More Project Management courses
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Project Management
Overview of Project Management (1 day)
In this full day of practical training, participants are shown how to support selection of the best projects, obtain stakeholder buy-in to project goals and approach, choose an appropriate project approach (Agile or Waterfall), create a project plan that is an effective guide to project action, prevent scope creep, minimize issues through proactive risk management, execute a successful project delivery and more. This course supplements PMBOK® concepts with a project approach that is designed to overcome common sources of project failure. In clear and simple language, this course explains how to successfully complete a project that can deliver Business Value.
Effective Project Management (3 days)
This course provides practical, hands-on training in core project management tools, concepts and techniques. The course extends PMBOK® concepts with supplemental, field-proven best practices that are effective in any project setting. Participants will be shown how to write a convincing project charter, identify and analyze stakeholders, define scope, establish project baselines, track exact status through a resource-loaded schedule, eliminate issues through risk management, forecast and control costs, promote great communication and much more. The importance of planning for post-project value is emphasized throughout this course. The format is truly multimodal, with a mixture of lecture, numerous exercises and simulations, and group discussions. Learning is reinforced by having participants get their hands on the tools.
Controlling Project Risk: Managing Threats and Promoting Opportunities (2 days)
Controlling Project Risk moves beyond the standard project management curriculum by explaining how to manage both sides of risk: threats and opportunities. Experience has shown us that proactive management of project risk can reduce the incidence and severity of issues by up to 90%. Participants are led through a series of exercises, each of which contributes to the establishment of an effective Risk Management Practice. Risk Management is one of the pillars of Project Management Practice.
Effective Expectations Management (1 day)
In the final analysis, any claim to project delivery success depends largely on the degree to which we have met the expectations of our stakeholders. This course dives deep into the definition of what an expectation is, reveals how expectations operate in stakeholders, examines the impact of expectations that are not aligned with the project plan, and examines steps that the project manager can take to keep stakeholder expectations in alignment with the objectives of the project. Participants are shown tools that allow the discovery and management of expectations commonly encountered among stakeholders.
Controlling Change to Scope and Requirements (2 days)
This course provides two days of practical, hands-on training in the three primary approaches to project change control in predictive (waterfall) projects. Participants examine how to set the stage for effective project control, discuss how to establish project baselines, and then explore the details of formal change control. The benefits of change control on both project delivery and on the business value that follows the project are thoroughly examined.
Quality in Project Management (2 days)
We all understand that deliverables quality is important, but there is more to this story. The quality of the PM methodology that we use is a deciding factor in the level of solution quality we deliver. Deliverables must have sufficient quality to allow effective use. Project Business Value, the ultimate reason for doing the project, depends on effective usage of deliverables. Poor Quality = Poor Usage = No Value.
This course provides practical, hands-on training in how to attain the level of deliverables quality we seek in any project. During the class, participants discuss a variety of tools and techniques that strengthen both execution of the project and overall quality of project deliverables.
Scope, Time, and Cost: The Core of Project Management (3 days)
This course provides practical, hands-on training in how to manage scope, schedule, and budget in any waterfall project. During the class, participants examine the development of effective requirements, and then proceed to the establishment of project plans and baselines for scope, schedule, and cost. The techniques covered support budget accuracy, control over budget and schedule, cost and time forecasting, the prevention of scope creep and, ultimately, the realization of post-project value.
Effective Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement (1 day)
This is a one day, instructor-facilitated, workshop designed to enhance the participants’ facilitation and stakeholder management skills. Because the project/program manager serves as the primary liaison between organizational leadership (i.e., upper management) and the cross-functional team members, he/she must possess and employ the soft skills (“artistic” vs. scientific) required to lead a team. Common matrix organizational structures require that this be accomplished through use of influence skills. In this course, participants are introduced to common leadership principles that can be applied in the project environment. Course attendees apply these principles via relevant individual and team exercises.
The Virtual Manager in Today’s Global Environment (1 day)
Ever-increasing outsourcing, off-shoring, and specialization efforts along with recent pandemic mitigation initiatives have driven virtual teams to become the “new normal” of project and workplace teams. Virtual teams can be advantageous to any organization when coupled with proper communication and adequate control.
This one-day (eight hours of instruction) workshop covers the challenges, potential pitfalls, best practice recommendations, and lessons learned in leading virtual teams. Participants are introduced to both advantages and constraints of the virtual team environment. Discussion focuses on the application of better (and useful) practices to capitalize on the advantages while limiting the impact of communication, negotiation, and control constraints in the virtual team setting.
A Hands-On Approach to Program Management (3 days)
In this course, participants are not only shown what sets program management apart from project management, they also can apply the lessons through hands-on team exercises based on relevant program management case studies. Topics are delivered through the five phases of program management: pre-program setup, program setup, establishing a program management and technical infrastructure, delivering incremental program benefits, and closing the program.
This course benefits practitioners who manage large-scale projects and programs by illustrating advanced tools and techniques applicable to the program management discipline. Course material is closely aligned with the latest release of the Project Management Institute’s (the PMI®) Standard for Program Management.
PMP®/CAPM® Exam Preparation (5 days)
This course provides a solid foundation in the concepts, tools and techniques of formal project management while preparing participants for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) examination. This training can benefit all project managers, team leads, team members, functional managers, and other key project stakeholders in any industry. Course content and delivery are structured around The Guide to the PMBOK® knowledge areas and supplemental exam material. It is designed to help the PMP®/CAPM® candidates optimize their study and preparation time for the respective certification examinations. The course completely satisfies the requirement for 35 contact hours of formal education.
