TSE001 Project Planning and Control

The Foundations of Project Management

Course Description

Managing projects can be very different from managing day-to-day operations!  Why is that true? And what knowledge, skills and abilities must a great project manager possess?  Are they the same ones that make a great functional manager?  What makes great project managers great?

There are volumes upon volumes written on how to successfully manage a project. Project management is part science, part art but it’s definitely not rocket science!  In this foundational course, we introduce a simple, common sense process for planning, organizing and executing a project to deliver a quality product… the first time!  We are also exploring the “finer arts” of project management, by addressing the competencies of communication, negotiation and coordination, as well as the soft skills that frequently separate the good project managers from the great ones.

This program is for anyone who is or will be managing a portion of a project or an entire project in an organization, with little or no prior project management training or experience, with shared or part-time resources, all with shifting priorities!  

“Project Planning and Control” has been approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) to award 24 Contact Hours or PDUs (16 Technical, 4 Strategic, 4 Leadership) to participants involved with any of PMI’s professional certifications (PMP®, PMI-ACP®, PMI-PBA®, etc.)

Upon completion of this workshop, each participant will be able to:

Instructional methods for this course are lecture, discussion, detailed case study assignments and presentations.  Upon request, demonstration and use of Microsoft Project® is included in the program, as are references to in-house Standards and Policies.

Course Outline

  1. General Concepts
    1. Project
    2. Project Management 
    3. Project Life Cycles
    4. Project Stakeholders
    5. Project Sponsor
    6. Project Manager
  2. Project Initiation
    1. Project Charter
    2. Defining Project Goals
    3. Identifying Stakeholders
    4. Defining Quality
    5. The Total Systems Pentagon
  3. Planning the Project
    1. Project Plan
    2. Project Strategies
    3. Project Scope
    4. Tasks
    5. Task Dependencies
    6. The Network Diagram
    7. The Critical Path
    8. The Gantt Chart 
  4. Managing Project Risk 
    1. Risk Definition
    2. Risk Identification
    3. Risk Analysis
    4. Risk Mitigation
  5. Project Staffing and Scheduling
    1. Team Structures
    2. Staffing the Project
    3. Finalizing the Schedule
    4. Getting the Plan Approved
    5. Project Baselines
  6. Project Communications
    1. The Importance of Communications
    2. The Communication Plan
    3. Communication Skills
    4. Progress Status Reporting 
    5. Project Meetings
  7. Project Closure
    1. Closing Activities
    2. Closing Documents
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