Project planning is an essential component of managing any project. As a project manager, you are ultimately responsible for the project plan and its success. As you know, the strength of your plan and your ability to manage its various components greatly impact the final outcome of any project. Therefore, you must determine what information and resources you need to create the most effective plan possible. While you may create the plan on your own, you may also want to identify project team members who can provide valuable insight to create a more effective plan. Whether it’s one person or the entire team, most likely there will be knowledge and expertise others have that can help you and your project be more successful. By completing this course, you will know how you will involve the team in planning the project.

Course Result:

• Identify how you will involve the team in planning the project

Duration:  10 minutes

Individual excitement and optimism are an essential component to any project’s success. When individuals are excited about a project, their dedication, commitment, and desire to work hard all increase. Of course as more team members are dedicated and committed to a project’s success, that team strengthens its ability to do and achieve great things. This course will help you create a project branding statement. One that describes the project’s purpose and vision. This branding statement should distinctively describe the purpose of the project and what it needs to achieve. It should be exciting and inspirational. The statement should cause anyone who is part of the project, or even part of the company, to be excited about the outcome. It should cause project team members to know they can contribute to something great. By completing this course, you will know how to create a compelling and concise branding statement for your project.

Course Result:

• Create a compelling and concise branding statement for your project.

Duration:  10  minutes

Managing a project requires handling a number of different elements, typically all at the same time. On any given day you have people doing work, people wanting work done, and people who want to know about the work that is being done. Emails, phone calls, and face-to-face conversations are all in a day’s work. When you manage a project, one key task you must perform is keeping various stakeholders and people informed. Your boss, leaders, and others who have an invested interest want to know about the project’s progress. By completing this course, you will know how to identify the individuals who must be informed and updated on the project plan.

Course Result:

• Identify the individuals who must be informed and updated on the project plan

Duration:  10 minutes

While there are a number of elements to planning a project, one area that may not get a lot of quality thinking is the type of tools and resources you’ll use to plan and manage the project. Nowadays there are so many terrific tools available to plan, manage, track, and implement your project, there’s no excuse for not being organized and efficient. Taking a little bit of time to identify which tools you’ll use upfront is a great way to prepare yourself to plan and manage your project. It’s just one more way to ensure your final success. Do the right things upfront, and the likelihood you’ll experience a smooth and enjoyable process is increased, not to mention the ability to deliver a successful project on time, with quality, and within budget. By completing this course, you will be able to select the tools and resources you will use to effectively plan your project.

Course Result:

• Determine the tools and resources you will use to effectively plan your project.

Duration:  10 minutes

If we struggle to communicate our thoughts and have trouble getting others to listen to and accept our ideas, our ability to succeed diminishes. To be truly successful in any role, we must be able to clearly and confidently express our opinions in a way that leads others to engage in our conversations and to consider implementing our ideas. When do this, we greatly increase our influence, as well as our ability to succeed in anything we do. Strengthening your ability to capture people’s attention and have them consider your ideas is really not that hard. More than anything, it just takes practice. While there is no magic formula, there are a few key elements that when in place will make a difference in your communication. By completing this course, you will know how to confidently articulate the positive attributes and benefits of your ideas.

Course Result:

• Learn how to confidently articulate the positive attributes and benefits of your ideas

Duration:  10 minutes

All successful project managers will tell you that planning is the key to your success. A good plan is the foundation for any project to build upon. Create a weak foundation and a project will struggle to succeed. Build a strong foundation and a project is in a better position to handle the unexpected event or obstacle that are bound to happen along the way. Although plans certainly can change, good initial planning will always help a project stay on course and deliver great results. While most of us know a number of project planning components, there are additional elements that if also included, will put you and your project in a better position to succeed. This course will help you check that any project plan has all the elements required to ensure your project starts off with the strength and focus it needs for the journey ahead. By completing this course, you will know how to ensure your project plan has the key components required for success.

Course Result:

• Ensure your project plan has the key components required for success.

Duration:  10 minutes

As a project manager it is essential to create a culture that encourages and creates accountability for regular status updates. When updates are consistently given, you will always know what is going well, what obstacles may exist, or what may be falling behind. At the same time, team members have the information needed to adjust their own work and tasks to accommodate changing circumstances. When everyone is up to date on the latest information, the team will be in a better position to stay on track and deliver quality work on time. The purpose of this course will be to identify and create status update expectations for the team. By completing this course, you will know how to set team expectations for reporting and sharing project and task status.

