FreeLevel 2 · Practical Skills

Project Management Fundamentals

Projects rarely fail for lack of effort; they fail because nobody sees the trouble early enough, or decides fast enough. In this course you manage the launch of Kolanut's new Abuja depot, ten weeks in. You'll write the charter and check the work breakdown, estimate with three points and see why plans built on 'most likely' durations almost never finish on time, find the critical path, and simulate the project 10,000 times to give the sponsor a probability instead of a promise. Then you'll measure the truth at week 10 with earned value (a CPI of 0.77, not the 'we're under budget' the finance director believed), re-forecast the opening from actual progress, price the risks with expected monetary value, and assess five change requests by their effect on the critical path. The course ends with the one-page report a steering committee can act on. Every number comes from running the code on the project's data.

About 7 hours
10 modules
1 badge
Final project
Optional verified certificate

Curriculum

01What a Project IsWhat makes work a project, the balance between scope, time and cost, the project lifecycle and the charter, and a first look at Kolanut's Abuja depot launch.20 min
02Scope and the Work Breakdown StructureBreak a project's scope into deliverables and tasks with a work breakdown structure, check that every task has an owner and every deliverable is covered, and see how the WBS becomes the plan.20 min
03EstimatingEstimate with three points (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) instead of one number, calculate PERT expected durations and their spread, and see why plans built on 'most likely' estimates usually run late.25 min
04Scheduling and the Critical PathTurn tasks and dependencies into a schedule with the critical path method (forward and backward passes, float), find the tasks that decide the opening date, and convert working days into calendar dates.25 min
05Schedule Risk and SimulationReplace a single opening date with a probability, by simulating the project thousands of times with each task's three-point estimate, and use the result to set honest dates and buffers.25 min
06Earned ValueMeasure a project's progress and spending honestly with earned value (planned value, earned value and actual cost), calculate schedule and cost performance, and forecast the final cost at week 10.25 min
07Forecasting from ProgressRe-forecast the opening date from what has actually happened (finished tasks, work in progress and what's left), compare it with the deadline, and set an honest red, amber or green status.25 min
08Risk ManagementKeep a risk register that drives decisions, rank risks by expected monetary value and schedule impact, size a contingency reserve, and choose responses that change the odds or the impact.25 min
09Change ControlAssess change requests by their effect on the forecast finish, the budget and the deadline, use schedule compression where it pays, and recommend decisions the sponsor can make quickly.25 min
10Final ProjectPlan your final project, a complete project review for the steering committee, with the schedule, earned value, forecast, risks and change decisions brought together into a status report and recommendations.20 min
Final assessmentPass it (60% or more) to earn the Project Management Fundamentals course completion badge.

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Project Management Fundamentals

About 7 hours

10 modules

1 badge

Final project

Optional verified certificate

Curriculum

01What a Project IsWhat makes work a project, the balance between scope, time and cost, the project lifecycle and the charter, and a first look at Kolanut's Abuja depot launch.20 min

02Scope and the Work Breakdown StructureBreak a project's scope into deliverables and tasks with a work breakdown structure, check that every task has an owner and every deliverable is covered, and see how the WBS becomes the plan.20 min

03EstimatingEstimate with three points (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) instead of one number, calculate PERT expected durations and their spread, and see why plans built on 'most likely' estimates usually run late.25 min

04Scheduling and the Critical PathTurn tasks and dependencies into a schedule with the critical path method (forward and backward passes, float), find the tasks that decide the opening date, and convert working days into calendar dates.25 min

05Schedule Risk and SimulationReplace a single opening date with a probability, by simulating the project thousands of times with each task's three-point estimate, and use the result to set honest dates and buffers.25 min

06Earned ValueMeasure a project's progress and spending honestly with earned value (planned value, earned value and actual cost), calculate schedule and cost performance, and forecast the final cost at week 10.25 min

07Forecasting from ProgressRe-forecast the opening date from what has actually happened (finished tasks, work in progress and what's left), compare it with the deadline, and set an honest red, amber or green status.25 min

08Risk ManagementKeep a risk register that drives decisions, rank risks by expected monetary value and schedule impact, size a contingency reserve, and choose responses that change the odds or the impact.25 min

09Change ControlAssess change requests by their effect on the forecast finish, the budget and the deadline, use schedule compression where it pays, and recommend decisions the sponsor can make quickly.25 min

10Final ProjectPlan your final project, a complete project review for the steering committee, with the schedule, earned value, forecast, risks and change decisions brought together into a status report and recommendations.20 min

Final assessmentPass it (60% or more) to earn the Project Management Fundamentals course completion badge.