Project Planning Course for Beginners

Lesson 1 • Key Roles in Project Planning

Identifies who participates in planning and what each role contributes. Prepares learners to assign responsibilities accurately in later exercises.

Lesson 2 • Defining Projects and Their Characteristics

Clarifies what makes an endeavour a project versus routine work. Anchors all subsequent planning concepts in a shared, precise vocabulary.

Lesson 3 • The Triple Constraint Model

Explains the interdependence of scope, time, and cost as the core planning trade-off. Learners use this model to evaluate planning decisions throughout the course.

Lesson 4 • The Project Life Cycle Overview

Introduces the standard phases a project moves through from start to close. Provides the structural framework learners will populate with planning tools throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Analysing Stakeholder Influence and Interest

Teaches power-interest grid analysis to categorise stakeholders by their impact on the project. Prioritisation guides how much planning attention each group receives.

Lesson 2 • Planning Stakeholder Engagement

Guides learners in designing an engagement approach matched to each stakeholder group. A documented engagement plan ensures consistent, purposeful communication throughout the project.

Lesson 3 • Understanding Stakeholder Needs and Expectations

Explores techniques for uncovering what stakeholders truly need versus what they state. Aligning plans to real needs reduces conflict and rework during execution.

Lesson 1 • Creating the Work Breakdown Structure

Introduces the WBS as the tool that decomposes scope into manageable work packages. A completed WBS feeds directly into schedule and cost planning in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Developing the Project Scope Statement

Guides learners through documenting deliverables, boundaries, and exclusions in a formal scope statement. This document becomes the baseline against which changes are measured.

Lesson 3 • Scope Creep and How to Prevent It

Defines scope creep and identifies the conditions that allow it to occur. Learners apply prevention strategies that protect the approved scope baseline.

Lesson 4 • Writing Effective Project Objectives

Teaches the SMART criteria for crafting objectives that guide all planning decisions. Connects precise objectives to accurate scope, schedule, and budget development.

Lesson 1 • Estimating Activity Durations

Presents multiple estimation techniques and their appropriate contexts. Reliable duration estimates are the foundation of a credible, achievable schedule.

Lesson 2 • Developing the Network Diagram

Teaches learners to construct a precedence diagram showing all activity relationships. The network diagram is the visual basis for critical path calculation.

Lesson 3 • Defining and Sequencing Activities

Breaks WBS work packages into discrete activities and establishes their logical order. Correct sequencing is the prerequisite for accurate duration and critical path analysis.

Lesson 4 • Critical Path Method

Explains forward and backward pass calculations to find the critical path and float. Learners use CPM to identify which activities cannot slip without delaying the project.

Lesson 5 • Schedule Compression Techniques

Introduces crashing and fast-tracking as methods to shorten the schedule when needed. Learners evaluate cost and risk trade-offs before applying compression to the critical path.

Lesson 1 • Assigning Resources to Activities

Teaches how to match available resources to scheduled activities using a responsibility matrix. Proper assignment clarifies accountability and prevents duplication of effort.

Lesson 2 • Identifying Resource Requirements

Covers how to determine what types and quantities of resources each activity needs. Accurate identification prevents shortfalls that stall execution.

Lesson 3 • Developing the Resource Management Plan

Guides learners in documenting how resources will be acquired, managed, and released. The plan ensures consistent resource governance throughout the project life cycle.

Lesson 4 • Estimating Resource Quantities

Applies estimation techniques to quantify resource needs across the project timeline. Quantity estimates feed directly into cost planning and procurement decisions.

Lesson 1 • Types of Project Costs

Distinguishes direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs relevant to project planning. Understanding cost types ensures nothing is omitted from the budget.

Lesson 2 • Presenting and Gaining Budget Approval

Covers how to structure and communicate a budget request to sponsors and decision-makers. Learners practice framing cost data to build confidence and secure approval.

Lesson 3 • Developing the Cost Baseline

Aggregates activity-level estimates into a time-phased cost baseline. The baseline is the approved spending plan against which actual costs are measured.

Lesson 4 • Contingency and Management Reserves

Explains the difference between contingency reserves for known risks and management reserves for unknowns. Proper reserve planning protects the budget without inflating estimates.

Lesson 1 • Integrating Risk into the Project Plan

Shows how risk responses translate into schedule activities, cost reserves, and resource adjustments. Integration ensures the plan reflects realistic risk-adjusted expectations.

Lesson 2 • Fundamentals of Project Risk

Defines risk, uncertainty, and opportunity in the project context. Establishes the mindset that risk management is proactive, not reactive.

Lesson 3 • Risk Identification Techniques

Presents structured methods for surfacing risks across all project areas. Comprehensive identification is the prerequisite for effective analysis and response planning.

Lesson 4 • Quantitative Risk Analysis Basics

Introduces numerical techniques for assessing the combined effect of risks on project outcomes. Learners interpret results to inform contingency reserve and schedule buffer decisions.

Lesson 5 • Qualitative Risk Analysis

Teaches probability-impact assessment to prioritise risks without requiring detailed data. Prioritisation focuses planning effort on the risks that matter most.

Lesson 1 • Planning the Project Kickoff

Prepares learners to design and facilitate an effective kickoff meeting that launches execution. A well-run kickoff aligns the team, clarifies roles, and builds commitment to the plan.

Lesson 2 • Conducting a Plan Review

Guides learners through a structured peer and stakeholder review of the draft plan. Formal review surfaces gaps and builds stakeholder confidence before approval.

Lesson 3 • Components of the Project Management Plan

Identifies all subsidiary plans and baselines that together form the integrated project plan. Understanding the full structure ensures no planning element is overlooked.

Lesson 4 • Ensuring Internal Plan Consistency

Teaches learners to cross-check that scope, schedule, cost, and risk plans are mutually consistent. Inconsistencies caught before approval prevent costly replanning during execution.