Course Result:

• Set team expectations for reporting and sharing project and task status

Duration:  10 minutes

A successful project requires many things to happen, one of which is lots of communication. There must be consistent and clear communication from you to your team members, to stakeholders, and your customers just to name a few. Communication matters. Without it, team members don’t have the information they need to complete their work on time or to adjust to changing circumstances. Projects get bogged down and deadlines slip. One way to avoid these undesired communication issues is to determine ahead of time how certain communication needs will be met. This includes how team members will share key information, task updates, and unexpected situations. When communication expectations are laid out with the team you reinforce the importance of communicating and keeping everyone informed. Creating a strong culture that encourages and rewards communication will always benefit you and the team. By completing this course, you will know how to determine how quick and informative project information will be delivered from the team.

Course Result:

• Determine how quick and informative project information will be delivered from the team

Duration:  10 minutes

Working with your team to set expectations and discuss the importance of quickly sharing problems and challenging situations is critical. While it can be tough to talk about problems, especially if the person contributed to the situation, it’s essential to build a team culture that encourages the disclosure of information. Creating an environment that encourages and supports the sharing of uncomfortable and difficult information significantly impacts the team’s overall ability to succeed and achieve great results. This course provides the opportunity to create a robust conversation about the importance of sharing information at the right time, and not withholding information about problems. This discussion is meant to create awareness of the importance of information disclosure, how the team can support each other in these challenging situations, and to create a commitment to each other that everyone will share information quickly before problems get worse. By completing this course, you will know how to discuss with the team why problems and difficult information must be shared right away.

Course Result:

• Discuss with the team why problems and difficult information must be shared right away

Duration:  10 minutes

Managing a project requires handling a number of different elements, typically all at the same time. On any given day you have people doing work, people wanting work done, and people who want to know about the work that is being done. Emails, phone calls, and face-to-face conversations are all in a day’s work. When you manage a project, one key task you must perform is keeping various stakeholders and people informed. Your boss, leaders, and others who have an invested interest want to know about the project’s progress. By completing this course, you will know how to identify the individuals who must be informed and updated on the project plan.

Course Result:

• Actively monitor the current status of your project

Duration:  10 minutes

The goal of any negotiation event is to identify an agreeable solution for both parties. If the solution were simple or straightforward, mostly likely negotiation wouldn’t be needed. So it can be safe to assume that if you’re negotiating, you’re most likely dealing with disagreements and conflicting viewpoints with others. A proven method to help reach a good solution for both parties is to identify and agree upon criteria or a set of standards to evaluate all potential agreements. This agreed upon criteria is used to objectively determine if the solution is reasonable, appropriate, and good for everyone involved. It helps avoid the situation where personal emotions and opinions impact the evaluation of the solution. Objective criteria provide the rationale and unbiased opinions individuals need to reach a successful resolution. By completing this course, you will know how to use objective criteria to evaluate proposed agreements.

Course Result:

• Use objective criteria to evaluate proposed agreements.

Duration:  10 minutes

A successful negotiation occurs when both parties have their interests or needs listened to and addressed. By taking the time to understand why something is desired, you open the doors for different solutions that can still meet everyone’s needs—which is what you really want to achieve anyway. When you work to meet individual interests, you will discover more opportunities to collaborate. This in turns helps you avoid getting stuck defending one position, which even if it’s good for you, it may not lead to a successful resolution. The purpose of this course is to help you focus on interests and needs versus positions and viewpoints. In other words, understanding why something is desired versus what is desired. It’s a subtle shift in thinking, but an important one. This change in focus can mean the difference between a quick and mutually beneficial solution, versus a long drawn out process in which neither party ends up satisfied with the outcome. By completing this course, you will be able to strengthen your ability to advocate for interests rather than positions.

Course Result:

• Strengthen your ability to advocate for interests rather than positions.

