Project Management Fundamentals

In this comprehensive course, you will learn the fundamentals of project management: how to initiate, plan, and execute a project that meets objectives and satisfies stakeholders.

Aligned with the Project Management Institute (PMI®) Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), this course provides a step-by-step guide to planning and executing a project. Working through case studies with real-world scenarios, you will interact with fellow students to learn and apply the methodologies and good practices of formal project management.

You will discover the approaches and techniques that make project managers successful, covering topics such as:

• Analyzing stakeholders
• Defining expectations
• Defining project deliverables
• Analyzing scope
• Developing schedules
• Mitigating risk
• Contingency planning
• Establishing and applying effective change controls
• Performance reporting
• Communicating status to project stakeholders

During class, project management theory will be interspersed with practical, hands-on workshops. Seventy percent of class time is dedicated to experience-based skills development. In the remaining class time, you will learn about methodologies and put practical skills into context.

University Credit

Students pursuing a university-recognized and/or accredited certificate in Canada or continuing education units in the US must attend at least 90% of class time, participate in class exercises and section-knowledge checks, and score at least 72% on an end-of-class, multiple-choice assessment.

What You Will Learn

• Manage a project through each stage of the project management life cycle
• Document the needs and priorities of key stakeholders
• Develop an execution strategy that will fulfill stakeholders' expectations
• Develop a project plan that balances scope, time, cost, and risk
• Assess project complexity and analyze scope to a suitable degree of granularity
• Establish project controls to ensure a successful outcome
• Monitor project activities and effectively assess progress
• Report status and performance efficiently and effectively
• Collect lessons learned and create a project archive that contributes to an organization's experience base

Audience

• Anyone who is involved in, or affected by, projects or change management within an organization, including project managers, IT project managers, project coordinators, team leaders, product managers, program managers, project team members, subject matter experts, analysts, stakeholders, and senior managers who want to get more out of their project teams
• Anyone in a leadership role who will benefit from an introduction to the art and science of project management
• You should not take this course if you have taken IT Project Management or Applied Project Management. The subjects covered are the same.

Prerequistes

Course Outline

1. Foundations

• Formal vs. informal project management
• Project Management Institute (PMI) framework
• Project management life cycle

2. Initiating

• Role of the project manager
• Project charter
• Stakeholder identification and assessment
• Progressive elaboration

3. Planning

• Planning around project constraints
• SMART objectives
• Converting objectives into requirements
• Decomposition of requirements into a work breakdown structure
• Developing a work breakdown structure dictionary
• Principles of estimating time and cost
• Analyzing work and estimating duration of work packages
• Determining sequence of work packages
• Network diagramming and critical path analysis
• Budgeting resources and cost control
• Ensuring that all management responsibility areas are included in the project plan
• Analyzing risks for probability and impact
• Mitigating and planning risk contingencies
• Preparing baselines for scope, time, and cost
• Obtaining stakeholder sign-off

4. Executing, Monitoring, and Controlling

• Team-building principles and priorities
• Status and performance reporting
• Management by exception
• Keeping stakeholders informed and involved
• Steering performance back to the baseline
• Integrated change controls

5. Closing

• Transitioning the product or service
• Capturing lessons learned for the organization
• Final report to stakeholders

Exercises

• Formal vs. Informal Project Management
• Analyze Stakeholders
• Convert Vague Objectives into SMART Objectives
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Estimate Effort and Duration for Work Packages
• Perform Network Diagramming and Determine Critical Path
• Estimate Resource Costs for Work Packages
• Analyze and Plan for Risk
• Manage Project Change
• Review Lessons Learned

Course Labs