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Course Outline

Section I. Establishing a Foundation
In order to get the most out of any tool, technique and/or methodology, a firm understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts should be established. In fact, the failure to do so within our project teams contributes significantly to low project performance and even project failure. This introductory section lays the groundwork for the successful application of more specific project tools and techniques.

• Projects and their results seen as interdependent systems
• What is a successful project?
• Project roles and responsibilities

Section II. People and Projects
It is common to hear a team member say “If it wasn’t for the people in this project everything would be just fine!” Projects can often be challenging due to the diversity of players on the team let alone the cultural variables and language barriers that are now commonplace within our organizations. Add to this the international marketplace where many of our supplies, components and contract labor come from and you have a tricky recipe to say the least. This section takes a no-nonsense look at both the personality dynamics and the communication styles of our teams and project stakeholders.

• Our inherent personality styles and their unique characteristics
• Communication and our virtual world

Exercise: Personality profile.

Section III. Project Initiation
Projects are primarily created to solve business challenges, and understanding the underlying issues correctly and accurately is critical to project success. This section introduces the first phase of formalized project management methodology and provides the participant with valuable templates to start the project off on the right foot.

• Needs and feasibility
• The project charter

Exercise: Participants review a pre-prepared case study, recognize the key issues and develop a project charter.

Section IV. Business Analysis
Before we can solve challenges we have to understand those challenges and one of the most critical roles within any project team is that of the Business Analyst. Understanding the BA role, how it contributes to the ultimate success of the project and helpful tools are all presented in this important section.

• Current state analysis
• Defining requirements

Exercise: Based on the previous project charter, groups use cause and effect tools and work to define project requirements.

Section V. Project Planning
As the old saying goes, “Failing to plan is planning to fail” and research shows that just 1 hour of proper planning typically helps to offset between 20-200 hours of later corrective activity. So why don’t we plan like we should? The reasons my surprise you, it’s not always because we don’t have the time. Often it is due to not having the correct tools and processes. Good tools, techniques and methods are proactive in nature and in this section we outline components of a formalized planning process. One of the advantages of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) - Fourth Edition based methodology is its scalability, use what you need and leave what you don’t.

• The significance of the project triangle
• Project scope
• Project objectives
• Project deliverables
• Project requirements
• Project exclusions
• Project approach

Exercise: Participants utilize additional case study information and apply valuable planning tools including: A work breakdown structure, specific estimating techniques, as well as scheduling and work flow tools such as network diagrams.

Section VI. Project Risk Management
As Murphy has said, “What can go wrong will go wrong” and often times it is not what happens but how well we have anticipated and planned for our response that will make the greatest difference between possible disasters and minimal detours. This section discusses not only the need for an objective risk analysis but how risk is on going and ever changing.

• Project and business risk analysis
• Project risk planning

Exercise: Groups will apply qualitative and quantitative risk analysis tools to anticipate possible risks to project execution and the fulfillment of project objectives.

Section VII. Project Execution
Now that we have a project plan, following through with the execution involves project monitoring and controlling. Managing the many facets of a project plan can be a daunting responsibility in itself and this section discusses the various helpful approaches as well as unique tools that ensure the project stays on task, on schedule and on budget.

• Project management tools
• Resource management
• Metrics and project reporting

Exercise: Participants are challenged by the introduction of a potentially negative situation and work to minimize its impact on their case study project.

Section VIII. Closing the Project
In this final phase and section, we present a case for the proper closing of a project regardless of its size and duration. It has been calculated that over 70% of projects have a high degree of similarity to other and/or previous projects. Typically a great deal of valuable information is lost due to improper project closing, information that could minimize future project ramp-up and optimize its success.

• The project triangle
• Administrative activities
• Lessons learned
• Project templates and archives