Project management is being increasingly recognized as a vital skill-set for many management positions, not just those with the title of “project manager”. This course provides in-depth, practical, project management fundamentals training. You will discuss projects from your own organization, and review tools and templates we use every day to manage real projects.
Who should take this Project Management Fundamentals course?
This course is for existing project managers who are interested in learning more about formal project management techniques, and anyone who is interested in becoming a project manager.
Where is this course offered?
The Project Management Fundamentals course is offered on an open-enrollment basis at our Project Management Education Center in Bellevue/Seattle, WA, (which also serves Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Everett, Federal Way, and Tacoma), as well as at our Project Management Education Center in Tucson, AZ (which also serves the Greater Phoenix area, Oro Valley, and Sierra Vista / Fort Huachuca), and other select locations such as Grand Cayman. We also provide it on an on-site basis anywhere in the world, and online using live instructors.
Project Management Fundamentals Course Objectives
By the end of the course you will be able to :
- Understand the language and structure of the Project Management Institute’s Body of Knowledge.
- Discuss the advantages of different life cycle approaches.
- Understand the value of project charter documents.
- Identify and engage stakeholders more effectively.
- Consider the impact of the environment or context in which your projects occur on your planning processes.
- Develop work breakdown structures to better define your project and reduce the likelihood of missed scope.
- Develop network diagrams that model how your project will be executed.
- Schedule your project and identify the critical path.
- Use various tools and reports to improve project communications.
- Add resource and cost information to your plans.
- Run better project status meetings.
- Better estimate your project costs and durations.
- Identify, prioritize, respond to, and manage, project risks.
- Track issues and action items in a more systematic manner.
- Update your project plans on a regular basis.
- Measure how your project is progressing.
- Work with schedule delays and modify your project plan appropriately to minimize their impact.
Fundamentals of Project Management Course Details
- Length: 24 hours.
- Style: Instructor-led, using PowerPoint presentations, facilitated discussions, individual and group exercises.
- Texts: Participants receive a copy of PMI’s PMBOK® Guide, and a course participant’s manual/binder.
- Format: Classroom. No computers required for in-person classroom training.
- Prerequisites: None.
Project Management Fundamentals Course Content
Day One
- What is a Project?
- What is Project Management?
- What’s Driving the Need for Project Management?
- Project Management Institute (PMI)
- The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide®)
- The Ten Knowledge Areas
- The Five Process Groups
- Predictive Project Life Cycles
- Adaptive (Agile) Life Cycles
- Tailoring
- The Role of the Project Manager
- Project Balance
- Organizational Considerations
- The Project Management Office
- The Role of Project Sponsors
- A Simplified Project Management Process
- Project Charters
Day Two
- Progressive Elaboration
- Stakeholders
- Identify Stakeholders
- Power-Interest Grid
- Stakeholder Management
- Phase Gate Reviews
- Define Project Scope
- Work Breakdown Structures
- Rolling Wave Planning
- WBS Checklist
- Project Resource Management
- Assignment Matrix
- Network Diagrams
- Estimating Durations
- Analogous Estimating
- Parameter Estimating
- 3-Point Estimating
- Develop Schedule
- Critical Path Scheduling
- The Importance of Total Float
- Schedule Optimization
- Reporting the Project Schedule
- Gantt Charts
- Estimate Costs
- Common Estimating Themes
- Types of Costs
- Contingency Reserves
- Accuracy of Estimates
- Why do Plans Fail?
Day Three
- Management Plans
- Baselines
- Project Management Plan
- Successful Status Review Meetings
- Status Meeting Agenda
- Meeting Notes
- Tracking Issues and Action Items
- Control Schedule
- Collecting “Actuals”
- “Actuals” Collection Strategies
- Control Costs
- Cost Tracking
- PMI’s Approach to Quality
- Customer Satisfaction
- Prevention over Inspection
- Management Responsibility
- Quality Management Plan
- What is a Risk ?
- Identify Risks
- Qualitative Risk Analysis
- Plan Risk Responses
- Contingency Plans
- Risk Register
- Monitor Risks
- Change Management
- Project Communication Management
- Close Project or Phase
- Portfolio Management
- Next Steps
Project Management Fundamentals PDF Course Description
Project Management Fundamentals course outline, suitable for saving or printing.
Jonique R –
It was a great course, and the instructor Mr. Archbold was great! 10/10 would recommend for anyone interested in improving their project management skills.
Selene B –
Thank you! This was a very informative and helpful as a PM newbie.
Richard S –
Great presenter. Nice to meet you.
Adriane A –
The training was excellent. I really enjoyed the detailed, responsive and supportive feedback.
Nidhi J –
The book to follow the slides was a big tool. My thoughts going into projects now will be more effective and efficient.
