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Project Management for Managers/Executives

William J. Scott, P.E.


Course Overview

To survive in the twenty-first century, organizations had to become lean, flexible, innovative, and customer driven. Most had to reengineer their business processes. They had to abandon antiquated ideas about how organizations should be structured and managed. They had to rethink not just how to do things faster, better, and more economical, but whether to do them at all!

Project teams are expected to complete critical, complex undertakings on time, within budget, and according to both internal and external customer needs and expectations.
Over and over, we have heard our students comment that their jobs were made harder because "upper management" did not understand project management. The very people who appointed the project managers did not know what was involved in establishing multi-functional project teams and working within a matrix. The concept of empowerment was foreign to them and they found it difficult not to meddle in the day to day business of managing projects.

Because leadership requires the ability to influence others toward achievement of a shared goal, managers/executives who seek to supervise project managers most effectively, need to understand how project management really works. They need to understand the challenges, frustrations, and the opportunities project managers deal with on a daily basis.
This course gives managers/executives the working knowledge of the project management process they need. It enables them to speak the language, understand the issues, and make informed judgments concerning projects that are essential to the overall success of their organization.

This course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.


Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will learn:


Intended Audience

This course is addressed to:


Course Introduction

I would like to start off by telling you about some advice my wife gave me a long time ago.

When I first starting giving presentations some twenty years ago, my wife offered me some advice. She told me that in order to keep the audience's attention; the most important thing was to talk about an interesting subject. This seemed like good advice, so I took it. I have tried to keep my topics interesting.

Well some time later, as I was still giving presentations, my wife offered me some more advice. This time she told me that in addition to having an interesting subject, it was really important to keep it short and to the point. This also seemed like good advice, so I took it. I have tried to keep my presentations short and to the point.

Well now that I've been at this presentation stuff for over twenty years, my wife now gives me different advice. She tells me now that the subject matter is still important, that yes, keeping it short is also important, but the most important thing is to keep my belly sucked in." This is probably the best advice of all!

The Project Management System

It is your basic forming, storming, and performing way of getting things accomplished on budget, on time and with customer satisfaction.

You are lucky to have the opportunity to experience it. I guarantee that before you finish this course, you will have experienced it and be able to apply it to your daily work.

Before we go any further, I want to establish my five rules of project management. They are:

1. There can be no cost management without using the earned value technique.

2. There can be no schedule management without managing the critical path.

3. A real work breakdown structure (WBS) has the following four elements:

A. A specific beginning and ending date.
B. A budget assigned to it.
C. A defined scope.
D. One person who is the single focal point accountable for each task completion.

4. Comparing actuals to budgets is close to meaningless.
For example, if you have spent less than you budgeted at any point in the project, does this mean you are:

A. Behind schedule?
B. Under budget?
C. You don't know?

5. No one but you can control (manage) your project!

To Gain the Most Value and Return on Investment for the Time You Spend on this Course You Must:

1. Think about your own experiences.
2. Read carefully.
3. Be patient.
4. Stay on the topic.
5. Rise above your experience bias.
6. Be receptive to new ideas.

Course Content

This course consists of the following four course modules.

Course Modules

Module #1: The Business Case for the Project Management Process and it's Fundamental Concepts.

Module #2: Organizational Role Responsibilities and a Profile of an Effective Project Manager

Module #3: The Project Management Process

Module #4: Measurement and Reporting of Project Progress and Summary Lessons

The course content is in PDF format in each module. You need to open or download those documents to study this course.

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

Take a Quiz

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.