Overview:

The Course

Project Management has gone beyond being merely a personal skill set. It is now considered a vital organisational competency. So whether you are charged with increasing your organisation’s total project management capability or you are playing a role on a project, you will find this course offering a complete guidance for managing any type of project. The course is designed to help you master the science of project management and to provide you with a solid foundation for the art of project management and leadership.

The Goals

The bottom line is project management is about applying specific principles to bring in projects on time, within budget, and to specifications. As a result, the key objective of this course is to master planning tools, management techniques, and people skills that will ensure project success.

The Process

The course uses both conventional and non-traditional techniques, utilises hands-on case studies and group discussions and provides thorough coverage of concepts, techniques, and relevant case studies.

The Benefits

• Better understanding of project selection decisions
• Improved ability of delegates to plan, schedule and control a project
• Mastering inter-personal skills needed to effectively manage project teams
• Improved ability to develop appropriate performance measures
• A wider choice of project planning techniques

The Results

• Develop an understanding of project selection methods
• Gain practical tips, advice and insight from an experienced project manager
• Examine simple and advanced project planning techniques
• Improve understanding of incorporating risk in project planning
• Review best practice in project planning and control

The Core Competencies

• Planning theory and application
• Risk analysis & management
• Cost estimating
• Budgeting
• Performance management
• Project progress reporting

The Programme Content

Day One

The World of Project Management

• Project lifecycle model
• Classic and modern project constraints and parameters
• The concept of project management maturity
• Selecting projects to meet organizational goals
• Aggregating projects into programmes and portfolios
• Establishing a project support office
• Considering and confronting uncertainty in project selection decisions
• Project data, information and knowledge management
• The art, science and practice of project management
• Case Studies and Group Exercises

Day Two

Project Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting

• Project plan vs. Project planning
• Strategic, tactical and operational planning
• The contents of a project plan
• Level of detail in scheduling
• Network logic and dependency analysis
• Project uncertainty and risk management
• Introducing uncertainty in planning
• Fundamentals of budgeting & cost control
• Methods of budgeting
• Improving cost estimates
• Best practices of project planning, scheduling and budgeting
• Case Studies and Group Exercises

Day Three

Project Resourcing, Monitoring and Control

• Resource allocation
• Expediting a project
• Allocating scarce resources to projects
• The Critical Chain approach
• Designing the monitoring cycle
• Performance indicators and feedback mechanisms
• Earned value management
• Designing the change-control system
• Proactive management and plan updating
• Case Studies and Group Exercises

Day Four

The Project Manager’s Roles and Responsibilities

• Selection of the Project Manager
• Project Team-building and empowerment
• Team management challenges
• Delegating with confidence
• Communication within the project team
• Project team leadership
• Multidisciplinary teams
• Conflict handling
• Best practices of people-based project management
• Case Studies and Group Exercises

Day Five

Project Evaluation, Reporting, Closure and Hand-over

• Evaluation criteria
• Project auditing
• Project review meetings
• Analysing project performance
• Progress reports and records
• Determinants of project success
• Successful project hand-over
• Lessons learned and creating learning culture
• Best practices of project evaluation, reporting and closure