101 Essentials of Project Management
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Managers and professionals learn a complete step-by-step methodolgy from developing requirements to scheduling in MS Project to reporting status.
You learn working 1-on-1 with a certified project manager who guides you through the course at your pace and and to fit your schedule. No set schedule or time limit.
They learn by actually managing realistic case studies and gettting personal feedback,so they return to work with new skills that they know how to apply immediately.Syllabus
- Project planning with our lean 1 - 2 page "broadbrush" plans
- Small work breakdown structures
- Clear team assignments
- updates in less than 10 minutes a week
- Beginning project management courses for other industries: IT, Construction, Healthcare
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“...more interaction and one-on-one attention ." Raja Manickam, SteamMaster
"... saved many man-months of my own and subordinates' work." Greg Christense |
Questions?
877-332-2599
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1-on-1 for
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Course Syllabus |
Planning the Scope |
Learn how to ask the right questions to define a scope and drive the entire project with clear business outcomes. You read the assigned chapter in your textbook and then watch a lecture where the techniques are illustrated and explained. Ask your instructor any questions you have by phone or e-mail. Then apply what you have learned in a case study where you negotiate with a project sponsor (role-played by your instructor) and ask questions to define the scope of the project. You send your scope statement to your instructor and get feedback on that document and the questions you asked the sponsor to develop it. |
Requirements definition |
Learn to decompose the scope into a network of clear business achievements that will become the backbone of your plan and schedule. Unearth requirements from stakeholders and learn to convert their wishes and wants into clear outcomes your team can deliver. You read the textbook chapter, watch the lecture on scope decomposition and then continue with your case study by developing detailed requirements with coaching from your instructor. You submit your work to your instructor and get feedback on your network of deliverables and the sub-achievements you construct using our templates. |
Project plan and charter |
From the reading and lectures, learn how to craft brief, “broad-brush” project plans that clearly communicate what the project will and will not achieve, what resources and authority you require, the risks the project faces, and how you will mitigate them. Apply what you learn to the case study project and submit your project charter to your instructor for feedback. |
Work breakdown structure and team assignments |
Learn how to develop effective work breakdown structures that give executives clear control points and your team clarity on what you expect from them. Then apply what you have learned in the reading and lecture to your course case study. Based on your project plan, build a work breakdown structure in MS Project and submit it to your instructor. They will send you feedback and schedule your mid-course review phone call at a mutually convenient time. |
Predecessor network |
In the reading and lecture, learn how to control the sequence of tasks in your schedule and achieve the shortest possible project duration with your design of the project predecessor relationships. Then craft the predecessor network in your MS Project schedule and send it to your instructor for feedback and coaching. |
Estimating durations and assigning resources |
Learn how to make clear and effective assignments to your team and work with them to estimate durations in ways that gain their commitment. Apply what you have learned from the reading and lectures in an online estimating simulation and get feedback from your instructor. Then complete the project schedule in MS Project, assigning your team to tasks within their availability constraints. Send the finished project schedule to your instructor for feedback. |
Critical path optimization and approval presentation |
Learn how to analyze your case study project for opportunities to shorten the duration by adjusting resource assignments and predecessors. Then develop trade-offs on the scope, duration and resources for the boss or sponsor to consider. Present the schedule and respond to the stakeholders’ questions, role-played by your instructor. You’ll receive written feedback on your presentation. |
Team leadership & managing conflict |
Learn how to use techniques for handling conflict on the project in the reading and lectures and then apply them to a conflict situation between your case study team and several stakeholders. Send the results to your instructor for feedback and suggestions. Your instructor will also send you status report data from your project team for use in the next assignment. |
Tracking & status reporting |
In the reading and lecture, learn how to track actual performance in MS Project® plus the techniques to use in reporting status to the sponsor. Then apply what you have learned to the problems your instructor constructs for you in the status data. Analyze what happened and what you can do to recover. Then present the status report to the sponsor in a live online presentation with your instructor, who will play the role of the sponsor and give you practice answering tough questions. |
Final exam |
To earn your credits, pass a one-hour examination with short essay questions. |
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Credits |
The American Council on Education has recommend this course for 1 graduate school credit and the Project Management Institute (PMI) has awarded it 30 PDUs (Professional Development Units) |
You work privately & directly with your instructor on live project presentation and meetings over the web where you negotiate scope and time estimates. You develop schedules and status reports and send them to your instructor for feedback an coaching. You can call your instructor whenever you wish to discuss assignments or how you apply what you learn at work.
You Work at Your Pace and Fit the Class to Your Schedule.
There are no time limits; you set the schedule and go to lectures whenever you wish. In all our classes you receive a bound textbook and you do assigned reading at the start of each module. Then you attend lectures whenever you want, playing them from a CDrom on your PC. You don't need an internet connection for anything but e-mailing your instructor and sending him/her your assignments. Best of all you keep all the lectures as an ongoing reference.
Build Project Plans, Schedule and Track Actuals in MS Project®
In our classes you learn by actually using the tools of project management, not just listening to theory. You will define scope with a sponsor in a role-playing exercise so you learn how to ask executives the right questions. Then you question the stakeholders, unearthing their requirements and transform all this information into a project plan and schedule you present and get approved.
Then you execute the project and your instructor will send you status data from your team. You assess the problems, plan corrective action and make a status report to the sponsor where you have to answer that executive's questions about the project live and in real time.
You finish our course knowing how to do project management not just answer multiple choice questions.
About Us
We began training project managers in 1986 and have been teaching over the internet since 1998. Our courses have been reviewed and approved by the Project Management Institute, the Computer Technology Industry Association and the American Council on Education which recommends them for graduate school credit.