PM Fundamentals Course

Course Outline
● The course presents basic principles and reviews the

concepts at work in project management:
defining the problem, establishing project objectives,
creating a project plan, respecting deadlines, team
resource management, project closure, etc.
● This training also offers advice on creating project
evaluation reports, ensuring the smooth running of a
project and getting clients to accept the project.
Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 1

Module 1
PM FUNDAMENTALS
Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management

PM Curriculum, 16 hours
Costs &
resources
PM Ethics &
ProjectLibre (*) Time
Fundamentals Communication
Risks
2h40 2h40 2h40
3 times 2h40
3
(*) “Projectlibre” is a free PM software that covers the major elements of project management. It can easily be installed by students on their PC or MAC.
Students learning behaviour and engagement
Students…
○ Are welcomed to act as no passive readers / listeners
○ Will be asked to apply PM principles directly into their
“Solidarity Project”
○ Will need to maintain the “PM attitude” along time

Zoom etiquette
• Keep 70 % cameras open at a given time (so teacher speaks to

people, not to a “black wall”)
• Mute microphones except when you speak (press the space bar
to speak)
• Don’t use the Zoom chat, use your voice to ask questions

Grading Strategy
Final exam 70%
Quizzes 30%
Roll-call 10 minutes at the end May timeframe

inside of each session
“PM Fundamentals” Course Content (2 hours 40 minutes)
1. Start in project management
2. Create a project
3. Plan a project
4. Establish a project schedule
5. Manage a project
6. Closing a projet

1 - Start in Project Management
1. Define a project
2. Define project management
3. Discover the necessary skills
4. Study the processes of project management
5. Identify the appropriate method
6. Discover the project management software
Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals

8
Define a Project
A project…
● Is unique
● Has specific goals / objectives
● Has a start and an end date
● Has a budget

Define Project Management
● What is the opportunity / problem ?

● How to address opportunity or solve problem ?
● What is the plan
● How can we define the end of the project properly ?
● At the end of the project : “how did the project go ?”

Discovering the skills required
The Project Manager must be qualified in :
• Project Management
• The field of the project (IT, finance, building, etc)
• Bringing project value for the Customer
• Being queen/king in interpersonal communication
• Acting as a leader when required
• Knowing her/his strengths and weaknesses

Project Management Processes
Project Management Institute (PMI) in Atlanta
There are five process groups :

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring / Controlling
• Closing
12
Traditional “Waterfall” Method
Traditional method (also called “cascade” method)
manages the five project management process
groups in sequence :
1. Initiating,
2. Planning,
3. Executing,
4. Monitoring/controlling,
5. Closing
13
Agile Method
● “Agile” method will allow

multiple iterations
● Objectives may vary over time
● Usually used for small projects
● Requires skilled professionals
14
Choose a Method
● Traditional cascade management

 standard project with clear goals,
solutions and deliverables
● Agile management
 proceeds by iterations with moving target
In this course we’ll focus on “cascade” method

15
Tools for Project Management
● Simple project : Excel and Word
● Medium complexity project : Microsoft Project, Oracle
Primavera, Fasttrack schedule, Openproj, Project Libre
● Document management : Google Docs
● Presentation tool : PowerPoint
● Collaborative tool : Trello, Mural, MS Sharepoint
● Exchange and communication tool : Messenger, Slack
● Multiple / Complex project : professional tools with
resource allocation, financial monitoring, document library,
risk assessment, … 16
Select the right Project Management tool
● Corporate culture project management tools

● Maturity of teams and need for control
● Number of projects
● Complexity of projects
Do not forget feedback loop and experience feedback !
17
2 - Create a project
1. Set up a project
2. Write the statement of a problem
3. Define the goals and objectives of the project
4. Choose a strategy
5. Define the requirements
6. Identify the deliverables and the success criteria
7. Identify the assumptions and understand the risks
8. Create a specification
9. Identify the stakeholders
10.Obtain approval
11.Write a project charter
Set up Project
Define a precise goal

● Solve a problem
● Take advantage of a new opportunity

Write Opportunity / Problem Statement
● Describe opportunity/problem statement

○ Define clearly the opportunity/problem
○ Can be one sentence or one page
● Consider it is usually difficult to define
● Ask your team 7 times “why ?...”
● Make sure you write down the
opportunity/problem, not the solution.

Define Project Goals & Objectives
● The goal should be simple and easy to understand
● Can be business goals, financial goals,
quality goals, etc.
● Can be performance targets
● Avoid vague terms - be specific
● Make sure they are measurable
● Be realistic

Choose Strategy
● Run a brainstorm meeting

● Use a decision matrix
○ Is strategy aligned to to the objective ?
○ Is the strategy feasible ?
○ Are the risks acceptable ?
○ Does the strategy fit the company culture ?

