Situation & Challenge

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a leading public institution renowned for its extensive research programs and a large, diverse student body. With thousands of employees spread across various schools, colleges, and departments, UCF needed a cohesive approach to train mid-level managers and supervisors who were overseeing increasingly complex projects. 

Many of these managers came from departments as varied as Marketing & Communications, Facilities, the College of Nursing, the Board of Trustees’ office, and Adult Education programs, yet they shared a common challenge: they hadn’t benefited from formal training in managing projects and managing change within their teams.

UCF’s Human Resources and Learning & Development team sought a partner who could deliver both comprehensive and immediately applicable training. We answered that call with a training program carefully tailored to address UCF’s challenges by delivering relevant project, program and change management fundamentals training through hands-on, interactive techniques that supervisors could apply as soon as they returned to their offices.

UCF’s strategic plan placed a growing emphasis on leadership, communication, problem-solving, and adaptability to change. Supervisors and mid-level managers were expected to embody these competencies, yet they frequently struggled to balance:

• Project Complexity: They were juggling diverse tasks, ranging from facility upgrades and annual recruitment events to administrative process improvements.
  

• Limited Formal Training: Many employees had never received systematic instruction on scoping projects, identifying stakeholders, or managing resources over long timelines.
  

• High-Velocity Change: UCF was deploying new enterprise software and processes, causing disruptions and amplifying the need for effective change-management skills.
  

  Competing Priorities: Supervisors oversaw hybrid teams where members wore multiple hats, forcing them to tackle urgent versus important tasks without a clear framework.
  

Given these realities, UCF needed training that would give participants both the strategic mindset and the practical tools to streamline their work, align projects with institutional goals, and guide their teams effectively through ongoing transitions.

Our Solution

We developed a tailored project training curriculum that combined standard project management methods with design thinking principles, structured problem-solving, and workplace-relevant examples. Our goal was to ensure that every concept taught could be applied immediately to generate real impact.

Our project training curriculum was built around three key pillars, each backed by interactive exercises and real-world examples:

Project Management Fundamentals

We introduced supervisors to essential topics such as:

• Project Scoping & Charters: Participants learned how to separate in-scope vs. out-of-scope items, ensuring clarity at every stage.

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): We guided managers to decompose large projects into manageable tasks, clarifying responsibilities and timelines.

• Stakeholder Management & Communication: Using stakeholder maps and communication plans, managers could proactively involve the right people at the right times.

• Workload Prioritization: Leveraging the Eisenhower Matrix, participants distinguished urgent tasks from important but less time-sensitive work—a crucial skill in a high-volume environment.
  

Structured Problem-Solving & Design Thinking

We wove design thinking into classic problem-solving frameworks, showing teams how to:

• Empathize with Stakeholders: Managers learned to view departmental challenges from diverse perspectives, whether in Marketing, Facilities, or Academic Affairs.

• Ideate & Prototype Solutions: By running brief, iterative exercises, participants could test improvement ideas quickly—whether for event planning or financial process updates.

• Evaluate Outcomes: Emphasis was placed on gathering feedback early, enabling rapid adjustments to maintain project momentum.
  

Change Management Essentials

Recognizing that UCF was rolling out new systems and encountering staffing shifts, we dedicated modules to:

• Navigating Organizational Transitions: Participants studied the human side of change, including how to address resistance and build buy-in.

• Communication & Leadership during Change: We shared proven strategies to keep teams motivated and engaged throughout disruptive processes, such as major software deployments or departmental reorganizations.
  

Delivery Format & Engagement Methods

We structured our training sessions to be highly interactive, immediately actionable, and relevant to UCF’s context:

• Class Size & Cohort Engagement: Each class consisted of roughly 20–25 participants—supervisors and mid-level managers from various departments. Over the course of our engagement, we trained more than 500 employees. This approach encouraged peer-to-peer discussion and broad knowledge sharing across the institution.

• Real-World Application: Instead of generic examples, we used actual UCF projects—like designing recruitment campaigns, coordinating large-scale facilities improvements, or planning academic program expansions—to illustrate concepts such as WBS creation or prioritizing tasks via the Eisenhower Matrix.

• Team-Based & Hands-On: We frequently broke participants into small groups to collaborate on mini case studies, build charters for their specific departmental projects, and role-play challenging stakeholder conversations. This ensured that learning remained both fun and immediately transferrable to daily work.

• Peer-to-Peer Learning: Departments that had strong best practices—such as annual events playbooks—shared these with others, sparking campus-wide conversations about effective scheduling, resource management, and stakeholder engagement.

• Flexible Scheduling: We delivered the curriculum in short (2-hour) or half-day sessions, accommodating managers’ busy schedules. Participants often returned with success stories from applying the material in the interim between sessions.
  

Results 

Broad Organizational Reach & Ongoing Engagement

Through multiple cohorts each semester, over 500 managers across the university took part in Astrevo Labs’ training, including those from Marketing & Communications, Facilities, the College of Nursing, the Board of Trustees’ office, Adult Education, and beyond. This broad adoption signaled UCF’s commitment to organizational excellence and ensured a shared language for project management.

Enhanced Project Scoping & Execution

• WBS & Clear Project Charters: Managers reported they felt more confident decomposing large initiatives—such as a campus-wide event or new software deployment—into defined, trackable tasks.

• Improved Prioritization: The Eisenhower Matrix helped participants separate urgent tasks (like immediate student onboarding needs) from longer-term priorities (such as yearly budgeting cycles), reducing the chaos of competing demands.

Deeper Problem-Solving & Innovation

• Design Thinking Integration: By applying design thinking fundamentals, supervisors crafted solutions with stakeholders in mind—improving departmental collaboration and achieving creative outcomes.

• Structured Problem-Solving: Short exercises let managers test how to outline a challenge, assess root causes, and propose solutions, driving a more methodical approach to everyday hurdles.

Change Management & Reduced Turbulence

• Steadier Transitions: With new HR and financial systems in deployment, leaders learned how to manage resistance and guide their teams through the inevitable disruptions more smoothly.

• Higher Engagement: Ongoing dialogue and practical templates ensured that managers felt equipped to tackle staff concerns, from technology anxiety to workload imbalances.