Duration:  10 minutes

During the negotiation process we want to achieve the best possible outcome. While we certainly want a solution that is good for both parties, the reality is we all want to reach a solution that is beneficial for us individually. This is natural and to be expected. With that said, there are a number of ways to go about achieving this goal, some good, others not. Sometimes we start the negotiation process with a specific solution in mind, and thus miss the opportunity for an even better agreement. Increasing your flexibility and willingness to listen to and consider a variety of solutions will always be beneficial. Even if you don’t like the idea or are unsure of its benefits, being open-minded will never hurt and will always help, each and every time. By completing this course, you will know how to stay open to various and creative solutions.

Course Result:

• Stay open to various and creative solutions.

Duration:  10  minutes

Negotiating, among many things, is an emotion filled process. For some, just the word can evoke uncomfortable thoughts. In these situations, people want different things, and thus it’s not uncommon for discussions to escalate or get uncomfortable. While you may experience a variety of feelings during the negotiating process, one of the worst things you can do is criticize the individuals you are negotiating with, versus focusing on the facts of the situation. If want to take this course, you have a desire to change your behavior. However, making changes to how we behave and act isn’t always easy. Add the fact that you want to change a behavior in what can be an uncomfortable setting, and you’ve got a real challenge in front of you. You should be commended for wanting to give this a try. By completing this course, you will know how to avoid getting personal by keeping the focus on issues, not individuals.

Course Result:

• Avoid getting personal by keeping the focus on issues, not individuals

Duration:  10 minutes

There are times we have to negotiate with individuals who, for whatever reason, make things difficult. This situation can be challenging, as well as draining. With that said, learning a few strategies to manage these difficult situations can help. You will certainly find the more prepared you are to handle challenging negotiations, the better the final outcome will be for you. This course is designed to help you make the best of a difficult situation. If you’re in the negotiation process and individuals are making the discussion extra difficult, it can be hard to work through the situation and create a positive outcome. Yet it is possible. By completing this course, you will know how to implement negotiation strategies to cope with difficult or unethical individuals.

Course Result:

• Implement negotiation strategies to cope with difficult or unethical individuals

Duration:  10 minutes

A best practice when it comes to planning for risk is not only identifying potential risks, but also estimating the probability a risk may happen. Knowing the probability a risk may occur can give you the information needed to know what time and energy should be put towards trying to minimize a risk. The higher the probability a risk may occur, the more attention a potential risk should receive. Low probability and you might just wait and see if the situation materializes before you put any energy towards it. The purpose of this course is to determine the probability a risk will occur, as well as the impact the risk may create. Therefore, to perform this exercise you should have a clear idea of the potential risks that could happen during the duration of your project. By completing this course, you will know how to consider both the impact and likelihood project risks will materialize. This course has been approved for 1 hour of PDU credit from PMI (Project Management Institute).

Course Result:

• Consider both the impact and likelihood project risks will materialize

Duration:  10 minutes

We all know that any project has risk. A risk that something unexpected will happen, a risk that planned resources or technology won’t perform as expected, or a risk that changes within the organization dramatically impact the project timeline. Certainly any of these things are possible, and then some. If you’ve spent any time identifying possible risks, which you should, then you probably have a good idea of what might happen throughout the duration of your project. Knowing what could happen puts you in the position to proactively decide what you want to do versus being reactive to unexpected surprises. This course will help you get to know the risk management strategies. There are a few main strategies that can be applied to almost all risk situations. Study these strategies. The better you know each strategy, the better you will be able to apply the right strategy when needed. By completing this course, you will know how to respond to project risks appropriately. This course has been approved for 1 hour of PDU credit from PMI (Project Management Institute).

Course Result:

• Know how to respond to project risks appropriately

Duration:  10 minutes

Being good at risk mitigation takes creativity. Often times it involves seeing the situation in a different way, identifying a variety of possible solutions, and being willing to try something new or different. This at times can be a challenge. However, when it comes to mitigating project risk, being open to new ideas and asking others for input is an essential component to anyone’s success. Risk mitigation is about identifying actions you and the project team can take to minimize the negative impact or consequences of a particular project risk. While there are a few ways you can approach this task, we have identified a short and simple process to help you get there. By completing this course, you will know how to minimize the consequences of adverse situations on the project. This course has been approved for 1 hour of PDU credit from PMI (Project Management Institute).

Course Result:

• Minimize the consequences of adverse situations on the project

Duration:  10 minutes