Project Management Training A Skills Based Approach

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Project Management TrainingA Skills Based
Approach

• Presented to
• PMIOVOC
• March 31, 2004

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Speaker

• John Rakos, MSc., PMP
• Professor, University of Ottawa
• Teaching Project Management
• MBA, MHA, Undergraduate
• Engineering
• EMP
• ITPM
• Professional Training Services

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Speaker

• President, John J. Rakos Assoc. Consultants
  Ltd.
• Provide project management training in many
  Government departments and private organizations
• Consulting
• Planning
• Risk management
• Microsoft Project Plans, roll-up
• Email rakos_at_management.uottawa.ca
• Or john_at_rakos.com
• www.rakos.com

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Project Management Training a Skills Based
ApproachQuestions

• How do you get people interested in PM training?
• How do make PM training interesting?
• How do you make the training relevant?

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How do you get people interested in PM training?

• Background
• Industry
• Do you feel that your organization provides
  enough PM training?
• How did you get into project management?
• University of Ottawa
• Prior to 2000, Project Management courses were
  available at both the undergraduate and MBA level
• Courses were not very popular
• Reputation of the course was bad

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How do you get people interested in PM training?

• Project Management Reputed to be a dry topic

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How do you get people interested in PM training?

• Project management is interesting
• Job/promotion opportunities, skills are in demand
  
• Well managed projects are 45 lower time/cost
  (even when 15 overhead is taken into account)
• Get support from above
• Can not be adequately learned on the job
• University word of mouth
• Usefulness, Difficulty
• Professor, especially his generosity in marking
  

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How to make PM training interesting?

• The students are divided into groups. All work is
  done in these groups.
• Interesting group assignments, based on projects
  that the students choose
• Undergraduate most organize a rock concert MBA
  most start a business Newfoundland Moose
  hunting
• 1 or 2 groups make a presentation on their
  assignment each week

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How to make PM training interesting?
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How to make PM training interesting?

• Peppering the talk with examples of real life
  projects
• Must be humorous, always personal
• The students contribution is encouraged
• Whenever possible they use Microsoft Project
  software, thereby learning it as well
• Emphasis on possibility of getting a
  job/promotion

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How do you make the Training Relevant?

• In addition to project management theory
• In addition to obvious skills such as planning,
  scheduling, estimating, budgeting, controlling,
  PM software
• students should have strong communication
  skills, be able to work in teams, learn using
  real-world projectsin a (simulated) business
  environment
• -Scott Ambler, Computing Canada, Oct 17, 2003
• Student should be productive immediately
• Communication skills (writing, presentation),
  Leadership as well as Team work, Hard work,
  Motivation, Delegation

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How do you make the Training Relevant?

• Lectures follow the chronological order of
  project activities
• The course is divided evenly into Planning and
  Control processes, then into the PMBOK knowledge
  areas
• Planning Lectures
• scope, time, cost, risk, quality, integration
  planning
• Control Lectures
• scope/time/cost control, procurement,
  communication, human resources, integration
  control

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How do you make the Training Relevant?

• Assignments are the production of the actual
  project deliverables
• All assignments are documents
• If you were a consultant, what would you submit
  to the client?
• In the first lecture, they form teams of 4-5, and
  choose a project
• First lecture is on Project Initiation
  assignment is a Project Concept or Proposal
  document
• The class as a whole approves or disapproves the
  project based on this

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First half Project Planning

• Lectures on Scope, Cost, Time, Risk
• Assignments Using Microsoft Project
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Schedule
• Cost plan
• Scope/time/cost control
• Progress reporting
• As Documents proper format, Introduction,
  Conclusion
• Risk Plan
• This is emphasized and enjoyed the other groups
  usually suggest additional risks

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Project Planning

• Assignments (continued) 
• Quality plan
• The mid term assignment is a total Project Plan
  that combines all of the above
• Several of the assignments are presented by the
  group at each class
• Others critique (teaches Communications, Quality
  management, negotiation, ego control).

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Second half Project Control

• Lectures and Assignments include
• Scope/time/cost control
• Project Communications
• Risk control
• Scope Change control
• Human resources management (role play)
• Post Project Review (final assignment).  

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Student Comments

• Interesting to take a single project and manage
  all aspects of it from start to finish.
• Like the real life aspects
• Like the group work
• Like the software (Microsoft Project)

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Outcomes

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Outcomes

• Part time students can use the knowledge
  immediately in their daytime jobs.
• Several students in the undergraduate classes
  have expressed interest in Project Management as
  a career
• Enrollment in PM courses has increased 100
• The course was evaluated as one of the most
  interesting in the program.
• A book entitled Project Management
  Documentation, based on these assignments,
  authored by J. Rakos and five MBA students, will
  be published soon by John Wiley Sons.

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Conclusion

• Project Management is not just a job skill, it
  is a life skill (a professional attitude)