Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Project Management has become an academic discipline, a management function, a way of thinking, and a language with its own jargon. Project managers have become the chameleons of companies. The position requires managers to have the ability to juggle “hard” and “soft” skills as they orchestrate projects in departmental communities. Furthermore, PM’s are being requested to interface with internal and external clients to manage change, conflict, and motivation for project acceptance. This course will blend theoretical concepts, industry tested instruction, and practical application to ready students for project management positions.

1. Use the five stages of the project management process as supported by the PMP model
2. Implement the primary soft skills of Appreciative Inquiry, conflict management, and the Balanced Scorecard.
3. Showcase the basic mapping of a Project Charter, SOW, WBS, CP, and EVA
4. Apply the core elements of Project Management which include scope, quality, risk, and procurement management.

Project Management is one the fastest growing career tracks as the business community is shifting from a traditional model to “project driven environments.” At the beginning of the course, the instructor will detail methods used to evaluate student progress and the criteria for assigning a course grade. The methods may include one or more of the following tools:

• examinations, quizzes, homework assignments, small group problem solving of questions arising from application of course concepts and concerns to actual experience, oral presentations, EI, USGS, and project completion for a non-profit of choice through the Service Learning website. 

Instructors may use a variety of methods in teaching the course depending on their background and experience. Suggested alternatives include:

1.     Student interaction groups involved in discussion, decision making, and reporting.

2.     Guest business "expert" lecturers and speakers.

3.     Student tours of profitable, progressive, and active business firms.

4.     Panel discussion of pros and cons of managing projects.

5.     Case studies of best practices and lessons learned during a project deployment

6.     Discussion and lecture on various service, technical, and global platforms.

7.     Student involvement in discussing project mapping.

8.     Student discussions of decisions on problems, questions, cases, etc., from the student supplement, textbook, or situations provided by the instructor.

9.     Attend a PMI meeting and network with seasoned professionals

10.Introduction to the project management software

A.    Management and organizational movement of a project
B.    Motivation of project members coming from various departmental paradigms

C.   Building customer relationships through effective project development

D.   Effective written and oral communication

E.    Critical thinking

F.     Networking to uncover subject matter experts and an effective sponsor

G.   Market projects internally and externally

H.   Resume building, interviewing, and internal positioning for a project management role

I.       ISO 9000 training

J.      Microsoft Project software instruction

K.   Conflict Management

L.    Change Management

M. Project management designing, planning, scheduling, implementation and closeout phases

COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS:

A.    Identify the cross-functional implications in leading a project team

B.    Demonstrate the ability to manage a profit and loss statement through the duration of the project to included controlling variable cost, sunk cost and return on investment

C.   Navigate the following project management disciplines: change, integration, scope, time, cost, quality, risk, human resource management, communication, and procurement management.

D.   Recognize, evaluate, and manage ethical issues in project management

E.    Apply understanding of project management in B2B, B2C, and global alliances

F.     Preparedness for Six Sigma Certification (Yellow or Green belt)

G.   Readiness for passing the Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAMP) exams

H.   Articulate the need for Project Design, Integration, and Quality Assessment

I.       Develop a Critical path, WBS, SOW and EVA for assessment