A Five-Day Project Management Course for Wishing Well Training - Case Study Example

Training Course Title: A Five-Day Project Management Course for Wishing Well Training (WWT) Ltd. Rationale: A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken by firms/organisations to create a unique product/service, which brings about beneficial change or added value to the company. Every organisation, either profit or non-profit, is involved in projects – simple to complex, and small to large ones – every now and then. Projects that these firms do range from simple building a new warehouse to building a large plant for expansion purposes. Projects that are done by organisations could also be in a series and are interrelated (programs). In doing a project, firms must consider that it has scarce resources – human/labour, capital and time – therefore to finish a project, the firm/company must ensure that its resources are maximised. Only a few, sometimes none, of the members of organisations involved in doing projects are really equipped with knowledge on the basics of project management. The aim of companies to maximise the use of their resources in performing projects and the lack of internal capability or knowledge in project management are the two main reasons companies/firms are pressured to learn proper project management. The objective of this training is to offer such companies/firms knowledge on project management. Training Course Objective At the end of the five-day training course, the participants are expected to be able to: 1. define the basic terms in project management; 2. explain the main topics in project management today; 3. discuss the importance of financial accounting and control in project management; and 3. use/relate these concepts/topics in the actual design/performance of a project. Mechanism: The course will last for five days, allocation of which as follows: 1) the first three days will be devoted to lectures about the concepts/basics of project management; and 2) the last two days will be devoted to the integration of these concepts by the participants through completing and presenting a major output. At the end of each of the first three days, (a) specific output(s) will be expected from the participants and a major output will be passed and presented by the participants at the last two days. Four regular runs of the training course will be conducted at the WWT training centre premises at Moorgate. This is to cater those walk-in/individual clients that desire to take the five-day training. A group/company package will be offered for companies/organisations whose member-participants are equal to or greater than fifteen persons. The training may be conducted at the client’s premises or at the WWT training centre premises, depending on the agreement of WWT and the client. Reservations for attendance of the training should be done not later than two weeks before the training date to give the facilitators ample time to perform the necessary preparations and prepare the materials needed by the participants. The topics on the course will be presented by a combination of academic and industry presenters both from private and public sector to ensure that the participants can integrate the theories and the application of these theories. The delegates will be provided with an introduction pack five days before the start of the five-day course. This introduction pack will include suggested advanced reading, a map and helpful information on how to find the place and a reply slip. The program of activities of the five-day training course will also be provided complete with the times each speaker will deliver their presentation and their specific areas of expertise. On the 1st day of the course, the delegates will sign in and get a badge with their name and collect a conference pack which will include Powerpoint slides of all the presentations and also a Feedback/Evaluation sheet, which will be passed at the end of the training course. Refreshments and lunch buffet will be provided to the delegates each day. The program/activities for each day start at 8:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm. Marketing Strategies:   To ensure maximum attendance of potential delegates into the training, an extensive/rigorous marketing will be done. Since WWT has a list of potential delegates to the training course, the first clients to the program will be coming from this database of WWT. Telemarketing will be done, that is, the potential delegates will be contacted through phone call. Another potential way of reaching the potential delegates will be through the Internet. These potential delegates will be sent an email. A website for the training course, which will be constructed under the existing website of WWT, will be done. The first ten delegates who made reservations for the training course will be given special discounts or free gift items. Project Organisation Management Like the other training courses of WWT, a particular team will be assigned to handle the project management short course. A five-member team can do all the jobs – preparation, facilitating the training, etc. – required to conduct/perform the course training. Team Leader. A team leader will be assigned to ensure that the works of the team members involved in this short course will be well-coordinated. The team leader will ensure that the training course will be run smoothly, feedbacks will be collected and improvements on the course will be made. Training Facilitators. There will be two training facilitators in the team. These two team members are the ones who will oversee the performance of the activities before the start of the training course. They will be the ones who will identify