Project Management Foundations

Learn what it takes to deliver projects successfully. Explore the basics of project management, from building a project plan to managing progress.

Introduction

• Deliver successful projects
• What you should know

1. Get to Know Project Management

• What is a project?
• What is project management?
• What it takes to be a project manager
• The project management life cycle
• Traditional vs. agile project management
• How organizational structure affects projects
• How organizational culture affects projects
• Project management software options
• Challenge: Organization

2. First Things First

• Initiate a project
• Identify project stakeholders
• Analyze project stakeholders
• Identify the project goal
• Define project objectives
• Choose a strategy
• Gather requirements
• Identify project deliverables and success criteria
• Identify project assumptions and risks
• Prepare a project scope statement
• Create a project charter
• Challenge: Project charter

3. Develop a Project Plan

• Project planning overview
• What is a work breakdown structure?
• Build a work breakdown structure
• How to create work packages
• Estimate time and cost
• How to choose the best estimate
• Create a resource management plan
• Build a project schedule
• Develop a project budget
• Identify risks
• Create a risk management plan
• Set up a communication plan
• Develop a quality plan
• How to set up a change management plan
• How to plan procurement
• Processes for procuring resources
• How to obtain approval to proceed
• Challenge: Change

4. Build a Project Schedule

• Put tasks in sequence
• How to assign resources to tasks
• Learn to use milestones
• Make a realistic schedule
• Understand the critical path
• Understand the critical chain method
• How to shorten a schedule
• Document the baseline
• Challenge: Network diagram

5. An Overview of Agile Project Management

• What is agile project management?
• The agile project management life cycle
• Plan an iteration
• Manage the explore stage
• Handle the adapt and close stages
• Challenge: Agile

6. While You Run the Project

• How to run a project
• Techniques for communicating effectively
• Run effective meetings
• Challenge: Agenda

7. Work with Teams

• Manage team resources
• Understand team dynamics
• How to manage virtual teams
• How to manage technical teams
• Challenge: Team

8. Monitor and Control Progress and Performance

• How to gather data
• How to manage project change
• Learn how to manage project scope
• Monitor and control risks
• Understand earned value analysis
• Evaluate progress
• Learn how to solve problems
• How to get a project back on track
• Challenge: Change request

9. Close a Project

• Close a project
• How to obtain customer acceptance
• Document lessons learned
• How to prepare a close-out report
• Learn how to close and transition projects
• Challenge: Acceptance

Conclusion

• Next steps