Learning Objectives & Agenda


Learning Objectives

After successfully completing this course you will have an understanding of:

  • The Basics: What is “Project Management”?
  • Scope: How to Define Project Goals & Boundaries
  • Schedules & Resources: What Needs to Happen & When
  • Budget: How Much Will It Cost?
  • Risk: What if Something Bad Happens?
  • Communication Excellence: A Vital Trait of Top PMs
  •  Leading a Team: The Essence of Project Management

Agenda

Introduction

  • Welcome, introductions, backgrounds, and course expectations 
  • Distribution of course materials
  • Describe how this course integrates with project management across industry
  • Learning objectives for this course
  • Segue to the value of project management…
  • Diving into the Deep End – managing projects that are simple or complex

The Basics: What is Project Management?

  • What is Project Management? 
  • Where does PM fit?
  • Context, definitions, roles-
    •  The Big Picture
    • Project Management History
    • Roles – who are the players in a project environment?
  • The Iron Triangle: Scope, Schedule, and Budget… Constraints foster creativity!

Scope – Define the Goals (and Boundaries) of Your Project 

  • The Pre-Flight Checklist
  • Consequences – what happens if you don’t follow the Checklist?
  • Documenting requirements and needs
  • Stakeholder Identification – where Scope Management begins! 
  • Using the Stakeholder Analysis Assistant to identify key stakeholders 
  • Working with key stakeholders to identify Project Requirements
  • How to build Consensus – Ranking Requirements
  • Communicate the Scope:
    • Product Description
    • The Scope Statement
    • A Work Breakdown Structure
  • Plan for Change: introduce the Change Control System

Schedule – What Needs to Happen and When? 

  • Building the Project Schedule
    • Determine Activities or Tasks required to create the deliverables
    • Sequencing – does the order matter?
    • Estimate Resources needed for each Activity
    • Given the Activity and the Resources, how long will it take?
*Note: This course will not cover Project Network Diagrams or Critical Path 

Budget – How Much Will It Cost? 

  • Building the Project Budget
    • Now that I’ve got a Schedule, this part is logical...
    • Applying Rates to Resources
    • Costs: internal/external; direct/indirect; tracking charged time
*Note: This course will not dive into Earned Value Management

Risk – What if Something Bad Happens…?

  • Managing Risk
    • Identification – how to build a Risk Register
    • Analysis – understanding the likelihood & impact
    • Planning responses – setting appropriate schedule & budget reserves

Communication Excellence – a Vital Trait of Top Project Managers 

  • Fundamentals of Successful Communications
  • Identify & overcome barriers and filters
  • Interactive examples of common miscommunications!
  • Setting expectations with the Communications Management Plan
    • Leaders avoid the Communication Vacuum – “Mind the Gap”
  • Treating Communication like a project deliverable
  • (External) How to communicate with the Customer
  • (Internal) How to communicate with the Team
  • Issue Logs – tracking and accountability
  • Establishing Communication Ground Rules with the Team
  • The Constructive Feedback Loop – how to ask Team Members to improve
  • Lessons Learned from the Best (The Alpha PM Study)

Leading a Team – the Essence of Project Management

  • Successful Project Managers are strong Leaders…
  • What we learn from the best (& worst): Traits of Strong Leaders
  • Reflection – what unique leadership qualities can you identify?
  • Team building – what to do, and what to avoid!
  • Identify & maximize the strengths of the Team
  • How to influence those who don’t report to you (a common challenge to PMs) 
  • Motivation and reward systems
  • The Project Review
    • Strong leaders are not afraid to look back
    • What can be learned from success?
    • What can be learned from failure?
    • How to capture this vital information

Course Review and Wrap-up

  • Document Personal Plan for Improvement
  • Where to go from here? Opportunities for growth
  • What lessons have you learned?- About your strengths, weaknesses, tendencies- About practical tools or techniques
  • What practices will you implement in your next project?
  • Next steps 

Questions?

   (626) 793-9364 ext. 212
   training@scppa.org