Basics of Project Management

Team leaders and managers are often asked to take on a project from beginning to end on a wide range of topics. They need practical skills for managing such projects and project teams from beginning to end, without the technical complexities required of a professional project manager.

Apply the skills of project management for greater success in initiating and managing projects. These skills are designed to give you the rigour and discipline required to deliver your project on time, to respect the budget and to meet client expectations.

With our extensive knowledge of the different software currently on the market, including all Microsoft and Adobe applications, ON-TRACK Corporate Training Ltd. has a diverse and flexible schedule that can be customized to your needs – we offer group course (both public and corporate), one-on-one training, and on-site training options. We also have easily accessible on-line training videos available.

Objectives

After this workshop participants will be able to:

• Use common project management terms and concepts

• Define projects and project process

• Set appropriate project objectives

• Follow the five phases of project planning, execution and control

• Develop the project charter

• Use common project management tools to plan, display and track the project (MSO Project, Visio, Gantt charts, LFA, critical path, flow charts)

• Estimate timelines and project costs

• Manage a project team: delegating, motivating and problem-solving

• Write project status reports

• Close a project properly and professionally

Outline

• Part I: Introduction

  • Roles and goals of the workshop; participant expectations

  • General concepts in Project Management

    • Project as a vehicle of change

    • Kinds of projects and their uses

    • Process management vs. traditional techniques of managing

    • Characteristics of a project

    • Project structure

    • The system model

    • Role of the project manager

    • Terms used in project management

• Part II: The Five Step Process for Managing a Project

  • Initiation: the project concept

    • Why are we doing it?

    • Who are the stakeholders and clients?

  • Development: Scoping out the project

    • What is the magnitude and complexity of this project?

    • When do we foresee completion?

    • In what environment and organizational culture will we work

    • What is needed to ensure sponsor approval?

    • Analyzing the situation

    • Benefit/cost ratios

    • Choosing and using outside resources

  • Planning the project

    • What is the project's purpose and what are the deliverables

    • What are our key performance measures, actions and controls?

    • Scheduling interrelated components

    • Responsibility charting: who does what, when

    • Basic display tools: Gantt, PERT, Logic Framework

    • Preparing cost projections and budgeting

    • Choosing methods to monitor and record progress

    • Choosing and training the project team

    • Completing the project charter

  • Implementation: Executing the project

    • Tracking software

    • Troubleshooting

    • Managing the white spaces: communication connections

    • Managing variances and slippage

  • Closure: Exiting the project

    • Follow-up to successful completion

    • Using data collected en route to prepare the report

    • Writing the final project report

    • Sign-offs

    • Managing separation

    • Final closedown: project review checklist

• Part III: Developing the Project Charter

  • Why have a project charter?

  • What function each section of the charter performs

  • The role of the charter in obtaining project approvals

  • How to write project objectives

• Part IV: Tools for Project Planning, Display and Tracking

  • Responsibility Assignment Matrix

  • Work Breakdown Structures

  • MSO Project and Vision

  • Logic Framework Analysis

  • Gantt Charts

  • Critical Path

  • Flow Charts

• Part V: Managing the Project Team

  • Choosing the team leader

    • What to look for in the project team leader

    • Situational leadership

    • Negotiating terms with the project leader

    • Managing without full authority

  • Selecting and training the project team

    • Assessing available resources

    • Criteria for member involvement

    • Defining roles, authorities and accountability

    • Determining skill requirements

    • Methods of increasing member skills

    • Gaining members' commitment to the project, its purpose and goals

  • Group Dynamics

    • Stages of group development

    • Preventing and reducing dysfunction

    • Handling conflict

• Part VI: Specific Project Team Management Techniques

  • Conducting team problem-solving meetings

  • Building consensus

  • Managing conflict among team members

  • Dealing with time management issues and procrastination

  • Negotiating personal milestones and reporting methods

  • Managing unexpected changes and variances

  • Celebrating success

  • Managing team separation

• Part VII: Writing Project Status Reports

  • When to report: Coordinating status reports with project milestones

  • How to deliver bad news to the client

  • How to present action plans and remedies

  • How to deliver good news

  • The final project report

• Part VIII: Personal Action Plan