Special Instructions: 

During the course, you will be able to apply project management tools to a cast study project. If you have a 'real' project you would like to use as a case study, then each group can select one case study to work on. This has the benefits of making the course more relevant to your workplace.

Detailed course schedule

1. 1.       Course introduction

The types of projects in BP. The core principles of project management in BP. Why project management is an essential skill across the BP business. How does this course fit into the other project management training resources and courses? Delegate expectations and needs.

1. 2.       Project initiation

In this section we explore how to start a project on the best footing, defining and refining the overall objectives and requirements. Ensure that the necessary stakeholders have been consulted and the project has clearly defined outcomes, outputs and benefits. The topics included in this section are:

Consulting stakeholders

Stakeholders are the key source of project requirements and often a critical project risk. It is essential to identify the key stakeholders early in a project and consult them to understand the requirements entirely. In this section, we look at stakeholder mapping techniques to determine critical stakeholders.

Exercise 1: Key stakeholder mapping

Analysing the context for the project

All projects sit with a business need. It’s essential to understand early on why it is important and how it fits into the overall strategy. In this session, we use a simple technique called the windows of wisdom to clarify the strategic fit of the project.

Exercise 2: Mapping the windows of wisdom for a project

Defining the requirements in simple terms

Before planning a project in detail, it’s often worth clarifying the purpose of the project, what it will deliver and the overall benefit of the project. How the project will be evaluated.  

Writing a simple project charter or business case

For all but the most straightforward projects, it’s worth documenting the project’s purpose. This can be done in a simple project charter or business case.

       Exercise 3: Complete a project charter or business case for a project

1. 3.       Project Planning

Proper planning is the key to successful delivery. There are a wide range of ways in which to approach project planning. This course adopts a simple and practical approach suitable for lower-complexity projects. These are consistent with the more formal techniques used on larger, more complex projects but are more accessible to apply. The sessions include:

Defining the overall scope in simple terms

Scope is the most challenging part of any project plan. People can have very different expectations about what is included or not within a project. In this part of the course, we use a simple technique called the rope of scope to define what is within the scope of the project, what is excluded and what external dependencies are.

Exercise 4 : Defining scope with the rope of scope

Defining the workstreams and team structure

Some larger projects need to be broken down to facilitate delivery. A simple approach is to divide the project into several workstreams (or work packages). Each workstream would have a workstream leader who co-ordinates the work in this section. For a successful project, it’s essential to be clear about who is doing what, and workstreams are an excellent way to define this.

Exercise 5: Developing the workstreams for a simple project

Defining the schedule using simple approaches

In almost every project, we need a schedule. For major projects, these can get horrendously complex. However, a simple task plan, with target dates, assigned ownership and defined scope, is appropriate for simple projects. In this section, we look at the principle of task planning and using simple tools such as Microsoft Planner, Monday.com or Jira to schedule low-complexity projects.

Exercise 6: Planning with Microsoft Planner

Defining the budget and establishing a cost tracker

Many projects have a budget for internal and external costs. Planning for these costs comes from the limited scope and schedule. This section demonstrates a simple Excel-based cost tracker suitable for lower-complexity projects.

Understanding the potential risks

Every project has the potential for things to go wrong; sometimes things go better than planned. Understanding these risks as part of the planning process improves the quality of the plan and the team’s understanding of what might go wrong. In this session, we look at how to run a simple risk workshop and identify the critical risks and mitigating actions.

Exercise 7: Run a risk workshop

Planning procurement

Most projects have some external suppliers. In this section, we look at some hints and tips to get the best from suppliers, how to define the scope of work, and how to manage suppliers.

Preparing a one-page project plan

Project management plans vary in length and complexity depending on the project. In this course, we use a simple one-page template to summarise all the work done during the project’s planning phase.  We discussed the benefits of getting this plan signed off by the project sponsor.

Exercise 8: Prepare a one-page plan for your project

1. 4.       Executing and controlling the project

A common saying is, ‘Plan the work; work the plan’. This section looks at some key ways to drive project delivery. These include holding a kick-off meeting to initiate the project, managing suppliers, reporting, communications planning, integrated reporting and dealing with issues, risks and changes.

Exercise 10: Review a case study project to identify the causes of failure

1. 5.       Project closeout and review

Project closeout and handover are often neglected parts of the project. This section looks at a template for planning for a project’s handover (or going live) and a checklist to review performance and lessons learned.

1. 6.       Leading project teams

Projects often rely on temporary teams, so leadership is critical. They can also suffer from conflict as different people from different parts of the organisation have. In this section, we look at the leadership skills of a project manager, how to develop a project team and how to deal with the inevitable conflict a project generates.