APMG International Project Planning and Control™ Foundation

Delegates will learn and understand:

• The approaches and products used to gain a clear definition of a project
• The approaches and techniques used to plan and close a project
• The selection and use of appropriate scheduling techniques
• The practices used for rigorous monitoring to enable proactive control of the project
• The basis for good record keeping, which also facilitates the virtuous feedback and learning cycle.

A sound basis for effective record keeping will facilitate the understanding of lessons learned which supports continuous improvement, thus adding value to organisational aspirations and objectives.

• All relevant course materials are provided, which includes the APM Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control Manual and the APMG Project Planning & Control Foundation Examination.

The course will cover the following syllabus areas:

DEFINITION (DE)

Delegates are introduced to the world of projects and capital expenditure. The following key areas are covered:

• Key definitions and concepts associated with Planning and Control
• Hierarchical Breakdown Structures - WBS, OBS, CBS, RBS
• Purpose of the Business Case
• Purpose of Scope Management, Requirements Management and Stakeholder Management
• Purpose and composition of the Works Information and Statement of Work

PLANNING (PL)

The following areas will be discussed:

• Facts, terms and concepts for: Planning, handover and closeout
• Purpose and benefits of successful planning
• Differences between Planning and Scheduling; Funding and Budgets
• Planning approaches and influencing factors for: top-down, bottom-up and rolling wave planning
• Purpose, characteristics and relationship and use of Breakdown Structures
• Approaches and principles of designing Breakdown Structures
• Purpose of the Work Package, WBS Dictionary and RACI Matrix
• Purpose of Dependency Management, cost estimating, budgeting and budget transfers

• SCHEDULING (SC)

SCHEDULING (SC) SCHEDULING (SC)

• The definition and elements of scheduling
• Definition of key network analysis terms
• The three identified methods of presenting the results of scheduling
• Typical features associated with schedule density
• Purpose of different types of time phased schedules, including
• Purpose and use of key elements of schedule design
• Key features of the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) for determining a critical path and the inputs into a Critical Path Analysis (CPA)
• Use and features of different methods of estimating durations
• Types of resources and the purpose of resourcing the schedule
• Typical composition of a Schedule Narrative
• Purpose and scope of Schedule Reviews
• Steps in the scheduling process and steps to prepare for monitoring and control
• The five steps necessary to construct a network, together with the activities of each

MONITOR AND CONTROL (MC)

• Definition of Earned Value Analysis (EVA) and its basic terminology
• Definitions of key monitoring terms
• Definitions of key risk management terms
• Definitions of key change management terms
• Purpose and use of a project baseline
• Purpose and use of Baseline maintenance and Change management together with the principles of change management and why change control is needed
• Purpose and use of performance reporting and features of a good control system

Characteristics of Variance Analysis Methods of Progress Monitor