Project Management Course Online

Program Overview

This program provides a comprehensive overview of virtual project management, covering topics such as leadership, collaboration, online facilitation, project management portals, document management, and workflow optimization. It is delivered in an instructor-supported asynchronous format, allowing students to learn at their own pace. The program prepares participants for careers in project management, including roles such as Project Leader, Project Controller, Project Coordinator, Project Director, and Program Manager.

Program Outline

Outline:

• Virtual Leadership, Real Accountability: Getting the Results you Need (2-4 weeks)
This module helps participants pivot to a new approach that enables them to hold distributed teams more accountable for the quality and timeliness of their work. Participants will learn how to structure, organize, and execute with a deliverables-based methodology that better aligns with the realities of distributed teams. Learners will understand the key enablers and barriers to improved organizational accountability and performance. Using a current project or initiative, participants will apply strategies to gain clarity and commitment through the development of responsibility matrices and process maps.
• Collaboration: Creating a High-Performance Virtual Team Culture (2-4 weeks)
How do you get a team that is not even on the same playing field to work together, collectively collaboratively to achieve the objectives of your project? Creating a High-Performance Virtual Team Culture shows that it’s a lot like everything else when going virtual…you need to be more systematic, more process driven, and less reliant on your ability to improvise, hoping you do the right thing as you go. This module will outline the key areas of focus and consideration when building a high-performance team, from what characteristics and traits we need in new recruits; to onboarding to ensure the project team sets the bar high for the new team members; to aligning teams on purpose and responsibilities and celebrating our victories; to the final stage of transitioning to the new owner.
• Online Facilitation: Maintaining Engagement and Getting Results (2-4 weeks)
As teams and organizations begin to transition to working online, the need for well-designed and effectively facilitated meetings and workshops rises. Unstructured or poorly run face-to-face meetings can seem frustrating, but just wait until that same approach is online! Keeping your virtual team engaged and productive is critical to the online project manager who must facilitate meetings and workshops where participants need to be heard and discussions must be focused on resolution and moving the project forward. Participants will better understand the benefits and challenges of online facilitation, gain tips to prepare and run an online meeting or workshop, and apply their learning to their own team meeting that they must share and critique.
• Project Management Portal 1: Low Budget, Big Results (2-4 weeks)
The easiest and quickest solutions for many organizations’ transition to virtual project management are free or close to it. Participants will gain a better understanding of the options and functionality of some popular low-budget tools, then apply the tool/technology of their choice to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their virtual project management team. This module begins with participants identifying an issue, task, or process that they will focus on improving through the application of a new tool or technology. Learners will identify key evaluation criteria and develop a weighted scorecard to support their own technology implementation. Product demos, group discussions, and shared research assignments create a rich learning environment where each learner has the ability to apply their learning to their own need, creating immediate impact while sharing and supporting the learning of their peers.
• Project Management Portal 2: End-to-End Control (2-4 weeks)
Cloud-based collaborative contract administration technology platforms abound. They can provide transparency and up-to-date real-time access to project documents, streamlining their creation, review and approvals. But they are not for the faint of heart or those implementing off the side of their desk. Participants will evaluate three to five solutions in areas such as tracking, notifications, document access, and reporting analytics. Learners will also consider the integration of tools that may already exist within their organizations, such as Tableau, Power BI, Bluebeam, Procore, and PlanGrid. The key assignment is to create a business case for a tool of choice that will solve an immediate need for their project team. Participants are free to focus on any aspect of their project and will be expected to recommend a solution that can improve planning, execution, or control processes of their distributed project team.
• Document Management and IP Security: Managing Your Most Important Assets (2-4 weeks)
How do organizations balance the need of each project team member to be able to easily access the information they need from wherever they are with the company’s need to protect their privacy and intellectual capital? Are cloud-based storage systems secure? Can you access them from the field? DM & IP Security helps the participant determine an appropriate solution for their organization, including cloud-based storage options, document classifications, and document management systems. Participants will also create a clear policy outlining their organization’s document management practices and expectations.
• Workflows: Understanding, Optimizing, Automating (2-4 weeks)
Tools abound for organizations to incorporate workflows to reduce lead times, eliminate waste, ferment innovation, or provide dashboard data in real time. But not having a clear focus on what you want to achieve and what you need to achieve it can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavour. Workflows: UOA takes learners on a high-level overview of where workflows can have significant project impact on your bottom line before diving into the basic structure that must be developed before a workflow can even be considered. Participants map and analyze an existing organization or team process, including baseline metrics, then re-engineer it to improve overall performance using debottlenecking, streamlining, and automation.

Teaching:

• Instructor-Supported Format (Asynchronous)
Instructor-supported courses come with the support of a dedicated instructor but do not follow a set class schedule. Students work at their own pace to complete the course within a set time period. The instructor may offer pre-recorded lectures that are available for students to review or check-in sessions that students can participate in via video conferencing.

Careers:

• Project Leader
• Project Controller
• Project Coordinator
• Project Director
• Program Manager