Project Management

• What is professional project management?
• Project management career paths
• Defining organisational project management maturity

At the completion on this module participants will have a clear understanding of project management as a profession, a guide to their own development as practitioners and an overview of where their organisation is, and where it needs to be, using an organisational project management maturity model2. Choosing and Starting the Right Projects

• Selecting the right projects
• Project justification
• The importance of the project charter
• Preparing the project management plan
• Defining and documenting project closure

This module introduces the concepts of formally initiating, justifying, and authorising a project. It also looks at the process of planning for project closure. Setting up project teams, appoint the project manager and project sponsor, and putting in place a project governance structure or steering group and their roles are also covered.

• Defining the project scope
• Managing scope change
• Preparing a WBS to estimate time, cost, and risk

At the conclusion of this module participants will understand the importance of properly defining the scope of the project using a variety of tools and the value a well-defined scope statement has on estimating time, cost, and risk. Participants will also be able to develop a robust and appropriate change control process and understand the importance of documented and assessed change control.

• Cost estimating techniques
• Project budgeting and financing
• Managing and reporting project costs

Estimating project costs and budgets are central to successful project delivery. This module covers the tools and techniques used to successfully estimate your project costs and how to take these costs and complete a project budget. Participants completing this module will also have an understating of how to use the earned value management system to track, control and forecast costs and time.

• Time estimating techniques
• Managing and reporting project time
• Project management software i.e., MS Project

Using the scope statement and work breakdown structure to estimate project time is a valuable skill for any project manager. This module covers the processes of estimating time and preparing a project schedule. Participants will be provided with a separate exercise to introduce them to ProjectLibre software.

• Defining project risks
• Developing a risk register
• Building contingency
• Monitoring risk

After completing this module participants will be able to put together a project risk register that identifies risk events, list their potential consequences, plan risk responses, and perform both qualitative and quantitative analysis. This information can be used to prepare contingency budgets for cost and time.

• How to develop and lead your team
• Effective leadership
• Personal development as part of the profession

Getting, keeping, and developing the right people for the project is an established means of ensuring project success. This module will prepare participants to be able to manage, coach and develop their project teams. This module also focuses on developing your own leadership skills and understanding the importance of authentic project leadership.

• Preparing and documenting a quality management plan
• Performing quality assurance
• Inspection techniques for quality control

All projects require a focus on quality to ensure the deliverable meets the customer expectations. Of equal importance is focussing on the quality processes in place to ensure the quality of the overall project. This module covers both aspects of quality and at the completion participants will be able to prepare their own project quality management plan and track progress against it.

• Make or buy decision making
• Types of contracts
• Managing project contracts

Most projects require the use of contracts of some form. This module explains the processing of making ‘make or buy’ decisions, the types of contracts that can be used, and how to negotiate and administer a contract.

• Stakeholder identification and management
• Project reporting techniques
• Effective communication management

At the completion of this module participants will be able to complete a communications plan for their project. This plan will also identify project stakeholders, their expectations, and their communications needs. Participants will be introduced to techniques to ensure effective communication is part of their professional and personal capability. This module also covers formats for project reporting and what information to include.

• Successful project closure
• Outputs vs outcomes
• Measuring benefits

At the completion of this module participants will be able to complete a project closure checklist, understand the conditions for project closure, define the differences between outputs and outcomes, and plan for a robust benefits realization process.

• Assessing existing organisation process assets
• Building a customized project management methodology
• Successful implementation, adoption, and improvement techniques

Attendees will be introduced to the tools and techniques required to assess organizational project management maturity and design an appropriate project management methodology. Attendees are provided with blank templates and process charts.

• The importance of good project governance
• The role of the project sponsor
• The project control group

This module covers the interdependence between project success and project governance. It also covers the role of the project sponsor and the project control group and ways in which both contribute to project success.

• What is program management?
• Managing multiple project resources
• Managing project schedule and budget conflicts
• Program reporting

This module is for people with an understanding of basic project management skills and who may be acting, or seeking to act, in a program management role. It covers the role of the program manager and the technical skills of managing competing demands for resources, scheduling and budget conflicts.

• What is portfolio management?
• Project management as strategic enabler
• Portfolio management techniques

This module covers the importance of successful portfolio management and the links between project management and organisational strategy. It is best suited to those people with both an understanding of, and experience in, project and program management.

• Managing change
• Building support for change
• Ensuring lasting change

All projects involve change from a current state to a future stet, and crucial to the success of the any project is the ability of the project manager to execute successful change management. This module introduces the participants to the basics of successful organization change management to assist with the delivery of their projects, and in introduction new process, tools, or techniques.

• What is Agile project management
• Choosing the best Agile approach
• Running projects with Agile

Agile project management presents a range of methodologies and approaches to manage complex projects that do not respond well to the traditional waterfall methodologies. This module will introduce Agile, its history and the top defined Agile methodologies. At the completion of this module participants will understand what Agile is and whether it may be the right approach for them and their projects.

• Understanding project management maturity and how it can provide tangible value
• Understanding maturity models and their insights
• Carrying out the P3M3 Self-Assessment

This module provides all the tools and techniques to understand the benefits of understanding your organisations current and optimal level of project management maturity. We will use the P3M3 Self-Assessment tools and our own scoring tools to enable you to carry out your own organisational project management maturity assessment.