Project Management Suite™

PDU Claim Code: 1130KPHE2F 30-PDUs   $780.00

Currently, 40% of the content of the PMP exam is oriented toward agile project management (PM) theory and practice, with 60% covering the more traditional predictive approach that has dominated PM thinking for decades. Agile and Iterative Project Management offers students insights into agile practices that, through methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, XP and RAD, put motivated people, flexibility, communication, and self-management at the heart of the project development effort. The course does not reject the traditional predictive approach, but demonstrates how mastery of predictive and agile methods when taken together can lead to superior project performance.

PDU Claim Code: 1130XE87Q1 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course covers the fundamental project management principles and methodologies for managing the software development life-cycle and process models. Topics include: process metrics; software project planning; monitoring, control, and schedule mechanisms; budget estimates; risk assessment; and leadership, motivation, and team building.

PDU Claim Code: 1130N5S5H1 15-PDUs   $390.00

One of the hottest developments to hit project management in recent years has been recognition of the central role project support offices play in contributing to project success. These offices are substantially different from traditional program offices used on military and construction projects. Their job is not to run projects, but rather to provide an environment that enables project teams to function more effectively. They do this in a number of ways: providing administrative support, establishing methods and procedures, maintaining standards, offering consulting and mentoring services, and helping in training efforts. Establishing a Project Office explores these and other functions of project support offices and examines how such offices can be established and maintained.

Establishing a Project Office is based on the work of UMT professors Dr. J. Davidson Frame and Mr. Tom Block. Variations of this course have been taught to some 8,000 participants over the past few years. It provides insights based on Frame and Block's work with project offices in more than 200 companies.

PDU Claim Code: 1130JITX6Y 15-PDUs   $390.00

Today's technology is rapidly changing the environment in which projects are carried out. This course is geared to offer project professionals understanding of one of the most interesting developments that affect them: e-Commerce. It provides participants insights into the workings of e-Commerce, including an understanding of its technical underpinnings; its emerging role in driving business activity; and its strengths and weaknesses as a business model.

PDU Claim Code: 1130T8LQ1P 15-PDUs   $390.00

Bad estimates are a leading source of project failure: if you promise to do a five-month job in three-months --- and it really is a five-month job -- schedule slippages and cost overruns are hardwired into the project before any work has begun. Clearly, individuals and organizations intent on reducing the levels of project failure they encounter need to focus attention on improving the way they develop estimates of costs, schedules, and resource requirements.

This course balances the "soft" and "hard" dimensions of estimation. On the soft side, it emphasizes that factors, such as the optimism of the sales staff, the naivete of the technical team, and political pressures to win a job at any cost, contribute mightily to understating cost, schedule, and resource realities. On the hard side, it describes a series of techniques -- including trend extrapolation and Monte Carlo simulation -- that enable capable estimators to do a better job of forecasting project requirements.

Effective Estimation was developed by UMT Dean Dr. J. Davidson Frame and is based on the course he has taught as part of the PMI Project World Seminar series.

Note: Students who take Effective Estimation should not take PM251. Planning and Control

PDU Claim Code: 11302MMIKF 15-PDUs   $390.00

Most managers realize that to manage effectively in today's turbulent environment, they must have good project management skills. However, what is not well understood is that project management is more than just scheduling! Certainly, the tools of project management are absolutely necessary for success, but they are not sufficient in and of themselves! In fact, more projects fail because the project manager lacks people skills than because of poor use of tools. This course equips you with the essential skills you need to manage the human side of projects successfully.

Although some individuals are naturally better at dealing with people than others, all of these skills can be learned. This course provides the vital methods of leading, motivating, and communicating with members of your project team to achieve critical project outcomes – skills that can be used in any discipline.

Team-based Project Management is based on the work of Dr. James P. Lewis. Dr. Lewis is an adjunct professor at UMT who has conducted project management training for more than 20,000 supervisors and managers around the world. He is founder and president of The Lewis Institute.

