1. Project Management
(2-Day Workshop)

About the Program:

This workshop is designed for professionals committed to learning professional level project management. It will give you hands-on experience with PM and its implementation, using personal project examples.

Learning Objectives:

For individuals:

• Introduce basic "blocking and tackling" concepts of Modern Project Management, consistent with international standards of project management practice.
• Provide useful techniques and critical concepts that are prerequisites for effective use of project management software.
• Serve as a springboard for more advanced project and program management concepts. Help you decide whether to pursue additional personal development and certification as a Project Management Professional.

For organizations:

• Emphasize the proven value of investing in upfront project planning, through evaluation of success and failure at the project level
• Encourage use of common language as a prerequisite to improvement and effectiveness.
• Introduce elements of a defined, capable, repeatable project management process to complement technical methodologies and processes. Recognize the difference between project-oriented processes and product-oriented processes.
• Identify and highlight selected best practices in project and program management.

Who Should Attend?

This workshop will be especially valuable for anyone interested in agility – quickly and effectively responding to the unique demands of clients. PM is a key integrating mechanism for projects." It will be extremely valuable for those involved in the following areas: Engineering, Manufacturing, R & D, Marketing, Sales, and Production. Teams are encouraged to attend for maximum benefit.

Features & Benefits:

• Common Language: What is a Project? Program? * DO IT ! * Managing Project Expectations * The "Triple Constraint" Model * Individuals and Organizations * What is a Project Acceleration Workshop? * Workshop Goals * Project Launch Book* The Integrated Project Management Plan
• Project Selection * Project Life Cycle * The Five Process Groups * Projects Are...... * Programs Are...... * Uniqueness * Types of Projects * Stakeholders (clients/Users/Others) * Setting Boundaries * Objectives * Product Description * People Issues * Team Building *What Does Commitment Mean? * Triangular Contracting
• Project Failure * Does Product Failure = Project Failures?* A Few Common Causes of Project Failure * Project Risk Elements * The Structure of a Risk Analysis * Response to Threats * Balancing Risk With Investment in Planning and Control * Investing in Project Planning * Good Project Risk Management Practices * Creating a R.A.I.D. List * Prospective Hindsight
• Project Scope: A Misunderstood Term * Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) * Work Package Definition * Exercise: WBS Development * Five High Level Strategies for WBS Construction * Time Phased * Functional or Departmental * Product/System Breakdown Structure * Benefits of the "Sticky Tags" Approach * Rolling Wave Planning
• Process of Developing a Plan * Gantt Chart Example * Milestone Chart Example * Network Logic Diagram Example * Key Terms * Finding Project Duration by Finding the Critical Path * Logical Task Sequencing * Key Points on the Critical Path * More Task Sequencing Tactics * Getting More Detail From the Network * Forward Pass and Backward Pass * Schedule Logically, then Improve Systematically * Automating the Schedule * Entering Basic Project Data * Program Scheduling
• Resource Planning * Responsibility Assignment * Assumptions * Effort, Duration, & Elapsed Time * Transforming a LOE to a Duration * Factors Affecting Productivity * Task Durations with PERT Weighted Average Estimates * Measuring Variation * Resource Leveling * Commonsense Rules
• The Soft Art of Project Control * The Control Process * Build Control into Your Project Plan * Visibility as a Control Technique * Project Walkthroughs and Evaluation * The Rut of 90% Complete * Earned Value * Three Important Parameters * Variances * Lessons Learned * Project Closing
• Building PM Capability * Bottom Line Performance * Good Project Management Process Owners* Project Sponsors & Champions* Good Project Leaders * Good Project Followers * The Power of One

Project and Program Management Basics

This popular "blocking and tackling" course will introduce you to fundamental principles, processes, and tools good of project and program management.

How to Capture client Requirements and Develop Project Scope

This course provides participants with the critical skills build a complete model of requirements. Emphasis is on defining problems in order to correctly specify designs. Projects don't fail at the end, they fail at the beginning! Organizations can build on this course with our Advanced Requirements Workshop.

How to Assess and Manage Project Risk

Project Risk Management is one of the most desired skills of project management. We designed this interactive, practical workshop to look at some of the critical challenges in the project environment and develop powerful strategies to bring a practical, actionable risk mitigation strategy to the project. This is one of the most popular of Catalyst's workshops. Past attendees say that they can immediately put the knowledge to work in their organizations. This is an advanced project management workshop.

Executive Briefings

Catalyst's executive briefings are rapid-pace interactive sessions geared for time-constrained executives and senior managers. We offer several tailored sessions including Designing and Supporting Effective Project Organizations, Creating Effective Sponsorship, and New Product Development Excellence. We typically customize briefings extensively for the client organization.

Rapid Project Development

This workshop presents the fundamental project principles of speed-based product development. You will learn to isolate important performance drivers in the product management and product development environment, so that you can select and apply the right technique.

Project Integration, Performance, and Metrics

This workshop addresses important processes like pricing project services, profit planning, resource planning, cost estimating, and cost budgeting. Through a case study analysis, you will gain insights to the issues of creating project management offices and pricing services.

PMP Exam Preparation

Prepare for the PMI certification exam with a diagnostic approach that will help you understand your knowledge deficiencies and increase your chances of passing the exam on the first try.

Project Acceleration Workshop

This is a facilitated hands-on workshop focused on creating an executable project plan for an organization's project. As a result, you will develop a realistic baseline and secure the buy in of the project participants. This is not a training class, although past participants have gained considerable knowledge in project planning fundamentals.

Basics of Project Scheduling

The workshop objective is to help individuals construct accurate time schedules (e.g., Gantt Charts). The workshop is first delivered to senior managers, then to pilot teams. We emphasize a strong learning, developmental application of the techniques to real projects.