This course provides participants with a comprehensive exposure to industry-proven principles and techniques for professionally managing
IT projects. Participants will learn the critical factors that contribute to project successes and failures, and an adaptive, structured
methodology for managing software projects of any size or complexity.
This course incorporates all the key project management principles and techniques recommending the the Project Management Institute's Body
of Knowledge (PMBOK), as well as the essential core elements specified in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Project Planning and Project
Tracking & Control key process areas.
What You Will Learn
- How to organize for successful project management
- How to set feasible project goals & milestones
- How to define effective roles & responsibilities
- How develop realistic estimates & schedules
- How to incorporate risk & uncertainty into estimates
- How monitor & adjust project components to measure progress & keep on track
- How to manage professionally manage projects
Who Should Attend
This course is intended for project managers project leaders who are interested in learning industry-
proven principles and techniques for professionally managing IT projects.
Course Outline
Introduction to Software Project Management
- Characteristics of successful software projects
- Factors that influence project success
- 10 ways to kill a project
- 10 ways to help ensure project success
- Essential steps for managing & planning every project
- Project management processes for IT projects
Establishing the Foundation for Successful Projects
- Setting scope & goals
- Structuring the project
- Selecting a project life cycle
- Defining deliverables
- Defining project constraints
- Developing meaningful milestones & checkpoints
- Developing the project plan
Organizing for Effective Project Management
- Choosing an organizational style
- Selecting a project team
- Management roles & responsibilities
- Team member roles & responsibilities
- User roles & responsibilities
Getting a Handle on the Project
- Identifying project activities
- Developing a work breakdown structure (WBS)
- Decomposing the WBS
Developing Project Estimates
- Why estimating is so difficult
- Factors that influence project estimates
- Estimating techniques
- Incorporating risk & uncertainty into estimates
- Packaging & presenting estimates
- Improving estimating accuracy
Developing a Project Schedule
- Critical project scheduling parameters
- Scheduling Do's and Don'ts
- Scheduling tools & techniques
- Finding the critical path activities
- Determining if the schedule can be compressed
- Calculating the probability of meeting project deadlines
Project Tracking & Control
- Basic steps in project tracking & control
- Establishing an adaptive control model
- How to track "real" project progress
- Project control metrics
- Closing out the project
- Conducting a project post mortem
Project Management Essentials
- Managing customer expectations
- Risk-based management
- Negotiating estimates & schedules
- Gaining customer credibility
- When & how to revise estimates & schedules
- Management tasks throughout the project life cycle
Seminar Length: 3 Days