PDU Claim Code: 11300UIQ8D 15-PDUs   $390.00

Successful project management requires technical, process, and psychological skills. With this course, you learn how to bring these skill areas together to form the arsenal of tools needed to successfully achieve project objectives. Included are methods for making better decisions about projects, handling scheduling uncertainty, improving project management processes, and dealing with power and politics.

Special attention is given in this course to teaching participants to think like project managers – to be active instead of passive, to take responsibility for the project, and to take positive steps to keep on track. The reason for this emphasis is that we have found that many people learn the tools of project management, yet have no idea what is truly the role of a professional project manager.

Mastering Project Management is based on the work of Dr. James P. Lewis. Dr. Lewis is an adjunct professor at UMT who has conducted project management training for more than 20,000 supervisors and managers around the world. He is founder and president of The Lewis Institute.

PDU Claim Code: 1130NQX1AN 15-PDUs   $390.00

All projects arise in response to needs. In theory, the whole project effort should be geared toward addressing these needs. Unfortunately, needs are often incorrectly identified, poorly articulated, or simply ignored. Requirements, in turn, are the physical embodiment of the needs. If needs are poorly defined, then the requirements that address them will be off-target, no matter how brilliantly formulated. Ultimately, many project failures are rooted in the poor development of needs and requirements at the project outset. In this case, project work has not even begun when failure is hardwired into the project.

This course focuses on all aspects of the needs-requirements life-cycle, including needs recognition, needs articulation, development of business requirements, development of functional requirements, and development of specifications. It reviews the pitfalls practitioners face in identifying the full range of customers, sorting through the contending needs of multiple customers, articulating needs so that technical personnel can understand them, and managing changes to requirements (scope creep). It examines significant techniques that help in the elicitation and specification of both needs and requirements.

Note: Students who take Managing Needs and Requirements should not take UMTIT282. Information Technology Project Management.

PDU Claim Code: 1130S3IOWH 30-PDUs   $780.00

It is not enough to be a good administrator or good manager. Today, getting things done successfully requires leadership. Project Leadership focuses on the need for leadership on project teams. Leadership is particularly important when running projects, because traditional hierarchy-based command and control skills do not work in project environments: you cannot command team members to plan, execute, and sustain excellence—you must lead them to do what needs to be done

PDU Claim Code: 11300258JT 15-PDUs   $390.00

One of the most important steps project planners take when planning a project is to develop a work breakdown structure (WBS). WBSs are instrumental in defining a project's scope. By decomposing the deliverable into constituent pieces, planners can make the planning process more manageable.

This course offers a detailed examination of what WBSs are, how they provide the basis for planning budgets and schedules, how they can be used to estimate project budgets, how they play a central role in integrated cost/schedule control, and how they can be tailored to meet the needs of individual projects. At the end of the course, students know how to build them for large and small projects alike.

The treatment of WBSs in this course is compliant with the following standards: PMBOK Guide, PMI's Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (2nd ed., 2006), IPMA's Competence Baseline, and Military Handbook 881A.

PDU Claim Code: 11306WMM8O 15-PDUs   $390.00

This course examines in depth what some experts have called the single most important innovation in project management since the development of PERT/CPM networks. Earned value management (EVM) enables project staff and customers to keep track of cost and schedule performance on projects. Many people have likened it to a dashboard that provides early warning of incipient problems on projects. While it was originally developed to deal with major programs, it can be used productively on projects as small as $10,000.

EVM underwent a major change in the late 1990s, when the US Defense Department shifted responsibility for maintaining EVM from itself to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Electronic Industries Association (EIA). The course looks at differences between the old DODI 7000.2 standard (Defense Department) and the new ANSI/EIA-748-A standard. Because a large portion of the Federal government continues to employ the old approach, the course uses both traditional and contemporary EVM nomenclature, so that both Federal and non-Federal students can follow the course content readily.

The treatment of EVM in this course is compliant with the PMBOK Guide, PMI's Practice Standard for Earned Value Management, and ANSI/EIA-748-A.

