What makes a strong project
Projects are most successful when they are specific and focused on a strategic issue - not day-to-day operational tasks.
Strong projects typically:
- Involve a strategic-level question (e.g. focusing on a strategic issue, problem, challenge, or opportunity) rather than operational or routine issues.
- Can be scoped and completed within one semester or quarter (with a student or students working on the project for 8-10 weeks).
- Are quite specific. The project length is too short for digging about for information, broad examinations or multiple questions.
- Have internal information/data provided by the organisation or the information/data needed can be accessed from publicly available information sources.
- Require research and analysis, not execution.
- Have a dedicated contact person in the organisation who can meet/liaise with the student or student team during the term.
- Offer strategic value to the organisation.
The students understood the needs of the business very quickly. They worked very efficiently throughout and communicated excellently throughout the whole process.