Done well, project management drives production, increases employee confidence and helps businesses thrive. Poorly executed project management can corrupt employee morale, cause uncertainty and adversely affect an entire business.
Friends University is partnering with Mountain Plains Minority Supplier Development Council (MPMSDC) to offer three sessions on effective project management for the business community at-large. These sessions will be led by Dr. William A. Lybarger, professor of business at Friends University and an executive coach and educational expert on human resource and human services.
“The purpose of the relationship is to provide small business owners with training and information to grow their businesses,” said Dr. David Hofmeister, dean of the Friends University Graduate School and interim dean of the College of Adult and Professional Studies. “The MPMSDC maintains communication and support for various businesses and part of that relationship includes training. Our relationship developed to deliver training on several business topics.”
All sessions will cost $175 per person and will take place in the Marriage and Family Therapy facility on the Friends University campus in Wichita. Topics include the following:
- Introduction to Execution: Nov. 18, 9 a.m. to noon
This session focuses on creating a work culture that is based on accountability, differentiation and consequences. Participants will focus on changing talking to doing, linking rewards to performance, engaging in robust dialog that brings reality to the surface, dealing with nonperformers, differentiating between high-performance and low-performance employees, and hiring slow and firing fast. - Project Management Tools and Strategies: Dec. 9, 9 a.m. to noon
Participants will focus on construction and use of the Gantt chart, a tool that offers a graphic representation of who is responsible for which task and the deadlines - Putting It All Together: Jan. 129 a.m. to noon
Tools and charts are sterile disconnected from employee performance. This session will add the human component through the use of the Lybarger Management Matrix.
Dr. Hofmeister said these workshops appeal to all who are responsible for the business functions associated with the training topics.
“From project management and supply chain, to lean manufacturing and compliance, the topics focus on smaller business operations where one or a few people have cross-functional responsibilities,” he said.
The sessions are designed around the clear expectation of enhanced business performance, Dr. Hofmeister said.
“The three-hour sessions are designed as tight, efficient, effective learning opportunities on a series of business practices and processes,” he said. “These sessions are workshops. Consequently, practices should change for the better after attending and participating in the learning expectations for each workshop.”
For more information on the sessions, call the Friends University Graduate School at 316-295-5800.
Friends University offers high-quality undergraduate and graduate academic programs for traditional students and working adults. Rooted both in the liberal arts tradition and the Christian tradition, students learn inside and outside the classroom. Friends University is a regional university with national programs and an international presence.