Understanding project management

Paul Ashton — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:45:02 +0000

Are you affected by projects and the way they are managed? Do you want to learn how to apply core principles of project management to your current job? Are you a work package manager, project office member, business manager or domain expert whose job is changed by projects? Are you new to projects? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions – this course is for you.

What are the course objectives?

By attending this programme you will learn more about how projects are run, how project techniques and approaches can add value to your current role (be it in HR, finance, marketing, operations, etc.) and what factors make project management different from other types of management.

The course highlights the fundamental management, process and resource disciplines that make projects different from business as usual. It introduces the disciplines required in projects, particularly the need to schedule time, measure progress, communicate and handle variations to the plan caused by productivity variations, rework and process performance.

What content is covered?

The basic principles of project management are described and discussed. This is mainly in the context of how and where they differ from line management approaches. Differences between plans and schedules, the iterative planning process, the approaches to adopt when creating estimates for pieces of work, and the need for effective communication and reporting progress are all important topics covered. We also address roles and responsibilities in projects, project organisation and the value of method and its impacts. Product breakdown structures and activity networks are created on the course. Practical exercises will help to make points about scheduled activity, the need for structure, organisation and project control in highly constrained management environments, and what constitutes good project behaviour.

What are the key topics?

What is the course format?

In this short course the style is ‘investigative’ and ‘instructive’ – drawing out what you already know about projects and providing short, sharp inputs of knowledge and approaches via presentations. It also offers opportunities to practice and experiment so your learning can add most value to your current or future project. This approach uses a series of case work exercises and short tutor-led discussions to highlight key learning points. A general business scenario is used for case work allowing you to work together in syndicates, taking turns to be the project manager, in order to define and plan a project.

What is the duration and cost of the course?

This is a 2 day course.

£900 plus VAT