Kia ora, I would like to introduce myself; I am Don McLaren. I am looking forward to accompanying you through this learning journey.
My own tertiary study has included a Master of Management majoring in project management and a Master of Business Administration, I completed both as a distance learning student while working full time. I understand the challenges of balancing life, work and gaining a qualification all at once
I divide my career into 2 parts the first 20 years was working in the telecommunications sector and the last 20 years has been in the tertiary sector. I have been a CEO of two organisations and spent five years on the remote Chatham Islands off New Zealand and four years in Australia in executive positions.
The largest project I have managed was a multimillion-dollar infrastructure project, the most interesting was a telecommunications project at Scott Base in Antarctica and the most stressful project was my daughter’s wedding.
Project management has a long and varied history that shows managing projects has its origins in the Egyptian pyramids around 2500 BC, and to this day historians are not certain how they accomplished such a task. But records do show that there were managers, even back then, who were responsible for each side of the four faces of the Great Pyramid.
I find project management exciting for many reasons but here are just a few:
- Each project is unique
- You are always learning new stuff
- Get to work with and meet interesting people
- It’s about people getting things done
- Problem solving
- Leadership
- Multi-tasking
- Work across multi-levels within an organisation
- A range of further career opportunities
Please do not hesitate to contact me if at any time you feel under pressure with your course activities or wish to share your learning experience I am here to help.
