Project Management Foundations Workshop

Organizations that leverage project management best practices complete projects on time 28% more often and deliver on budget 24% more often than organizations that do not have a strong focus on project management standards.¹ This 2-day hands-on, discussion-oriented workshop allows students to gain a foundational knowledge of project management best practices and provides the opportunity to apply their project management learnings to real-life scenarios. Covering both predictive and adaptive approaches, the workshop emphasizes utilizing the latest practices, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), that will be most effective within your organization. Upon completion of the workshop, students will receive a certificate of completion.

How You Will Benefit

• Understand the foundational principles, terms, and approaches of project management
• More effective use of industry-standard project management tools and techniques, including AI
• Experience via workshop activities to practice utilizing project management frameworks
• Immediate applicability to ongoing projects

What You Will Learn

• Understand and use project management core terms
• Explain key project management concepts and their importance to project and organizational success
• Identify key stakeholder roles and leverage them to engage all stakeholders
• Develop components of a project management plan appropriate for any type or size of project
• Select the best practices for a project using Predictive, Agile, or Hybrid approaches and apply them appropriately to benefit the project and organization

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for anyone looking to enhance or reinforce their understanding of project management foundational concepts and techniques, including both new and experienced project managers.

Format

Virtual Classroom: 2 days of web-based eLearning with a live instructor. To help assimilate the tools and techniques learned, there is a mixture of individual and group exercises throughout the course. Students need to be prepared for a high level of participation.

In-House: If you have 10 or more employees seeking training, we will deliver the course at your facility or in a private virtual session.

Duration / Development Units

2 Days | 16 PDUs, 1.6 CEUs

Outline

Workshop Activities with Breakout Group Exercises Integrated Throughout Course Outline

Project Context

• Projects, Products, and Processes
• Project Management and the Project Life Cycle
• Factors Impacting the Project Environment
• Definition of Project Success

Project Approach

• Waterfall vs. Agile
• Agile Manifesto and Principles
• Introduction to Scrum and Kanban
• Embracing Change

Partnering with Stakeholders

• Key Project Roles and Responsibilities
• Understanding the Stakeholder Register
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) - RACI Diagrams Exercise

Initiating the Project

• Predictive Project Life Cycles
• Project Charters
• Developing a Charter Exercise

Planning the Project

• Project Management Plan Best Practices
• The PM Plan Components
• Balancing Constraints

Defining Project Scope

• The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Creating a WBS Example

Defining and Estimating Activities

• Breaking Down Activities
• Defining Activities Exercise
• Effort vs. Duration
• Estimating Techniques
• Estimating Resources
• Roll Wave Planning
• Estimating Activities Exercise

Developing the Project Schedule

• Sequencing Activities
• Dependencies, Leads, and Lags
• The Critical Path and Float
• Schedule Compression
• Schedule Formats
• Developing a Budget
• Creating a Schedule and Budget Exercise

Planning Project Communications

• Project Communication Challenges and Best Practices
• Analyzing Stakeholder Communication Needs
• Tailoring Stakeholder Communications
• Communications Matrix
• Creating a Project Communications Plan Exercise

Planning Project Risk Management

• Roles and Responsibilities in Risk Management
• Risk Identification Challenges
• Identifying Risks: Knowns and Unknowns
• Contingency Reserves
• Risk Analysis
• Expected Monetary Value (EMV)
• Risk Triggers
• Risk Registers
• Planning Risk Responses
• Creating Risk Register Exercise
• Other Planning Considerations

Artificial Intelligence

• Generative AI (GenAI) vs. Artificial General Intelligence
• How to Use AI in Project Management
• Risk of Using GenAI

Executing a Project

• Leading and Managing Projects
• Developing the Team and Trust
• Engaging Stakeholders
• Power Skills and Emotional Intelligence

Overseeing and Controlling the Project

• Monitoring vs. Controlling the Project
• Change Management
• Tracking and Reporting
• Controlling the Project Schedule
• Monitoring Communications, Risk, and Stakeholder Engagement
• Project Monitoring and Controlling Top 10
• Identifying Project Tracking Requirements Exercise

Closing a Project

• Closing Projects, Phases, or Milestones
• Lessons Learned
• Celebrating Project Successes

Wrap-Up

• Parking Lot Review
• New Ideas, Confirmations, and Takeaways