Course Overview

This project management fundamentals course will:

  • Define what constitutes a project.
  • Give an overview of the project management process.
  • Outline the roles and responsibilities of the project lead.
  • Review essential templates, tools, and project documents.
  • Recommend methods for dealing with project creep.
  • Offer ideas for increasing stakeholder buy-in and commitment during a project.
  • Prepare participants to manage common issues project teams encounter.

Successful projects don’t just happen. They require careful thought, effective planning, and deliberate implementation. This online, instructor-led program uses a variety of exercises and activities to teach project management at an introductory level.  Taught in three two-hour segments, the course covers the fundamentals anyone working on a project team should understand.

Segment one defines what constitutes a project, explains the benefits of a formal process, discusses project charters, and addresses steps for successfully launching an initiative. The second workshop segment takes a closer look at project charters and then discusses project planning, execution, timelines, and risks. The course’s final session reviews best practices for: addressing scope creep, creating a communication plan, maintaining buy-in, closing out a project, and avoiding common errors many project teams encounter.

Segment One Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Differentiate a project from a program or other routine work responsibilities.
  • Outline conditions that contribute to the success and failure of projects.
  • Explain the importance of clearly defining a project, identifying sponsors, and generating buy-in.
  • Outline the project manager’s roles and responsibilities.
  • Discuss basic knowledge of which a project manager should have command.
  • Gather project requirements.
  • Identify key components of a project charter. 

Segment One Modules

  • Pen to Paper: Defining a Project
  • Success or Failure: Outlining Common Causes
  • At the Head: Exploring the Role of a Project Manager or Lead
  • A Road Map and Guard Rails: Gathering Requirements
  • The Project Charter: Writing It Down

Segment Two Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Craft a project charter.
  • Identify project resources.
  • Determine methods for gathering requirements.
  • Create a work breakdown structure.
  • Create timelines, milestones, and deadlines.
  • Identify common risks.
  • Manage risks with various tools.

 Segment Two Modules

  • Your Turn: The Project Charter Continued
  • Limited Resources: Managing What’s Available
  • A Piece at a Time: Breaking Down the Work
  • On Time and Track: Articulating Timelines, Milestones, and Deadlines
  • What If…: Addressing Risk

Segment Three Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Describe steps that promote accountability.
  • Explain three areas of project creep and methods of handling each.
  • Discuss communication tactics for improving the strength of a project.
  • Suggests ideas for maintaining ongoing stakeholder buy-in and commitment.
  • Describe project close-out activities.
  • Provide tips and techniques for collecting lessons learned.

Segment Three Modules

  • Feet to the Fire: Maintaining Accountability
  • Coloring Within the Lines: Controlling the Creeps
  • Broadcasting the Message: Communicating Effectively
  • Hang in There: Encouraging Stakeholder Commitment
  • How Did it Go?: Conducting the Postmortem

By this program’s conclusion, participants should understand the fundamentals of managing a successful project.