Project Management Fundamentals (101)

What to expect:
Project Management is becoming an increasingly relevant skill in a business environment where deadlines and budgets define success or failure. In this short course, we introduce Project Management concepts using an innovative and blended storytelling process that follows a group of castaways stranded on a deserted island. In one afternoon, you will learn how to take control of a project by applying basic project frameworks and methodologies such as the Triple Constraint and Critical Path Method to author essential Project Management documents such as a Project Charter, Work Breakdown Structure and Project Schedule.

Program Contents:

Introduction:
In this section, we cover the basic definition of Project and Program Management, the importance of Project Management and learning objectives of this course.

1. How to start a Project 
How do we ask the right questions and collect all the relevant information up front? In this section we go through a checklist of items that can help us to understand what the project is about and what we need to do to achieve project success.

• Identify the customer and the goals
• Identifying what you'll deliver
• Definition of Success vs Failure
• Defining the scope of the project
• Project Risks and Constraints
• Documenting assumptions
• What is the right level of project management
• Obtaining Signoff
• The Project Charter: Putting it all together

2. Getting Organized
In this section we look at a systematic approach for building a strong structure around the project that ensures that people involved in the project know what to do and when to do it. We also learn how to anticipate when circumstances or events that are out of our control change.

• Collaborating
• Identifying the work
• Estimating time and cost
• Building your team
• Scheduling work
• Making sure the schedule works
• Organizing your project files
• Timely and Accurate communication
• Managing risk

3. Performing the work
With a carefully laid out plan, our next priority is to execute! In this section, we explore the tasks a Project Manager can perform to help the team to perform the work needed to complete the project.

• Kicking-off work
• Handing out assignments
• Keeping things moving
• Working through problems

4. Monitoring Progress
How do we know that the work being performed is going according to plan? In this section, we look at various techniques of evaluating and assessing work done.

• Getting status updates
• Evaluating how the project is going
• Handling changes

5. Wrapping Up
How are we marking off tasks as complete as we go through the various phases and milestones of a project? In this section we explore formal processes for closing out the various elements of a project.

• Finishing a project, phase or milestone
• Getting sign-off
• Tying up loose ends
• Lessons Learned

6. Conclusion
To wrap up the day, we review key learnings and identify next steps for running a project.

• Lesson Summary
• Next Steps: Your next project
• Next Steps: Learning more

About the Presenter: Sam Sena has been practicing as a Technology Architect, Author and Certified Trainer for over a 15 years. Sam has trained over 1000 adult learners on a variety of subjects, including Project Management, Information Security and Disaster Recovery. Read more about Sam!