A Practical Project Approach to Enhancing Your Business

ing project techniques in a business context to improve management, maintain flexibility and boost results.

A Practical Project Approach to Enhancing Your Business

This 3-day introductory course will show you how practical project management principles can:

Improve the management and control of your own and your department's workload
Help you create a motivated, focussed and committed workforce with measurable objectives and a vested interest in the department as a whole
Monitor and control the progress and cost of work against a clearly defined project plan to ensure that your department realises its goals on time and within budget

Staying abreast of the latest developments in the market and aligning your business to continuously meet its changing demands, requires both strategic and operational insight and flexibility. The organisation as a whole, and each department in particular, has to be structured and operated in such a way that it can continue without interruption, regardless of changing circumstances, possible calamities or the absence of any players within the organisation.

Using the project approach for business activities is an effective and efficient way to achieve such continuity and flexibility, allowing you to re-evaluate and adapt your business at regular intervals, without interrupting day-to-day operations.

This approach necessitates the clear definition of all tasks to be completed, the timeframe within which these should be completed, and the costs involved in the completion of each task. A clear delineation of these factors enables you to monitor all activities against set and measurable milestones to determine whether the desired outcomes will be realised within the time allocated to do so. In addition, you can identify precisely which resources would be required and which people have the capabilities best suited to doing the job correctly. This also makes it possible to measure the capability, capacity and productivity of your department and each and every one of your staff in terms of time, cost, quality and return.

This practical course has been specifically developed as an introduction to the project approach to assist you in using the many practical project management tools and techniques in decision-making and management in an ever-changing business environment. During the course of the 3 days, you will be given the opportunity to complete a number of practical exercises to ensure that you master the techniques you have learnt.

Evaluating the project approach as a means of improving business

Comparing traditional business operations to project work
Identifying the benefits of a project approach to your business
Demystifying project terminology
Reviewing the various project stages
Identifying the most common success and failure factors

Using project processes to manage your department's workload

Defining the scope of your department's project activities
Creating a work breakdown structure to determine the duration, required effort, sequence and dependencies of tasks to meet your department's deliverables
Using project scheduling techniques to establish and integrate a task schedule, allocate resources and determine your division's financial requirements within set timeframes
Pre-empting possible problems and delays and taking corrective steps to keep the process on track
Implementing effective controls to manage progress, resources, suppliers and costs
Continuously analysing performance to identify weaknesses and improve the processes

Examining your staff's current capabilities from a project point of view

Assessing each employee's potential to complete the various project tasks
Evaluating each team member's ability to identify and solve problems
Assessing staff's capability in organising and managing their own responsibilities, set priorities and adapt to changing circumstances
Evaluating each employees' understanding of their role in the department and the impact of their actions on colleagues

Using project management techniques to improve staff management

Defining each employee's area of responsibility and setting measurable objectives
Specifying the exact tasks to be completed, as well as the timeframe in which this should be done
Identifying the resources required by each staff member to successfully complete their tasks
Keeping the project on track by identifying risk factors and assessing the impact of each
Monitoring staff performance in terms of time, cost, quality and technical ability

Creating a project oriented workforce

Ensuring that team members have adequate time management skills to work to set timeframes
Creating a communication structure that encourages staff input and feedback and facilitates regular reporting
Creating an environment that encourages team members to learn how to work across functional areas, ensuring that no task comes to a halt when one person is absent
Encouraging team members to take responsibility for their role in and contribution to the results of the project as a whole
Taking timely corrective action to ensure that the project stays on track

Who should attend?

This course will be invaluable to:

General Managers
Sales & Marketing Managers
Financial Managers
Production Managers
Human Resource Managers
Project Managers, Project Team Members and Project Support Staff