Project Management Essentials

Expected Duration: One 8-hour session or two 4-hour sessions. 

Contact Hours/PDUs:  8

General Description:
This course presents foundational information on the “what’s and why’s” of project management, and “real-world” project management techniques that can be implemented on all projects.  Students are exposed to the basic tenets of project management and standard PM terminology that they can use immediately to increase their credibility with their managers, their peers, and their subordinates. 

Target Audience:
This course is for people who are assigned to project teams, or who are placed in project management roles at their companies.  As such, it is intended for anyone in today’s workplace where all too many people find themselves assigned to, or even placed in charge of, high-profile projects, worth thousands or even millions of dollars to their organizations—with no tools or direction, and very little structured training.  It is NOT intended for individuals who are already fully familiar with the international standards for project management, and it will not be sufficient BY ITSELF for people who require more in-depth, specialized training to become CAPM® or PMP® certified.

Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to define and describe the project management processes for Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing projects.  Up front, participants will be presented with key concepts they can use to prevent project failure.  They will learn what’s needed to start projects on the right foot, to ensure agreement on project scope, and to organize to prevent problems.  Attendees will also receive tips and techniques for breaking down projects into manageable pieces and learn ways to make sure everyone is on the same page.  In the end, participants will learn how to confirm that the work performed conforms to requirements. And, they will be prepared to gain formal sign-off from their project sponsor, and prove and celebrate project success.
 
Course Outline:
1.0 Project Management in a Changing World
   1.1 Why Project Management?
   1.2 What’s a Project?
2.0 Project Management - Art Form or Scientific Method?
   2.1 The Science…
     2.1.1 What’s Project Management?
     2.1.2 The Project Management Processes
     2.1.3 The Role of the Project Manager 
     2.1.4 Balancing Competing Demands
   2.2 The Art…
3.0 Starting Out on the Right Foot
   3.1 Preventing Problems Before You Get Started
   3.2 Identifying and Managing Stakeholders
4.0 Finalizing What is Asked of You
   4.1 The Project Charter
   4.2 The Preliminary Scope Statement
   4.3 Creating a Project Charter (Team Exercise #1)
5.0 Finalizing Project Objectives
   5.1 Project Scope Management
   5.2 The Project Scope Statement
   5.3 Preventing Scope Creep
     5.3.1 The Work Breakdown Structure
     5.3.2 The WBS Dictionary
   5.4 Decomposing the Project (Team Exercise #2)
6.0 Real-World Estimating and Scheduling    
   6.1 Getting Reliable Estimates
   6.2 Proving How Long the Project Will Take
7.0 Communications Management
8.0 Preventing Problems - Risk Management
9.0 What to Learn Next
   9.1 Suggested Readings
   9.2 Web Resources
10.0 Learning Assessment

Course Text:
PM Crash Course™, Premier Edition
by Rita Mulcahy
RMC Publications, Inc. (2006)
ISBN: 1932735070

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Questions? 304-367-4920 or email