Project Management Practicum

Course Overview

PM Practicum is the capstone course for completion of the Master's Certificate in Project Management from PM College. This four-day course takes participants on a journey through the entire life cycle of a project using the initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing processes of project management. Participants are given a sophisticated case study that requires them to employ the knowledge gained from the previous courses within the certificate program. The case will take students through the team-building process, analysis and development of project tools and documents, implementation of their plans, and closeout of the project.

Participants will experience the thrill and frustration of meeting deliverables with tight timelines, dealing with group development issues, managing conflict, and meeting customer expectations. Participants are strongly encouraged to complete all of the other required Master's certificate courses prior to enrolling in this course.

Key Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Prepare an in-depth analysis of a project’s scope
• Develop and implement an approach to build and maintain a high-performing project team
• Develop a solid project plan to deal with all aspects of a project
• Identify and implement strategies for managing conflict
• Identify and implement effective negotiation strategies
• Implement an effective customer management approach

Course Outline

Building the Project Team

• Identify characteristics of high-performing teams
• Define team behaviors
• Identify components of a team charter
• Explain the purpose of a project workbook

Initiating the Project

• Identify the purpose and components of a scope statement
• Identify three basic categories of stakeholders
• Identify components of a briefing package

Requirements Validation

• Define project scope
• Explain the decomposition process for a work breakdown structure
• Define a work package
• Explain best practices for WBS creation

Developing a Project Estimate

• Determine best practices for the development of quality estimates
• Identify components of a good estimate
• Explain various estimating methods
• Describe the project manager’s role in validating the estimates            

Developing a Project Schedule

• Define schedule terminology
• Explain schedule views and their uses
• Explain network construction and calculations
• Identify network issues

Developing the Risk Management Plan

• Identify and explain the risk management process
• Explain methods to identify and evaluate risks
• Explain how to prioritize risks
• Identify methods for responding to risks

Project Implementation

• Explain the importance of establishing the project baseline
• Identify and explain project tracking methods
• Explain the components of schedule management
• Explain the components and importance of a change control process
• Identify techniques for negotiation

Project Closeout

• Identify project closeout activities
• Describe customer and organizational close out activities
• Explain the importance and the role of lessons learned to project closeout