PDU Claim Code: 1130GNTB88 15-PDUs   $390.00

This course on the critical chain scheduling technique is designed to introduce students to a new approach to scheduling that is leading to the creation of more realistic schedules than we have experienced using traditional scheduling techniques. One theme that will be emphasized is that critical chain scheduling is practical. Many people, when they understand the basic notions of critical chain scheduling, make the comment: "Why, it's just common sense scheduling!" They are correct.

When studying the critical chain method, it is important that students do not approach it as some arcane methodology that requires advanced knowledge of mathematics and operations research. While all scheduling requires discipline, estimating skills, and the ability to handle numbers, it is not rocket science. If you find yourself getting hung up on technique and you ignore common sense and good judgment, then you are doing something wrong. The most advanced scheduling algorithm in the world has little value if it does not accommodate human foibles, inconsistencies, politics, resource bottlenecks, and other "soft" issues of this ilk.

This course takes a common sense approach. Once students have completed it, they can start applying the principles they have learned. For those of you who want to explore the material in more detail, you should certainly read Robert C. Newbold's book, Project Management in the Fast Lane (Saint Lucie Press, 1999), and, of course, should obtain a copy of Eliyahu Goldratt's seminal work (a novel) titled Critical Chain (The North River Press, 1997).

Note: Students who take Critical Chain Project Management should not take UMTPM251. Planning and Control.

PDU Claim Code: 1130M532TL 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course provides a practical overview of basic principles of business management. The course covers topics in the areas of marketing, sales, finance, accounting, business law, organizational behavior, contracting, and procurement. It provides insight into key issues businesses face and how they are run.

PDU Claim Code: 1130RUQP0X 30-PDUs   $780.00

This graduate level course shows how effective management requires mastery of both communication skills and soft skills - the two are interdependent. The course covers different perspectives on workplace behavior, development of interpersonal relations skills, dealing with others in a collaborative fashion, handling conflict. It also takes a look at the practice of communication in a work environment, e.g., use of meetings, writing memos, virtual team management, and more.

PDU Claim Code: 1130WAZUPK 30-PDUs   $780.00

Operations is an exciting area of management that has a profound effect on productivity. This course presents a state-of-the-art view of the operations function in any organization (manufacturing or service). The course covers the set of activities that creates goods and services through the transformation of inputs into outputs.

PDU Claim Code: 1130DLNKNU 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course provides a practical overview of the theory and practice of management in the public sector. It provides insight into key issues government agencies and departments face and how they are run. It looks at the public sector from political, historical, international, organizational, and budgetary perspectives.

PDU Claim Code: 113052HJMC 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course offers a comprehensive overview of technological entrepreneurship by examining the link between entrepreneurship, creativity, invention and innovation. It addresses both theory and practice. In order to see what it takes to be successful, it looks at several current high tech businesses that began as start-ups in the recent past and became successful.

PDU Claim Code: 1130B6Z2TV 30-PDUs   $780.00

When asked to define their jobs, project managers consistently report: “My job is to get the job done!” This course provides basic knowledge on what it takes to carry out projects effectively. It looks at standard project management tools and techniques and investigates the all-important human dimension of project management. It is a nuts-and-bolts course that presents participants with an overview of “everything you need to know” to manage projects effectively – from selecting projects with a range of prioritization techniques; to planning schedules, budgets, and resource allocations; to controlling projects once they are underway; to conducting periodic sanity checks to see that the project on fundamentally on-target; to closing out projects and assuring customer satisfaction.

The course places a heavy emphasis on the organizational context of project management. It looks at people-related topics such as how to manage tasks when you have responsibility without authority; how to structure project teams most effectively; and how to negotiate political waters.

Note: Students who take Project Management should not take UMTIT282. IT Project Management.

