Project Management: Foundations and Best Practices

Overview: 
This course introduces students to the foundations of successful project management, especially in a technology environment. Students will learn key project management concepts, then immediately apply them in a hands-on team simulation. This course approaches project management from the standpoint of managing a single, stand-alone project that is small to medium in size. It takes students through the project life cycle in the same sequence they would face when managing a real project in the workplace. 

By the end of this class, you will understand how to manage a project from beginning to successful completion. Participants will be able to: 

•     Explain the role and value of project management. 
•     Recognize common causes of project success and failure. 
•     Balance competing priorities. 
•     Identify individual and team skills that affect the success of a project. 
•     Initiate a project using chartering and a project kickoff. 
•     Set stakeholder expectations early. 
•     Identify deliverables and requirements, and create plans for managing them. 
•     Perform the activities needed for a successful project planning phase. 
•     Break down deliverables into tasks and activities using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). 
•     Identify dependencies between tasks and estimate the effort required to complete the tasks. 
•     Develop a schedule, resource plan, and budget that fit the project. 
•     Identify and manage risks. 
•     Plan for communication, quality, scope changes and procurement. 
•     Monitor project progress, steer a project during execution, and take corrective action. 
•     Increase team motivation and performance. 
•     Close out a project with requirements verification, acceptance and handoff. 
•     Complete a lessons learned review.