Project Portfolio Management
Fundamentals of Project Portfolio Management (2 days)
Project Portfolio Management (PfM) is the process used for project selection, funding, oversight, and evaluation. This course discusses how to optimize PfM to fit the organization’s needs. It describes steps any management team can take to ensure that only the highest value projects receive funding. Using the principle that “Every Project is an Investment” as a guide, participants are shown how to define a project portfolio; review PfM governance options; discuss the value of an effective project selection and funding process; and discuss the strategic importance of making long-term business value the focal point of every project. Through virtual numerous hands-on exercises, participants begin the work of improving their PfM approach. This course demonstrates how to maximize the return from the organization’s investment in projects.
Implementing Practical Project Portfolio Management (4 days)
This course is intended for those who wish to improve and formalize Project Portfolio Management (PfM) in their organization. After reviewing the fundamentals of effective PfM, participants perform an assessment of their organization’s current PfM practice, design a more effective PfM practice, and determine the steps needed to reach a higher level of PfM maturity. The ratio of exercise to lecture is very high with the result that participants actually begin the work of redesigning PfM in their environment.
NOTE: Implementing Practical Project Portfolio Management is exceptionally effective when conducted onsite with your key PfM players participating.
Management
Leading People to Embrace Change (2 days)
As we all know, change is seldom welcome and is often fought. Many technology projects, although planned and executed flawlessly, have nonetheless gone down in flames due to the unwillingness of the intended audience to accept the accompanying change.
This course explains specific strategies and actions that help ensure that the intended targets of change are able and willing to embrace it. Participants are led through a series of exercises, each of which contributes to an understanding of how to develop and execute a plan for organizational adoption. This includes completion of an organizational readiness assessment, development of a marketing campaign and establishment of governance structures designed to oversee and institute the change. Participants are shown how to leverage the good intent and high standards that are common in most people, and convert resistance to change into acceptance of management’s plan.
Leadership Skills for the Project Practitioner (2 days)
This course is designed to strengthen the leadership skills of the project/program management practitioner. Participants examine the different roles of manager and leader and consider the relative merits each role in the project or program environment. Because the program/project manager serves as the primary liaison between organizational leadership (i.e., upper management) and the project team, he/she must possess and employ the soft skills (“artistic” vs. scientific) required to lead a team. In this course, participants are introduced to common leadership principles that must be applied in the project environment. After an introduction to the better practices for each learning unit, course attendees apply these principles via relevant individual and team exercises.
Business Analysis
Business Analysis Overview (1 day)
Business Analysis Overview describes the role of the Business Analyst and examines many of the most common Business Analysis practices. Topics include the nature of business analysis and the role of the BA; techniques used to define a proposed solution; stakeholder identification; and project requirements development, validation, management and communication. The BA role in both waterfall and agile projects is discussed, including the use of agile techniques to reinforce the effectiveness of waterfall projects.
Essentials of Business Analysis (3 days)
Essentials of Business Analysis describes the role of the Business Analyst and examines many of the most common Business Analysis practices. After reviewing core concepts, participants engage in several hands-on exercises in order to learn commonly used tools and techniques. Topics include techniques used to define a proposed solution; stakeholder identification; and project requirements development, validation, management and communication, and project business value optimization. The BA role in both waterfall and agile projects is discussed, including the use of agile techniques to reinforce the effectiveness of waterfall projects.
Strategic Analysis and Planning (2 days)
Before managers can formulate a business strategy, they must understand the internal and external business environment in which they operate. This course will feature in-class strategic planning development to understand the industry and environment from several perspectives, i.e., the Marketing 5 C’s, Michael Porter’s Five Forces, and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.
Business Case Development (2 days)
The Business Case is a document used to characterize proposed projects in support of a formal project selection process. When properly written, this document contains all of the information that management needs to make an informed funding decision.
This course provides two full days of practical training in the development of this critically important tool. This course first explains the purpose and function of the Business Case and its role in the project selection process. Then participants are led through a series of hands-on exercises during which they systematically build an actual Business Case document.
Analysis and Improvement of Business Process (3 days)
All organizations use business processes in the course of daily work. When a process becomes faulty or inefficient, we analyze it to determine where the fault lies and what action may be required.
This course describes a proven, effective method for modeling of a process, analysis of its faults and their root cause, and determination of best steps for improvement. Also included are methods for stakeholder analysis and engagement, information elicitation, process modeling, gap analysis, development of an improvement plan, and more. This course is fully consistent with both traditional (waterfall) and agile project environments.
Business Analysis for Project Managers (2 days)
Although the Project Manager is ultimately accountable for the quality of project requirements, it is the Business Analyst (BA) who develops them. The BA is also in a position to make significant contributions to project definition, solution design and test, and more. Business Analysis for Project Managers explains the role of the BA and examines many of the most common business analysis practices that are of special significance to the Project Manager. By better understanding the work of the BA, the Project Manager is in a better position to ensure that the project gains full benefit from the BA’s contribution. Although the focus is largely on waterfall style projects, the BA role in both waterfall and agile projects is discussed.
The Agile Business Analyst (3 days) [For Information Technology professionals]
The Agile Business Analyst describes the role of the BA in an agile project environment. While examining core agile BA concepts, participants engage in hands-on exercises in order to learn commonly used tools and techniques. Topics include seeing the big picture; work of the BA on an agile team; fostering stakeholder engagement; an agile requirements model; features, epics, and stories; prioritizing requirements; making things real with models; conversation and discovery; fulfilling stakeholder needs and delivering value.