Project Planning, Scheduling and Cost Estimation

This 3-day training program will expose the challenges associated with project planning, scheduling and cost control and prepare participants to focus on managing these constraints faced when managing projects, and develop effective measures for scheduling and controlling projects as they put the tools of project management to work.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the training program, participants will be able to:

• Develop effective measures for scheduling and controlling projects.
• Manage the constraints faced in any project.
• Learn a sound, logical framework for planning, scheduling and controlling project activities.
• Master techniques for estimating, forecasting, budgeting, monitoring, controlling, analyzing and reporting costs and interpreting the meaning of earned-value data.
• Discover a number of sophisticated tools and techniques that can used to manage time and costs effectively on every type of project.
• Use the work breakdown structure to develop a network diagram.
• Calculate schedules using PERT/CPM.
• Identify, assign and tabulate resource requirements.
• Predict costs and work time using specific levels and estimate types.
• Plan for contingencies and anticipate variations.
• Predict future project performance based on historical data.
• Monitor changes
• Combine management and leadership proactively.

Methodology

Intensive and interactive lectures with class exercises for Individuals and small-groups in addiction to featured scenarios. Also, course materials that includes comprehensive references specific to each unit of the course.

Target Participants

Project Managers, Project engineers, team leaders, Project Management practitioners, project supervisors/officers, personnel who are involved in projects, Team members, Associate project managers, IT project managers, project coordinators, project analysts, project leaders, senior project managers and program managers. 

Contents

• What Is a Project?
  • Project Characteristics
  • Projects vs. Operational Work
  • Projects and Strategic Planning
  • Understanding the Project Environment;
  • Cultural and Social Environment
  • International and Political Environment
  • Physical Environment
• Essential Background
  • Introduction to project management
  • Overview of the project management life cycle
  • The triple constraint
  • Planning tools
  • Project requirements - a review
  • The work breakdown structure - a review
  • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project planning
  • Developing a project implementation plan
•  Resource Allocation and Estimating
  • Using estimates for scheduling and cost control
  • The basic rules of estimating
  • Levels of estimating and estimate types
  • Top-down vs. bottom-up
  • Order of magnitude
  • Budget
  • Definitive
  • Four estimating methodologies
  • Identifying controllable costs
  • Resource
  • Material
  • Direct
  • Indirect
  • Planning for risk with contingency
  • Building the project resource pool
  • Using resources to build estimates
  • The responsibility matrix
  • Time-controlled estimates
  • Resource-limited estimates
• Scheduling
  • Network scheduling
  • Validating schedules
  • Arrow diagrams and precedence diagrams
  • Basic scheduling and network calculations
  • Advanced precedence relationships and the critical path
• Scheduling with Critical Path Method (CPM) and Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
• The Baseline
  • Establishing baselines
  • Understanding types of baselines
  • Time-phased distribution of costs
  • Cumulative cost curves
•   Managing Change within the Project
  • The process of control
  • Identifying sources of change
  • Screening change
  • Updating the project plan
  • Communicating change