Project Management Complete: Updated for the 8th Edition!

Frame project initiation as a high-level pre-planning phase and deliver a life cycle model, project charter, and stakeholder analysis.

Explore how a project charter, derived from the business case, provides a high level, 30,000 foot view that defines authority, scope, and expectations.

Explore the project charter as a high-level plan, detailing problem or opportunity, objectives, scope, milestones, budget, risks, stakeholders, assumptions, and constraints to aid sponsor authorization.

Explore a simple project charter template with NYU examples, covering project information, scope, purpose, objectives, deliverables, milestones, risks, constraints, dependencies, communication, approvals, and kickoff.

Identify and document all stakeholders—individuals, groups, or organizations who may be affected by or influence the project—and build a stakeholder register to align planning with their interests.

Learn to perform a stakeholder analysis using a power–interest grid, plot stakeholders on the register, and tailor management strategies from monitor to manage closely.

Explore the phase-gate life cycle as a governance framework, cover the project charter and stakeholder analysis, and show how gates and audits drive planning and stakeholder management.

Test your understanding of project initiation by reviewing the purpose of initiation, the project charter, and high level planning, plus key stakeholder concepts like the stakeholder register and analysis.

Plan thoroughly to produce the indispensable project management plan, covering scope statement, schedule, budget, risks, stakeholder and communications plans, and other deliverables before moving to execution.

Define the project scope by creating a scope statement that specifies deliverables, interim outputs, and acceptance criteria to answer how long and how much, reducing change requests.

Explore the scope statement template and its essential elements: deliverables, acceptance criteria, milestones, resources, cost, constraints, and assumptions, and learn when to tailor it for internal or contracted projects.

Learn how to turn project scope into a schedule by listing activities, sequencing them, estimating durations, and assigning start and finish dates that align with the network diagram.

Develop a project schedule by deriving a comprehensive activity list from the scope statement, using brainstorming and verb-noun actions, and prep for network diagrams.

Sequence activities into a network diagram to create a project schedule, using the activity on node method and finish-start relationships, include all activities, and differentiate mandatory vs discretionary sequencing.

Learn to build a project schedule with a network diagram, map activities and durations, identify the critical path, and assign plan start and finish dates using calendars.

Create a project schedule by turning the scope into activities, sequencing them in a network diagram, and assigning plan start and finish dates while considering the critical path and resources.

Learn to create a project schedule by analyzing a network diagram, identifying the 16 days critical path, and transposing data to a Gantt chart for clear, dated planning.

Learn to turn a project schedule into a budget by estimating each activity's complete cost, using past projects, input from workers, and parametric methods to compute daily and cumulative budgets.

Compute the daily cost per activity from duration and cost estimates, sum to the total project cost on the Gantt chart, and understand the cost baseline and earned value management.

Define the big three—scope, schedule, and cost—and plan in order: scope first, then schedule, then budget, using a waterfall approach to deliver on time and on budget.

Discover how a project communications plan defines who communicates, how, when, and to whom, including channels, to align stakeholders and keep them informed throughout the project.

Learn to plan for project risk by identifying risk events, ranking them by severity, and treating the highest risks to maximize the chance of delivering on time and on budget.

Identify risk events using the PMI definition of a risk as an uncertain event that may have a positive or negative effect on project objectives, including scope, time, and cost.

Rank risk events by severity using a likelihood–impact matrix to calculate a risk score, prioritizing responses and reducing red risks toward green or yellow through mitigation.

Explore how to compute risk score and risk severity with a probability and impact matrix, using qualitative risk analysis and 1 to 4 scales to rank and guide risk prioritization.

Discover how to treat project risks by lowering risk scores before they occur, using avoid/eliminate and transfer strategies, insurance, and fixed-price contracts, all from a risk register.

Finish exploring project risk treatments by detailing the four methods: avoid, transfer, mitigate, and accept. Explore mitigation to reduce likelihood or impact with practical examples.

Revise the risk register, re-score initial risks after applying treatments such as on-site emergency services to adjust likelihood and impact, and compute residual risk to lower risk exposure before execution.

Learn how a project plan builds from a scope statement to a schedule and cost budget, with risk, communications, and optional elements like WBS, quality, and stakeholder plans.

Explore how thorough planning shapes project success by detailing the project management plan, scope, time, cost, risk, and key artifacts like scope statements and communication plans.

Learn how project execution turns the plan into action after sign-off, by leading the team and managing resources, risk, scope, schedule, and budget through servant leadership.

Explore how intrinsic motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose outperforms carrots and sticks, and learn to apply these insights to leadership, management, and creative problem solving.

Dan Pink argues that carrots and sticks hinder creativity, while autonomy, mastery, and purpose motivate modern project teams and align with servant leadership.

Verify project scope by comparing built work to the scope baseline and scope statement, address deviations, manage scope creep, and adjust the baseline, schedule, and budget as needed.

Track and update the project schedule by reviewing the baseline, identifying critical activities and float, logging percent complete, and visually communicating progress to the project team and sponsor.

learn to track cost performance by comparing actual costs to earned value against schedule progress, using estimates, actual cost, and percent complete to identify over or under budget.

Track schedule and cost progress by updating the Gantt chart with actual starts, finishes, and percent complete. Assess critical activities and float to compare value of finished work to cost.

Assign a risk owner to monitor risk events and trigger conditions, invoke contingency plans, adjust the project plan with a contingency budget, and update the risk register as information arrives.

Update the risk register during execution by reassessing scores after treatments, adding new risks, and adjusting the plan to manage residual risk and exposure.

Identify common triggers for change, including risk events and owner requests, and learn how to control scope creep through a formal change control procedure during project execution.

Implement a change control procedure using a change request form, evaluate benefits and costs against scope, schedule, budget, and risk, then approve or reject and communicate changes.

Explore how to use a change control form to evaluate change requests, assess impact on scope, schedule, and cost, and document decisions for project lessons learned.

Manage stakeholder expectations throughout the project by keeping their mental model aligned with actual progress through clear communication on scope, schedule, cost, risks, and major milestones.

Create a simple project status report that summarizes execution for stakeholders. Present a brief executive summary, cover scope, schedule, cost, and risks, and include recommendations if needed.

Execute the project plan by applying leadership insights, verifying scope, tracking schedule and cost, managing risk with contingencies and owners, enforcing change control, and reporting to align stakeholders.

Close out projects by transitioning the final product to the owner, closing accounts, and documenting post-project assessment, lessons learned, and a closeout report for stakeholders.

Cover project closeout activities, including delivering the final product, verifying conformance to requirements, transitioning to operations, obtaining sponsor sign-off, and capturing lessons learned to drive future improvements.

Explore the predictive waterfall model, its phases and gates, and how early scope locking drives schedule and budget, setting the stage for agile variations.

Explore predictive (waterfall) versus adaptive lifecycle models, showing how teams can move backward to reinitiate, replan, and reexecute, ensuring the right solution through spiral and iterative approaches.

Explore the life cycle spectrum from predictive to adaptive, including waterfall, iterative, incremental, and agile approaches, with examples and terminology for handling scope, change, and delivery.

Explore agile software development with product owner, scrum master, and client collaborating through sprints, backlog prioritization, and self-organized teams delivering incremental, usable features.

Explore how agile adapts to high change and frequent deliveries through sprint-based increments, kanban boards with backlogs, burndown charts and velocity, and hybrid spiral releases.

Explore the project life cycle and delivery approaches, from initiation to close, including agile, iterative, and incremental methods with risk, scope, and budget.

Close out your project management course with a lighthearted final message, and receive a free offer to explore more courses in project management, leadership, or business communication.