

Qualitative Approaches

Quantitative Approaches

‘Triangulating’ The Methodology

Data Elicitation Techniques

Surveys

Participant Observation

Conversation Analysis

Documentary Analysis

Focus Groups

Interviews

Questionnaires

Sampling As An Important Element of Research Design

The Sampling Frame

Sampling Techniques

Convenience Or Non-random Samples

Quota Sample

Systematic Sample

Probability Or Random Samples

Simple Random Sample

Stratified Sampling

Multi-stage Sampling

Interview Or Questionnaire?

Using Unstructured Questions

Using Open-ended Questions

Designing Closed-ended Questions

Avoiding Forced-choice

Data Analysis

Instruments of Analysis

Using a ‘Tally System’

Using SPSS Package

Using Excel Package

Data Interpretation

Making Sense of The Information

Identifying ‘Trends’ & ‘Patterns’ in Information

Arriving At Conclusions

Reporting The Findings

Reporting Styles

Using The Evidence

Use of Visual Representations

Generating Graphs & Charts From Tables

Managing Research Projects

Project Planning

Generating Project Roles

Realistic Project Costing

Monitoring & Continuous Evaluation

The Interim Reports

Writing a Research Proposal

Establishing Research Objectives

Identifying & Defining The Problem

The Synopsis

Ethical Concerns in the Formulation & Conduct of Research

Advanced Agricultural Project (4): Agricultural Project Design, Data Elicitation, Interpretation and Presentation and Financial Risk Management

Defining risk – generally, and in a project management setting

Relating risk management to projects and project management

Financial risk management and project 66management

Risk exposure in a project setting

Project risk and ‘Market Dynamics’

Liquidity in project management

Operating risk and financial liability

Fraud risk and project management

Link settlement risk with ‘survival imperative’

Project management strategy and risk management

Currency derivatives market and ‘project sustainability’