Course Description

 

Through a multimedia-enhanced five-day simulation, you manage an extensive and comprehensive project. You use real-world PC- and paper-based tools and templates to actively plan, control and close the project.

 

 Experiential activities include:

 

·                     Defining clear project goals and measurable deliverables

·                     Brainstorming the work breakdown structure

·                     Estimating task duration and work

·                     Determining task dependencies and schedules

·                     Assigning and optimizing resources

·                     Developing risk management plans

·                     Producing the implementation plan

·                     Managing and responding to changes

·                     Evaluating motivation and team-building issues

Course Objective

 

You Will Learn How To

·                     Produce a project plan for successful delivery

·                     Plan and run projects using best practices in a 6-step project management process

·                     Implement risk management techniques and mitigation strategies

·                     Estimate and schedule task work and duration with confidence

·                     Implement monitoring tools and controls to keep you fully in command of the project

·                     Recognize and practice the leadership skills needed to run a motivated team

 

Who Should attend?

 

As an effective project manager, you organize scarce resources, work under tight deadlines, control project change and generate maximum team performance. Through a simulated case study, you learn how to successfully plan, manage and deliver projects.

 

You also learn how to implement project management processes, develop leadership skills and respond to real-world scenarios. At the end of the course, you take away templates and checklists for use back at the office.

Course Outline

 

Introduction

·                     Managing the project processes

·                     Creating a realistic and achievable plan for the project

·                     Working within project constraints

Launching Your Project

 

Applying a project framework for success

·                     Identifying the project life cycle stages and the key inputs and outputs

·                     Working with the challenges of project management

·                     Selecting and applying best practices

Core project leadership skills

·                     Identifying stages of team development

·                     Building and managing team effectiveness

Building a project charter

·                     Defining clear project objectives

·                     Determining and clarifying the goals

·                     Defining key project deliverables

·                     Running the objective-setting meeting

·                     Gaining buy-in from stakeholders

The 6-Step Planning Method

 

Defining the project workload

·                     Determining project scope with work breakdown structures (WBS)

·                     Driving the plan down to task level

Building high-confidence estimates

·                     Effective ways to produce better estimates

·                     Three-point estimating to refine accuracy

·                     Managing the estimating process

Scheduling the project

·                     Converting WBS to precedence networks

·                     Determining the critical path tasks

·                     Creating dependency diagrams

·                     Calculating the project duration

Creating the project timeline

·                     Building Gantt charts

·                     Using slack effectively in the schedule

·                     Setting key milestones to track and control the project

Developing a risk management process

·                     Identifying the project risks and assumptions

·                     Evaluating risk impacts

·                     Strategies for managing risks

·                     Managing key risks with the Risk Register

·                     Reducing risks through contingency plans

Effectively matching resources to work

·                     Identifying resources

·                     Assigning resources to tasks

·                     Analyzing resource use in the schedule

·                     Optimizing the use of resources

·                     Preparing and agreeing on task contracts

Running the Project

 

Establishing an effective control process

·                     Establishing change control procedures

·                     Presenting the project plan for approval

·                     Setting the baseline schedule

Implementing the plan

·                     Monitoring actual task progress

·                     Analyzing progress against the baseline

·                     Correcting the project plan to achieve the objectives

·                     Picking up warnings of trouble ahead

·                     Engaging team members to maximize productivity

Tracking and reporting progress

·                     Tracking planned vs. actual task performance

·                     Analyzing the impact of variation to the baseline plan

·                     Avoiding the 90-percent-complete trap

·                     Communicating project status to stakeholders

·                     Correcting the schedule

Leading throughout the project life cycle

·                     Coping with common project scenarios

·                     Building ownership, motivation and commitment across the team

Successful Project Closure

 

·         Managing systematic project close down

·         The payoff of post-implementation review

·         Transferring project and personal lessons learned

·         Documenting project experience for process improvement