Businesses undertake projects for many reasons, such as solving business problems, creating a competitive advantage, or delivering value to the consumer. There are as many types of projects as there are businesses, products, processes, and operations. Thus, every business must decide what methods to use for various projects.
Most companies will have more than one project going at the same time. The process that it uses for each project may differ. A software project may use an agile method, whereas product development may use a traditional method. Some projects are small and do not need a long time or financial commitments. Others can rise to the scope of a mega project requiring vast resources and budgets.
Regardless of the type of project, having a definitive process for achieving the project's goals can be the difference between failure and success. The field of project management is so important to businesses that the PMI has developed professional standards and a certification process for people who specialize in project management and are at different stages in their careers. This course will follow the principles and practices of the PMI, which defines five key project process groups and ten knowledge areas.
Ultimately, how a company undertakes and completes projects can be a competitive advantage that allows it to deliver business value.
- Unit 1: What is Project Management?
- Unit 2: The Project Lifecycle
- Unit 3: Initiating Projects
- Unit 4: Planning Projects
- Unit 5: Executing Projects
- Unit 6: Monitoring and Controlling Projects
- Unit 7: Closing Projects
- Analyze the organizational context in which projects are planned, managed, and implemented;
- Compare the five distinct stages in a project's life cycle: initiating, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing;
- Appraise project management tools, techniques, and skills;
- Apply methods and best practices in careful time management of project schedules and critical-path dependencies;
- Evaluate project cost, quality, and delivery;
- Select and prioritize critical resources for effective project implementation;
- Explain effective approaches for managing communication strategies;
- Assess the schedule, cost, and scope elements in projects to develop different techniques for managing risks;
- Determine strategies and actions that promote productive stakeholder involvement in decision-making and execution of the project; and
- Identify risk mitigations for risk to schedule, scope and budget via documentation, risk reporting tools, and risk response/mitigation planning.