Project Manager Training

1-on-1 for Individuals

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 user 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 user 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 user 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. Detail what analyst and programmer resources you require and the authority you need. Layout 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 IT 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 IT 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 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 for the scope, duration and resources for the boss or user 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 projects in the reading and lectures and then apply them to a conflict situation between your case study team and several users. Send your response to the conflict 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 crafts 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.