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| Project Management Fundamentals |
There are more
projects occurring today than at any
time in history. Organizations
initiate projects to create new
computer applications, erect bridges
and buildings, improve processes,
develop new products, and reorganize
company operations. Unfortunately,
most organizations do not manage
projects well, creating an
unprecedented demand for project
management practitioners.
If you're organized, perceptive,
detail-oriented, and an excellent
communicator, you just might have
what it takes to succeed in the
fast-growing field of project
management.
In this six-week course, an
experienced Project Management
Professional will help you master
the essentials of project
management. You'll become an
indispensable member of your project
team by discovering and mastering
the critical concepts you need to
plan, implement, control and close
any type of project.
You'll learn about project politics
and ethics, project measurements,
and project closure. You'll be able
to develop all sections of a project
plan, you'll become comfortable with
the project management body of
knowledge, and you'll develop a
variety of powerful techniques to
generate project ideas.
If you're new to project management,
this course will provide you with
the essential information you'll
need to prepare for and complete
your first project. If you're an
experienced project manager, this
course will make you more valuable
to your employer by increasing your
skills and competencies.
This course and its followup (Project
Management Applications) also
include essential information that
will help you prepare for the
Project Management Professional (PMP)
and the Certified Associate in
Project Management (CAPM) exams
offered by the Project Management
Institute (PMI). Certification
Magazine recently identified PMP
Certification as "the highest-paying
certification" of the year. |
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Please
click here to take this course through an accredited
college or university in your community.
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Syllabus:
A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of
two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each
course at least two months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end.
Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the
course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You
will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the
interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will
automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we
strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its
release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once
the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete
all of your course work, including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
In our first lesson, you'll learn why project management is necessary
and find out how to differentiate projects from programs and tasks. When
you finish with this lesson, you'll understand the temporary and unique
nature of projects and discover why scoping a project is a critical
activity.
Friday - Lesson 02
This lesson will set the stage for the remainder of the course by
introducing the major project management activities that establish it as
a formal field of study. You'll learn how to plan and control a project
and see how project tools help you work effectively and efficiently.
You'll see how human behavior affects your projects and also determine
the role of risk management, quality assurance, purchasing, and
politics.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
The Internet is a storehouse of useful project management information.
Today you'll learn how to access and use project management resources
you'll find on the World Wide Web. You'll also discover how to use the
four phases of the project life cycle—conceptualization and definition,
planning, implementation, and completion and closure—in creating your
project plan and putting it into practice.
Friday - Lesson 04
In today's lesson, we'll discuss the planning activity as a key factor
in helping you succeed with project management. In any enterprise,
planning should be the first activity performed. It sets the stage for
the remainder of project management activities. We'll start off the
lesson with a review of the nature of planning. You'll learn about the
importance of strategic planning as a backdrop for your project plan.
You'll discover the elements of planning, understand why many people are
reluctant to plan, and learn how the 5 Ws and 1H can help you to create
a sound project plan.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
We'll start off this lesson with an overview of the control process, and
we'll review the reactions that many people have to it. You'll discover
the characteristics and goals of effective control systems and be able
to identify the benefits of control. You'll learn the prerequisites to
use control, find out how to use steps of the control process, and
identify problems with using control. You'll also discover the various
types of control techniques.
Friday - Lesson 06
Today's lesson may be the most important one in the course: A highly
functional project team and an excellent project manager are critical
success factors for any project. Today, you'll learn about a project
manager's roles and responsibilities, and also required skills and
competencies. To support your project manager, you'll discover the
characteristics of a team, see how a team comes together, and find out
how to use effective team building activities.
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
Today, we'll discuss two different sides (deliverables and stakeholders)
of the same coin, then you'll develop an understanding of methods that
will help you generate excellent ideas to provide project solutions that
satisfy expectations. You'll learn how deliverables are prone to change
and see how quality function deployment (QFD) identifies and satisfies
stakeholder requirements. You'll understand how brainstorming,
brainwriting, the nominal group technique, and affinity diagrams lead to
excellent project management ideas.
Friday - Lesson 08
As a project manager, you need to practice a high level of business
ethics and also be aware of organizational politics. Also, you must be
aware of conflict situations and take action to manage conflict at the
right time and in the right way. In this lesson, I'll provide an
overview of ethics, describe how ethics can be practically applied, and
specify how to establish an ethical tone in your organization. You'll
learn the nature of organizational politics, understand the nature of
conflict, and find out why some project teams experience more conflict
than others. Finally, I'll help you learn how to develop solutions to
effectively manage conflict.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
Today's lesson is very important. Everything we've discussed so far
comes together in this lesson as we form a project plan. Project plans
vary in their amount of detail. The project plan that will be presented
today has 14 sections. Our project plan will begin with the foundational
elements (project strategy, executive summary, statement of work, work
breakdown structure, and project schedules), continue through supporting
elements (human resource plans, procurement plans, interface plans, and
configuration management plans), and conclude with controlling elements
(work control plans, quality control plans, cost control plans, risk
management plans, and reporting plans).
Friday - Lesson 10
Earlier in the course, you learned abut the basic ingredients associated
with project implementation. In this lesson, we'll expand upon these
fundamental elements so you can successfully implement your project
plan. We'll start off by identifying areas that will jumpstart your
project into action including key factors for a successful project, the
power of using a pilot, use of work packages, setup of project accounts,
and holding a project kickoff meeting. Next, we'll explore the
interpersonal aspects of project execution including empowering your
project team, creating team rules, using effective communication,
applying effective decision making, and solving problems. We'll finish
up by identifying and managing tradeoffs, discussing how to effectively
meet with stakeholders, and using a project notebook.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
Project control is the most important activity for your project.
Regardless of how much time and effort you invest into your project
plan, it's likely that your actual results will differ from what you
expect. If you don't effectively control your project, the chances of
meeting your project objectives are very slim. In this lesson, we'll
expand on what we discussed earlier in the course. You'll learn the
importance of project control, project performance measurements, and
project reporting. You'll discover why Earned Value is an outstanding
method to control project cost and performance. You'll also find out how
a periodic project audit can keep your project on track.
Friday - Lesson 12
In our final lesson, we need to talk about what happens at the end of a
project. To help increase your understanding about this topic, we'll
work together to identify and discuss all the necessary activities that
you must follow to effectively close your project. You'll work through
the steps of project closure and also identify reasons why your project
may not be successful. After you finish this lesson, you'll be well
prepared to hold a formal project closure activity.
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Please
click here to
take this course through an
accredited college or
university in your
community. |
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