PDQ Project Planning
If You Can’t Describe the Steps That Need to be Done, You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
Benefits
It takes time and money to manage a project—planning makes sure these are well spent. It takes monitoring and responsiveness to manage a project—planning makes sure mid-course corrections can be made quickly. It takes teamwork to manage a project—planning makes sure the right team is in place and pulling together. It takes leadership to manage a project, make sure you are recognized as the person who can bring projects in on time, on budget, and on target and, in so doing, build your reputation.
What This Workshop is About
Project planning is the engine that moves any good idea forward. Winston Churchill once said, “Those who plan do better than those who do not plan, even though they rarely stick to their plan.” So, project planning is also the way to manage the unexpected events that always crop up in a project.
Project management is not rocket science, yet it often gets dressed up that way. At its foundation, it is basic organizational skills which, come to think of it, are often absent. Project planning is just a set of tools – a roadmap that enables managers to guide a project from Point A to Point B and do so effectively (by doing the right things) and efficiently (by doing things right).
In this course, we cover the seven basic project management tasks,
Defining project objectives and scope clearly.
Engaging users, stakeholders, and importantly, team members.
Defining clear roles and responsibilities.
Planning the right work tasks and deadlines.
Tracking progress and deliverables.
Actively managing risks and unexpected events.
Communicating openly and effectively.
Who This Course is For
Team leaders, program managers, and executives – anyone who supervises or is accountable for bringing together a project and then making sure it produces a result. If you do the ‘hands-on’ project management or if you supervise others who do this work, this course will help.
What is unique in this course?
This hands-on workshop teaches immediately applicable tools, templates, and proven practices to plan real-world projects. We consider how successful project management combines tools that support decision making with a set of ‘soft skills’ that are about how to get people to effectively work together.
What You Can Expect in All Our Workshops
Teaching Model
We use a Tell → Show → Do → Teach-Back Model
Tell: We present what we know about the skills being taught.
Show: We demonstrate how the skills are applied through lecture, exercises, facilitated discussion, etc.
Do: We have participants practice the skills using team assignments, role plays, mock activities, etc.
Teach-Back: We wrap up topics with peer-to-peer and instructor advice on how to apply the new skills in the real-world.
How We Present This Material
We come to you and present at your work site or offer remote teaching using Internet sharing tools when appropriate. We use discussion, exercises, lecture, and mock exercises to combine our experience with your staff’s experience and create a dynamic, fun, and highly interactive training.
Transform Your Staff
Learning is not complete until there is application. We ask participants to discuss how they can maintain the momentum in their organization after we, as trainers, leave. We also share our ideas on how to form ‘Master Mind’ groups and other supports so participants have a community of knowledgeable peers who can help one another successfully apply the skills after the course. We also make ourselves available after the event for short consultations for brainstorming solutions, problem solving, etc. for free.
Customization
Depending on the audience and your specific goals for the event, we will tailor the program to increase its relevance and value. While each of our programs is designed as a specific, interactive training session, we can provide anything from a one-hour keynote presentation to the full event and we can provide greater emphasis on the topics that you think are most valuable.