Project Management

Overview

Project Managers are key to the success of all projects, and hold the responsibility for managing them on behalf of the business organisation which commissioned them. Therefore it is imperative that all Project Managers acquire and can apply certain core competencies necessary to deliver successful projects in today’s dynamic business environment.

This course aims to take managers with some experience of running small projects and equip them with the key competencies to be successful Project Managers. These competencies include the ability to manage time, cost, people, quality and risk. The experiential nature of the course reinforces and encourages the use of best practice.

With the increasing significance being placed on the achievement of professional qualifications, this course represents a significant module in QA’s Project Management Accreditation Programme. This course helps to establish the knowledge base required to proceed to either the Association for Project Management (APM) or the Project Management Institution (PMI) examinations.

Please be aware, this course also provides 35 Hours of Contact Education/Professional Development Units towards PMI PMP certification/re-certification

This is a comprehensive course extending over five days with a combination of lectures, workshops and exercises which are designed to build on the knowledge and expertise of those attending. It features a major emphasis on project case-study work, enabling participants to gain practical project management experience during the week.

Prerequisites

• Experienced Project Managers, from either an IT or a business environment, who now wish to enhance their existing skills and knowledge to position themselves as effective Project Managers in today’s dynamic and challenging environment.
• This course is intended for those who have already undergone training in the fundamentals of project management and have at least one year’s actual project management experience. It is not suitable for those seeking an introduction to project management.

Delegates will learn how to

• identify the factors which result in project success
• manage effectively the initiation and organisation of projects
• apply project planning and control techniques effectively
• review, audit and approve project plans developed by team members and other project managers
• implement relevant quality management techniques
• identify, assess and manage project risks and issues
• create and execute an effective project communications plan
• recognise the financial and budgetary implications of projects
• handle people management issues proficiently

Course Outline

Successful Project Ingredients
The various views of success; Why projects fail; Factors critical to success; The Project Balance

Project Management Competencies
The nine management competencies -Integration/Scope/Time/Cost/Quality/ Human Resource/ Communications/Risk/Procurement Management

Project Organisation and Stakeholders
Project Stakeholders – Who are they?; Project Steering Committee; Project Sponsor; Customer Manager; Project Manager; Project Team; Roles and Responsibilities

Project Initiation
TOR; Stakeholders and Success Criteria; Project Support Office; Project Finance/Budget; Change Control; Project File/Log; Quality Management; Risk/Issues Management; Legal/Security; Methodology/Tools; Organisational Structure; Team Briefing

Quality Management Techniques
What is Quality?; The Quality Plan; Quality Assurance reviews; Quality Control Reviews; Metrics; Quality Spheres

Risk and Issue Management
Definitions; The Nature of Risk; The four stages of Risk Management – Identification, Quantification, Response Development, Response Control; Issue Management

Project Communications Planning
Outputs of Communication Management Plan; The Communications Cycle; The Who/Why/What/When of Communication; The Role of Communications during Change

Project Planning Methods
Initiating the Planning Process; Base Content; Estimating; Resource Levelling; Rolling Wave Plan; Outputs from Planning; Precedence Diagrams and Critical Path Analysis; Using the Network and Critical Path to manage the project
Project Control
The Control System; Monitoring Project Progress; Project Status Evaluation; Phase-end Reviews; Performance Reporting; Exception Planning; Identifying appropriate action
People Management
Motivation; Leadership; Delgation; Conflict; Discipline; Counselling

Financial Justification and Budgeting
Why have a Financial Case?; Costs – Capital/Operational; Benefits – Tangible/Intangible/Indeterminate; Cost Benefit Analysis; Payback Period; Return on Investment; Discounted Cashflows; Net Present Value; Internal Rate of Return; Cost Budgeting; Cost Control; Updating the Cost Baseline; Gaining Approval

Project Review and Recovery
Why/When carry out a Project Review; The Four Stage approach – Stop the Project, Overview, Detailed Study, Recovery Actions
Assertiveness and Negotiation
Personal Rights and Responsibilities; Aggressive/Passive/Assertive; How to behave Assertively; Overview of Negotiation; Preparing for Negotiation – Objective Setting, Ideal/Realistic/Fallback positions; Strengths/Weaknesses Matrix; Negotiation Tips; Closing/Agreement

Project Closure

Setting up Customer Communication Channels; Administrative Close-out; Project Review – Successes/Lessons Learnt; Product Review – Objectives achieved, Financials, Performance, Improvements?

Case Study
A comprehensive case study exercise is undertaken throughout as an important and integral part of this couse. It is designed to allow delegates practical opportunities to apply and review the use of the techniques covered on the course.