Project Post Mortem Training / Onsite Program

Principles of Project Management Training

(22.5 PMI PDU's)

"LSA’s Project Management workshop exceeded our expectations. The facilitator was a true expert in both the content and our industry. They really understood our priorities and helped us learn not only the best practices in Project Management, but how to apply them to our specific environment. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to create the foundation for successful projects and project teams."  Dave Musolf  Director, Engineering Program Management  Palm Inc.

"LSA's Project Management facilitator is one of the best I have ever worked with. His efforts and work in teaching complex and intensive Project Management principles across all levels and backgrounds within our organization have been of the highest value.” Leslie Guzman Learning and Development Roche Palo Alto LLC

Description:
Project management tools and project management techniques have been used for decades on projects in all industries. This one to three-day project management program presents these proven project techniques (and how they have evolved to guarantee success in today's fast-past changing environment) in the context of the project manager's responsibilities:

• Define the project
• Plan the project
• Execute and Control the project
• Close out the project.

Specific techniques such as Work Breakdown Structure and Resource Leveling will be presented, with opportunities to practice each technique. Emphasis is placed not only on how to perform the technique, but also on when and why. It's the knowledge every project manager needs to succeed.

As project management applies to all industries, the material presented is relevant to every practitioner. To support the effective application of the techniques learned, the project life cycle is related to development life cycles (process methodologies). In addition, real world project challenges presented in class offer hands-on opportunities for participants to identify specific project management tools to help solve each problem.

While this is not a traditional leadership course, it acknowledges that project managers are in leadership roles, and accordingly emphasizes the leadership aspect of each technique. By teaching participants how the project management tool set enables them to satisfy all their stakeholders - sponsors, management, customers and the project team - this course allows the project manager to achieve success on many levels.

Benefits

• Create realistic project schedules.
• Get the most from project management software using the 5 steps of project planning.
• Create effective project plans with clear responsibilities and milestones.
• Identify problems when they are still small enough to solve.
• Transform ambiguous projects into focused, productive projects with tangible results.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand how project management can increase productivity, improve communication and cut development costs.
• Systematically apply the proven techniques of project management to define, plan and control a project.
• Create a project plan using standard project management techniques.
• Use the project plan to manage the team, customers, management and project sponsors.
• Understand the relationship between the science of project management and the art of leadership.

Course Outline

1. Successful Projects

• Why project management?
• Project success factors
• What is a project?
• The goal of project management
• Project management responsibilities
• Project life cycle
• Product development lifecycles

2. Project Definition

• Project definition: Establishing the rules of the game
• Identify project stakeholders
• Create a statement of work
• Develop a Project Responsibility matrix
• Publish a project charter

3. Project Planning

• The project plan
• Step one: The work breakdown structure
• Step two: Define task relationships
• Step three: Make work package estimates
• Step four: Determine the initial schedule
• Step five: Assign and level resources
• Accurate project estimating
• Project estimating techniques

4. Project Control

• Monitoring project cost and project schedule
• Planning for Project Quality
• Project Change control
• Project communication
• Project close out
• Project Corrective action

5. Project Leadership

• Project manager skills
• Project art based on project science

6. Lessons Learned

Target Audience:
Anyone associated with projects benefits from understanding the tools of project management. Project managers and project team leaders, project managers with multiple projects, and project team members with special assignments will get the greatest benefit from this course.

This workshop is often tailored to focus on your specific project management tools, project management practices, and project software.  It is also often used as part of a project kickoff, definition, or planning phase by having an intact project team work on their actual project throughout the course.