Deeply Practical Project Management (16 PDUs)

How to apply the PMI project management processes in the simplest, most practical way, with a professional 44M example.

What you'll learn:

• "Finally an online course that teaches the 'how' of project management from an experienced veteran." – Karin Brame
• One comprehensive course that covers the entire PM process, with a realistic, complete, professional $44M example.
• How to get stakeholder and senior management support at the beginning of your project, and maintain it throughout.
• The practical essentials of Project Manager communication, team management, negotiation, and leadership.
• How to plan your project with less than 5% (!) of the overall effort, so everyone has realistic expectations before you start.
• How to avoid the top three causes of project failure, and manage the top three drivers of project success.
• The critical importance of the project requirements, with best practices for documentation, review, and approval.
• Practical advice on building your work breakdown structure (WBS), and when to break it down further.
• Why the precedence diagram is your most important PM tool, even more important than the Gantt schedule.
• Five techniques for estimating, the tricks to estimating within +/- 10%, and how to handle estimating error.
• A complete, animated example of how to calculate the critical path, and why schedule is almost always more important than budget.
• How to decide whether to build or buy, the best type of contract structure, and the best way to make the award.
• How to prepare the final project plan, brief management, provide options, stay truthful, and protect your career.
• The essentials of building the best project team, and delegation, motivation, and resolution of personnel conflicts.
• How to manage scope so you find the things inevitably missed, but don’t let scope creep blow up your project.
• Use the critical path to focus on the most important items, intelligently reallocate resources, and make the PM’s job easier and easier.
• Track the budget and manage its key drivers to obtain the best cost performance possible.
• Identify the risks up front, mitigate them early, and manage your project to stay within the risk budget.
• The most effective things you can do to manage quality and ensure the customer is happy with the project result.
• Use earned value management (EVM) to objectively estimate future cost and schedule performance.
• Ask the stakeholders for guidance when your project is in trouble in the most productive and constructive way.
• Use scenario based verification to sign off requirements and make sure the customer is happy with the project result.
• Best practices for gathering lessons learned to find both what went well and what can be improved, and easily gather them as you go.
• Close your project, write a final report, and hold a project celebration so everyone can transition to their next challenge.
• A complete example of professional project management documentation for the $44M “Magical Devices Version 3” project.
• The document “Project Planning With MS Office” describing how to use Miscrosoft apps to document your scope, schedule, and budget.
• Six practice quizzes, nine project management document templates, a 250 page slide deck, and six summary checklists.
• Gain a deeply practical understanding of the PMI process for those that wish to write an exam and obtain a certification.

"Finally an online course that teaches the 'how' of project management from an experienced veteran." – Karin Brame

The instructor for this course has managed projects for 30 years, from just a few thousand dollars to $55M, and worked in senior roles on projects up to $3B. This course will teach you how to manage projects the way it is done in real life by the most professional organizations. You will also receive a complete set of documentation for a realistic $44M project that you can reuse for your own projects.

The course will give you the practical background you need if you are pursuing the PMP exam, and will give you 16 Professional Development Units (PDUs) if you already have a PMI certification. You will also receive a Practical Project Manager (PPM) certificate, now being referenced by thousands of people as a career differentiator on LinkedIn.

First an overview is provided of the most important concepts in project management that every Project Manager needs to know. Then a mini-course is provided on the role of the Project Manager and their essential skills: communication, team management, negotiation, and leadership.

Then the essential PM processes are mapped across the five project stages: initiation, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing. Step by step descriptions are provided showing you exactly what you need to do and what documentation you need to prepare in each stage, with many examples. Templates are provided for all the key project documents.

This course will show you how to plan your project scope, schedule, and budget so they are accurate to within +/- 10%, so everyone has accurate expectations before you start. You will learn how to monitor and control your project to stay on plan. You will also receive a mini-course on risk management, showing you how to plan a realistic risk budget so you have extra schedule and budget to deal with any surprises, and then manage your project to stay within the risk budget.

You will also receive the 215 page reference manual “How To Plan Your Project With Microsoft Office” that explains in detail how to plan and document your scope, schedule, and budget with Microsoft Project and related applications.

If you need to manage a project right now, are preparing for a PMI PMP exam, or just want a solid grounding in practical project management to accelerate your career, this course will really help.

Instructor

William Stewart is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP) who has managed projects for 30 years, from just a few thousand dollars to $55M, and worked in senior roles on PM teams on projects up to $3B. He has managed projects in the domains of system integration, software development, business process, construction, real estate, and others. Internationally recognized, he has spoken twice as a keynote speaker at International Project Management Association (IPMA) conferences. He has delivered this course live more than 330 times to more than 3,300 people. Previously, he worked for aerospace, government, academia, and founded and led the cloud computing company Cirrus Computing. He has deep experience with project management, risk management, systems integration, software engineering, and negotiating. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science for discovery of an algorithm that builds geodesic domes in multiple dimensions in optimum space and time.

Student Feedback

"Over the course of a 20 year career I have purchased many training materials, video courses, study guides, etc, and this was hands down the best material I have ever used." – Christopher Irons

"I am interviewing for a PM position in two days, and this course gave me valuable insight into key areas I haven't considered since I received my PMI certification in 2012. I’m also able to improve my resume since I now understand how PM functions I've been performing for years are much more valuable than I thought." – Dan Bischoff, PMP

"I have been a PMP since 2006 and learned so much from this course, truly outstanding." – Mark Thorogood, PMP

"This is by far the best project management course I have ever taken!" – Susan Steigler, PMP

"This is the best real-world practical PM course on the web. Valuable knowledge and insight, clear, and hands on. A great investment when your time is really valuable and you don't want to waste a minute of it." – Sarah Hajipour

"This course offers some of the most valuable material I've consumed as a Project Manager." – Philip Kohler

"This is a very, very useful resource for both Project Managers and team members. The best PM course I have taken online." – Marcelo Palenzuela

"Excellent course -- easy to understand -- wish I had reviewed this resource before I took my PMP exam!" – Thomas Flores

"The only course you will need. Walks you through all the phases of project management. With examples, anecdotes, and most importantly - templates. Highly recommend!" – Allan Madhuram

"I took this course after earning my PMP certification, and am stunned by the practical insights it provides. Thank you! I definitely recommend for both newbies and experienced Project Managers." – Raj Bidika

"This was the best project management course that I have taken. I recommend to anyone interested in project management. Really above and beyond what I expected." – Mark April

"Really straightforward and clear. Wish I had taken this before I sat for my PMP test." – Alexander Feravich

"Great course, perfectly delivered. The PMBOK Guide applied to reality. I plan to repeat this course over and over again." – Alain Yeno

"Not only does this course teach you practical project management, it also teaches you life skills you will keep for a lifetime. Exceptional. I couldn't have asked for anything better." – Saad Faruqui

"Crisp and direct, no blabbing. Wise to go with this first before consulting any other material." – Rufus Okomhanru

"The course was amazing. A lot of real life examples. In my 17 years of PM experience I have never taken a more concise, informative, and easy to understand PM walk-through." – Vladimir Mitev

"I've been managing projects for several years, and picked up key points which will improve my work in the future, and would have made previous projects significantly better if I'd known them sooner. Highly recommended." – David Morrison

"This turned out to be the best money I ever spent. My only regret is I didn't take this course sooner." – Nicholas Ikpi

"One of the greatest courses I have ever had. Short videos you can digest at your own pace. A warm environment, seems that you are talking with him." – Francisco Zapata