Project Management

“Be prepared, luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”

Randy Pausch

Many companies are realizing that the traditional project management principles are no longer applicable in today’s extremely dynamic and demanding environment. A fixed approach of planning is no longer a good method since it is very difficult to anticipate everything in advance and respond to it in the plan. Instead, more agile planning methods are required to accommodate for changing markets, technology and resources over the course of a typical project.

As a result, new project managers must be systematically thought on best practices and established management techniques. In this course, participants will understand the role of project manager as a broker of information. The emphasis here is on the day-to-day running of a project as opposed to leading a team using emotional skills (for that see Team Leadership Course).

Participants walk through a case study using a number of exercises throughout the course while learning about milestones, planning, work breakdown structures (WBS) and risk analysis.

Participants will learn how to manage time, resources, cost, risk and quality using a variety of practical hands-on exercises. This course includes the following topics:

Mission

• Differences between a project and your daily tasks?
• Project Management versus Team Leading
• Setting up project objectives and constraints
• Identifying scope and ultimate goals
• Stakeholders and clients roles in project objectives

Project Planning

• Project life cycles & planning models
• Introduction to planning tools
• Work breakdown structures
• Deliverables
• Estimating time and cost
• Resource allocation and management
• Setting up Gantt charts
• Precedence networks
• Risk management
• Creating contingency plans
• Effective documentation system

Project Progress Monitoring

• How to monitor performance and measure progress against objectives
• How to keep track of new issues as they are discovered and eliminating them
• Effective decision making
• Quality control procedures

Handling Clients and Stakeholders

• Effective communications
• Influencing key people
• Keep your clients updated
• Manage requests for change

Handling Team Members

• How to give effective feedback
• How to have a productive meeting
• How to maintain rapport with team members
• How to motivate the team and keep them committed to the project’s mission
• How to boost creativity

Meaningful Meetings

• How to manage a meeting to get everyone’s input
• How to capture what is discussed
• Effective brainstorming
• Meeting frequency

Project Close

• Stakeholder Acceptance
• Final documentation before closing down
• Marketing