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Project Management Foundation |
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Course Topics
Introduction
- What is a project?
- Common reasons why technology projects fail
- Critical factors for project success
- How project management relates to project life cycle processes and activities
- The role of the project manager
- The project leader as part‑time manager
- Successful and unsuccessful common traits
Basic Functions of a Project Manager
- Defining objectives
- Identifying and ordering tasks
- Establishing estimates and other measurement criteria
- Organizing resources
- Providing a reporting mechanism
- Establishing a change procedure
- Establishing an acceptance procedure
Planning/Estimating
- Starting at the beginning
- Defining project scope (SOW)
- The importance of establishing measurable objectives
- Estimating vs. planning
- What needs to be estimated
- Planning the project
- Creating the task list
- The work breakdown structure
- Creating task estimates
- Using the PERT formula: a proven method for improving the quality of the estimates
- Matching resources to tasks
- Assigning activities
- Obtaining commitments for outside resources
- Using a network diagram to denote task relationships and dependencies
- Using a GANTT (bar) Chart
- Using Project Management Software
Risk Analysis
- Assessing the project's exposure to adverse consequences
- Components of risk
- Using the risk analysis questionnaire
- Communicating the results
- Using sensitivity analysis to refine the plan
Potential Problem Analysis: The Key to Success
- Assessing adverse consequences
- Determining probability and seriousness
- Adding preventive actions
- Adding contingent actions
- Building-in "triggering" mechanisms so you will know that something has gone wrong!
Controlling the Project
- Basic tenet: You cannot control what you cannot measure!
- Establishing the proper elements of control
- Using objectives
- Knowing the right questions to ask to evaluate progress
- Developing the change control procedure
- Using a "trouble log" to manage project problems
- The use of briefing boards
- Employing Earned Value Management
- Determine Planned Value, Actual Costs, and Earned Value
- Calculate cost and schedule variances
- Calculate Cost and Schedule Indices
- Predicting likely outcomes
Project Reporting
- Reporting to Management
- Levels of reporting
- Determining information needs
- What to report
- When to report
- Types of reports
- Problem
- Plan
- Status
- Approvals
Managing the Project Manager’s Time
- List of what must be done
- Frequency of preparation
- When to prepare
- Breaking down the list for control
- Value of a project journal
- Using folders to organize people and to prepare for meetings
- How to delegate to avoid misunderstandings
- Control your loss of time at meetings you attend
- How to manage your own meetings
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