On-line training course catalogue

Project Management in the Public Sector – Senior Managers Overview

Type of course: Classroom

Course details

Fee	Please call
Days	½
Course code	PMPSSMO

We currently do not have public dates scheduled for this course.
If you have a requirement for this course, please contact us for the latest course information.

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Overview

Central Government has for several years been stating in various white papers and performance reviews that appropriate management procedures based on PRINCE2® should be adopted by all public sector organisations in order to help ensure successful project delivery. However a number of problems are often encountered when attempting to implement those recommendations including -

• gaining buy-in and commitment at all levels within the organisation.
• lack of time or skills required to develop an in-house approach
• inability to commit key staff to training (either due to time or cost limitations) – especially true if you consider that typically PRINCE2® accreditation training takes 5 days
• lack of take-up of the method once introduced

Often Project Managers are trained (typically PRINCE2® accredited) and see the advantages of a formal structured approach. However senior management play an important part in the process. Very often they receive no training therefore do not understand what their project role is and the commensurate responsibilities.

To help address these problems Xpertise have produced a number of courses designed to help you introduce a project management method into your organisation by taking a flexible ‘top-down’ and/or ‘bottom-up’ approach whilst minimising the training overhead by targeting the training content to the needs of different audiences.

Project Management in the Public Sector is a suite of training courses developed to satisfy in particular the needs of the public sector. The core training material introduced is based on PRINCE2® (the de-facto project management standard) but is designed to be easily tailored to suit your organisations’ own internal process, logos, and terminology.

The core training comprises a 2 day introduction to the method designed for new or existing project managers and project staff, complemented by a ½ day senior manager/Project Board overview. Each course can be run independently or as part of an organisational training package.

SENIOR MANAGERS OVERVIEW

This is a ½ day course which introduces the project management method used in the Public Sector from a senior management perspective.

The course is designed for:

• New employees who will be involved in project decision making at Project Board or senior management level
• Existing Project Board members or senior managers who wish to understand the method and their responsibilities
• Existing project managers who are moving to a more senior role
• External suppliers, consultants, or other external project team members who need to interface with public sector projects as Senior Suppliers, or Senior User representatives

Prerequisites

Ideally course attendees should be currently at a decision making level within the organisation or involved in projects at project board member level.

Delegates will learn how to

• Understand the main project management principles
• Recognise the ways that your organisation addresses the factors which enable successful projects
• Understand and use a common terminology
• Identify the key pieces of project information on which decisions are made
• Define the project lifecycle and the decision points within it
• Understand how the method could be scaled and tailored to suit different projects
• Understand the need for strong leadership and direction setting

Course Outline

The course is designed in four sections which cover the method in general before then discussing the project in three phases, Controlled Start, Controlled Progress, and Controlled Close. For each phase, the general processes, activities and decisions which typically take place during each phase are discussed.

General

Discussing the drivers for projects and what projects are and giving an overview of the project lifecycle. In particular the following subjects are covered:

• Programmes and projects
• What is a project
• What makes a project successful?
• Project failure factors
• The project lifecycle

Controlled Start

The most important part of the project, starting the project off on the right track is essential. This section discusses the controlled start activities and the decisions which might be made during the start-up period and the information required to make those decisions.

Topics covered include

• Starting up a project activities
• The project initiation workshop
• The Project organisation structure, senior roles and responsibilities
• Risk Management principles and responsibilities
• Initiating a Project activities
• The Project Initiation Document

Controlled Progress

Ensuring that the project stays on the right track and delivers all it needs to deliver to stated quality standards and within any constraints.

Covering the process and activities this section introduces.

• Monitoring progress and reporting
• Handling project issues and changes
• Stage boundaries

Controlled Closure

Closing the project and tying-off lose ends is an important part of any project and needs to be carried-out effectively. This section discusses the various activities and products produced in order to close the project and pass on lessons learned and follow-on actions recommendations.

Related courses

Project Management in the Public Sector – This is a two day course which introduces new and existing staff to the fundamentals of the project management method used in the Public Sector.

• Project Management in the Public Sector

PRINCE2® Foundation or PRINCE2® for Practitioners – 3 or 5 days course for project managers who wish to gain formal PRINCE2® accreditation. Leading to foundation certification and/or practitioner accreditation examinations.

• PRINCE2® Foundation
• PRINCE2® for Practitioners

APM Introductory Certificate – two day course for Project Managers who wish to gain APM project management accreditation. Leading to the APM Introductory Certificate examination

• APM Introductory Certificate

TAILORING THE COURSEWARE

The courseware for the two “Project Management in the Public Sector” courses can be utilised ‘as is’ but can easily be tailored to suit your organisations specific need.

Typical options for customisations may include

• Addition of you logo and other ‘look and feel’ elements giving the courseware your own organisational identity to help generate buy-in
• Modification of role names and terminology to support you current operational standards
• Tailoring certain elements of the project management processes to suit your particular needs
• Defining management products according to your current templates (i.e. Business Case, Communication Plan, Project Brief, Approach etc.)

Depending upon your needs, three days is a typical requirement for any customisation development which includes a one day on-site consultancy visit and two days bespoke work.