The Project Management Course is open to all with general work/life experience.

The Aim of the Project Management Course is to:

• Establish a context for project management in an organisation
• Analyse and plan projects in an effective and consistent fashion
• Create, structure and organise projects using project-management tools
• Recognise the importance of teamwork in project management

Change Context

• Interpret a strategic plan, or project definition and plan.
• Define what constitutes a project, and what constitutes project management.
• Explain the implications of managing a specific project within a programme of business change.
• Describe ethical and governance considerations which might occur in the project environment.
• Identify the range of factors which have an impact on themanagement of a project.
• Define the totality of requirements for project management and explain how an effective project would be established, launched and monitored.
• Clarify reporting relationships in terms of project sponsors and their information needs driving the life cycle of the project.

Project Management Fundamentals

• Explain the criteria which affect the selection of a suitable project strategy.
• Define the success criteria for a specific project.
• Carry out a return on investment study on project to gain approval.
• Define and set up a suitable project management organisation structure for a specific project.
• Select and adapt a methodology.

Risk and Quality Management

• Identify, analyse and classify risks, including health & safety,environmental and archaeological risks.
• Develop risk plans.
• Manage specific risks on a project.
• Create and populate a risk-logging system.
• Integrate a project into an existing corporate quality management system.
• Create a project quality plan and establish a quality management plan for a specific project.
• Achieve project deliverables to agreed quality standards.
• Demonstrate how project support office services would be integrated into a specific project.

Change and Configuration Management

• Identify what issues within a project are likely to result in the need for change.
• Integrate issue resolution and change action into the plans for an operational project.
• Describe how configuration should be properly managed within a project.

Managing People

• Define the competencies required for a specific project.
• Specify and secure people resources with the competencies required by a specific project.
• Identify a structure and form for a project team.
• Motivate and manage a team
• Provide team members with clear, accurate and up-to-date information appropriate to the role in which they play in the project.
• Produce and implement a mentoring plan.
• Carry out appraisal of team and individual performance within a project and provide team.
• members with the support and encouragement they need to achieve their objectives throughout the lifetime of the project.

Initial Planning for Projects

• Specify the deliverables and activities of a specific project.
• Specify and estimate the resources required for a specific project and their means of procurement.
• Identify the main links between the project’s scope and definition and the sponsor’s strategic and operational objectives.
• Identity and reconcile key stakeholders’ interests in the project.
• Clearly establish own level of authority and accountability for the project activities, resources and decisions.
• Prepare budget estimates for time and resources.
• Cost and price a specific project.
• Check all aspects of the project’s resourcing and control methods with relevant people and take account of their feedback when making revisions.
• Produce a work breakdown schedule, which details activity, responsibility, start and finish dates etc, for a specific project.

Project Monitoring and Control

• Identify suitable monitoring and evaluation techniques for a project and explain how to implement them.
• Identify a suitable information flow and reporting process for a specific project.
• Create and complete progress and variance reports for a specific project.
• Ensure that evaluation accurately measures progress against plans and identifies emerging risks, difficulties and their causes.
• Understand the importance of authorising all stages of work to start, continue or finish according to your evaluation of progress.
• Ensure the projects goals have been achieved to the agreed schedule, costs and quality criteria before completion.
• Ensure that all records and documents relating to the project are accurate, complete and securely stored for future use.

The participants will complete a combination of appropriate assessment procedures to include a combination of an assignment (30%) and skills demonstration(70%). All assignments and skills demonstrations will be designed to maximize the individual participant’s skills in their career development. 

On successful completion of the Project Management Course participants will be awarded:

• FETAC Project Management Component Certificate Level 6 
• Dorset College Diploma in Project Management.