Introduction to Project Management
Course Starts: March 12, 2012
For further inquires please e-mail mintz@lander.ac.il
Day & Time: Monday 6:00-9:00 PM
The Course will meet once a week for 8 weeks
Length: 34 academic hours
Teacher: Hessel Friedlander
Cost: 2200₪ + 200 ₪ Non refundable Registration Fee.
Payment by Cash, Check or Credit Card. All fees must be paid up to one week before the course starts. If paying by Credit Card, tuition may be paid in installments of no less than 250 ₪ /mo for a maximum of 10 months. If paying by check, checks must be paid in advance and can be post dated until the course completion date. Cash – tuition must be paid in full before the course begins. (For exceptions please call our office)
Overview
There are those people who are born Project Managers.
And there are those people who achieve Project Management.
And then there are those people — a surprisingly large number of people — who have professional project management expectations thrust upon them. It is this third group of noble people who will find a nice, safe home within the Project Management Overview course.
There is no widespread consensus, from within either the scientific or philosophical worlds, as to how this thrusting of project management actually happens. One moment you’re asked to find out what it costs to fly 70 people from the States, and the next moment *BAM* you find yourself leading something that bystanders are referring to as ‘that project’.
And they’re looking to you for direction, advice, input, and feedback which you’re only too happy to provide, except for one important item:
They haven’t actually provided you with the necessary understanding of the concept of project management. This is not a particularly nice thing for “them” to do but what can you do?
Well, here’s what you can do: attend the Project Management Overview course. You will learn about the basics of project management so that you can approach your challenge with the confidence that you are entitled to as a professional.
The goal of this course is to impart an overall understanding of project management by focusing on the basic concepts, definitions, tools, strategies, processes, and phases.
This course embraces students from any professional background, including those that may not work in a project environment but would simply like an introduction to the subject. So, whether you work in human resources, training, cake decorating, youth camps, automobile repair…and so on, you will find the lessons in this course relevant. This is because project management is an approach to achieving a goal. As such, students will be able to adapt the generalized knowledge and principles that this course offers to fit within their unique and specific workplace project needs.
Summary
This course is designed for anyone working in a project team environment, or people who see an increasing management component in their work. It will equip them with general project management skills to help deal with the challenge. It’s applicable to any field of work, especially those with a high technological content. They’ll also gain practical experience of using project management techniques by running a case study – a project of their own. The course topics include project initiation, risk, estimating and contracts, planning, human factors, project execution, and standard methods.
Course content
Every day we hear of a project that has escalated in cost or has been repeatedly delayed. Worse still, and often unreported, many completed projects leave their users dissatisfied. Could we do better? There is no simple answer, but this project management course should enable you to anticipate and cope with some of the problems that you may meet. The course is split into seven course texts, or ‘units’ as follows:
The most important decision in any project is what project to undertake. Project initiation explains the factors that should be considered to give the best chance of a successful outcome. It also discusses the life cycle of typical projects and the need for project management.
Risks, estimates and contracts: Before too much money is committed to a project, estimates are needed to determine how much it will cost, how long it will take and how risky it is. In this unit you will learn about work and product breakdown structures and tendering and contracting processes.
Planning: Planning should be a reiterated process throughout the life of a project. The most intense phase occurs when the project plan is prepared, between the definition of the project and authorization of its execution. You will learn how a formal project plan contains much more than just a schedule of activities.
Building and leading the team: All projects are carried out by people. In this unit we emphasize the importance of teamwork in projects and you will study the vital interpersonal skills required by project managers: leadership; dealing with clients, sponsors and other stakeholders; selecting, building and motivating teams.
Project execution: This double-length section discusses the crucial tasks that a project manager must perform during the execution phase of a project to ensure that quality is maintained, that customers get what they want, and that limits of time and cost are met. You will learn how to use techniques for measuring progress against plan, such as the earned value system, and how configuration management should be applied as a tool to maintain quality.
Standards, methodologies and reflections: Now that you have finished looking at the practices, principles and theories of managing a single project, it is time to take a step back and reflect upon the management of projects. Standards and methodologies are important aspects of project management in the global economy. You will be given an overview of PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge) which is and industry standard.
Entry
Although there are no entry requirements, you should ideally have had some experience of working in a project environment, though not necessarily as a project manager
