Foundations, Initiation, Planning, Execution & Control

Projects and routine work · constraints and trade-offs · uncertainty and feedback · the 12 principles · why projects fail

1. Projects, constraints and trade-offs
2. Uncertainty, feedback and the plan-and-review cycle
3. Worked example: a small office move seen through four constraints
4. What project management is and what it gives an organization
5. The 12 principles and a one-page principles checklist
6. Each principle shown in a practical project example
7. Why projects fail — the common root causes
8. An early-warning checklist for failing projects
9. Case: a project that drifted — causes and fixes

Predictive lifecycle · Agile, Scrum and Kanban · five process groups · project, program and portfolio · tailoring

1. The predictive (waterfall) lifecycle and the five process groups
2. Adaptive lifecycles — Agile, Scrum and Kanban in brief
3. Choosing a lifecycle — three projects compared
4. Project, program and portfolio — the three levels
5. Methodologies side by side — PMI standards and MSP
6. Example: one business benefit delivered by three linked projects
7. Why one method does not fit every project
8. The tailoring note — a one-page template
9. Example: tailoring a hybrid approach for a product launch

The Project Manager role · sponsor and functional manager · organization types · authority · professional ethics

1. The Project Manager role, duties and essential skills
2. Sponsor, team member, functional manager — who does what
3. Project manager careers across industries — three examples
4. Functional, matrix and projectized organizations
5. Authority, resourcing and governance under each structure
6. Example: the same project run in a matrix and in a projectized company
7. Professional ethics — honesty, fairness and conflicts of interest
8. A code-of-conduct checklist for reports and supplier dealings
9. Case: a status report that hides bad news

SMART objectives · success criteria · stakeholder grid and register · RACI · Business Case, Charter and Brief

1. SMART objectives and measurable success criteria
2. Agreeing deliverables, assumptions and constraints with the sponsor
3. Example: turning “a better website” into SMART objectives
4. Stakeholders and the power/interest grid
5. Stakeholder register, engagement plan and RACI chart
6. Worked example: stakeholders and RACI for a system roll-out
7. The Business Case — why the project should exist
8. Project Charter and Project Brief — templates step by step
9. Example: a charter that earns the sponsor's authorization to proceed

Team charter · kickoff session · Tuckman's stages · Five Dysfunctions · effective meetings · motivation and conflict

1. Why teams need agreements — roles, norms and commitment
2. Writing a team charter — a template walk-through
3. Example: a kickoff session from blank charter to team commitment
4. Tuckman's stages and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team
5. Agenda, decisions and action items — a meeting template
6. Example: turning a rambling meeting into a decision meeting
7. What makes a team healthy — empowerment and motivation
8. Conflict resolution, check-ins and feedback routines
9. Example: spotting and fixing a team problem early

Scope statement · Work Breakdown Structure · baselines · scope creep · analogous, parametric and PERT estimates

1. The planning documents and how they fit together
2. Scope Statement and Work Breakdown Structure — step by step
3. Example: baselining the plan of a small project
4. Scope baseline and scope creep — how projects drift
5. The exclusions list and a simple scope-control process
6. Example: stopping a “small extra” request before it grows
7. Analogous, parametric and three-point (PERT) estimating
8. Estimating durations and costs with a confidence range
9. Worked example: a PERT estimate for a three-task job

Network diagram · critical path and float · resource leveling and smoothing · resource calendar · choosing a tool

1. Network diagrams and the Critical Path Method
2. Float and shortening a schedule
3. Worked example: the critical path of a ten-activity project
4. Resource over-allocation — leveling versus smoothing
5. Building a resource calendar from real availability
6. Example: fixing an overloaded team in a schedule
7. What a project-management tool should do for you
8. Comparing MS Project, Jira and Asana against your needs
9. Example: choosing a tool for a ten-person mixed-method team

Plan structure in a tool · saved baseline · planned and earned value · CPI and SPI · Quality Plan · root-cause tools

1. From WBS to dependencies — how a plan is structured in a tool
2. Assigning resources and saving the baseline — step by step
3. Example: a complete small plan built and baselined
4. Earned Value — planned value, earned value, CPI and SPI
5. Quality and Communications Plans — templates and standards
6. Worked example: reading earned value at month three of a project
7. Quality tools — checklists, cause-and-effect and Pareto charts
8. Finding a root cause step by step
9. Example: a recurring defect traced to its root cause

SWOT and risk register · risk responses · assumption, issue and decision logs · escalation · make-or-buy and contracts

1. Risk basics — SWOT, the risk register and the risk matrix
2. Risk responses, owners, triggers and periodic reassessment
3. Worked example: a risk register for a small project
4. Assumption, issue and decision logs — purpose and difference
5. Escalation thresholds and named owners — a simple routine
6. Example: an issue log that triggers an escalation
7. Make-or-buy and vendor selection criteria
8. Fixed-price versus time-and-materials contracts
9. Example: choosing a vendor with a weighted scorecard

Communication Plan and public relations · change requests · kickoff meeting · red-amber-green status · handover and support plans

1. The Communication Plan and public-relations essentials
2. The change-request workflow: log, assess, approve, communicate
3. Example: one change request from log to announcement
4. Red-amber-green indicators — turning evidence into a rating
5. Running a kickoff meeting — agenda and run-sheet
6. Example: a weekly status report with evidence behind each colour
7. Handover criteria and responsibilities after delivery
8. Support plans, NDAs and RFPs — templates
9. Example: a handover checklist for a delivered system

Sprint planning and stand-up · burndown and retrospective · dashboards · storytelling · failed-project analysis

1. Scrum events from a Project Manager's point of view
2. Running a sprint — goals, impediments and burndown in practice
3. Example: one two-week sprint from goal to retrospective
4. Choosing the few measures that show if a project is on track
5. Building a dashboard — prioritization and storytelling
6. Example: a one-page dashboard a sponsor can read in a minute
7. How to analyse a failed project — a method
8. Spotting early warning signs in plans and reports
9. Case study: a failed project, the missed signs and prevention

Case selection · charter to risk register · communication plan · mock sponsor review · link to monitoring, closing and governance

1. Choosing the case and mapping the documents
2. Assembling the plan — charter, schedule, budget, risks, communications
3. Defending the plan in a mock sponsor review
4. How baselines, logs and reports feed monitoring and closing
5. Governance — the decisions the plan sets up
6. Preview: from this plan to Advanced Project Management