Project Management Fundamentals Course

Lesson 1 • Project Management Frameworks and Standards

Surveys major PM frameworks and their appropriate contexts. Prepares students to select the right approach for different project environments.

Lesson 2 • Defining Projects and Project Management

Clarifies the distinction between projects and ongoing operations. Establishes vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • The PM's Role in Organizational Strategy

Connects individual projects to broader organizational goals. Shows how PM creates measurable business value.

Lesson 4 • Key Roles and Stakeholders

Identifies the people involved in a project and their responsibilities. Grounds students in accountability structures before deeper planning topics.

Lesson 1 • Identifying the Business Need

Teaches how to trace a project back to a validated organizational problem or opportunity. Ensures every project starts with a justified purpose.

Lesson 2 • Stakeholder Identification and Analysis

Covers techniques for finding all relevant stakeholders and assessing their influence and interest. Feeds directly into communication and engagement planning.

Lesson 3 • Project Selection and Prioritization

Explains how organizations choose which projects to fund. Equips students to justify project selection using financial and strategic criteria.

Lesson 4 • Defining Project Objectives and Success Criteria

Introduces SMART objectives and measurable success criteria. Provides the baseline against which project outcomes are later evaluated.

Lesson 1 • Collecting and Documenting Requirements

Covers elicitation techniques for gathering stakeholder needs. Produces a requirements document that drives scope definition.

Lesson 2 • Writing the Project Scope Statement

Teaches how to translate requirements into a formal scope statement. Establishes the boundary between in-scope and out-of-scope work.

Lesson 3 • Creating the Work Breakdown Structure

Introduces WBS as the hierarchical decomposition of all project work. Provides the foundation for scheduling, costing, and assigning work.

Lesson 4 • Validating and Controlling Scope

Distinguishes scope validation from quality control. Ensures deliverables are formally accepted and scope remains on track.

Lesson 1 • Estimating Activity Durations

Presents multiple estimation techniques and their appropriate use cases. Produces reliable duration estimates that underpin the schedule.

Lesson 2 • Building and Optimizing the Schedule

Converts the network diagram into a time-scaled schedule and applies optimization techniques. Produces a realistic, approved schedule baseline.

Lesson 3 • Monitoring and Controlling the Schedule

Introduces schedule performance metrics and corrective actions. Keeps the project on track throughout execution.

Lesson 4 • Defining and Sequencing Activities

Breaks WBS work packages into schedulable activities and establishes their logical order. Feeds directly into network diagram construction.

Lesson 1 • EVM Forecasting and Indices

Extends EVM to predict final project cost and schedule outcomes. Provides early warning signals for corrective action.

Lesson 2 • Earned Value Management Fundamentals

Introduces EVM as an integrated cost-schedule performance system. Enables objective measurement of project health at any point.

Lesson 3 • Cost Estimation Techniques

Covers the full range of cost estimation methods from rough order of magnitude to definitive estimates. Matches technique to project phase and data availability.

Lesson 4 • Developing the Project Budget

Aggregates activity cost estimates into a time-phased budget. Produces the cost baseline used to measure financial performance.

Lesson 1 • Quantitative Risk Analysis

Applies numerical techniques to model the combined effect of risks on project objectives. Produces probability distributions for cost and schedule outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Qualitative Risk Analysis

Prioritizes risks using probability-impact assessment without requiring numerical data. Focuses team attention on the most critical risks.

Lesson 3 • Risk Identification Techniques

Presents structured methods for surfacing threats and opportunities. Populates the risk register with a comprehensive initial list.

Lesson 4 • Risk Response Planning and Monitoring

Develops specific actions to address each prioritized risk. Establishes ongoing monitoring to detect new risks and track response effectiveness.

Lesson 1 • Conflict Resolution and Negotiation

Identifies sources of project conflict and applies resolution techniques. Maintains productive working relationships during execution.

Lesson 2 • Stakeholder Engagement During Execution

Manages stakeholder expectations and involvement throughout project work. Prevents disengagement and resistance that derail execution.

Lesson 3 • Building and Developing the Project Team

Applies team development models to move groups toward high performance. Directly impacts execution quality and morale.

Lesson 4 • Directing and Managing Project Work

Covers the day-to-day activities of executing the project plan. Connects execution outputs to monitoring and control processes.

Lesson 1 • Integrated Change Control

Manages all change requests through a single integrated process. Prevents unauthorized changes from destabilizing the project baseline.

Lesson 2 • Issue Management and Corrective Action

Distinguishes risks from issues and applies a structured resolution process. Keeps the project moving when problems arise.

Lesson 3 • Project Closure Processes

Covers the formal steps to close a project or phase. Ensures all obligations are met and the project is officially completed.

Lesson 4 • Lessons Learned and Knowledge Transfer

Captures project knowledge to improve future performance. Embeds continuous improvement into the organization's PM practice.