The Advanced Project Management workshop gives seasoned project managers the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully manage increasingly complex project issues to meet desired goals and objectives. Assuming a mastery of project planning, this workshop extends skills to the remaining project management processes covering areas such as avoiding mistakes when executing and controlling a project, dealing with evolving stakeholder expectations, using trend analysis to measure project performance and improving project outcomes. PDUs = 24.
Audience:
Those who have mastered the planning process, are experienced with all aspects of the discipline, and are now looking for ways to develop their execution and control skills on larger, more complex projects
Prerequisites
Experience in managing projects as well as reading and analyzing outputs from scheduling software such as Microsoft Project.
Course duration:
3 days
Course outline:
Project Selection and Initiation
- Initiating Projects
- When Do Projects Start? Defining the Project Life Cycle
- Tips for Defining the Start of a Project
- Considerations for Initiating Projects
- Strategic Planning
- Prioritizing Projects
- Selecting Projects
- Key Elements of the Initiating Process
- Guidelines for Project Initiation
Project Execution Methodology
- Project Execution Methodology
- Starting Project Work
- The Value of a Good Start
- Ensuring a Successful Start to Project Work
- Stakeholder Commitment and Team Resources
- Inhibitors to Future Success and How to Deal with Them
- The Process for Commencing Project Work
- Getting Work Done
- Facilitating Project Work
- Communicating Work Expectations
- Managing Issues and Action Items
- Key Learning Points
- Progress, Status, and Forecasting
- Capturing Progress
- Updating the Schedule
- Forecasting — Predicting Future Project Work
Project Variance and Control
- Project Variance and Control
- Performance Metrics
- A Framework for Performance Reporting
- Understanding Different Types of Metrics
- How Metrics Interact
- Measuring Projects and Generating Metrics Reports
- Interpreting Project Metrics
- Baseline Metrics
- Earned Value Analysis Metrics
- Understanding the Causes of Variance
- Defining Project Variance
- Understanding Different Types of Project Variance
- Root Contributors to Variance
- Methods for Identifying Root Contributors
- Taking Corrective Action to Overcome Variance
- Definition/Intention of Corrective Action
- Understanding Points of Leverage
- Managing Change, Quality, and Risk
- Responding to the Dynamic Nature of Projects
- Using Process to Create Transparency
- Control Processes for Project Change
- Quality Control
- Quality Assurance
- Risk Monitoring and Control Process
Project Closure and Learning
- The Closing Process
- The Challenge of Project Closure
- When and How to Learn from Projects
- Initial Sizing
- Detailed Estimating
- Unforeseen Events
- Project Closure Reporting and Archiving Processes
- Step 1 — Obtain Formal Acceptance
- Step 2 — Shut Down the Work Engine
- Step 3 — Analyze Metrics, Baseline, and Change Data
- Step 4 — Evaluate Processes and Documentation
- Step 5 — Documenting Project Events and Circumstances
- Step 6 — Generating Lessons Learned
- Step 7 — Finalize and Share the Project Closure Report
- Step 8 — Celebrating the End of the Project
- Step 9 — Archive the Project Records
- Step 10 — Conduct Follow-Up Surveys as Negotiated
Summary and Conclusion
- Where We’ve Been
- Where to Go Next
Appendix A: Managing Projects Better with Process
- Intent and Ownership of Processes
- Process as a Tool for Success in Project Management
- Differentiating Between Project Management and Product Development
- Overviews of Methodologies
- Value of a Project Management Methodology
- Using a Methodology
- Creating a Methodology
Appendix B: “Special Situations” (That Happen All the Time)
- Managing Several Projects Simultaneously
- Priority
- Process
- Workflow
- Taking Over Ongoing Projects
- Establishing Credibility and Project Visibility
- Inventory the Project to Find Leverage Points
- “Threading” Your Methodology to an Ongoing Project
- Stakeholder Change
- What is a Stakeholder Change?
- Assessing the Impact of Stakeholder Change on Your Project
- Responding to Stakeholder Change
- Scaling Project Management to Meet the Project Needs
- Factors in Scaling Project Management
- Identifying and Protecting the Core Project Management Processes
