Through a simulated case study, you will learn how to successfully plan, manage and deliver projects. You will also learn how to implement project management processes, develop leadership skills and respond to real-world scenarios.

Objectives of the Course

• To help participants manage and deliver successful projects for stakeholder satisfaction
• Participants should be in position to apply best practices to plan a project using a proven five-step process
• Participants should estimate and schedule task work, duration and costs with confidence
• Participants should Implement risk management techniques and mitigation strategies
• Participants should lead a project team and monitor project progress through successful execution

Course Content

i) Introduction:

• Building a project navigation system
• Defining the project management process
• Identifying key documents, deliverables and approvals
• Negotiating realistic constraints for project success
• Applying project management standards

ii) Launching the Project
Building an appropriate governance structure

• Ensuring project sponsorship and business ownership
• Gaining the support of subject matter experts
• Clarifying the role of other managers and third parties

Defining the project

• Validating business drivers and goals
• Determining project objectives and deliverables
• Tracking and managing project issues

Authorizing the project

• Writing the project business case
• Developing the project charter
• Securing project approval

iii) The Five-Step Planning Process

Identifying and estimating the work

• Working with project stakeholders
• Defining scope with Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)
• Driving the plan down to manageable tasks
• Building high-confidence estimates
• Leveraging three-point estimating to refine accuracy

Scheduling and budgeting the work

• Converting the WBS to precedence networks
• Determining the critical path tasks
• Calculating project duration
• Building and analyzing Gantt charts
• Using float effectively in the schedule

Building and leading the project team

• Identifying and securing project resources
• Optimizing the use of project resources
• Preparing and agreeing on task contracts
• Developing and motivating the project team
• Managing virtual and matrix teams

Managing project risks

• Identifying project risks and assumptions
• Creating a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
• Assessing risk probabilities and impacts
• Planning appropriate responses and actions
• Using a Risk Register and Risk Distribution Graph

Base-lining the project plan

• Developing the project change control plan
• Validating essential supporting processes
• Conducting the project health check
• Creating the project baseline
• Securing authorization to run the project

iv). Running the Project

Employing the four-step project control cycle

• Avoiding the common causes of project failure
• Building a real-time feedback loop
• Managing stakeholder expectations

Tracking and monitoring task performance

• Clarifying key metrics and data collection methods
• Utilizing the two kinds of monitoring
• Avoiding the 90%-complete trap

Analyzing progress against the baseline

• Tracking planned vs. actual task performance
• Projecting the impact of variation to the baseline
• Performing root cause analysis

Correcting the project plan

• Implementing, correcting and optimizing strategies
• Fast-tracking the project schedule
• Crashing the critical path tasks

Reporting project status

• Communicating status to stakeholders
• Creating milestone reports
• Using project scorecards and dashboards

v) Successful Project Closure

• Conducting a post-project review
• Brainstorming lessons learned
• Closing out the project
• Celebrating your project success

This is a 4 days course both online and in-house

One- day Project planning & management course;

• Understanding project concepts, attributes and cycle
• Project selection and employment creation
• Developing a logical framework for implementing any project
• Fund raising, donor mapping and alliance Building
• Project monitoring and evaluation cycles
• Managing communication among project stakeholders
• Understanding basic human resource management skills
• Developing acceptable projects budgets
• Mastering the art and science of writing fundable project proposals