and contact the presenters for the training. They will oversee the preparation of the training material and they will ensure that everything is ready before the training starts. During the training course is being run, these two members will act as facilitators, or they will oversee the activities involved in the training course proper. They will ensure that the activities will be carried out as planned. They can delegate some tasks to the other members of the team but the main responsibility for carrying out these tasks is on them. Marketer. A member of the team will be the one responsible for conceptualising and crafting the marketing strategies for the training course. Since this course needs a rigorous marketing strategy, it is then essential that a separate member of the team will be responsible for overseeing this function. The work of the marketer will still be facilitated and supervised by the team leader and s/he shall still be helped by the other members of the team but the main responsibility for the performance of this function will largely depend on him/her. Account/Project Monitor. Another member of the team will be responsible for keeping the accounts of the project. S/he is the one responsible for monitoring the cash inflows and cash outflows of the company. Activities before the Training Course Proper Activity Description Predecessors Expected Time A Identify presenters from the academic and industry sectors, both from the public and private sector - 7 days B Contact identified presenters and get confirmation to present on the training course - either through sending email letters/mailed letters, through calling the identified presenters or through meeting them in person and handing a formal letter asking them to present on the said training course. A 7 days C Collect presentation materials – handouts, suggested readings and Powerpoint presentations – of each presenter. B 7 days D Prepare introduction pack for participants the introduction pack will include the following: 1. A reply slip to confirm participation/attendance in the training course. (The reply slip must be returned to WWT not later than 5 days before the training course starts) 2. A map/direction map to help the participants find the training venue (in the case of trainings conducted on WWT training centre premises) 3. Suggested advanced reading C 3 days E Finalise list of participants through the reply slips of the participants D 1 day F Contact caterer for food preparations (based on the diet preferences of the participants) E 2 days G Prepare materials for the training course proper name badges/tags compilation of the Powerpoint presentations printed program of activities feedback/evaluation sheets E 8 days Training Course Proper: The activities and lecture for the five-day training course is programmed as follows: Day 1 Time Activity/Topic 8:00-8:45 Registration/Orientation/Welcoming the Participants/Introduction 8:45-9:30 Introduction to Project Management Definition of Key Concepts in Project Management Importance of Project Management Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 9:30-9:45 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 9:45-10:00 Refreshment Break 10:00-10:45 Lecture on Estimating Projects Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 10:45-11:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 11:00-11:45 Practical Tips on Estimating Project Costs and Time Speaker: Someone from the Public Sector 11:45-12:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 12:00-1:00 Buffet Lunch Break 1:00-1:45 Lecture on Developing a Project Plan Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 1:45-2:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 2:00-2:45 Practical Tips on Developing a Project Plan Speaker: Someone from the Industry (Private) Sector 2:45-3:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 3:00-3:15 Refreshment Break 3:15-5:00 Activity/Case on Developing a Project Plan and Estimating Project Costs and Time Day 2 Time Activity/Topic 8:00-8:45 Lecture on Scheduling Resources Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 8:45-9:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 9:00-9:45 Practical Tips on Scheduling Resources Speaker: Someone from the Industry Sector 9:45-10:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 10:00-10:15 Refreshment Break 10:15-12:00 Activity/Case Analysis on Scheduling Resources 12:00-1:00 Buffet Lunch Break 1:00-1:45 Lecture on Managing Risks Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 1:45-2:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 2:00-2:45 Practical Tips on Managing Risks Speaker: Someone from the Industry (Private) Sector 2:45-3:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 3:00-5:00 Activity/Case Analysis on Managing Risks Day 3 Time Activity/Topic 8:00-8:45 Lecture on Reducing Project Duration Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 8:45-9:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 9:00-9:45 Practical Tips on Reducing Project Duration Speaker: Someone from the Industry Sector 9:45-10:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 10:00-10:15 Refreshment Break 10:15-12:00 Activity/Case Analysis on Reducing Project Duration 12:00-1:00 Buffet Lunch Break 1:00-1:45 Lecture on Progress and Performance Evaluation Speaker: Someone from the Academic Sector 1:45-2:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 2:00-2:45 Practical Tips on Progress and Performance Evaluation Speaker: Someone from the Industry (Private) Sector 2:45-3:00 Open Forum (questions from the participants will be answered by the speaker) 3:00-5:00 Activity/Case Analysis on Progress and Performance Evaluation Day 4 and Day 5 Time