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Advanced Project Management Techniques - II

Dominic P. Perrotta, P.E., CSE


Course Outline

  1. Dealing with Engineering Firms
    • Small and Local Firms
    • Intermediate and Multi-National Firms
    • Defining Leadership 
  2. Dealing with Manufacturing Company Management
    • Mid-sized Companies
    • Larger and Multi-National Companies
    • Defining Decision Making
  3. Dealing with the Project Team
    1. Matrix Organization
    2. Direct Supervision Team
    3. Defining a Project Team
  4. Negotiating with Insurance Companies

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

Intended Audience

All engineers, architects, and contractors.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendees of this course will witness real life project scenarios, and will discover methods for resolving problems and conflicts by utilizing both orthodox and (occasionally) unorthodox project management skills and  techniques.

Course Introduction

This course in project management is a continuing attempt to improve the prospects for existing project managers and would-be project managers to manage a successful project. This course provides the student with a series of case studies of actual Project Managers and projects for which they were responsible. Advanced Project Management - I is not a prerequisite for this course which is meant to be a sequel to APM-I, and is intended to  broaden your knowledge about how successful projects are managed. Once you have completed this course, you will realize that there are no perfect projects, nor are you expected to be a perfect Project Manager.

This course is divided for all Project Managers into three important categories, which were previously defined in APM-I:

  1. Leadership
  2. Decision Making 
  3. Project Team

In each category there are two different case studies, and in each case study the Project Managers utilized certain techniques, mostly orthodox but some unorthodox, in order to bring the projects to successful conclusions. Regardless of the paths that were chosen by the Project Managers, their implementation of the core principles of quality project management proved to be a huge asset. You will also recognize that, although these Project Mangers may have had different levels of experience, they all went about their business in a confident and professional manner.

The last part of each of these above three categories tries to give an interesting account of people that we either know or have read about who faced similar challenges in the sports world. The projects that each of them managed was simply their livelihoods. Through diligence, wisdom, and an understanding of those around them, they were able to be successful in their life's projects.

The fourth and last section of this course relates what actually took place following a major fire at a large manufacturing plant. In this case study, the Project Manager went beyond anything that he was obligated to do, resulting in a great savings to the plant as well as significant future benefits to his engineering firm and to himself.

Course Content

This course content is in the following PDF document:

Advanced Project Management Techniques - II

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

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Course Summary

As you may have discovered by navigating this course, having personal discipline and learning  to delegate authority are very important characteristics of a Project Manager. The primary goal of this course in project management is to provide existing project managers and would-be project managers with the necessary tools to manage a successful project. In almost all projects the Project Manager and project team members will develop and utilize some core principles. One of those core principles is that the burden of assuring the finite factors of cost and schedule in addition to the end result is primarily the responsibility of the PM. Also the Project Manager is given guidelines and examples of what to do when a difficult situation presents itself. Invariably, the solution is not begun until the PM and/or the project team members recognize that a problem exists. It can then be resolved with training and experience, each of which is an equally valuable commodity.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.