Project Management for Non-Project Managers

Effective project management skills are becoming increasingly important. Organizations need good project managers, at all levels, to successfully deliver the change projects that will enable the business to adapt, grow and achieve its strategic objectives. This introductory course provides an essential overview of the core skills required to deliver small to medium size projects.

Target Audience

This course is suitable for managers, potential project managers, work-stream leaders or team members who wish to gain an insight into the world of project management.

At the end of this course you will be able to:

• Define the differences between project and operational work
• Define a high-level Business Case for the project
• Define a structured plan for the project
• Understand how to build a project schedule
• Identify project risks and assign mitigating actions
• Understand how to control a project and handle requests for change
• Understand the basics of motivating team members
• Understand the steps required to close down the project

No formal prerequisites exist for this course and no prior exposure to project work is required.

Pre-Course Reading

Delegates are not provided with any formal pre-reading before this course and a course manual will be provided at the start of the workshop.

This highly interactive workshop uses a short generic case-study to enable delegates to gain an understanding of well proven techniques in the areas listed below. It provides a firm foundation for further development of project management skills through self-reading, more advanced training and practical hands-on experience.

Project Management Overview

Delegates are introduced to the world of projects and why it is beneficial to adopt a formal project management approach. The course will also look at the various project roles and responsibilities that may exist.

Concept Phase

We will identify a number of internal and external factors that might trigger the need for new projects before looking at the stakeholders who could be impacted. The course then identifies tools and techniques used to evaluate whether a project is feasible or not.

Defining the Project

The definition phase is often where the project manager is heavily involved and we look at a structured approach for creating a project plan that will include scope, time and resource requirements. We briefly discuss quality management before focusing on the identification, analysis and mitigation of risks.

Implementing the Project

Delegates will understand how the baseline plan can be used to monitor progress and also to control changes that may be requested by stakeholders during implementation. We will then discuss how the project manager may try to keep team members motivated throughout the project.

Project Handover and Closeout

The day concludes with a short session on how the project deliverables can be effectively handed over to the customer or the business. Delegates will also begin to understand the importance of capturing lessons for action on future projects.