BSc Management Science student and programme Unibuddy Anna Tran recently attended her first Scenario Week. A key part of the BSc/MSci Management Science programme’s ‘Design’ module, Scenario Weeks occur throughout the year and require students to work in teams to address complex interdisciplinary management problems.

In this blog, Anna takes us through her first Scenario Week at UCL School of Management and the ways in which the tasks have helped her to feel more confident in her skillset. She also shares tips on how students can really maximise Scenario Weeks in order to get the most out of the experience.

scenario week

Imagine one day studying in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf, one of the leading business and finance hubs in the world. Amazing, right? Let me tell you all about the unique experience of studying BSc Management Science at UCL School of Management.

Each month, we’ve had one full week to work on a group project on Level 50 of One Canada Square. It is located in the heart of Canary Wharf, which provides a very different type of learning environment - particularly when compared to UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, where you often see students around the building. However, in Canary Wharf, many people are dressed in formal suits and the buildings even have LED screens that display either current stock values or BBC news. During Scenario Weeks, we are provided with coffee and free lunches including sandwiches, cookies, fruits, brownies, coke or snacks.

The group project for each week was very different to our previous work and was therefore a bit of a challenge. I have been through 3 different topics and have explored a range of subjects, from understanding cultural differences and how each country communicates - for example, Vietnamese people are very reactive in communication - to the creativity week, where we actually had to mould clay into animals. This was definitely the most enjoyable part, and we were then asked to create a video. The most recent week was the most challenging week - we had to use our data analytics skills to solve companies’ cases, which to me was a very practical task, especially in relation to future jobs and cases with real companies.

How can students prepare for Scenario Week?

1. Arrive on time: Trust me - you don’t want to miss any second of this great week. Arrive on time and leave a good impression on your teammates and also the Professors/ Lecturer. You will also feel more relaxed and comfortable if you join from the beginning and don’t need to catch up on the material.

2. Review the pre-released project content: Each week has brand new content, so if you prepare yourself by reading the materials before the class, you will not fall behind the lectures. I learned this lesson during the Data Analytics Scenario Week. I didn’t pay attention to the material before class and I just forgot the content that I learned about Data Analytics and throughout the day I didn’t understand the lecture content at all - it was super confusing.

3. Be responsible: Scenario Weeks are a whole week of group projects, which means that you are working with teams of 6 or 7 people. It is everyone’s responsibility to attend the lecture and contribute to the group project. We have assigned groups, but we also have option groups in different Scenario Weeks. You should therefore try to build your credibility among your classmates. This helps you build trust and different opportunities might come unexpectedly. They might become your future co-founders or partners in your future career.

4. Be yourself: This is also a great opportunity for you to meet and get closer to different people that you may not normally mix with. They also might be your future friends who can help you with different aspects of life - one of the things I love about the Management Science programme is that the students come from all different backgrounds, different cultures and understandings as well! This is such a friendly environment where you can listen to others and share a variety of opinions and perspectives in life!

5. Love-to-learn mindset: There are some lessons that you might not understand why they are even studied by university students, such as understanding cultural differences or playing with clay! Everyone understands cultural differences among people, right? But actually not many understand the science behind it or how to connect with people. Therefore, if you have the mindset of “Love to learn”, this is in fact how you feel and understand the lessons in Scenario Week.

I hope that the experiences I’ve shared and some of my advice will help you to understand a little bit more about the Scenario Weeks that are part of the BSc Management Science programme at UCL School of Management. If you have any questions about the programme, please feel free to leave me a message and I would really love to talk to you.