Managing Projects Course

Lesson 1 • Key Roles and Responsibilities

Maps the project manager, sponsor, team, and stakeholder roles. Clarifies accountability structures used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Organizational Context and Governance

Explains how organizational structure and governance influence project authority. Prepares students to navigate real-world constraints from day one.

Lesson 3 • Project Lifecycle Models

Compares predictive, iterative, and hybrid lifecycle models. Enables informed selection of the right model before planning begins.

Lesson 4 • Project Management Knowledge Areas

Introduces the ten standard knowledge domains and their interdependencies. Provides the conceptual map students navigate in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • Establishing the Project Team

Covers initial team formation, roles assignment, and team charter creation. Sets behavioral norms that sustain performance through execution.

Lesson 2 • Developing the Project Charter

Covers purpose, content, and approval of the project charter. This document is the legal and managerial foundation for all planning work.

Lesson 3 • Feasibility and Business Case Review

Evaluates project viability using financial and strategic criteria. Ensures only worthwhile projects proceed to full planning.

Lesson 4 • Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders

Techniques for discovering all parties affected by or influencing the project. Feeds directly into communication and engagement planning.

Lesson 1 • Controlling Scope and Managing Changes

Implements integrated change control to evaluate and approve scope modifications. Prevents scope creep while maintaining stakeholder satisfaction.

Lesson 2 • Validating Scope with Stakeholders

Formalizes stakeholder inspection and acceptance of deliverables. Reduces disputes at project close by building agreement incrementally.

Lesson 3 • Building the Work Breakdown Structure

Decomposes scope into manageable work packages using WBS best practices. The WBS becomes the foundation for schedule and cost planning.

Lesson 4 • Defining Project and Product Scope

Distinguishes project scope from product scope and writes formal scope statements. Establishes the baseline against which changes are measured.

Lesson 1 • Estimating Activity Durations

Applies analogous, parametric, and three-point estimating to produce reliable durations. Accurate estimates reduce schedule risk in later phases.

Lesson 2 • Developing the Project Schedule

Uses critical path method and resource leveling to produce a schedule baseline. Integrates resource constraints identified in scope and team planning.

Lesson 3 • Monitoring and Controlling the Schedule

Tracks progress using earned value and schedule variance metrics. Enables data-driven corrective actions to keep projects on time.

Lesson 4 • Defining and Sequencing Activities

Breaks work packages into activities and establishes logical dependencies. Creates the network diagram that underpins all schedule calculations.

Lesson 1 • Forecasting and Performance Indices

Uses CPI and SPI to forecast final project cost and completion date. Enables proactive management before variances become unrecoverable.

Lesson 2 • Cost Estimating Techniques

Covers bottom-up, analogous, and parametric methods for producing cost estimates. Accurate estimates form the foundation of the cost baseline.

Lesson 3 • Earned Value Management Fundamentals

Introduces PV, EV, and AC metrics and their variance calculations. Provides an objective, integrated view of schedule and cost performance.

Lesson 4 • Developing the Cost Baseline

Aggregates work package estimates into a time-phased cost baseline. The baseline is the control reference for all cost performance measurement.

Lesson 1 • Risk Response Planning

Develops specific strategies to avoid, transfer, mitigate, or accept threats and opportunities. Assigns risk owners accountable for executing responses.

Lesson 2 • Risk Identification Techniques

Uses brainstorming, checklists, and assumption analysis to surface project risks. A comprehensive risk register is the primary output of this section.

Lesson 3 • Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Analysis

Prioritizes risks using probability-impact matrices and quantifies top risks numerically. Focuses response planning effort on the highest-priority threats.

Lesson 4 • Quality Planning and Standards

Defines quality metrics, standards, and the quality management plan. Aligns project outputs with stakeholder acceptance criteria established in scope.

Lesson 1 • Managing Conflict and Negotiation

Identifies conflict sources and applies resolution techniques appropriate to each situation. Unresolved conflict is a leading cause of project failure.

Lesson 2 • Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

Executes the communication management plan and adjusts engagement strategies in real time. Effective engagement sustains stakeholder support through execution.

Lesson 3 • Directing and Managing Project Work

Covers work authorization, deliverable production, and issue management during execution. Connects planning outputs to day-to-day team direction.

Lesson 4 • Procurement and Vendor Management

Manages contracts, vendor performance, and procurement administration during execution. Ensures external dependencies do not derail schedule or cost baselines.

Lesson 1 • Administrative and Contract Closure

Closes contracts, releases resources, and archives project records systematically. Ensures legal and financial obligations are fully discharged.

Lesson 2 • Benefits Realization and Handover

Confirms that project outputs are positioned to deliver intended business benefits. Bridges the gap between project closure and operational value.

Lesson 3 • Project Manager Performance Review

Evaluates the project manager's own performance against objectives and competencies. Drives continuous professional development and career growth.

Lesson 4 • Lessons Learned and Knowledge Transfer

Facilitates structured retrospectives to capture successes, failures, and recommendations. Lessons feed the organizational process asset library for future projects.