Project Management Fundamentals

About this course

As change in the market is inevitable and rapid, it’s important for business to maintain a balance between conducting ‘business as usual’ and embracing change. It is through this lens that we recommend developing an understanding of the principles of Project Management even if you are not pursuing it as a specialised profession.

Projects are everywhere, they arise in order to meet a human need, therefore, one could say that needs are the fundamental driving force behind projects. However, for a project to exist, it must serve the purpose of delivering benefits. These benefits are normally quantified in a Business Case which you will cover in module 1. You will also become familiar with some key characteristics and features of projects and will explore the role of the project manager – one that is crucial to the success of any project. There are elements to project management that are fundamental to its success. One of these is the ‘Project Management Body of Knowledge’ also referred to as PMBoK. As part of this course, we introduce you to the ten general areas of knowledge within this framework.

For a project to be deemed successful, it is important to understand the criteria that projects will be measured against. In this course, we will also explore various project types and the classification of various stakeholders and role players. Key points will be provided to give you a guideline of what a successful project should contain. You will also learn about the phases a project goes through, the product lifecycle and organisational structure which will affect decision making, conflict resolution, quality assurance and operational roll-out, while reviewing the benefits of each.
In module 2 the phases of a corporate strategy will be covered.

These represent the purpose and aims of the company as outlined by the company executives. We also examine various project management methodologies and look at what the considerations are for scoping a project and determining the project success criteria. Thereafter, we move to the feasibility study which is the initial design stage of any project. It brings together the elements of knowledge that indicate if a project is possible or not. The importance of a feasibility study is based on the desire to “get it right” before committing resources, time, or budget to a project. Once the project’s deliverables have been commissioned, approved, and accepted, the project can be handed over to the client.

Module 3 of this course is all about the project planning process. Project planning lays out the roadmap showing how the scope will be achieved within a specified budget and on schedule. When planning a project, the project manager must determine what needs to be done, how it will get done, who will do it, how long it will take and how much it will cost while also considering the potential risks. You will also learn about monitoring and controlling a project which involves tracking the actual project performance against the project plan. We review these management processes in detail including methods that can be used to track progress and evaluate the quality of a project. One example of these methods is calculating Earned Value by integrating time, or man-hours, and cost to give a true indication of project progress.

An effective project is one that balances Time, Cost, and Scope. Any changes in any one of the three elements will adversely affect the other two elements. This is known as the project triangle or triple constraint. A project manager needs to manage all three and this course will provide some insight into how to do that.

Further topics discussed in module 4 include planning the time intervals for when monitoring and evaluation will happen, monitoring of team performance, monitoring the project budget and other important activities such as reporting on any problems encountered and providing a description of the corrective action
taken followed by teaching you the correct procedure to close the project.

Upskill yourself with this course on Project Management Fundamentals and become a driving force in any project or business.