Business analysts, project leaders, business change managers and anyone who needs a thorough grounding in project management principles. Foundation in IS Project Management is also a Knowledge-based module on the BCS (ISEB) International Diploma in Business Analysis.
If you’re about to take on your first managerial role this course is the ideal place to start learning more about IS and IT project management principles.
In our Foundation in IS Project Management course, you’ll investigate and understand a number of project management issues around IS and IT applications. What do we mean by that? Well, some of the key areas you’ll look into include the nature of projects and project work, monitoring and control, quality issues and project organisation and communication.
Presented to you by one of the expert training consultants pictured below, each member of our Foundation in IS Project Management training team bring their substantial practical knowledge of project planning and management to this programme. In fact, the book that supports the syllabus ‘Project Management for Information Systems’, happens to be written by James Cadle, one of our trainers.
To give you more of an idea of what you’ll learn and how the course will help you, here’s a quick guide to the three days.
- The project environment
- Development lifecycles
- Project initiation and the business case
- Product-based planning
- Estimating
- Planning networks and charts
- Working in teams
- Leadership
- Risk management
- Managing quality
- The project plan
- Monitoring, control and reporting
- Project completion
- The project manager
Yes. During this three day course you’ll receive all the training you need to prepare for the BCS Foundation in IS Project Management certificate multiple choice examination, which is held on the final afternoon of the course. A pass means a Foundation certificate in IS Project Management which is part of the BCS Professional Certification portfolio, but it contributes to your BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis too.
At present, due to the Covid-19 crisis, the exam is not available in a classroom environment. However, for delegates attending a virtual or online course, the exam may be taken using the BCS online proctoring service. This exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with a pass mark of 26/40.
Prior to the course start date, delegates can request 14 days complimentary online access to this module to allow them to familiarise themselves with the syllabus. You’ll also be given a comprehensive IS Project Management course manual, containing additional information and guidance on further reading. In addition, you will receive a copy of the BCS textbook ‘Project Management for IT-Related Projects’, which supports the syllabus of the course.
Foundation in IS Project Management (a three-day course)
Course Content
Project environment
- Characteristics of a project; the ‘triple constraint’ of time/cost/quality
- Project and operational responsibilities
- Special features of computer projects
- Role of the Project Manager
- Project success and failure
- Development lifecycles
Project initiation
- Stakeholder analysis and management
- Defining the objectives and scope of the project
- The role of the Client and their responsibilities
- Project constraints and resources
- Project Initiation Document
Project planning
- The importance of breaking work down
- Product breakdown structures
- Project and User deliverables
- Standard deliverable sets and templates
- Product flows and work packages
- The concept of dependencies
Estimating deliverables
- Key concepts in estimating
- Estimating difficulties
- Estimating by analogy
- Parametric estimating
- Effort and elapsed time estimates
- Schedule compression
Planning networks and charts
- Precedence diagrams and project networks
- The critical path and its implications
- Gantt charts and resource histograms
- Planning at an appropriate level
- The use and abuse of planning software
Working in teams
- The elements of a good team
- Team composition
- Team roles
Motivation and management style
- The roots of motivation at work
- Approaches to motivation (Maslow, Herzberg)
- The effect of management style
Project risk management
- Purpose of risk management
- Risk management process
- Identifying and assessing risks
- Introduction to quantitative risk assessment
Project quality plans
- Principles of quality management
- The contents of a quality plan
- Quality Management
- Configuration management
The project plan
- Elements of a project plan (schedule, quality, risk)
- Contents and structure of a project plan
Project monitoring, reporting and control
- The importance of monitoring and control
- Allocating personal deliverables
- Progress measurement
- Time recording
- Introduction to earned value analysis
- Dealing with non-delivery
- Slippage and re-planning – corrective actions
- Change control, scope creep and over-engineering
- Reporting structures
Project completion
- Project sign-off and the need for a controlled close
- Post-project reviews
The project manager
- The project manager’s role revisited
- Qualities and characteristics of effective project managers
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