Fundamentals of Project Management

OVERVIEW

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Change is the only certainty in the workplace and often takes the form of projects that need to be managed successfully and professionally.  This course provides a tried and tested framework for all levels of staff to utilise, understand and manage projects in a variety of business situations.

The content is delivered in a practical, business-focused way with plenty of examples and opportunities to put theory into action during exercises.  Delegates will benefit even more if they bring to the course examples of their own projects to which they can apply the planning and implementation techniques covered.

‍COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Learn how to develop a systematic approach to projects of all types
• Improve understanding and application of project management tools and techniques
• Increase confidence in leading and successfully managing a project

 CONTENT

• What is a project and what is the role of the Project Manager?
  - Who is the Project Sponsor and what is their role?
  - There may also be a Programme Manager.  What is their role?
• The four key phases of a project:

Phase 1 – Project Initiation Stage:

• Defining the project objectives, deliverables and scope
• Outlining project risks, dependencies, constraints and priorities
• Documenting all assumptions being made
• Completing a PID (Project Initiation Document) and submitting it for approval by the sponsor

Phase 2 – Project Planning:

• Translating the PID into a series of actionable tasks
• Creating a Gantt chart to track identified tasks
• Identifying processes or work flows that the project team will use
• Contingency planning – how will you deal with any potential issues that could derail the project?

Phase 3 – Assessing the risks and controlling the project:

• Monitoring and controlling the execution of the project
• Reviewing the quality of the team’s output on an ongoing basis
• Adjust / update tasks, goals and deadlines to meet changing conditions
• Communicating effectively with your team to keep everyone “in the loop”
• Create status reports to communicate execution progress throughout the project to stakeholders and the project sponsor
• Include any updates to KPIs or budgets

Phase 4 – Project Closure and handover:

• Hand over the deliverables to the appropriate stakeholders
• Obtain formal sign-off by the sponsor
• Release team members and project resources
• Conduct a post-implementation review to analyse project performance.
• Ensure all key learnings are recorded so that they can be beneficially incorporated into future projects

The project team – the four steps to becoming a high performing team:

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing

Communication– 85% of all project failures are attributed to silence.  How to ensure there is always effective communication with all stakeholders:

• Exploration of communication channels available within the delegate’s organisation
• Which channel(s) to use, with whom and how often

Review and action planning

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