Strategic Project Management: Achieving Organizational Goals

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? Through an intensive four-day project simulation, you experience real-world situations in which your decisions impact the outcome of your project. You learn how to determine business benefits and project feasibility, align your projects with organizational strategy and evaluate project progress using Earned Value Management (EVM). You also take away productivity tools and templates for use back at work. How is this course structured? This course is structured around a dynamic style of learning created by Learning Tree called RealityPlusTM - an immersive experience that engages you in authentic tasks within a simulated real-world context. Through media-rich case studies, role playing, and video/computer-based activities, you are immersed throughout the course in an evolving scenario where the decisions you make affect the outcome of the simulation. The RealityPlus learning method is presented in a safe environment where you gain new skills and practice the most effective techniques to bring back to your job. At the end of your course, you are prepared to immediately and successfully apply these new skills within your organization! How will this course help my projects be more successful? In today's constantly changing business world, project managers are faced with managing larger, more strategically focused projects with limited budgets and scarce resources. To avoid rework, delay and disruption, project managers need advanced tools and techniques to manage this rapidly changing environment. In this course, you apply best practice project management to initiate, plan, control and close projects. You learn to strategically manage projects to meet your business objectives. Who will benefit from this course? This course is designed for project managers who want to learn advanced tools and techniques to enhance their ability to successfully manage projects. Course participants include project managers with experience who must justify the benefits of a project to the organization, project managers who desire to accelerate their careers by improving the "project fit" to the business and the organization, and highly experienced project leaders of large projects who aspire to become project managers. What background do I need? You must have a solid background in project management. If you have no experience managing projects, we recommend that you take either Course 296, Project Management: Skills for Success or Course 340, Project Management for Software Development. If you are not a practicing project manager, you may be overwhelmed by this advanced course. Do I need to be an expert in math? No. Basic math skills at a business level are essential. However, this course does not require any in-depth knowledge of mathematics or mathematical theory. The math used in the course is for financial analysis only. Will senior managers benefit from this course? Absolutely! Senior project managers gain a valuable understanding of the tools and techniques at the disposal of the project manager and the roles that senior managers and their organizational counterparts must play in order for projects to deliver success. Does this course cover program management? Not explicitly. However, the tools and techniques gained in this course are equally applicable to program management as well as project management. How does this course differ from Course 296? Course 287 deals with dynamic, strategic projects from a business perspective. Course 296 deals with relatively static and tightly bound projects with less emphasis on the business issues. Course 296 is a solid foundation for Course 287. Does this course cover Microsoft Project? The course uses Microsoft Project to a limited degree; there is no hands-on work with Microsoft Project. For detailed coverage of Microsoft Project, you may consider Course 299, Microsoft® Project: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, which provides experience using Project Professional to plan project tasks, activities and make use of resources. Is this course specifically designed for IT staff? No. The methods and techniques in the course are applicable to project management in all industries and technologies. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours The art and science of project management 3.0 Assessing project viability 2.5 Navigating organization structures 2.5 Planning and managing effective project communication 2.0 Developing a project process 2.5 Managing strategic risks 2.5 Procuring products and services 2.5 Reporting for project health 2.5 Controlling project change 2.0 Reviewing project outcomes 2.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What kinds of activities are covered in the workshops? Through a case-study based simulation, you gain experience managing a complex project. Experiential activities include: Analyzing a complex project Analyzing project feasibility Identifying and managing stakeholders Preparing a communication plan Identifying and analyzing strategic risk Evaluating proposals Evaluating project progress using EVM Responding to project change Measuring and presenting results Creating lessons learned for organizational improvement Is this course applicable toward a Project Management Professional (PMI) certification? Yes. Though the course is not designed as preparation for the exam, this course is beneficial to anyone working toward PMI's PMP certification. For those who are currently certified, completion of this course counts as 23 professional development units (60 units must be completed every three years to maintain certification). For more details, please see the Learning Tree PMI Registered Education Provider Q&A. If you are an experienced project manager intending to take the PMP exam, you should take Course 276, Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam. In this course you learn essential PMBOK® Guide terminology, tools and techniques. You gain practical test-taking experience through PMI-style practice exams and create your own personal study plan for continued use after the course. If you are interested in taking the PMI Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification exam, you should take Course 920, Preparing for the Program Management Professional (PgMP®) Exam. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? In addition to the aforementioned prerequisites, the following project management and leadership skills courses may also be of interest: 286, Project Risk Management provides the skills to manage risk effectively and develop strategies to analyze the risks in project development and implementation 248, Project Scheduling and Budgeting provides you with the skills to build schedules and budgets that transform project constraints into project success 349, Project Quality Management offers the knowledge to ensure project quality to achieve customer satisfaction Other courses that may be of interest include: 346, Project Leadership: Building High-Performance Teams  315, Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success  294, Influence Skills: Getting Results Without Direct Authority

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