Overview
Course duration: 2 days.
This course will motivate and instil confidence in PAs, administrators and secretaries who are involved in the core skills of project management. The course enables you to practise new skills in a risk-free environment.
We have designed this two-day course to provide office professionals with the essential knowledge to effectively plan, implement and review projects. Through attending this course, delegates will also be able to improve their communication, time management and problem solving skills and apply these to their projects.
Is it right for me?
Suitable for support staff that are new to the management of projects or who have had no formal training and want to have a formal grounding in project management. This course is not suitable for delegates already proficient in the use of standard project planning techniques.
What will I learn?
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Clearly define what constitutes a project.
- Plan, organise and document a project in a logical manner.
- Use appropriate tools and documents in order to plan the project effectively and to minimise risk.
- Demonstrate knowledge of delegation, time management, decision making and communication skills essential to effective project implementation.
- Review and learn from strengths and weaknesses identified on completion of a project.
- Influence people and negotiate solutions to problems which arise during your projects.
Pre-course Activity
Please bring examples of paperwork used in your project processes. This course requires the completion of a pre-course questionnaire in order that we can ensure that the course focuses on your key issues and needs.
What will it cover?
What is a Project?
- Defining what we mean by project management
- Special features of projects
- Understanding why projects fail
The Project Life Cycle
- Identify a four-stage approach to managing projects
- Understand the value of the project life cycle
- Preparing and outlining the project
Defining a Project
- How to clearly define a project
- Setting and agreeing objectives, scope and constraints
- Recognise the need to manage project stakeholders
- Define roles and responsibilities in a project
- Appreciate the importance of team working within the project
Project Planning
- Basic planning tools and techniques
- How to make time and cost estimates more credible and realistic
- Establish a project communication strategy
- Simple risk management tools and techniques available to avoid surprises
- Creation of project documentation and data display methods
Implementing the Project
- Monitoring and controlling activities
- Taking corrective action to keep the project on track
- Dealing with requests for change
- Reporting progress
Closing and Reviewing a Project
- Understand the need for a controlled close to a project
- Measuring what actually happened against the plan
- Learning lessons - both positive and negative
- Closing down and moving on
Practical Exercises
- You will carry out practical exercises during the course to gain useful experience of the project management process and related skills. You will be able to apply these skills in your workplace.
Personal Development
- Formulating an action plan
Further courses to consider
The Essentials of Project Management including Microsoft Project
The APM Introductory Certificate in Project Management
Trainer Profile
Graham Kerr
Most of my delegates run projects and yet have never received any formal training to support them. They mainly have straightforward needs: How do I estimate? What planning should I do? How should I monitor progress?
This course will provide you with the foundation stones so you can manage your projects with confidence and I will concentrate on simple, effective methods so you can tailor your approach to exactly the type of projects you manage.
I will also make sure we have some fun whilst learning and we will complete a number of practical exercises (including estimating and managing your time).
The Faculty
Along with Moyra Wright, Ernie Clements, Bill Bailey and Paul Richardson, Graham Kerr
is part of the dedicated faculty team who will deliver this course. The initials next to each date below indicate which trainer is scheduled to deliver which event.
View our trainers' profiles.
Recent delegates have said:
“Very professional, slick and enjoyable.”