Define Requirements
● If you miss some requirements, you will

dissatisfy the Customer
● If you include optional requirements, you
may miss the objective
● Several techniques are available to define
requirements : reuse, prototype, process
modelling, interviews, group work, etc.

Identify Deliverables and Success Criteria
● Deliverables (“livrables”) are expected.
● Selected deliverables should appear all along
project life to ease tracking
● Assessment tools with success criteria need
to be put in place
● Success criteria must be clear and quantifiable

Create Specifications
● Make specifications clear enough

● Clarify the ‘“not included” ones
Requirements
● Beware of objectives drift
Specifications
● Track scope changes Deliverables

Identify Stakeholders
● Stakeholder : “someone who has an interest in the

outcome of a project”
● Project Client / Sponsors are a major stakeholders
● Team members are stakeholders
● Identify stakeholders role in the project

Obtain Approval
● Organize an approval meeting

(not just an email approval)
● Make sure everyone understands and agrees
● Have a decision document signed

Write Project Charter
● Project Sponsor publishes the Project Charter to

officialize the Project and the Project Manager.
● Project Charter contains :
○ Project Name / Objective / Goal
○ Project Scope
○ Project Manager’s scope of responsibilities

3 - Plan a project
1. Define planning
2. Understand the task flow
3. Create a task flow
4. Define work packages
5. Create a calendar
6. Identify resources
7. Establish a project budget
8. Identify risks
9. Create a risk management plan
10. Define a communication plan
11. Develop a quality management plan
12. Define a change management plan
Define Planning
● Planning phase identifies tasks to be done.

● It will as well define the project management
organization.
● The project plan will be used to communicate,
direct people, and identify issues.
● Planning phase is a key phase.

Understand Organization of Tasks
● Organization of Tasks (OT) is divided into parts.

● OT contains summary tasks and Work Packages.
● Work Packages are the lower level tasks

Create Flowchart of Tasks
Summary task
Lower level task Lower level task Lower level task
Work Package Work Package Work Package Work Package

Define Work Packages
● Detail each work package so everyone

understands it well
● Work Package definitions will be used later to
check if the work has been performed properly
● Communication is key (a major Project
Manager responsibility)

Identify Resources
Trade Show responsibilities sales dpt mktg dpt design dpt law dpt
plan presentations R, RES
prepare documents R, RES
prepare individual events R, RES R realizes the work

I is informed
create presentations R, C RES I C is consulted
RES is RESponsible
create leaflets I R
Manage event preparation R,RES C, RES C

Create Organization Chart & Skills Matrix
Trade Show skills matrix sales dpt mktg dpt design dpt law dpt
plan presentations x
prepare documents x x
prepare individual events x x
…..
cost estimate 200 K€ 120 k€ 30k€ 0
people estimate 3 people 2 people 0,5 people

Establish Project Budget
● Budget = total cost of a project
● Compare estimated budget with target budget
● Cost types:
○ labor costs (people salaries + benefits), including
subcontractors
○ project costs (computers etc)
○ material costs (paper, building, etc)
○ Travel, training, registrations, etc (ancillary costs)

Identify Risks
● Identifying risks means a lot of good communication

● Consider known risks and unknown risks
(-> covered by an insurance)
● Use experienced people, brainstorming, or internet-
available risks lists per industry.

Define Communication Plan
A strong communication plan is essential to
the success of the project. Steps are :
a. Identify audiences
b. Define information needs and wishes
c. Define information distribution strategy
d. Implement communication plan

Develop Quality Management Plan
1. Identify the quality criteria

of the deliverables
2. Define a quality
assurance plan
3. Monitor and evaluate the
quality of the results
Ishikawa “fishbone” diagram

Define Change Management Plan
● Changes are unavoidable
● Accept all change requests
● Evaluate each change request
● Decide which changes are approved
● Implement approved changes : “baseline plan 1”
becomes “baseline plan 2”
● Communicate new “baseline plan 2”
● Maintain change requests log

4 - Establish a project schedule
1. Estimate the duration and budget
2. Create dependencies between tasks
3. Understand work, duration and units
4. Use milestones
5. Develop a realistic calendar
6. Understand the critical path
7. Shorten a calendar
8. Document the baseline

Estimate Duration & Budget
● Estimate time and cost of the project
● Work with experts to obtain best estimate
● Estimation types are
○ Parametric (“a 200m-long bridge is two times more costly
as a 100m-long bridge”)
○ PERT (uses probabilities)
○ DELPHI (uses questionnaires and weightings)
○ top-down or bottom-up
● Allow space for uncertainty
Create dependencies between tasks
There are 3 main types of dependencies : A

