Overview:
This two day instructor led workshop will provide you with the knowledge and skills to apply towards managing small to medium projects of any type. In addition, mention is made of numerous other management techniques and how they inter-relate. Emphasis is placed on the strategies and tools needed to maximise opportunities for successful outcomes.
Learning Method:
This course will be presented in lecture/tutorial style sessions using a combination of lectures and practical exercises. Each participant will be provided with a set of course notes.
Who will benefit from this course?
This course is intended for the busy professional who is not necessarily working in the role of Project Manager.
Many business operations employ people who perform multiple duties, and in the course of their work need Project Management skills. The learning in this course is designed to equip people in any role to manage projects in the best possible manner.
Pre-requisites:
There are no formal requirements for this course
What can you expect to gain from this course?
After completing this course, you will:
- be able to describe the various components and the structure of a typical project
- be able to highlight the features of a project that will contribute to a successful outcome
- appreciate the roles that may be included in project delivery
- understand the tools and techniques used to manage projects
- understand the issues surrounding risk mitigation
- understand the issues surrounding quality control
- be able to perform work breakdown structure analysis and other estimation techniques
- be able to plan for and schedule work loads and outcomes for a team of people
- be aware of when and how to communicate to colleagues
- be able to address the challenges arising from configuration and change management issues
Course Content:
Module 1:Introduction to Project Management
- This unit provides a detailed explanation of programmes, projects, operations and services
It also compares a range of selected methodologies and how they fit in to Project Management.
Key features of projects that contribute to their success are discussed in detail.
- All about definitions of programmes, projects, operations and services, and how they are utilised in modern Management.
- A comparative study of: Kepner Tregoe ,Six Sigma, Balanced Score Card, PMBOK, PRINCE2™
- The project lifecycle - various processes and stages within all projects.
- Critical Success Factors – definition and numerous examples.
- Typical project challenges and problems- how they arise, how we minimise, manage or avoid them.
Module 2:Project Initiation
- Initiation is an often overlooked phase of project management. A detailed outline of tasks involved in this early phase are discussed.
- Project start-up activities
- Project start-up constraints
- Identifying and managing stakeholders' involvement
- Understanding the concept of scope and its relevance to project management is a key goal for people involved in both the management and delivery of projects.
- Scope definition
- Challenges in arriving at consensus for what is in scope
- Dealing with changes to scope
Module 4:Project Planning
- The thorough and detailed planning process often dictates the overall standard of the management of the project.
This unit highlights the elements of a proper project plan, and the steps needed to produce it.
- The planning process
- The project budget
- Identification of milestones
- Documenting the project plan
- Resource planning
- Project teams
- Communication plan
- A prerequisite to successful scheduling is the ability to estimate work loads and effort required to complete tasks and processes. This unit deals with the critical aspects of estimating in detail.
- Information needed to conduct meaningful estimations
- How to perform a work breakdown structure (WBS) analysis
- Other techniques used in specialised estimation
- A critical component in any project is the scheduling of people’s activities and events that must occur.
After having made estimations of the relevant units of work, a schedule is produced and maintained.
- Scheduling of milestones
- Schedule development
- Publishing and sharing schedules
- Maintaining schedules
Module 7:Quality and Risk Management
- The maintenance of quality and mitigation of risk are vital elements of any project, regardless of size and scope.
Important aspects of quality assurance and risk management are dealt with in detail.
- Different types of quality issues
- Principles of quality management
- Importance of quality assurance
- Legal aspects and implications of quality assurance in projects
- Identifying candidates that present a risk to projects
- Assessing risk
- Managing risk
Module 8:Project Delivery
- In this part of the course we deal with issues that arise throughout the implementation phase of projects.
In particular, we deal with the on-going tracking, documenting and management of issues that arise.
- Standardising Project Management
- Compliance issues
- The key roles of configuration management and change control
- Issue management
- Task delegation
- Managing dependencies – ensuring others deliver as agreed, to time, quality and cost
- Reporting requirements
- How to determine accurate status, what to report, and what actions to take on variances to plan
Module 9:Project Quality Management
- Why bother with quality?
- Quality concepts
- The PMBOK approach
- The implications for the Project Manager and the project
Module 10:Project closure
- The final segment in the project lifecycle is often overlooked, possibly falling victim to a poorly managed project.
We discuss the various aspects of this phase, including tasks that may fall into this final stage.
- Handover
- Analysing and communicating lessons learnt
- Documenting aspects of the project at closure
- Measuring degree of success based upon plans, predictions, budgets, timelines.
- Financial and legal aspects of project closure.