Obtain essential project management skills that you can use immediately!

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Master the essential project management skills you need to succeed in today’s challenging business environment with this three-day, best-practices–based course developed by IPS and the Stanford Center for Professional Development at Stanford University.

You’ll learn a streamlined, flexible, step-by-step approach to managing projects of any size. By the end of the third day, you will have acquired hands-on experience in producing and implementing a powerful project plan, including execution and control strategies. Throughout the course, Project Management Mastery focuses on practical project management skills. You’ll see how to apply proven techniques, templates, and tools for each project phase presented in the course—initiating; defining and organizing; planning; tracking and managing; and closing out.

The concepts and processes presented are reinforced through demonstrations, structured exercises, and group laboratories. You’ll also have a chance to apply the concepts and processes to actual company projects or to a case study. Plus you’ll get a comprehensive Project Management Process Guide to take with you as a handy reference. Automated tools are discussed but not used in the class; all the techniques and approaches introduced can be applied using any of the leading software tools available in the market.

Benefits to the Organization

As a result of Project Management Mastery, your organization will benefit from:

• Organization-wide consistency of terminology and methodology for managing projects of varying size and complexity
• Systematic management of risk and change
• Cost-effectiveness as a result of learning project management best practices
• Enhanced ability to develop fact-based data for project decision making

Learning Objectives

After completing Project Management Mastery, you will be able to:

• Review and validate project objectives
• Establish a multi-functional project team
• Define the framework by which team members will work together
• Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) and assign ownership to each task
• Produce a schedule that can be managed by critical path and float
• Refine estimates and finalize resource requirements
• Develop risk management plans
• Track, assess, and communicate project status
• Manage issues, changes, and additional risks
• Conduct close-out reviews and communicate key lessons learned

Target Audience

Project Management Mastery is an intermediate-level course, targeted for representatives of all functional disciplines who have either attended a basic project management course or have learned successful project management through on-the-job experience or mentoring.

The course is also well-suited for managers of project managers, sponsors, and professionals who can directly contribute to project success.

Prerequisites. There are no hard prerequisites; however, a prior course in project management fundamentals or requisite experience is desirable.

Course Topics

Course Introduction

• Project management capability and organizational success
• Interrelationship with other disciplines and organizational processes
• Introduction to the PMBOK^® Guide

Initiate the Project

• Review the project proposal
• Validate proposed objectives
• Prepare the project charter

Define and Organize the Project

• Establish the project organization
• Define project parameters
• Integrate project scope (if part of a program)
• Define the project infrastructure

Plan the Project

• Develop the work breakdown structure
• Develop the preliminary schedule
• Integrate the project schedule (if part of a program)
• Refine estimates and finalize resource commitments
• Optimize the project plan
• Develop risk management plans
• Transition from planning to managing

Track and Manage the Project

• Manage the project plan
• Manage issues, changes, and risks
• Manage the communication process

Close Out the Project

• Complete transition activities
• Conduct project close-out reviews
• Complete administrative close-out