Smarter Project Management with MS Project

Overview

This 5 day course will help you to deliver smarter project solutions …with higher quality, greater value and better accountability. You’ll cover everything, from defining scope and gathering requirements…to planning and budgeting…to utilizing scheduling and control tools.

Our approach is to keep it practical and simple! Participants are actively involved in class through workshops, exercises and group discussions. Immediately apply the tools and techniques to workplace projects and issues. Participate in team building workshops using proven tools and techniques that can be applied to any project.

The seminar is designed for companies seeking to implement effective, profitable and practical skills so you can confidentially face and conquer even the toughest challenges. This workshop provides a common language between individuals at the implementation level – marketing, sales, project management, engineering, manufacturing or construction, test and assembly, shipping, installation as well as executive leadership. This Project Management seminar will ensure all members of the team are on the same page.

SAQA Alignment

The course is aligned to the following unit standards:

Duration: 5 days

Benefits

    • Here’s all the help you need to get your projects and your career off the ground and running!
      Set practical goals for your projects—goals you can meet, regardless of “hitches”
    • Set realistic schedules that are right on target
    • Develop a project plan—and get that plan implemented
    • Stay on top of schedules, workloads and “people problems”
    • Break down a project into smaller, less intimidating tasks
    • Save time and energy by “building in flexibility” rather than “putting out fires”
    • Cope with squeezed budgets and stolen time
    • Delegate in a fair and practical way within the project team
    • Build your credibility with top management

Who should attend

    • Project Managers and Team Leaders
    • Supervisors, Managers and Department Heads
    • Securing final approvals and buy-ins
    • Anyone who wants to manage projects from start to finish with greater effectiveness and efficiency

Outline – Smarter Project Management

Concepts of Project Management

    • Benefits of project management
    • Characteristics of a well-defined project
    • Project tasks and the path they follow

Scope Definition and Project Requirements

    • Defining scope in terms of business, technical, operational objectives
    • Time-cost-scope tradeoffs and negotiations
    • Gathering and documenting requirements
    • Critical success factors and measures: project metrics
    • Project risk management
    • The Project Requirements Document as a decision-making tool

Create the Project Charter

    • Write the Project Charter
    • Consider the Project Charter’s purpose

Project Scheduling: Network Logic and Dependency Analysis

    • The structure, functions, format and conventions of a logic network
    • How to construct a network diagram, precedence diagramming, arrow diagramming
    • Defining the project’s critical path, free float and total float

Write a Statement of Work

    • Review a SOW
    • Using a SOW
    • Creating a SOW for internal projects

Managing the Project Team

    • Recruiting Team Members
    • Working with assigned team members
    • Negotiate for resources
    • Consider the Organizational Structure
    • Identify leadership skills
    • Implementing team building tactics
    • Working through team issues
    • Managing versus leading
    • Identifying team development
    • Work with global teams
    • Identify team roles and responsibilities
    • Analyze the resources and talents to completion

Project Leadership

    • The central role of effective communications
    • The project manager as motivator and problem-solver

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Its Detailed Work Packages

    • Matching project objectives and methodology
    • Using guides and templates, checklists and appropriate standards
    • WBS: a planning, scheduling, staffing, budgeting and control tool

Project Scheduling: Estimating the Work

  • Creating realistic and achievable estimates
  • Defining estimates…types of estimates
  • Targets vs. estimates vs. commitments

Project Costing

    • Costing an element of work
    • Cost Estimating in Practice
    • Preparing Project Budgets
    • Basic Accounting for the Project Manager

Project Risk

    • Consider the risk-reward principle
    • Use Qualitative Analysis
    • Use Quantitative Analysis
    • Assign Risk Owners
    • Create Risk Triggers

The Integrated Project Plan

    • Project schedule displayed as Gantt Chart, network diagram or spreadsheet
    • Project resource utilization, cost or budget and milestone plans

Project Control and Reporting

    • Five sources of change to project scope
    • How to conduct a net impact assessment
    • Determining variances from the approved plan…the change control board
    • Earned value overview
    • Reporting project status and formats

Project Closure

  • Preparing a useful and brief final report
  • Documenting lessons learned
  • Securing final approvals and buy-ins
  • Organizational, contractual and financial closures