PDU Claim Code: 1130CEU2NZ 30-PDUs   $780.00

Effective planning and control entails developing skills that go far beyond mastery of Microsoft Project! To begin with, it requires the development of solid cost, duration, and resource estimates, which means that practitioners need to learn the principles of effective estimation. In planning projects, they also need to know how to construct product-oriented and task-oriented work breakdown structures (WBSs), since WBSs form the foundation of schedules and budgets. In the scheduling arena, today’s practitioners need to go beyond PERT/CPM and should get up to speed on brand new scheduling techniques, such as critical chain scheduling and time-boxed scheduling. And once the project is underway, they should be able to track actuals-versus-planned in order to keep the project under control.

Note: Students who take Planning and Control should not take UMTPM010. Critical Chain and Time-boxed Scheduling or UMTPM009. Effective Estimation.

PDU Claim Code: 11300FVQ4Z 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course takes an in-depth look at the financial side of project management. Specifically, it looks at the budget process and the role it plays in planning, implementing, and controlling project efforts; and at financial perspectives, including techniques needed to select projects and evaluate project performance. Beyond this, it examines some basic microeconomic tools and concepts that can be usefully applied to managing projects.

PDU Claim Code: 1130M31SXU 30-PDUs   $780.00

Risk is a pervasive reality in business. It arises because we live in a world of uncertainty. This course examines the origins of risk and provides insights on how to manage it. It acknowledges that not all risk is bad, that in fact with risks we also encounter opportunities.

The course is structured around the risk management process defined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Project Management Institute. Consequently, it addresses the six steps of the PMBOK risk management process: 1) risk planning; 2) risk identification; 3) qualitative risk analysis; 4) quantitative risk analysis; 5) risk response planning; and 6) risk monitoring and control. In dealing with these topics, the course looks both at concepts and tools.

PDU Claim Code: 1130NI288B 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course reviews the total acquisition life cycle associated with contracting and procurement, from the pre-award phase through post-award contract management through contract closeout. Topics covered in this course include defining needs and requirements, formulating a statement of work, proposal development, different contract modalities, sealed bid contracts, negotiated contracts, the award granting process, monitoring contract performance, dealing with change orders, and closing-out contracts.

PDU Claim Code: 113003VOSA 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course offers a comprehensive view of developments in quality management over the past fifty years. It looks at the evolution of perspectives on quality, ranging from the simple view that quality is conformance to specifications to more sophisticated perspectives that see quality as a reflection of customer experiences. It highlights key thinkers, theories, and techniques. Finally, the course focuses on how the quality perspectives that arose in the production environment can be applied with equal effectiveness in project environments.

PDU Claim Code: 11304GL4GY 30-PDUs   $780.00

This course examines project management as it is carried out in the global arena. Recent advances in computers, telecommunications, and transportation have truly led to a shrinking world. Virtual global project teams, once a curious dream, are a common reality today. The global dimension raises new challenges in managing projects, including: managing across cultures, time zones, languages, education systems, labor systems and regulations; making/receiving international payments in multiple currencies; leveraging fundamental global economic principles, such as comparative advantage and increasing returns to scale.

PDU Claim Code: 1130UFKDJK 30-PDUs   $780.00

As project management becomes a dominant approach employed in managing business and government enterprises, we find that organizations typically handle a number of projects at any given time. This presents them with challenges they do not face when managing only one project. With multiple projects, for example, the scheduling, budgeting, and resource needs of different projects must be balanced. High priority projects may siphon resources from other projects.

This course examines what it takes to manage multiple projects. It focuses on two broad approaches: managing project portfolios and managing major programs. When covering portfolio management topics, it looks at the risk and business implications of different portfolio scenarios, shows how to take strategic factors into account when building portfolios (employing gap analysis), and demonstrates how resources can be allocated across projects using basic tools, such as resource histograms and resource Gantt charts. When covering program management, it focuses on how to coordinate the budget, schedule and resource efforts of different projects in order to produce a major deliverable on time, within budget, and according to specifications.

PDU Claim Code: 1130MVQ0HE 30-PDUs   $780.00

An overview of tools, processes, and regulations governing the management of large complex programs: the program life-cycle, establishing and running a program office, contracting and procurement issues, regulations on large systems acquisitions, implementing earned value management, coordinating work efforts among subcontractors, the link between the budget cycle and the program cycle, managing a project portfolio.

