OPIM 3801: Principles of Project Management Last Day of Class

Course Charter This course provides an introduction to the concepts necessary for both project managers and project team members to deliver successful projects on time, on budget and in scope. The phases and knowledge areas of project management, as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI), are covered as well as the tools and techniques in each area for successful project management. An introduction to Microsoft Project software will also be covered.

Course Charter ObjectiveDeliverables Convey familiarity with PM institutions, certifications, cultural landscape Lectures, Reading, and Midterms Demonstrate basic proficiency with MS Project software Midterms, Dream Project, Quizzes Demonstrate basic knowledge of PMBOKLectures, Reading, and Midterms Demonstrate creative ability to initiate a project and evaluate projects Dream Project Proposal Experience the use of Project software on a small team project Dream Project Team Work Discuss PM concepts with the instructor and your peers Lectures and Office Hours

Takeaways: Institutions The Project Management Institute (PMI) is out there: – Think about certification: CAPM: buy a study book or two, study, and take it soon PMP: Plan ahead to catalogue PM experience, take the exam after three years of real PM experience – Seek PMI’s free resources to help you if you’re thrown into a PM situation with little structure – Outside U. S. seek APM or IPMA

Takeaways: Software You now have experience with Microsoft Project – Put it on your resume: Experience planning, executing, and monitoring projects using Microsoft Project 2013 – Like most software, experience on one system speeds up the learning rate for the next one. Interviewer: Do you have experience using Primavera? You: No, but I know how the main pieces work from my experience using MS Project and can quickly learn what the similar features are called in Primavera.

Takeaways: The Dream Project Experience makes you learn/remember better – Writing a charter including WBS: everyone can be creative and plan a complete project – Select projects using a multi-criteria scoring method, and portfolio approach – Algorithms for matching to teams are out there – Serving the community feels good! – Having a good plan makes execution run smoothly – Having a good plan and formal objectives avoids conflict – Write down and evaluate risks in advance – Have a realistic budget before asking for money – Plan ahead for objective measures of success – Plan for a formal closing with complete documentation

Takeaways: the PMBOK Projects are all about the tradeoffs between: – Time, Scope, and Cost Use a charter to define objectives and responsibilities formally (avoids conflict later) You’ve learned about Initiation and Project selection You’ve learned about creating a plan and estimating work and costs

Takeaways: the PMBOK (cont.) You’ve learned about the critical path – Critical path must stay on time, or else project is late – Fluctuations on the critical path matter, off the critical path probably don’t matter – Only pay to shorten a critical path – Small non-critical time variances may not matter You’ve learned about PERT and one formal way to handle uncertainty of durations You’ve learned about crashing and one formal way to trade cost for shortening time

Takeaways: the PMBOK (cont.) You’ve learned about resource leveling – may be difficult with a lot of constraints, helping make PM an art form – leveling may be possible within available slack (and this would be great news.) You’ve learned about common organizational structures – Ask about these in your interviews Will I have two bosses? (a matrix structure) Will I have one (new) boss for each project? (project) Will I work in a functional department?

Takeaways: the PMBOK (cont.) You’ve learned about Earned Value Analysis – A language to monitor how your project is doing as it goes, measuring time and cost performance. You’ve learned about the soft side of being a good project manager: – Having credibility – Having empathy – Being a good person (stuff that can’t be taught) Work on your own to read and develop your own attributes as a good citizen.

Takeaways: the PMBOK (cont.) You’ve learned about project closing – Plan to get a formal signoff from the sponsor or client that the project is approved – Plan to keep good records – Plan to help out anyone resurrecting this project, or starting a similar project in the future, so that they don’t have to do it from scratch – Record lessons learned and learn from them

Thank you This is the fifth time I’ve taught this class and there is still room for improvement. Your feedback is especially important in shaping the future of the course – Log on to HuskyCT and fill out student evaluations. – Please take the evaluation process seriously (and be kind!)