Project Management Essentials

Introduction

• » key signs that you’re managing a project
• » project manager is two words

Before you begin the project

• » four things you must know BEFORE you start
• » what do you bring to the project?

What is a project?

• » what are the triple constraints?
• » what’s a deliverable?
• » what approach should you use to manage the project?

Beginning the project

• » defining project boundaries
• » identifying project parameters
• » the importance of business requirements
• » what to capture at the beginning
• » how to capture it and why

Planning the project

• » how to size a project
• » scoping the project
• » the power of the WBS
• » estimating tools and techniques
• » network diagramming
• » estimating project duration
• » determining critical path and project slack
• » project management plan components
• » baselining the project plan

Doing the Project

• » managing the (human) resources effectively
• » monitoring and controlling the project
• » project Risk management
• » correctly evaluating a project’s performance
• » applying corrective action
• » change management

Finishing the project

• » when is “done” actually done?
• » decompressing
• » disbanding the project team
• » learning from what went well and what didn’t
• » gracefully exiting the project