PDU Claim Code: 113032D20T 15-PDUs   $390.00

Over the past twenty years, project management has matured dramatically. At the outset, it was primarily concerned with getting a job done under cost and schedule constraints. Today, it is a key component of the business strategies of enterprises, since in today’s project-based enterprises, strategic goals are achieved through the execution of projects. Consequently, project professionals need to get up to speed on strategic management principles and practices. They need to understand how to define objectives and goals that dovetail with the enterprise’s strategic direction. They need to be familiar with major strategic planning concepts, including gap analysis, core competency, balanced scorecard, and value chain. With insights into the strategic management process, they will be able to select and plan projects so that they dovetail with their enterprise’s overall strategies.

PDU Claim Code: 1130Y2VJ45 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This graduate course for managers provides a practical overview of basic principles for effective communications. The course covers topics in the areas of: communication models; barriers to communications; verbal vs. nonverbal communications; formal vs. informal communications; writing reports; making presentation; and conducting meetings. The course provides students with practical exercises in effective communication.

PDU Claim Code: 11302R8JVQ 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course covers the fundamental project management principles and methodologies for managing the software development life-cycle and process models. Topics include: process metrics; software project planning; monitoring, control, and schedule mechanisms; budget estimates; risk assessment; and leadership, motivation, and team building.

PDU Claim Code: 11300CZUTF 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

Currently, 40% of the content of the PMP exam is oriented toward agile project management (PM) theory and practice, with 60% covering the more traditional predictive approach that has dominated PM thinking for decades. Agile and Iterative Project Management offers students insights into agile practices that, through methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, XP and RAD, put motivated people, flexibility, communication, and self-management at the heart of the project development effort. The course does not reject the traditional predictive approach, but demonstrates how mastery of predictive and agile methods when taken together can lead to superior project performance.

PDU Claim Code: 11303NG6AX 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course provides students with a solid foundation in the theory and practice of modern management. Theories, concepts, and processes of both classical and modern management will be discussed. Other covered topics include: leadership, human resource management, conflict in line and staff relationships, delegation, accountability in organizations, role and types of organizational communication, ethics in business, diversity at the workplace, change and stress management, quality and innovation, operations control, international management, and technology in business.

PDU Claim Code: 11300IJFVR 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course provides a practical overview of basic principles of business management. The course covers topics in the areas of marketing, sales, finance, accounting, business law, organizational behavior, contracting, and procurement. It provides insight into key issues businesses face and how they are run.

PDU Claim Code: 1130PBNB49 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course looks at the views of established management theorists and addresses key theories and practices of management being used today. It examines the role of structure, people, politics, and symbols in managing enterprises. It explicitly focuses on organizations, ethics, and leadership.

PDU Claim Code: 11303X0OU4 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

Operations is an exciting area of management that has a profound effect on productivity. This course presents a state-of-the-art view of the operations function in any organization (manufacturing or service). The course covers the set of activities that creates goods and services through the transformation of inputs into outputs.

PDU Claim Code: 11305PN2KO 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course provides students with important background on the legal and regulatory environment of business. It covers key elements of law and the judicial process, reviews the major areas of the common law that apply to business, and addresses the regulatory laws that business managers are likely to encounter. It also engages students in thinking about the ethical implications of actions taken in the business world.

PDU Claim Code: 1130W2BTTA 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course addresses the central role of project management today. A review of the project life-cycle. Techniques in the areas of cost management, scheduling, and resource allocation. Identifying and managing project requirements. An examination of the central role of people in projects.

PDU Claim Code: 11306GXBMP 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

Effective planning and control entails developing skills that go far beyond mastery of Microsoft Project! To begin with, it requires the development of solid cost, duration, and resource estimates, which means that practitioners need to learn the principles of effective estimation. In planning projects, they also need to know how to construct product-oriented and task-oriented work breakdown structures (WBSs), since WBSs form the foundation of schedules and budgets. In the scheduling arena, today''s practitioners need to go beyond PERT/CPM and should get up to speed on brand new scheduling techniques, such as critical chain scheduling and time-boxed scheduling. And once the project is underway, they should be able to track actuals-versus-planned in order to keep the project under control.

