Project Management

Training Course Description

"Be prepared, luck is where preparation meets opportunity."
Randy Pausch

Many companies are realizing that the traditional project management principles are no longer applicable in today's extremely dynamic and demanding environment. A fixed approach of planning is no longer a good method since it is very difficult to anticipate everything in advance and respond to it in the plan. Instead, more agile planning methods are required to accommodate for changing markets, technology and resources over the course of a typical project.

As a result, new project managers must be systematically thought on best practices and established management techniques. In this course, you will understand the role of project manager as a broker of information. The emphasis here is on the day-to-day running of a project as opposed to leading a team using emotional skills.

You will learn how to manage time, resources, cost, risk and quality using a variety of practical hands-on exercises. This course includes the following topics:

Mission
• Differences between a project and your daily tasks?
• Project Management versus Team Leading
• Setting up project objectives and constraints
• Identifying scope and ultimate goals
• Stakeholders and clients roles in project objectives

Project Planning
• Project life cycles & planning models
• Introduction to planning tools
• Work breakdown structures
• Deliverables
• Estimating time and cost
• Resource allocation and management
• Setting up Gantt charts
• Precedence networks
• Risk management
• Creating contingency plans
• Effective documentation system

Project Progress Monitoring
• How to monitor performance and measure progress against objectives
• How to keep track of new issues as they are discovered and eliminating them
• Effective decision making
• Quality control procedures

Handling Clients and Stakeholders
• Effective communications
• Influencing key people
• Keep your clients updated
• Manage requests for change

Handling Team Members
• How to give effective feedback
• How to have a productive meeting
• How to maintain rapport with team members
• How to motivate the team and keep them committed to the project's mission
• How to boost creativity

Meaningful Meetings
• How to manage a meeting to get everyone's input
• How to capture what is discussed
• Effective brainstorming
• Meeting frequency

Project Close
• Stakeholder Acceptance
• Final documentation before closing down
• Marketing

Audience

Anyone new to project management who wants an effective introduction to its basic principles.

Prerequisites

None

Course Duration

2 days

Course Level

Beginners & Intermediate

Delegates will learn

By the end of this course you will be able to:
• Manage resources of your project
• Monitor the progress of your project against targets
• Use Work Break Down Structures (WBS) to plan a project efficiently
• Handle team members and motivate your team
• Boost creativity systematically
• Manage efficient meetings to increase efficiency
• Maintain rapport
• Manage change to project requirements

The Philosophy Behind Project Management Training Course

The best way to know what to teach in a project management course is to have some previous experience of dealing with both small and large scale projects. At Skills Converged, we continuously deal with projects and we know what it takes to quickly release products and meet deadlines. Our motivation in designing this course was to put together the most critical tricks of the trade in a training package so Project Management trainers can quickly pass on the skills to people who need them.

In our experience, there are usually three kinds of delegates:

1. One type consists of people who are good at what they do. Their potentials have been discovered by their superiors and they are encouraged to move up the chain. They might be sent to a course as a reward or as a preparation for their managerial role. They may not know a lot about project management, but they could be very good in their respective fields.

2. Another type of delegates attend project management course because they have always learned everything on the job and didn't have any formal training. They are usually quite energetic, are good problem solvers and keen to know everything. Unfortunately, they might have developed bad habits already which must be addressed.

3. A third type comes to the course on their own initiative to learn more. They have already managed projects, know a thing or two about Gantt charts, budgets, work packages and so on but may not be familiar with more elaborate topics such as critical path analysis and risk management. They may also need help in fields such as meeting management especially in dealing with strong characters.

When designing the Project Management course, we considered all of the above types of people and sequenced the content in such way that all of them could benefit from the course. One of the keys in achieving this objective is exercises. Case studies on all levels can keep everyone challenged at the right level while creating an environment where more experienced delegates can pass on their expertise to those who are less experienced. This provides an ideal environment for you as a trainer where delegates are encouraged to do most of the teaching and learning under your careful observation and guidance.