○ FS Finish-to-start
○ SS Start-to-start FS
○ FF Finish-to-Finish

Understand Work, Duration & Units
If 2 days of work are necessary to paint this wall

(“WORK”=2 days)...
● Then, if I work part-time (just 4 hours a day), I will need 4

days to finish (“DURATION” = 4 days)
● But with two painters full-time, I can have it done in
only 1 day (“DURATION” = 1 day)

Use Milestones
● Milestones (“jalon” en Français) are dates

that are important to the project
● To each milestone corresponds a
Deliverable (“livrable” en Français)
● A milestone plan shows a high-level view
of the project with important dates

Develop realistic Calendar
Consider that :
● People are probably not assigned 100% to the project
● Non-working time (travel, socialisation, waiting, education,…)
● Individual calendars (part-timers, early leavers, etc.)
● Fast workers and slow workers
● ...

Understanding Critical Path
● Critical tasks have no margin (no “float”)
● Critical tasks will form the critical path
● If a critical task slides to the right, the whole
project will also slide to the right.
● Critical path calculations are made dynamically
by the project management software.
● Senior employees are usually allocated to
critical tasks to reduce risk of project delay

Shorten Calendar
time compression accelerated overlap
(increases cost) execution (increases risk)
A A
B B
A A
A B B
B
Note : this will modify the critical path
Document Baseline
● Successive baseline plans are the result of
approved changes added to the initial project plan
● The project manager needs to keep track of the
successive baselines, in order to report on budget
and schedule properly
● Project management softwares contain a “save as
baseline” function

Define Change Management Plan
● Changes are inevitable
● Accept all change requests
● Evaluate each change request
● Decide which changes are approved
● Implement approved changes : “baseline
plan 1” becomes “baseline plan 2”
● Communicate new “baseline plan 2”
● Maintain change requests log

5 - Manage a project
1. Define the necessary resources
2. Execute a project
3. Understand team dynamics
4. Manage resources
5. Collect data
6. Evaluate progress
7. Understand performance analysis
8. Report progression
9. Understand financial measures
10. Communicate effectively
11. Drive a meeting efficiently
12. Replace a project on track
51
13. Manage changes, risk and quality
Define Necessary Resources
Project execution starts : the Project Manager needs...

● to get the project team hired as planned
● to define a storage strategy for all project documents
● to control the progress against the plan
● to take corrective actions as needed

Execute Project
● Step 1 : perform procurement
○ people, documents, equipement…
○ sub-contractors (sollicitation, evaluation,
selection, contracting…)
● Step 2 : organize a kick-off meeting
● Step 3 : define a project repository
● Step 4 : create a first baseline plan

Understanding Team Dynamics
Consider Bruce Tuckman’s model :

● Training (to earn respect)
● Conflict (help focus on goals)
● Regulation (confort team dynamics)
● Execution (manage by exception)

Manage Team Resources
Seven ways to motivate a team :
1. Clearly indicate roles and responsibilities
2. Set specific and achievable goals
3. Help in difficulties
4. Respect each team member
5. Perform positive reinforcement (be positive-taker)
6. Tell the truth
7. Perform timely problem management

Collect Data
● Data are paramount to the project

● Collect actual dates when things are performed
● Ask about the amount of work needed to end the tasks
● Set-up automated method to get data

Evaluate Progress
● Using Gantt chart, visualize delays from a time
perspective :
○ ahead of schedule
○ on schedule
○ behind schedule
○ focus on problematic tasks
● Using cost reporting capabilities of the project
management software, track cost variations

Understand Performance Analysis basics
● In a project, you “spend” time and money.
● Ideally time and money move along together
according to the plan.
● But at a given date, you may be late (in time), and/or
you may have spent more money than planned (if
someone had to work overtime for example), or both.
● Performance analysis will combine for you these
elements right into the project management software.
Report Progress
● The Project Manager needs to set-up

a strong reporting system
● Gather information (automagically or
manually) and produce reports
○ for the team (weekly ? )
○ for executives (monthly ?)