PDU Claim Code: 1130HUTL2H 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course takes an in-depth look at the financial side of project management. Specifically, it looks at the budget process and the role it plays in planning, implementing, and controlling project efforts; and at financial perspectives, including techniques needed to select projects and evaluate project performance. Beyond this, it examines some basic microeconomic tools and concepts that can be usefully applied to managing projects.

PDU Claim Code: 1130TYKPPS 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

The effective management of any enterprise - large or small, government or private - requires the capacity to manage risk and quality. This course examines how risks are identified, how risk impact assessments are made, how organizations plan risk mitigation strategies, and how risk events are handled once they arise. The course also examines key issues of quality management, taking the perspective that quality is what customers perceive it to be. Material covered in this course is a balance between subjective and analytical approaches to dealing with risk and quality.

PDU Claim Code: 1130G1DDDD 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course reviews the total acquisition life cycle associated with contracting and procurement, from the pre-award phase through post-award contract management through contract closeout. Topics covered in this course include defining needs and requirements, formulating a statement of work, proposal development, different contract modalities, sealed bid contracts, negotiated contracts, the award granting process, monitoring contract performance, dealing with change orders, and closing-out contracts.

PDU Claim Code: 11308YB4AQ 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course examines project management as it is carried out in the global arena. Recent advances in computers, telecommunications, and transportation have truly led to a shrinking world. Virtual global project teams, once a curious dream, are a common reality today. The global dimension raises new challenges in managing projects, including: managing across cultures, time zones, languages, education systems, labor systems and regulations; making/receiving international payments in multiple currencies; leveraging fundamental global economic principles, such as comparative advantage and increasing returns to scale.

PDU Claim Code: 1130K86GP5 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course provides students with insights into the workings of e-Commerce today and how it is evolving. It provides an understanding of the business and technical underpinnings of e-Commerce, and explains how specific business units fit into the global (e-Business) picture. The course also facilitates/triggers meaningful, creative thinking, and discussion to benefit students and their organizations. Topics also include improvements to e-Commerce and some potential areas of growth for the future.

PDU Claim Code: 1130PT5JRE 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course focuses on the fact that people lie at the heart of decision making: decisions are made by people, for people. Traditional perspectives on decision making take the position that the test of good decision making is whether it pursues rational decisions gained through rational processes; and whether the solutions it offers are optimal. In the world of real decision making, irrationality, people, and constraints reign. The very concept of rational decisions is questionable when decisions address the needs and wants of multiple players (a rational, optimal solution for A may be non-rational, sub-optimizing for B). Effective decision making must accommodate a number of realities, including: balancing the perspectives of multiple players with contending viewpoints; the irrelevance of rationality in many decision scenarios; the moral dimension of decision making; the biological, psychological, and social dimensions associated with making choices; the constraints decision makers that strongly shape their decisions. This course demonstrates the primacy of these non-traditional concerns and offers strategies for dealing with them.

PDU Claim Code: 1130PMCAQW 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

An overview of tools, processes, and regulations governing the management of large complex programs: the program life-cycle, establishing and running a program office, contracting and procurement issues, regulations on large systems acquisitions, implementing earned value management, coordinating work efforts among subcontractors, the link between the budget cycle and the program cycle, managing a project portfolio.

PDU Claim Code: 1130X3DWS2 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course offers a comprehensive overview of technological entrepreneurship by examining the link between entrepreneurship, creativity, invention and innovation. It addresses both theory and practice. In order to see what it takes to be successful, it looks at several current high tech businesses that began as start-ups in the recent past and became successful.

PDU Claim Code: 11307XFQZY 45-PDUs   $1,170.00

This course focuses on the key functions of marketing: pricing, promotion, distribution channels, and product definition. Topics include: the market research function, an understanding of who customers are (both internal and external) and how to define their needs and wants, and sales strategies.