Course Objectives : 


• Manage complex projects involving substantial budgets, strategic risks and aggressive time scales 

• Determine key business benefits and project financial feasibility 

• Communicate effectively with key stakeholders to ensure project success 

• Monitor and report project progress using Earned Value Management 

• Evaluate vendor proposals using a contracts and procurement process to match the project requirements 

• Prepare and present project-based proposals to solve business needs

Who Should Attend : 


Project and program managers responsible for managing business-focused projects. Experience creating WBS,Gantt and Network charts.

Course Contents: 


Defining and Managing Project Complexity


• Combining project life cycle and project process 

• Examining the art and science of project management 

• Implementing essential support documentation and systems 
Assessing

Project Viability

Selecting projects based on financial assessment

• Payback 

• ROI 

• DCF 

• NPV 

• IRR 

• Exploring cash flow profile implications 


Examining costs and benefits


• Appraising business benefits 

• Evaluating the project’s soft benefits 


Determining project feasibility


• Identifying strategic risks in the project 

• Analyzing project environment factors that influence success 

• Employing checklists 


Managing Stakeholders and Project Communication

Adopting a stakeholder management process


• Managing stakeholder priorities 

• Determining stakeholder significance and impact 

• Putting actions in place to manage the stakeholders 


Defining an effective communication plan


• Identifying barriers to communication 

• Selecting the appropriate media 

• Implementing and using a RACI diagram 

• Choosing a communication channel 

• Deciding how frequently to communicate 
Developing the Project

Lifecycle

Methodology challenges


• Handling rapid development cycles 

• Mitigating increased risks 


The role of the Project Management Office (PMO)


• Defining the functions of a PMO 

• Leveraging the advantages of a PMO 


Managing Strategic Risks

Developing a risk management process


• Identifying strategic risks in the project 

• Employing checklists 


Analyzing strategic project risks


• Evaluating the impact of risk on your plan 

• Qualitative vs. quantitative techniques 

• Managing project risk budgets 
• Prioritizing risk action plans 


Managing Contracts and the Procurement Process

Planning procurement strategies


• Applying a vendor selection process 

• Evaluating “make or buy” decisions 

• Calculating cost of ownership 

• Evaluating vendor proposals 


Soliciting external contracts


• Deciding the type of contracts to use 

• Negotiating contracts to manage risk 


Employing Earned Value Management (EVM)

Reporting project status


• Tracking against schedule and budget 

• Computing CV, SV, CPI and SVI measures 

• Charting project performance 


Predicting likely project outcomes


• Ensuring the EVM data is correct 

• Avoiding common traps of EVM 

• Interpreting EVM charts for decision making

Managing Project

Change
Implementing change management


• Mapping the business processes
• Planning for soft issues in change

 
Designing an effective change control process


• Identifying sources of change 

• Setting controls and thresholds for change 

• Crafting a change management process
• Avoiding the “gold plating” culture

Creating Project-Based Proposals
Presenting recommendations


• Preparing a project proposal 

• Key strategies for delivering the proposal 

• Closing and evaluating the project 

• Leveraging lessons learned