With a plethora of affordable tools available today, this first in a series gives you a fresh perspective on Project Management that will help you effectively manage projects, large or small. We give you the basic principles of modern project management, and immediately show you how it can be applied using a tool like MS Project.

Introduction to Project Management

• The nature of projects
• Why projects fail
• The need for new approaches to project management
• The PSSI Project Management Framework: the ABC approach to project management

ctivate the Project

• Is this really a project? A go/no-go decision

• Define the project. Define the project goal and objectives, identify the key players, and establish client priorities

• Scope the project. Define the deliverables, notification and escalation procedures, review and approval process, assumptions, risks, and constraints; Learn practical steps in refining the scope and how to protect the project from scope creep

• Build the Project Team

• Set up the Project Folder

uild the Plan

• Set Project start- or end-date

• Define tasks. Prepare initial task list and transform into usable WBS (work breakdown structure) list; Learn practical uses of WBS in projects

• Schedule activities. Create project calendars, establish task dependencies, refine dependencies using predecessor-successor relationship other than finish to start, and introduce lead and lag times to reflect real-life project situations

• Analyze the project network. Learn how to interpret a project network, the principles behind dependencies, critical path, and managing the slack; Learn how to use the network as a tool for impact analysis when constraints are introduced

• Complete the plan. Estimate cost and resources, assign to tasks, level resource assignments, fine-tune the plan, prepare the budget, and package the proposal

ontrol the Execution

• Launch the project. Organize a project kick-off and set the baseline

• Track the progress. Learn basic principles on tracking; post the actual work done, and monitor schedule, cost performance, and resource utilization

• Manage the project Aside from managing time,cost, performance, learn also how to manage risk, scope changes, and project problems

• Communicate the project status. Learn the tools for communicating the project, how to prepare an effective status report, how to run review meetings and how to keep all stakeholders in the loop

• Ending the Project. Why even bother? Learn the value of formally closing a project, how to write a usable project completion report, and how to run a project closure meeting