Your cart is empty.
Keep shoppingTop 10 Project Management Lessons Learned (2 PDU's)
6,498 students
Top 10 Project Management Lessons Learned (2 PDU's)
Take a multi decade career shortcut by making the ten most important project management lessons learned yours.
Created byWilliam Stewart PhD, PMP, DPPM
Last updated 6/2026
English
What you'll learn
- "Outstanding course with priceless pragmatic wisdom – these are the lessons that guarantee project success." – Ken Semerkant, PMP
- Learn how the Project Manager can leverage accountability to obtain the authority they need to ensure project success.
- Learn the magic sentence the PM can use to maximize the chances of the organization giving you what you need.
- Learn why defining the Work Breakdown Structure of deliverables makes everything else in PM easy.
- Learn how I once talked a senior, reluctant, aggressive, and arrogant team into being WBS believers.
- Get a real example of a WBS my team developed for a $140M aerospace project.
- Learn why best practice process can solve any problem, no matter how complex.
- Get a real example of a Precedence Diagram my team developed for a $140M aerospace project.
- Learn why risk management makes the entire PM process work, with essential risk planning tips.
- Learn eight common risks it is always worth considering including in your project risk register.
- Learn essential tips for monitoring and controling the risk budget as you proceed through your project.
- Learn how to defend keeping as much of your risk budget as possible when you are under pressure to give some up.
- Learn the two big advantages of deriving the requirements from a higher level description of user workflow.
- Hear a useful story about how backfitting a set of user scenarios at relatively little cost helped reduce millions of dollars of acceptance risk.
- Learn why closing is a separate, organized set of project activities.
- Hear a true story about the negative impact of not formally closing a project procurement, and the process that would have prevented it.
- Hear a very useful story about a PM that made all three of the most common mistakes in project management.
- Learn the huge benefits of keeping your eye on the top three drivers of project success.
- Learn how the project manager broadcasting an optimistic and success oriented attitude to the entire team helps maximize project success.
- Hear an example of how believing a solution existed, even though we didn’t know what it was, enabled us to shorten a schedule by six months.
- Hear a story of the benefits of telling the truth when my boss asked me to do something impossible, even though he obviously did not want to hear it.
- Hear the three big advantages I gained from repeatedly telling the truth, for my project, my boss, and my own reputation and career.
Explore related topics
Course content
12 sections • 24 lectures • 2h 0m total length
Requirements
- This course will provide anyone with a deep understanding of how to be a successful Project Manager.
- No prerequisits or specific experience required, gain decades of experience in under two hours.
Description
"Wow, this is great stuff. If anyone ever asks you 'What does a Project Manager do?' direct them to this course." – Leah Henig.
Distilled from more than 30 years of experience, this course covers the top ten most important lessons learned you need to know to be the most effective possible project manager and leader of teams. In less than two hours, it can make these lessons yours, and jump start your career by several decades. The instructor is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP), President of the Institute For Practical Project Management (IFPPM), and has managed projects for more than 30 years, from just a few thousand dollars to $55M, and worked in senior roles on projects up to $3B.
Rising above all the technical aspects of project management, these ten lessons are the most important keys to project success. Several real life stories are included of how to handle difficult situations with your teams and management. A real WBS and precedence diagram is provided for a $140M aerospace project. And you will get PDF downloads of all the key points, along with a professional Excel risk register template.
The ten lessons are:
The Magic Of Accountability. How to leverage the power of accountability to give you the authority you need to ensure project success. Includes the magic sentence that will maximize the chances the organization will help when you need it.
The Importance Of The WBS. How the work breakdown structure makes everything else in project management easy. Includes a real life story of how, as a very junior lead, I once got a very senior and arrogant team to become WBS believers.
The Power Of Process. The deep reason the best processes can solve almost any problem, no matter how complex. An example of why the precedence diagram is more important than the Gantt chart.
Planning The Risk Budget. How a sufficient risk budget makes the entire PM life-cycle work. Eight common risks you should *always* consider including in your risk register. Why you should focus on only the top ten largest risks.
Managing The Risk Budget. How to best manage the risks once underway. The rule of thumb for how much risk budget you need as your project proceeds. The magic sentence that helps you keep as much risk budget as possible when under management pressure to give some up.
Backfitting Scenarios When Needed. How scenario-based acceptance testing helps convince your customer the project will do what they need *and* signs off the requirements at the same time. A real-life story of how backfitting scenarios helped ensure the success of a $20M system integration project.
Make Friends With Procurement. A real story about why it is so important to formally close your procurements to prevent additional spending, even by mistake. And why the PM should make friends with all the supporting departments.
The Top 3 Drivers Of Project Success. A true story about a PM that made all three of the most common mistakes on a single project! And how the three most important drivers of project success could have saved him.
Focus On The Success Path. The over-riding importance of the success oriented mindset leaders should broadcast to their teams. A famous story that illustrates why. And a real example of how my team once shortened a schedule by six months because we believed there was a solution before we knew what it was.
The Benefits Of Telling The Truth. Why telling the truth when your project has problems is the only solid ground. A real story about how telling the truth as a young project manager was the best thing I could do for the project, my team, and my boss. And how telling uncomfortable truths got me promoted me to be functional manager of a 55 person organization.
Making these lessons yours will increase the probability of success of your projects, and give you a multi-decade career shortcut in less than two hours. Includes PDF downloads of all the key points. The course also earns you two Professional Development Units (PDU’s) in the Business Acumen (Leadership) category.
Instructor
William Stewart is President of The Institute For Practical Project Management (IFPPM), and has managed projects for more than 30 years, from just a handful of people to $55M, and worked in senior roles on PM teams for projects up to $3B. He is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP), an IFPPM certified Deeply Practical Project Manager (DPPM), and has taught more than 330 project management live courses to more than 3,300 people. He has managed projects in the domains of system integration, software development, business process, construction, real estate, and others. Internationally recognized, he has spoken twice as a keynote speaker at International Project Management Association (IPMA) conferences. Previously, he worked for aerospace, government, academia, and founded the cloud computing company Cirrus Computing. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science for discovery of an algorithm that builds geodesic domes in multiple dimensions in optimum space and time.
Student Feedback
"Decades of valuable project management experience." - Thibaut Lefebvre
"Project management comes to life!" - April Bly-Monnen
"Great information for all PMs both new and old, certified or not. Great use of time." - Gerald Gentle
"Full of sound advice from years of experience. Recommend to any new or experienced PM." - Peter Hungiapuko
"A great course that shares valuable experience and addresses soft skills. Loved it." - Carlos Camargo
"In every lesson there is a golden nugget." - Isaac Leal
"Actionable, real-world advice for both PMs and people interested in project management." - Alex Hadar
"Clear, rational, calm and friendly, empowering!" - Peter Courtley
"Good advice about communicating with executives." - Natalie Tangen
"Very helpful, recommend to all PMs at any level." - Matthew Webber
Who this course is for:
- Anyone that would like to understand the mindset, responsibilities, and real life experience of the successful Project Manager in challenging environments.