Understanding Financial Measures
● Basics are cost and revenue of the project
at a given time
● Others are :
○ Payback period (period after which project
investment is recovered)
○ NPV Net Present Value (includes inflation rates)
○ IRR Internal Rate of Return (if IRR > benefit
target, project is financially viable)

Communicate effectively
● Make sure the receiver has well

received the information (rephrase) Execs
● Listen and listen

Customer PM
● Use phones, emails, …
as appropriate, wisely.
Team
● Use humor with care

Conduct Meeting Effectively
● Remind the objective
● Develop an agenda & send it in advance
● Invite only necessary people
● Give time for preparation
● Start / end on time
● Facilitate / moderate meetings
● Use remote media as appropriate
● Communicate meeting minutes and decisions

Putting Project Back on Track
● Always keep an eye on project progress
● Troubled projects start with little issues
● Perform immediate minor adjustments when
possible
● Ask for stakeholders authorization to perform
important adjustments (more people, more time..)
● Use diplomacy / network / management authority
to get support

Manage Changes, Risks & Quality
● Follow the plans you made for
○ change (manage all changes according to
the change management plan)
○ risk (implement risk response plans)
○ quality (find ways to improve if planned
quality is not met)
● Change / risk / quality plans need to
be monitored and eventually updated

6 - Closing a project
1. Closing a project
2. Having the Customer accept the project
3. Documenting lessons learned from a project
4. Prepare a closing report and archive information
5. Close contracts and accounts and ensure the transition
6. Conclude on project management

End Project
● Closing properly a project is essential to avoid future
claims and related costs
● Ensure the Customer agrees on project ending (all
objectives achieved)
● Document lessons learned
● Create final documentation and closing report
● Close all contracts / archive data
● Ensure team members get a new project assignment

Have Client accept Project
● Check all planned deliverables have been delivered

● Check project success criteria are fulfilled
● Run UATs (User Acceptance Tests) and production tests
with due acceptance criteria
● Have a closing meeting to formally close the project

Document Lessons Learned
● Lessons learned help improve future
performance of the project manager and of
the whole organization
● Hold regular meetings with the team to
collect lessons learned (do not procrastinate)
● Have a positive, can-do attitude
● Ensure lessons learned are accessible to
other project managers
Prepare Closing Report
● Was the project a success ?
● Detail cost / time / deliverables / milestones
● Highlight changes
● Note lessons learned
● What went well / what we could do better next time ?
● Store closing report in a safe repository for 10 years
(by law)

Close Contracts / Accounts
● Close contracts that can be closed
● Make sure contracts requiring maintenance work will
continue
● Close accounting costs in the books
● Help team members
○ move to the next project,
○ or work in follow-up project compartiments
(maintenance, help-desk, support, evolutions, etc)
● Only now can the Project Manager end her.his mission :-)
Conclusion on Project Management
● More information can be found on
○ pmi.org
○ prince2.com (UK based)
● Getting certification is key for project managers
● Like doctors, project managers require both
education and experience to be able to manage
complex projects

END OF PREZ

10-minutes Quizz
When prompted by the professor, 10-minutes before
the end of the course, start the quizz available @
iesegonline (don’t run it afterwards !)
- Only 1 good answer per question

- No negative points
-Questions and answers shuffled
-Questions picked at random into a bank of 1000
questions

inspired from Bonnie Biafore’s
“the foundations of project management”
on LinkedIn

PM Fundamentals Course

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Course Outline

● The course presents basic principles and reviews the

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 1

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 2

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 4

• Keep 70 % cameras open at a given time (so teacher speaks to

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 5

Final exam 70%

Roll-call 10 minutes at the end May timeframe

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 7

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 9

● What is the opportunity / problem ?

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 10

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 11

Project Management Institute (PMI) in Atlanta

There are five process groups :

● “Agile” method will allow

● Traditional cascade management

In this course we’ll focus on “cascade” method

● Corporate culture project management tools

Do not forget feedback loop and experience feedback !

Define a precise goal

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 19

● Describe opportunity/problem statement

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 20

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 21

● Run a brainstorm meeting

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 22

● If you miss some requirements, you will

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 23

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 24

● Make specifications clear enough

● Track scope changes Deliverables

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 25

● Stakeholder : “someone who has an interest in the

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 26

● Organize an approval meeting

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 27

● Project Sponsor publishes the Project Charter to

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 28

● Planning phase identifies tasks to be done.

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 30

● Organization of Tasks (OT) is divided into parts.

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 31

Lower level task Lower level task Lower level task

Work Package Work Package Work Package Work Package

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 32

● Detail each work package so everyone

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 33

plan presentations R, RES

prepare documents R, RES

prepare individual events R, RES R realizes the work

Manage event preparation R,RES C, RES C

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 34

prepare individual events x x

cost estimate 200 K€ 120 k€ 30k€ 0

people estimate 3 people 2 people 0,5 people

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 35

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 36

● Identifying risks means a lot of good communication

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 37

Exploring Diversity / Solidarity Project / Project Management / PM Fundamentals 38