It’s safe to say that most of us work on projects. The experienced project managers among us are facing a changing role, where we both lead a project, and now find ourselves coaching our team members on project management principles. Some of us come from other roles and backgrounds and are moving into the project management role, if not the title. So let’s look at a project management approach that is designed to demonstrate how to understand the work and prepare a plan for accomplishing the work. Using this approach we can both navigate the complexity of our own work, as well as help others understand how to get things done.

Dr. Brandon Olson holds a PhD in Information Technology with a specialization in Project Management and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Dr. Olson is an Associate Professor and chair of the Computer Information Systems department at the College of St. Scholastica. In his role at St. Scholastica, he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses and leads undergraduate and graduate programs in Computer Information Systems, IT Leadership, and Project Management. Dr. Olson has several published works and presents on topics in project management, portfolio management, and knowledge management. Prior to his tenure at St. Scholastica, he was employed as a project manager leading software development projects in the business services, telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, and pharmaceutical fields.