On 27 and 28 May, it was that time again: members of the Project Finance Management Offices (PFMO) Community of Practice met to discuss their work. This time, the venue was the University of Granada, and the University of Graz was also an enthusiastic traveller.
The Arqus Community of Practice PFMO is an association that aims to promote project finance management through the exchange of expertise and the development of shared knowledge. Six Arqus universities are involved: Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon 1, Vilnius and Wrocław.
What the meeting was like
The current meeting focussed on discussing administrative procedures, accounting, financial management and the regulations that the participants are confronted with in their day-to-day work. Of course, these intensive discussions also included an exchange of best practice examples. After all, the focus of the meetings is always on learning together, but also from each other.
All of this was another important step towards the goals of the Community of Practice. The members of the PFMO want to work together to develop important skills such as teamwork, leadership, results orientation, planning and control as well as organisational skills. In the future, the project also plans to tackle key financial management issues, including
- Direct and indirect costs in projects
- Strategies for preparing financial audits
- Job profiling and role definition in project financial management
Job shadowing in June
In order to learn even more intensively from and with each other, meetings such as this one take place every three months, live and/or online. Vilnius University is in charge of these meetings. This time, however, PFMO members don't have to wait three months before entering a new labour-intensive phase. Vilnius University is hosting the second PFMO Job Shadowing Workshop from 17 to 18 June 2024. This is a key initiative of the Arqus Communities of Practice.
For two days, participants will take part in discussions, job shadowing sessions and joint planning. The programme includes sharing best practices on internal project kick-off meetings, learning materials and staff development initiatives, as well as hands-on experience in observing different approaches to project management.