Project management for non-project managers (2-days)

Target Audience

This workshop aims at co-workers that are only partially involved in a project or who are responsible for 'minor' projects without a formal structure.

Objectives

The course explores the entire project life cycle, from the initiation (project proposal) till the handover of the project result (close out report) whereby structural and methodological aspects of project management are translated in practical tips & tricks.

Duration

This workshop takes two days of 6 hours of training

Day 1: Understanding the structured approach of projects in general

Day 2: Understanding project organization, scheduling and follow-up

Day 1 : A process-based approach

Already at the end of this first day, the participants will have an overview of the project 'life cycle' and understand the most important structural elements to shape the project approach. In an interactive way, the participants are urged to identify these elements in their own projects.

Definitions

- Differences and similarities between 'projects' and 'processes'

- What do 'project' and 'methodology' mean really ?

A process-based approach

- The respective importance of project 'initiation' and 'close-out' in particular

- Sponsor and other stakeholders

- Active listening, a basic skill !

- Life cycle, phasing in, scope, issue & change management

Keep your project under control

- The 'devil's' triangle and the 'Bermuda' triangle

- Good arrangements make good friends: the Project Execution Plan (template)

- Progress reporting (dashboard)

Day 2 : Scheduling and Organization

Today we examine the specific methods and structures you can use to keep control over the project. The secret ? A pro-active attitude and regular progress reporting based on the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure). At the end of the day, we will introduce the iterative approach of Agile & Scrum (see also our specific workshop on this).

Planning techniques

- Work Breakdown Structure => concrete tips & tricks for the definition and follow-up of assignments

- Exercise on planning => network planning AoN, Gantt chart, milestones, critical path, critical chain

The project 'organization'

- The ‘client oriented’ organization

- From hierarchical thinking to 'self-steering teams'

- Roles and responsibilities

- Project communication

- Dysfunctional roles

Agile & Scrum

- The origin and importance (Agile Manifesto)

- Introduction to the main concepts by stepping through the iterative approach