Foundations of Project Management
Welcome to Dr Sarah Ridgeway’s Top-Rated Foundations of Project Management. This highly-regarded course is your gateway to mastering essential project management (PM) skills, methodologies, tools, and much more. As the world continues to evolve, project management is becoming an increasingly crucial discipline, shaping industries from tech to healthcare and even extending to social initiatives and environmental conservation.
Now, you might wonder, what does the future hold for project management? According to recent studies, the demand for project managers is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. This trend is driven by the increasing complexity of projects and the need for specialised skills to manage them efficiently.
But what about the pay? Rest assured, project managers are typically well compensated for their skills and expertise, and their remuneration often reflects their responsibility level, with many project managers earning above-average salaries.
In short, whether you’re just starting or looking to level up your skills, this course is an invaluable stepping stone in your project management journey.
Top-Rated Foundations of Project Management Course
Unlock your project management potential with our ‘Top-Rated Foundations of Project Management course led by Dr Sarah Ridgeway. Equip yourself with essential skills, methodologies, and tools to handle projects of any complexity. As industries evolve, PM becomes increasingly pivotal, with rising demand for skilled project managers across sectors. This is your chance to step up to the challenge and boost your career prospects with our comprehensive course.
Some of the Course Topic Highlights
Subcategory
- Leadership And Management
Skills Covered
- Project Management
- Strategic Thinking
- Organisational Culture
- Career Development
- Change Management
Project Management Skills and Learning Objectives
- Uncover Key Project Management Skills and Roles Across Diverse Sectors
- Master the Project Management Cycle: A Comparative Study of Program Management Methodologies
- Impact of Organisational Structure and Culture on Project Management: A Comprehensive Guide
- Clarifying Project Management: Decoding its Definition and Implications
- Traditional vs Agile Project Management: A Detailed Comparison
- Stakeholder Analysis in Project Management: Essential Techniques and Fundamentals
- Determining Project Goals and Objectives: Best Practices for Success
- Effective Strategies for Comprehensive Project Requirement Gathering
- Building a Project Budget: Fundamental Steps and Strategies
- Quality Planning: Proven Methods for Crafting an Effective Plan
- Procuring Resources for Your Project: Essential Steps for Success
- Developing a Reliable Project Schedule: Key Fundamentals for Managers
- Monitoring and Controlling Progress: Effective Approaches for Project Performance Evaluation
Learners
- 27700 people have started this course
Exercise Files
- PDF documents can be found in the Exercise Files download areas
Program Level:
- Basic
Prerequisite Education:
- There are no prerequisites for this course
Advanced Preparation:
- There is no preparation required for this course
How to Deliver Projects Successfully
Explore project management with Dr Sarah Ridgeway from Think Advanced.
This course offers a practical understanding of project initiation, planning, and execution, balanced with resource constraints. Learn from real-life case studies and hands-on exercises to implement effective project delivery. Perfect for aspiring project managers or those seeking to refine their skills.
Practical exercises at the end of each module ensure you can implement what you’ve learned and gain hands-on experience.
What do you Need to Know?
In this course, Dr Ridgeway provides a hands-on introduction to Project Management, making it ideal for both newcomers and experienced project managers. With no specialized software required, participants can grasp the fundamentals of project management using case studies in Word, Excel, and PDF formats.
Delve into an extensive range of topics in this course, including project definition, initiation, planning (Waterfall methodology), performance monitoring, and project closure. Gain practical insights on effective communication, productive meetings, and seamless teamwork, enhancing your overall learning experience.
What Exactly is Project Management?
Project management involves more than just organisational skills and control. It’s about utilising information, skills, tools, and processes to achieve project objectives. Answering key questions is essential: What problem are you solving? How will you resolve it? What’s your plan? How will you know when it’s finished? How well did the project go? By addressing these questions, you can ensure successful project management.
Prerequisites for Becoming a Project Manager
Project managers are often seen as efficient and well-organized, but their role goes beyond that. They require a range of skills and knowledge to successfully complete projects.
First, there are project management-specific technical abilities, such as creating project plans, managing schedules, and monitoring performance.
Business knowledge is also crucial. Understanding your company’s operations and how your project adds value enables you to make informed decisions for success.
Problem-solving is another vital skill as projects rarely go as planned. Overcoming obstacles while meeting objectives, staying on schedule, and within budget is essential.
Interpersonal skills are crucial for managing diverse teams involved in projects. Strong leadership helps motivate, guide, and inspire teams to work together and achieve their best.
If you’re interested in project management, this course will help you develop a plan to enhance your skills and grow in the field.
Project Initiation
Starting a project involves obtaining approval to proceed, typically granted by the customer or sponsor. The first step is often selecting a project manager to lead the project. If the project manager is chosen later, unfinished initiation tasks must be addressed. The focus of initiation is defining the project, including identifying the problem to be solved and gathering information about objectives, requirements, and deliverables. Creating a project charter formalizes the project and outlines the project manager’s authority. This chapter covers key aspects of project definition and the contents of a project charter.
Overview of Project Planning
Project management entails crafting a comprehensive plan, identifying all tasks, breaking them down into smaller, manageable pieces, and determining task allocation, time required, and cost. It uses specific techniques for scheduling, considering task interdependencies, resource requirements and availability. Plans also include project management style, communication methods, and provisions for potential changes, risks and quality standards maintenance. These details are documented as the project’s plan, which guides the project, tracks progress, facilitates changes, and assists stakeholder communication. A crucial component is the project schedule, to be discussed separately.
Running a Project Successfully
With a well-structured plan in place, the next step is to gather your team and resources, delegate roles, and begin your project. This includes a kickoff meeting with project sponsors and customers to clarify goals and processes. A system for managing project information like plans and reports is also established. The project execution phase then starts, wherein tasks from the work breakdown structure are carried out. Monitoring progress, handling issues, and making necessary adjustments are all part of controlling the project. Further details on execution will be discussed in a future chapter.