Activity/Topic 8:00-5:00 Presentation of Output by Delegates/Participants Activity Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Activities before the training course proper: Marketing A B C D E F G Training Course Proper Training Evaluation/Feedback Process: On the first day of the five-day training, each participant will be given a feedback evaluation sheet wherein each delegate will write their feedback or evaluation for each speaker and for each activity in the five-day training course. The parameters to be evaluated on by the participants are: 1) the time allotted for each topic and activity; 2) the content of each presentation/activity; and 3) the delivery of the presentations or facilitation of each activity. The feedback evaluation sheet will be a good source of information for further improvements of each presentation in the five-day training course. The feedback evaluation sheets should be returned to one of the facilitators on the fifth day of the training course. Summary Costs: Assumptions: Marketing expenses Costing is based on a projected fifteen delegates (minimum) only. This is done to realistically project the cost per delegate to the training course. Economies of scale can be achieved as the number of delegates increases, so WWT can offer discounts for higher number of participants from a firm/organisation. Project Monitoring and Controlling Process: PERT Cost Analysis will be used in monitoring and controlling the progress and performance of the project training course). Cost overruns and under runs will be monitored by the account monitor through the aid of a Gantt Chart. Two Gantt charts will always be prepared for each run of the project. One chart showing the earliest start and earliest finish times of the activities, with the corresponding budget for each day. Another chart shows the latest start and latest finish times of each activity as well as the costing based on latest start and finish times. The Account Monitor shall work closely with the facilitators and the marketer of the team so that costs, revenues and schedules are closely monitored. Potential Risks and Problems: Availability (Emergency Cases) of Presenters The major resources for this training course are the resource persons or the presenters. The presenters are most important persons for the success of the training course because their knowledge is what the training course is all about. This is also the reason why the main source of problem/risk for the training course is the availability and accessibility of the presenters during their schedules. Unforeseen emergency events may happen and the presenters, if worst scenarios like accident or sickness, happens, the presenter may not be able to present their topic. This will cause a great harm on the reputation of the training course and the quality of the training course will be affected because every topic included in the program is essential for project management. Economies of Scale may not be Achieved The minimum number of participants per run of the program is 15 delegates. But even if the minimum number of participants was not met, the regular four runs of the training course will still be conducted. This may lead to company having low profit or breakeven only because the profit of the training course largely depends on the number of participants to the training course. Cost Overruns/Underruns A common problem to project management is cost overruns and/or cost underruns. These might happen if costs are not monitored closely. Activities Behind Schedule One of the main problems encountered in conducting projects or running course programs is that the first activities take on longer time and may cause the whole project/course to be behind schedule. This may have an effect on the quality of delivery of the last topics, which are usually the more important ones. The last topics may be rushed causing the comprehension and understanding of the participants of those topics to be sacrificed. Recommendations: Availability (Emergency Cases) of the Presenters To avoid disruptions of the program when an emergency on a presenter happens, the team will always prepare a contingency for this. Persons within the company (WWT) that can be accessed at short notice should be identified so that when emergency occurs, someone that is equally reliable and knowledgeable on the field can deliver the topic. Economies of Scale may not be Achieved This is the reason why the marketing strategy of WWT for their training courses should be extensive. To ensure that maximum participation will be attained to each run of the training programs, the marketing strategies should be effective. The firm may also want to promote walk-in/last minute delegates (i.e. if the number of delegates for that particular period, they can accept participants at short notice, like that participant confirmed only a day before the start of the training program). This means that the facilitators of the training course should ready extra copies of the handouts, Powerpoint presentation copies and other materials for the training course. Cost Overruns/Underruns To prevent cost under runs and overruns, the cost should be monitored closely. Also, to correct under runs and overruns as they occur, close monitoring is required. A specific person will be assigned to audit and monitor the finances, budget and expenses spent on the training course. Activities behind Schedule The facilitator of the training course plays a very important role in preventing this problem to occur. The facilitator must be very strict with implementing the time table for the activities. Also, the presenters should be well-advised of their time limits and their topics so as to avoid using too much time. Read More