Opole University of Technology — practical study of project management in a real production environment

Challenges

Opole University of Technology has been focusing on a practical approach to teaching project management for years. As part of the course, students learn teamwork, planning and task coordination, but until now there has been a lack of a tool that reflects the real business environment.

Traditional methods — spreadsheets, emails and presentations — did not allow to map the dynamics of project work. The university needed a system that would allow students to learn through experience and provide instructors with insight into the progress of the teams' work.

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Purchase decision and objections

The aim of the university was to implement a simple, accessible and intuitive tool that can be easily integrated into the curriculum. Concerns were mainly about whether the system used in business would work in the teaching environment and whether students would quickly find their way into it.

During the presentation of IC Project, it was shown that the system can be a perfect complement to practical classes — it combines planning, communication and reporting in one place. In addition, Polish support and ready-made didactic templates convinced the leaders to start cooperation.

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Deployment process

The implementation started with the configuration of accounts for teachers and students and the preparation of a set of project templates. Each student group worked on their own projects, learning to plan tasks, set schedules, and control execution.

The IC Project system allowed managers to monitor the work of teams on an ongoing basis, evaluate activities and analyze progress in real time.
This allowed students to see what actual project work looks like — with deadlines, responsibility, and collaboration.

Over the course of the semesters, cooperation with IC Project has become a permanent element of didactics — the system is used in many directions related to management and production engineering.

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Solutions

IC Project has become a teaching tool that introduced students of the Opole University of Technology to the realities of teamwork.
With visual Gantt schedules and the ability to assign tasks, each student could experience what collaboration looks like in technical and business projects.

The system has also facilitated communication within project groups — all comments, files and findings are available in one place. Managers have gained a convenient way to supervise work without having to painstakingly collect reports.

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findings

Cooperation with IC Project has brought the university a new standard of practice-based didactics.
Students gain experience in project work using the professional environment used in companies, and the instructors have real insight into their activities.

The most important achievements:

• 250+ students trained in IC Project environment
• 500+ teaching hours conducted using the system
• 330+ planned projects in IC Project

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Key conclusions and customer opinion

IC Project enabled students of the Opole University of Technology to learn project management in practice — from planning to implementation. The system has become a tool that combines theory with real experience of teamwork.

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