Kimberly Vanpelt –
Outstanding course. Well-worth the investment of time and money. Wish I had taken this decades ago.
Jimmy T –
Kevin is very informative and I was able to understand the material. I highly recommend this course to the remainder of my co-workers.
Nic K –
Good flow,, good use of breaks. Good application of concepts to projects. Great useable feedback. Liked the templates online.
Kelsey C –
Great class! I hope to explore pm more in the future! It feels good to have knowledge of organized approaches.
Chris C –
The booklet is very useful.
Ana P –
I really liked his teaching style, it really helped my understanding of the material. I will definitely recommend this to my peers.
Emma N –
Thank you so much!
Verdina C –
Thank you for the additional feedback on the charter.
Alaina K –
Really enjoyed this training and I look forward to applying these concepts in my role.
Priya K –
Learning and informative training.
Julio J –
Great instructor! Helpful course.
Joseph L, Edwards –
This course was exactly what I needed to prepare me for my new role as Operations Manager and Project Lead. It was a comprehensive training with so much great information, not to mention a great trainer. I was able to apply everything I learned right away. Look forward to working with Kevin Archbold again!
Hiram M –
Definitely a lot to digest but I now have a much more thorough understanding of PM and its concepts. Definitely level up for me.
Ken C –
This was easily one of the best virtual trainings I have ever completed. Kevin was a phenomenal instructor and I truly appreciated the knowledge and experience that he was able to share with our class.
Julie T –
Kevin was awesome! He was able to get so much information covered in just 3 days while not overwhelming us with material. I would absolutely recommend!
Ilyssa P –
Sal was fantastic! She tied the curriculum back to my job to make it very relatable and was very aware and observant of how I was processing the info. A PM expert and clearly passionate about helping others learn the subject!
Jessica O –
Valuable information and engaging instructor. Well done!
Brandon E –
I had the opportunity to organize and attend a 3-day project management seminar with our implementations team members. Our instructor was amazing. Having a private session really allowed us to relate each of the key topics to our own processes, which was extremely valuable to us. This was a great way for our growing team to bond and gain essential knowledge to ensure the accomplishment of our annual goals.
I highly recommend Key Consulting for your future training!
Gretchen P –
Thank you!
Dedra C –
Awesome job, boring subject, but you made it fun and relatable.
Beauty A –
Information was presented in right amount, based in building topics on one another. Great class!
Hector J –
Instructor was very knowledgeable.
Soraya F –
Thank you. In addition to PM I learned items that I can use in my everyday work.
Elaine M –
I requested this training, and so happy to have had the opportunity. I’ve already recommended you and these classes to a colleague. She will contacting you guys. Thank you for a great class. I plan to continue with certification.
Terry N –
Impressive! Very helpful
Nicholas R –
Very informative. Detailed information. More knowledge on managing a project.
Dorelle D –
Very thoughtful and useful tools to use in my career.
Eddie D –
Great course in PM. It was easily digestible and friendly to folks who don’t know much about PM.
Arisia L –
The information and tools in this course were very helpful. Thank you.
Bonnie S –
I was really impressed with the content and how fast the time went each day. I got lots of usable tools and methods which I plan to utilize immediately.
Joe S –
Super informative and practical.
Natalia M –
Instructor was very engaging.
Ana L –
I enjoyed the five minute breaks at each hour. The exercises were very helpful in helping me understand the material
Raul M –
A lot of material! Kevin is the Gordon Ramsey for project management. Loved the free templates online, and hands-on exercises.
Lee K –
Thank you! The training was hugely beneficial.
Heather M –
Good and concise presentation.
Jonathan B –
Signed up by upper management, but enjoyed the course and will be useful for future projects.
Richard W –
This was amazing! I have been in my field for 24 years and have no formal PM training. Kevin made the content so applicable to many areas! I found this training and Kevin’s facilitation to be incredibly beneficial. Thank you Kevin!!!
Richard S –
I really enjoyed the training! The activities were extremely helpful to understand the concepts.
Amanda S –
Great course. Thanks!! I learned a lot.
Tina F –
Thank-you. Well done!
Manny M –
Loved the exercises. Practical application of the learned materials. Course well worth the time.
Kat D –
A lot of info, but very helpful. Really enjoyed learning about PM.
Ligia C –
Thank you so much for providing a very informative session. The tools in the book will also be very helpful to refer to during my project development.
Cecilia N –
Instructor was very knowledgeable and there was a lot of helpful info covered.
Noel V –
Excellent training, enjoyed the team activities. Excellent presenter. Kevin took the time to answer questions
Jennifer M –
I appreciate the delivery of the information; PM concepts for beginners can be intimidating, but this course made it easier to understand and apply the content.
Amanda M –
The course was the right amount of info and application. Made me rethink how work gets done.
