Students will explore real-world best practices that improve project management delivery and gain hands-on experience to run successful projects in today’s dynamic environment. Students will plan projects in both predictive (Waterfall) and adaptive (Agile) approaches to meet organizations unique needs. Students will learn to manage teams with effective team building, leadership, and communication skills. Students will also practice techniques to enhance your effectiveness in leading a project team as well as explore tools to engage stakeholders and drive successful projects.

Project Management Certificate: Part 1 includes Units 1 to 5 of the Project Management Certificate program. Students must complete Project Management Certificate: Part 2 with units 6 to 10 in addition to Part 1 in order to complete Project Management Certificate.

• Computer skills to access learning materials via e-learning modality and learning management system (Canvas)
• College-level writing and reading skills

By registering in this certificate program, you acknowledge that you meet the above prerequisites.

Introduction to Project Management

• Explain the fundamentals of effective project delivery, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA,) to better plan projects.
• Summarize start-up tools to effectively start a predictive or agile project.
• Summarize course project scenario to apply tools and techniques in project management.
• Develop a vision statement and project charter to effectively initiate a project.

Essential People Skills Part I (Planning)

• Define and practice team engagement and develop a team charter to define norms and ground rules.
• Summarize effective engagement techniques in a virtual environment to improve project communications skills.
• Recognize the importance of organizational change management (OCM) planning to enable changes from a project.
• Practice adapting your communication style to increase your ability to effectively and situationally communicate.
• Recognize behaviors that promote a respectful and open culture to build a cohesive team.
• Practice key activities needed to foster team development to improve team performance.

Principles of Requirements and Scope Management

• Describe end-to-end requirements planning, artifacts, management, and roles to effectively plan project scope.
• Distinguish the differences between requirements management in both a predictive and adaptive environment to effectively plan scope.
• Describe techniques to effectively elicit and validate requirements to ensure you are solving the situation or condition from the customer standpoint.
• Analyze requirements and develop overall project scope to reach a collaborated and agreed-upon scope baseline.
• Practice writing user stories and creating a Product Backlog to support and plan an adaptive project.
• Practice developing a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to support and plan predictive projects.
• Summarize steps to complete deliverables to provide customer value.

Principles of Project Scheduling

• Explore how scheduling tools may be used to develop and manage a schedule.
• Compare and contrast the differences between adaptive and predictive scheduling approaches to ensure a viable schedule.
• Explore the relationship between the project baseline and predictive schedule development to reach the schedule baseline.
• Use a predictive approach to develop a schedule baseline to share with sponsors and stakeholders to gain approval and acceptance.
• Describe the relationship between user stories, tasks, and sprint planning to better understand adaptive planning techniques.
• Use an adaptive approach to develop a task board for a case to share project status and monitor progress.
• Describe schedule optimization techniques to ensure resources are available and aligned.

Principles of Cost Management

• Describe the key cost management concepts used by Project Management Institute (PMI) for predictive and adaptive frameworks to improve effectiveness.
• Explore how a cost management plan is used to develop and manage a budget.
• Analyze a project and understand key financial metrics essential to justify a capital investment project.
• Analyze the types of resources needed and when needed to determine project costs.
• Develop a time-phased budget to determine the project cost baseline.
• Explain differences between adaptive and predictive cost management approaches to develop cost estimates.
• Describe and apply Earned Value Analysis (EVA) techniques to improve project performance.