Project Management For Executives

This course will provide an overall understanding of the executive direction of project management processes. It will cover what executives should expect from competent project management, what executives should be prepared to provide to project managers and their teams, and a set of tools for efficiently measuring both the progress of individual projects and the growth of project management competence in their organizations.

Upon completing this course students should be able to:

• Understand project scope definition and the requirements gathering process.
• Understand project estimating techniques and their strengths and weaknesses.
• Establish and participate effectively in a project authorization system.
• Establish and participate effectively in a project change control system.
• Clearly define useful project progress reporting requirements.
• Conduct effective project gate reviews.
• Deal effectively with project resource constraints.
• Manage project risks across an entire project portfolio.
• Integrate a project portfolio to corporate strategic intent.
• Manage the organizational impacts of a product development focused enterprise.

Course Agenda

1)       Day One Opening Activities

a)       Objectives, agenda, ground rules

b)       Participant introductions

2)       The Iron Triangle

a)       Project Scope Management

i)         Scope in the life cycle

ii)       The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

(1)    WBS Construction Exercise

iii)      Scope validation

b)       Project Time Management

i)         Project estimating methods

ii)       Project scheduling methods

iii)      Gantt

iv)     Network diagramming

v)       Schedule compression techniques

vi)     Project tracking methods

c)       Project Cost Management

i)         Resource estimating

ii)       Managing free float

d)       Phase and Gate product development methodology:

i)         Project Evaluation

ii)       SWOT Analysis

iii)      Benefit Measurement Approaches

iv)     Economic Modeling

v)       Designing Gates that Work

vi)     Making the Gates Work

vii)    Resource Allocation

3)       Day One Closing Activities

a)      WBS Estimating Exercise

b)       Evaluation

4)       Day Two Opening Activities

a)       WBS Estimating Exercise reports

5)       Managing Risk in Projects

a)       Identifying risk

i)        Risk Identification Exercise

b)       Quantifying risk

6)       Risk management strategies

a)       Procurement

b)       Contingency planning

c)       Alternative strategies

d)       Insurance

e)       Acceptance

7)       Managing Change in Projects

a)       Sources of change

b)       Impacts of change

i)        Change Impact Exercise

c)       Change control process

8)       Day Two Closing Activities

a)       Workshop follow-up

b)       Course objective review

c)       Certificates of Completion

d)       Evaluation