Project Planning and Control Foundation and Practitioner

Key Features

• The approaches and products used to gain a clear definition of a project
• The approaches and techniques used to plan and close a project
• The selection and use of appropriate scheduling techniques
• The practices used for rigorous monitoring to enable proactive control of the project
• The basis for good record keeping, which also facilitates the virtuous feedback and learning cycle

Topics covered include:

Definitions: Hierarchical Breakdown Structures - WBS, OBS, CBS, RBS • Purpose of the Business Case, Scope Management, Requirements Management and Stakeholder Management • Purpose and composition of the Works Information and Statement of Work

Planning Purpose and benefits of successful planning • Differences between Planning and Scheduling; Funding and Budgets • Planning approaches and influencing factors • Breakdown Structures • Purpose of the Work Package, WBS Dictionary, RACI Matrix, Dependency Management, cost estimating, budgeting and budget transfers

Scheduling Definition of key network analysis terms • Methods of presenting scheduling results • Schedule density • Time phased schedules • Schedule design • Key features of the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) and Critical Path Analysis (CPA) • Methods of estimating durations • Resourcing the schedule • Schedule Narratives and Reviews • Scheduling process steps • Network construction

Monitoring and Control Definition and terminology of Earned Value Analysis (EVA) • Key monitoring, risk and change management terms • Project baselines • Baseline maintenance and Change management • Performance reporting and features of a good control system • Variance Analysis Methods of Progress Monitoring • Performance Analysis Methods of Progress • Use of Network Analysis and measurement of float usage in monitoring • Short-term Planning