Project:  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Description: Professional Development Courses for Engineering Management and Leadership Skills

The wider objective of the project was to improve Macedonian engineering manager’s performance through improvement of their management and leadership skills. The target group consisted of engineering managers, engineers entrepreneurs or engineers who wished to become managers, from Macedonia and the neighboring countries with similar context. The professional development courses for management and leadership skills improved their competences, linked to their professional profiles, increased opportunities for professional development, and increased the motivation and satisfaction in their daily work.
The major aim of the project was to jointly develop and implement professional development courses for engineering management and leadership skills, which addressed European standards for management and leadership, as well as was built on rigorous research evidence and principles of adult education. The professional development courses for management and leadership skills was modular and practice-oriented, and overcame skills mismatched and increased management and leadership competencies of engineers working on managerial positions in Macedonia, and in the region prospectively.
The second aim of the project was to develop learning environment, online courses, webinars, which offered flexibility and was adapted according to learning preferences of adult. The project was also oriented towards training of adult trainers, on relevant topics in adult education.
Successful realization of the project activities provided integrated professional development courses for management and leadership skills to be developed, implemented and evaluated. These courses were tailored made according to the assessed needs and expectations of engineering managers in Macedonia and the region, as well as analysis and benchmarking of the management and leadership standards in Europe and adult training courses in this field. Also, specially designed learning environment met the needs of the adult learners, providing flexibility and innovative approaches of delivery of these courses.
All professional development courses for engineering management and leadership skills were taught using contemporary training methods, such as problem based learning, game based learning, case study method, etc. Professional development courses were organized using blended learning concept – a combination of traditional and e-learning concepts. All course materials and activities were available to adult learners through a distance learning system. The excellent quality of training, learning and examining methods, utilizing the possibility of new media, significantly contributed to high quality learning opportunities.
The professional development courses were developed based on EU wide transparency and recognition tools,in line with EU policy in the field of adult learning. In order to ensure the quality and recognition, the professional development courses for engineering and leadership skills were accredited by Ministry for education and science in R.Macedonia.
Certification of the courses enhanced the sustainability of the project and offer opportunity new adult learners from Macedonia and the region to take the courses and improve their work performance by improving their management and leadership skills. Project results and lessons learned were disseminated using several medias: web portal, internet, social media, engineering networks, publications, events, open days, conferences, etc.