Cesia E –
Great instructor, enjoyed having time to apply knowledge learned to my assigned project.
Crystal R –
The class was really useful considering I’m at the beginning stages of a large project.
Danielle V –
Course was extremely useful. Would help if the whole department took it.
Bledine C –
The instructor was great, he keep my attention through the whole class. The course was great – I learned a lot of good skills. I hope that I will be able to apply them in my current field.
Brett Holt –
After reviewing five other Project Management vendors, we selected Key Consulting. We were not disappointed. The three day Project Management Fundamentals course was professionally delivered with the right amount of information for our team. The virtual delivery was interactive and kept our attention. The topics were easy to understand and the pace was perfect. Kevin was knowledgeable on the material and offered excellent examples to reinforce the concepts presented. We look forward to fine tuning our organization’s internal project management process with the knowledge gained.
James L –
Kevin is/was a very good instructor giving great feedback on individualised aspects of the course and provided a fast moving informative presentation.
Bernadette G –
Can’t wait to utilize the learnings in my projects!
Claudia S –
Pulled in good examples. Great answers to questions asked. Need to spread this knowledge deeper in our organization.
Lianne C –
Really enjoyed the training. Felt like the right level of detail and especially appreciated the variety of tools and processes we covered.
Angela U –
Good mix of content and work on real projects. Helpful. Got a little rushed at the end. May take a while to apply as I assimilate. Very well done. Enjoyed the level of content and learning. You made people comfortable to ask questions at any level of experience. Great use of examples of simple projects throughout. Thank you!
Tami B –
Would of liked a little more to discuss. Wasn’t sure what I was going to get out of this, but learned a lot.
Maki H –
A lot of new information for me. Very insightful and helpful.
Melissa R –
Wonderful course. You made this very entertaining and engaging, which I am thankful for. Thank you!!
Keith F –
Engaging and informative. Great examples that helped make info easier to understand. Hourly breaks were helpful to stay engaged.
Mike N –
Thank you. This was very informative and fun.
Molly N –
Great class! Easy to understand, great examples and shared knowledge.
Nicole M –
Very informative – nice mix of hands on activity and lecture. Good intro course. Information timed out nicely to not be overwhelming.
Shelley F –
Great class for a beginner. Lots of information and practical uses that I can take back and implement immediately.
Dubadah B –
Loved the class and motivated to become a project manager.
Mark B –
Everything was great!
Tanesha S –
Great course I would recommend.
Brittany M –
Great course with very useful, practical information and tools.
Sonya S –
Loved every moment of the class. Very informative
Gordon G –
One word – Excellent
Marco M –
The information was very useful. I learned a lot of things that will help me improve my work performance and enhance my communication skills and help me support the PM department more.
Greg H –
Michele was awesome and very helpful.
Sean D –
Michele was very knowledgeable as well as practical in her delivery. Great facility.
John G –
Michele was great! This was a good concise program. I liked the one day of theory and then more engaging days thereafter.
Gaven H –
Excellent course. Answered lots of the questions I had. Made the information super easy to digest. Many thanks!! I feel much more confident and ready to do projects now, and act as a portfolio manager.
Dana L –
Ralph was fantastic and able to tailor the content to my specific challenges. He was a great instructor!
Kari S –
Will be implementing frameworks learned in this class in current job – very useful.
Emily C –
Thanks you Ralph! Your examples (real life) were very helpful.
Katie L –
Thanks. Great pace and included working activities.
Abbey T –
The class was very useful and less dry than I imagined. Thank you!
Christina D –
This course was very helpful and I have already recommended it to my colleagues.
Leon M –
Ralph did an excellent job covering the materials and made it very interesting. I will recommend it for anyone.
Jordan G –
This is beneficial even though I am not currently a project manager. Helped me develop tools for now and want to explore PM in the future.
Nami A –
Excellent!
Stephen B –
Great course serves as good revision after the Skills course a few years ago. Exam prep next.
Jason B –
Kevin was fabulous!
Kyle F –
Various useful elements, some of which can be used immediately.
Nico S –
Useful stuff to be used in an organisation. Very insightful!
Felix W –
Useful and excellent presentation, appropriate to my role as Project Officer.
Mark B –
Kevin was well informed, and a very nice gentleman. I look forward to future dealings with his organization.
Cathy S –
Thanks Kevin. Look forward to doing more seminars in the future!
Jerome D –
Thanks! A job well done!
Richard G –
Very informative
Guillermo G –
Excellent.
Andrew K –
Well designed and useful course. A lot of info in a short time, but it flows well.
Carl T –
Hourly breaks were perfect. Great job.
Eric Z –
Pace could have been faster at times.
Jordan S –
More courses/locations would be great. Getting/reading content in advance would be useful.