Project Management: Intermediate Skills (2 day)

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Course Overview

Project management is widely used by many organisations. Those involved, however, often find they are developing their skills 'on the job' and feel the need to formalise their experience and maintain their knowledge of current best practice. This very popular seminar, accredited by the Association of Project Management, has been designed to meet those needs by providing an intensive overview of the core skills and knowledge required to become and remain a successful project manager.

Audience

This seminar is designed for:

• Project managers
• Project team leaders/project engineers
• Contract managers
• Project specialists and support staff
• Line and resource managers and for those preparing to take up these roles

Skills Gained

• Review a wide body of expert knowledge and the key requirements for success
• Focus on your role and understand how to develop the skills required
• Understand the ways that other organisations manage projects
• Achieve a structured approach to managing projects
• Discuss challenges in your current role with colleagues and specialist consultants
• Learn specific tools and techniques for doing the job quickly and effectively
• Avoid the pain of making costly, unnecessary mistakes
• Improve your ability to deliver consistently, on time and within your budget
• Improve client satisfaction and your credibility as a project manager
• Assess the likely success of your projects and how to improve their performance

Course Outline

Key concepts and factors critical to success

• The challenge of project management
• Understanding the business context; the project manager's role
• Management needs of different types of project; project life cycles
• Roles of project and line managers; matrix management
• Defining project performance; learning from project audits
• Walking the tightrope between 'can do' and 'gung-ho'; effective prevention management
• Criticality of the early phase; implications for the project manager

Project definition and approval

• The criticality of 'front-end' decisions to project success
• Getting organised; tasks involved in creating a winning bid
• Identifying and managing project stakeholders
• Capturing the clients requirements and scoping the project/ managing trade-offs and agreeing project success criteria
• Preparing the outline plan; screening options
• Understanding the financial dimension - payback/cash flow/net present value
• Presenting the case; getting approval and commitment
• Project launch and mobilisation

Project planning one

• The role of planning; using the plan to align targets and deadlines
• Cost effective planning: deciding the right level and format
• Classic reasons for planning failure and how to avoid them
• Developing the work break-down - formats and techniques
• Using structured brainstorming to detail the work content/ organising the work; the task-responsibility matrix
• Building the plan using Gantt charts and PERT networks

Project risk management

• Practical implementation of risk management; integrating planning and risk management
• Focusing the risk management activity and prioritising areas for attention
• Techniques for identifying risks; clarifying the risks and agreeing terminology
• Evaluating risks and choosing an appropriate risk management response
• Deciding and agreeing who should own and manage risks
• Taking action to reduce risk exposure; delegating risk
• Recording, executing and tracking risk management activities
• Selling the benefits of risk management to others

Project planning two

• Techniques for estimating activity time-scales and costs
• Creating the task, resource and cash flow profiles
• Accelerating the programme: options available and their impact on costs and risks
• Monte-Carlo techniques; three-point estimating
• Using risk management to develop the plan and set contingencies
• Managing float and optimising the activity schedule
• Building a team approach; getting ownership and building commitment
• Keeping the plan alive; the plan-do-review cycle

Project implementation and control

• Project organisation: team structure, steering groups
• Defining roles and responsibilities for control
• Developing a pro-active approach
• Monitoring and reporting progress:'s' curves, slip charts, earned value
• Running project meetings/establishing effective communications
• Special control needs of multi-site projects
• Managing changes in scope without losing control

The role of the project manager

• Managing a multi-functional team; defining roles in matrix organisations
• The project manager as '3-dimensional' leader; the impact of leadership style
• Understanding team development stages; creating an effective team quickly/identifying individual team skills and defining the roles of team members
• Delegation of tasks; developing and maintaining motivation
• Managing conflict and harnessing diversity

Working with other organisations

• Roles and responsibilities for setting up and managing a contract
• Defining the scope of work; invitation to tender; performance of detailed specifications
• Selecting the financial framework - fixed price, target price, reimbursable, stage payments
• Negotiating contract terms and conditions; using model forms of contract
• Supplier pre-qualification; tender evaluation
• Minimising and managing variations; change control
• Monitoring progress; acceptance and closure

Project Management: Intermediate Skills (2 day) / PMIS2