Schedule and Cost Control (PM03)

Learn the skills you need to effectively establish and manage a realistic schedule and detailed budget.

Course Outline

Get your schedule and budget done right and quantify progress through earned value analysis.

Learn the skills you need to effectively establish and manage a realistic schedule and detailed budget. Through hands-on exercises, you'll learn to develop a work breakdown schedule, grasp diagramming techniques, identify task relationships, determine the critical path, employ estimating techniques, and analyze resource utilization.

Once the project schedule is complete, you'll create a budget that includes all direct and indirect costs associated with the project. Learn the importance of baselining project schedules and budgets to make reporting and tracking progress easier. Understand how to use earned value analysis and other reporting techniques to ensure that your project progress is clearly identified and communicated to stakeholders. Create schedule and cost management plans, and control changes through an integrated change management process. You'll learn to use a variety of tools that will ensure that your project is delivered on time and within budget.

Students pursuing a university-recognized and/or accredited certificate in Canada or continuing education units in the US must attend at least 90% of class time, participate in class exercises and section-knowledge checks, and score at least 70% on an end-of-class, multiple-choice assessment.

This course was previously titled Managing Project Schedules and Budgets.

What You'll Learn

• Develop a work breakdown structure
• Create a network diagram
• Identify the critical path
• Estimating techniques
• Finalize your project schedule
• Types of cost and expenditures
• Develop a budget
• Report progress through earned value analysis

Who Needs to Attend

• Associate Project Managers
• Project Managers
• IT Project Managers
• Project Coordinators
• Project Analysts
• Project Leaders
• Senior Project Managers
• Team Leaders
• Product Managers
• Program Managers

Course Outline

1. Introduction to Schedule and Cost Management

• Project Management
• Program Management
• Essential Schedule and Cost Terminology
• Project Constraints
• Project Charter

2. Scope and Schedule Development

• Scope Planning

• Scope Definition
• Scope Decomposition

• Schedule Development

• Building the Project Network Diagram

• Critical Chain

• Application of Critical Chain
• Critical Chain vs. Critical Path
• Developing a Gantt Chart

• Schedule Considerations

• Schedule Compression
• Contingency Reserves and the Project Schedule

3. Resource Planning

• Resource Planning Considerations
• Estimating Activity Resources
• Planning and Loading Resources

• Identifying Roles and Responsibilities
• Loading Resources
• Leveling Resources

4. Cost Planning

• Cost Management Plan

• Categorizing Costs

• Cost Estimating for Projects

• Common Eliminating Techniques
• Additional Estimating Techniques
• Compensation

• Cost Accounting and Budgeting

• Corporate Accounting: The General Ledger
• Project Cost Estimating
• Summarizing the Differences
• Project Budgets
• Budgeting Responsibilities
• Steps to a General Budget

5. Controlling the Schedule and Budget

• Creating a Baseline Plan

• Establishing Baselines
• Types of Baselines
• The Project Baseline

• Establishing Project Milestones

• Milestone Chart

• Developing a Project Control Process

• Guidelines for Project Control
• Performance Measures

• Tools for Project Control

• The Earned Value Method of Project Management
• Looking at Current Project Status with Earned Value
• Looking Forward with Earned Value
• Earned Value Management in Practice

• Strategies and Processes for Project Control

• Status Review Meetings

• Managing Project Change

• Change Control
• Change Control Process
• Additional Tools for Managing Control of the Project
• Other Project Change Considerations

• Why Projects Are Late and Over Budget