APM Project Fundamentals Course (formerly APMIC)

1. Project management and the operating environment
 Definition of project and project management
 Key purpose of project management
 Definition of programme management and portfolio management
 Relationship of programme management and portfolio management to project management
 Differences between project and business as usual
 Benefits of effective project management
 Project environment
 PESTLE as a tool

2. Project life cycle
 Definition & phases
 Reasons for structuring projects into phases
 Handover and closure

3. Management structures by which projects operate
 Roles and responsibilities
 Project manager
 Project sponsor
 Project steering group/board
 Project team members
 PMO
 End user

4. Project management planning
 Project management plan - purpose & benefits
 Ownership and approval of project management plan
 Purpose of a business case
 Role of the sponsor and project manager in relation to the business case
 Purpose of benefits management
 Use of KPIs
 Stakeholder management, stakeholder analysis
 Estimating & estimating funnel
 Project success criteria
 Success factors
 Project reporting

5. Scope management
 Definition of scope management
 Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
 Configuration
 Change control
 Links between configuration and change control
 Change control process
 Configuration management process

6. Scheduling and resource management
 Total float, critical path, Gantt chart, baseline, milestone
 Resource management
 Types of resources
 Resource smoothing/resource levelling
 Procurement

7. Risk management and issue management
 Project risk and risk management
 Project risk management process
 Use of risk register
 Issue and issue management
 Use of issue log
 Escalation process

8. Project quality management
 Quality and quality management
 Quality planning, quality assurance, quality control, continual improvement
 Differences between quality assurance and quality control
 Project reviews - gate post, benefit, peer reviews

9. Communication
 Methods of communication
 Barriers to communication
 Effective communication
 Communication plan

10. Leadership and teamwork
 Definition - leadership
 Role of project team leader
 Project team
 Teamwork models