People in Projects: Foundation for Project Success
- Course:People in Projects: Foundation for Project Success
- Course ID:PEOPLE Duration:3-4 days Where: Your Office (7+ Persons)
- Download Course Description (PDF)
Available as a private, customized course for your group at your offices or ours and in some cases as a WebLive(TM) class.
Course Outline
Introduction
- Project success and failure
- Human Factors at work
- How people are the source of project success
- Responsibilities of management in projects
- Defining project roles
- Critical project processes
- Project Manager: Leveraging the power of each project role
Role of Management
- Responsibilities of management in projects
- Management Best Practices
- Assessment of current management practice
Role of Stakeholders
- Responsibilities of stakeholders in projects
- Stakeholder Best Practices
- Enhanced Stakeholder Analysis
Project Manager Role
- Responsibilities of the project manager
- Project Manager Best Practices
- The Leader / Manager in each of us
- Conflict resolution strategies
- Managing expectations
Role of the Project Team
- Team responsibilities
- Project Team Best Practices
- Business Analyst contributions to the project
- Building BA and PM synergy
- Leading the energized project team
Project Initiation
- Human Factors approach to defining a project
- Choosing the right projects
- Surviving the lunacy of project estimation
- Using the project charter to gain stakeholder consensus
- Impact of organizational culture on Initiation
Project Planning
- A Human Factors view of project planning
- Engaging stakeholders in key project planning activities
- Good Meetings Practice
- Impact of organizational culture on project Planning
Project Execution & Control
- A Human Factors view of project execution and control
- Including stakeholders in value-based change control
- Finding Opportunity in a Sea of Risk
- Leading people to embrace change
- Impact of culture on project Execution and Control
Project Close
- Why Lessons Learned Aren’t and what we can do
- The Art of Celebration
Wrap-Up Discussion
Course in a Nutshell
Every project is a human endeavor. In most projects, it is the interactions among and decisions made by project manager, team, sponsor, management, customers and others that ultimately decide project outcomes. Because people are the ultimate source of project success, the outcome becomes uncertain when any of the players fail to fulfill their role, or when inadequate or broken process gets in the way.
This course moves beyond the standard project management curriculum by speaking directly to the best practices, tools and techniques that apply to each project role. Participants discuss what a truly engaged sponsor can bring to a project; critical contributions by stakeholders; actions that management should take before and during a project; and numerous steps the project manager can take to manage stakeholders and team. In addition, this course examines how human factors influence many of our most common project activities, and presents options for improvement. Attend this course and you will learn specific strategies and actions that you can use to leverage the intentions and skills of your stakeholders, energize your team and move your project onto the fast track.
Customize It!
- Are there individuals or groups causing recurring problems in your projects? This course can be customized to help project teams and their stakeholders resolve specific issues.
- Are you a project manager who would like to go beyond the standard project management curriculum?This course delves into areas of project management that, although seldom discussed, are nonetheless central to project success. Take home a whole new set of tools and techniques.
- Are you a manager, executive, or sales person whose work includes responsibility for project success? Take this course and learn what you can do to ensure that your projects get off to a great start and stay there all the way to the finish line.
- Add an additional day (PEOPLE+) to the course, for a total of 4 days:
Take in the full range of focus areas available in this incredibly important topic.
Learn How To
This course leads participants through a series of exercises, each of which contributes to a Personal Action Plan. Participants leave with concrete, actionable plans that they can use to overcome obstacles, energize their work environment, and leverage the skills and aspirations of everyone involved in their project.
- Learn the human factors that can make or break a project
- Understand the true value in each project role
- Examine best practices that apply to each project role
- Assess your management team’s contribution to project management practice
- Discover how to make meetings effective in your organization
- Learn how everyone can win the Estimation Game
- Gain a deeper appreciation of what it means to deal with Resistance to Change
- Examine conflict resolution strategies
- Learn how to overcome natural inclinations to see issues and discover opportunity instead
- Learn what you can do to create a Culture of Success
Aimed At
This course will be of special interest to Project Managers, Managers of Project Mangers, Functional Managers and Executives with project responsibility, and Project Management Office staff.
Prerequisites
This course assumes familiarity with basic project management concepts as well as some experience in the planning and execution of projects.