As project managers and leads, we all know how difficult it can be to accurately determine the duration of a project, yet that is exactly what is expected of us on a regular basis. This course will not disclose the secret of creating an accurate schedule, because there isn’t one. However, it will provide the factors and fundamental elements that you should consider and address when creating any type of schedule. We strongly recommend that you complete the Intermediate Project Management workshop prior to this course, or have equivalent knowledge.

This course presumes that you:

• Can define projects and project management
• Understand a project’s life cycle
• Are familiar with the basics of project planning and scheduling
• Know how to complete a Statement of Work and/or a project charter

This will help you know how to:

• Define and create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Identify and understand task relationships
• Estimate task durations and determine project duration
• Construct a network diagram
• Calculate the critical path of a project
• Use the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) to create estimates
• Plan for risks
• Create a communication plan
• Effectively allocate project resources
• Update and monitor the project schedule

Course Content

Lessons

Session One: Course Overview

Session Two: Projects and Schedules

Session Three: The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Session Four: Estimating Activity Durations

Session Five: Camping Case Study

Session Six: Identifying Task Dependencies

Session Seven: Aligning Resources with Activities

Session Eight: Project Planning

Session Nine: Scheduling Software

Session Ten: Uncertainty and Risk Management

Session Eleven: Communication Strategies

Session Twelve: Creating a Viable Schedule

Session Thirteen: Updating and Monitoring the Schedule