The assignment forn the project was found through her own professional networks
Third-year Jamk Sport Business student Veera Savukoski decided to look for an assignment herself when the Working Life Project course was approaching. The aim was to work with a familiar team, as the group had already proven to be a good fit in the past. A suitable assignment for the group was found in Savukoski's own networks. Savukoski and his team approached potential assignors, in this case sports organisations, by asking around: "Do you have a project that you would like to do, but don't have time?"
In the end, the assignment was to organise a seminar event. The tasks included planning the seminar, including marketing the seminar event, organising partners and catering. Because the team had worked together before, it was easy to share roles and responsibilities. The venue, time and keynote speakers were determined by the client, but the group decided on the other details together. Savukoski himself was the group's project manager and two of the members of the group were responsible for marketing and two others for sales. All decisions were taken together.
"Our group worked smoothly and efficiently. We had several courses running with the same group, so we also already knew each other and each other's strengths, and we were able to use them in the project," says Veera.
Veera's tips for successful project work
Especially for groups that don't know each other well, Veera has one important tip: "Organise live meetings instead of online meetings."
According to Veera, the working process in her group was independent, and each member of the group took a lot of responsibility. There was regular telephone contact with the client, but the group was given the freedom to make its own decisions. The group was supported during the project by a coach and by learning material on Moodle.
"We had good support materials on Moodle for project work. The materials helped us, for example, in situations where we were in danger of missing something. We also received good guidance and encouragement from the coach. She gave us space to perform and I got the feeling that she had faith in us that we were gonna complete the project," says Veera.
The work-life project deepened Veera's interest in sports business marketing and events
The project provided Veera with valuable experience in project management and opened her eyes to the complexity of organising events. She is still interested in sports marketing and event organisation and plans to work in this field in the future.
"I believe that project assignments suitable for students in my field could include analysing and developing strategies for sports clubs and planning and implementing events related to sports business," Veera suggest.
