How to manage your PhD
General context
To be successful in your PhD, you need to be able to “manage” your project, yourself and your environment. This course focuses on all these 3 pillars.
At the end of this training, you will be able to:
- Define the scope of your research project
- Make an efficient project planning
- Make conscious choices (if changing plans is necessary)
- Create Milestone project planning with activities on weekly & monthly basis
- Determine stakeholders and learn how to influence them proactively & reactively
- Get things done by influencing your environment
- Integrate the secrets of self-management
- Survive a setback during your PhD (resilience)
- Switch to plan B if necessary (resilience)
The training consists of 4 (half-day) sessions. These 4 sessions are likely spread out over multiple weeks, as the participants need to apply what they have learned during the training to their own PhD.
PhD students working in VIB Centers.
- Registration is only open for VIB participants and is free.
- Note that upon no show without valid justification a fee of € 100 will be charged and you will be blacklisted for the VIB training program for 1 year. Click here for more information.
Trainers
True Colours
True Colours® is a creation of Lisa Boelaert and Herwig Deconinck – inspired by 17 years of working together and our shared drive, dream and vision concerning people, development, teamwork & change.
As a change consultancy, True Colours has built a niche within research and academic organisations on the one hand, and they work for profit, non-profit, production and service companies on the other hand.
True Colours coaches:
•Individuals (coaching/training/supporting)
•Teams (team coaching, conflict mediation, team development, teambuilding)
•Organisations (process support, work conferences and large group interventions, setting up and guiding change programmes, strategy exercises, …)
regarding the changes that are happening to them or in which they find themselves.
True Colours likes to combine their insights and experiences in HR, solutions-focused work practices, organisational design and lean management, and personal and team leadership.
They specialise in short-term projects within a long-term relationship: a thorough knowledge of the client enables us to respond maximally to concrete requests and makes change possible in the short-term. They have been working together with VIB for more that 10 years now.
Program
Session 1:
- Project Management instead of routine or improvisation
- Different types of projects
- Project management in a research project
- Contracting between project leader and client
- Bermuda triangle (goals, resources, timing)
- Project charter
Session 2:
- Project charter (continued)
- Milestones planning
- Kick-off, follow-up and closing of projects
- Getting things done
- Prioritize things
Session 3:
- Milestone plan
- Stakeholder management
- Influencing people
- Determining your own style
Session 4:
- Stakeholder analysis and communication plan
- Integration of learned lessons and how to project management has influence on it