Project Management Essentials
Course Description Overview
If you are taking this course, you probably have some exposure to managing projects, or you may be considering embarking on a career as a professional project manager. Your ability as a project manager to demonstrate best practices in project management on the job is becoming the standard to compete in today's fast-paced and highly technical workplace. In this course, you will apply the generally recognized practices of project management to successfully manage projects.
Project managers are always under severe pressure to complete projects on time and within budget. However, most projects fail to meet these demands, and, as a result, many projects are terminated early. Successful project management requires knowledge and experience. This course is designed to provide you with the skills needed to be a successful project manager in today's rapidly changing world. The skills and knowledge you gain in this course will help you avoid making costly mistakes and increase your competitive edge in the project management profession.
In this course, you will apply recognized practices of project management to manage a project from start to finish.
You will:
- Identify the basic concepts of project management.
- Launch a project.
- Estimate project work.
- Create a project schedule.
- Plan project costs.
- Plan for project risks.
- Plan for project quality and compliance.
- Manage human and physical resources for the project.
- Manage project procurements.
- Plan for change management and monitor the project scope.
- Monitor and optimize project schedule and cost.
- Monitor the quality of the project work and the risks involved.
- Plan communication strategies and manage stakeholder relationships.
- Close a project.
This course is designed for any individual who might need to perform project management activities in their job role on either a formal or informal basis, or any individual who wants to build upon their current project management knowledge to be more productively involved on a project team.
This course is not specifically designed for students who are seeking project management-related certification. Rather, it is designed to introduce a structure to help students more effectively manage projects as well as participate fully on a project team.
To ensure your success in this course, you should be familiar with basic project management concepts and have some working experience with project management. Experience with a specific project management software tool is not required. Basic computing skills and some experience using Microsoft® Office is desirable but not required.
You can obtain this level of skills and knowledge by taking the following United States Career Campus courses:
- Microsoft® Office Word 2016: Part 1
- Microsoft® Office Excel® 2016: Part 1
- Any current version of Microsoft® Windows®
- Microsoft® Office Word 2016
- Microsoft® Office Excel® 2016
- If necessary, software for viewing the course slides. (Instructor machine only.)
For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- CD-ROM drive (if installing any software from a CD-ROM)
- Keyboard and mouse (or other pointing device)
- 1,024 x 768 resolution monitor recommended
- Network cards and cabling for local network access
- Internet access (contact your local network administrator)
- Printer (optional) or an installed printer driver
- Projection system to display the instructor's computer screen
Lesson 1: Getting Started with Project Management
Topic A: Define Project Management Basics
Topic B: Identify Influencing Factors
Topic C: Define Project Management Certifications
Lesson 2: Launching Projects
Topic A: How Organizations Choose the Right Project
Topic B: Identify Project Stakeholders and Their Expectations
Topic C: Authorize a Project
Topic D: Identify the Project Scope
Lesson 3: Estimating Project Work
Topic A: Develop a WBS
Topic B: Identify the Relationships Between Work Packages
Topic C: Identify Resources
Topic D: Estimate Time
Lesson 4: Creating the Project Schedule
Topic A: Develop a Project Schedule
Topic B: Create a Schedule Baseline
Lesson 5: Planning Project Costs
Topic A: Establish Project Costs
Topic B: Establish the Cost Baseline
Topic C: Reconcile Funding and Costs
Lesson 6: Planning for Risk
Topic A: Create a Risk Management Plan
Topic B: Identify Risks and Triggers
Topic C: Analyze Risks
Topic D: Develop a Risk Response Plan
Lesson 7: Planning for Quality and Compliance
Topic A: Deliver the Desired Project Results
Topic B: Verify Compliance Requirements
Lesson 8: Managing the Project Team
Topic A: Plan Your Project Team
Topic B: Assemble the Team
Topic C: Develop the Team
Topic D: Manage the Team
Lesson 9: Managing Project Procurements
Topic A: Plan for Project Procurements
Topic B: Obtain Responses from Vendors
Topic C: Select the Right Vendor
Topic D: Manage Vendors and Procurements
Lesson 10: Managing Change During Project Execution
Topic A: Prepare for Project Execution
Topic B: Manage Project Changes
Topic C: Monitor the Project Scope
Lesson 11: Monitoring and Controlling the Schedule and Cost
Topic A: Monitor and Control the Project Schedule
Topic B: Optimize the Project Schedule
Topic C: Monitor and Control the Project Cost
Lesson 12: Monitoring and Controlling Risk and Quality
Topic A: Monitor and Control Risks
Topic B: Put Quality Plans into Action
Topic C: Control Project Quality
Lesson 13: Communicating and Reporting
Topic A: Communicate During a Project
Topic B: Distribute Project Information
Topic C: Manage Stakeholder Relationships and Expectations
Topic D: Report on Project Performance
Lesson 14: Closing the Project
Topic A: Deliver the Final Product
Topic B: Close Project Procurements
Topic C: Close the Project