Project Planning & Control™ Foundation

What Will You Learn?

• The approaches and products used to gain a clear definition of a project
• The approaches and techniques used to plan and close a project
• The selection and use of appropriate scheduling techniques
• The practices used for rigorous monitoring to enable proactive control of the project
• The basis for good record keeping, which also facilitates the virtuous feedback and learning cycle.

Our APMG Project Planning & Control™ Foundation training course will cover the following syllabus areas:

DEFINITION (DE)

Delegates are introduced to the world of projects and capital expenditure. The following key areas are covered:

• Key definitions and concepts associated with Planning and Control
• Hierarchical Breakdown Structures - WBS, OBS, CBS, RBS
• Purpose of the Business Case
• Purpose of Scope Management, Requirements Management and Stakeholder Management
• Purpose and composition of the Works Information and Statement of Work

PLANNING (PL)

The following areas will be discussed:

• Facts, terms and concepts for: Planning, handover and closeout
• Purpose and benefits of successful planning
• Differences between Planning and Scheduling; Funding and Budgets
• Planning approaches and influencing factors for: top-down, bottom-up and rolling wave planning
• Purpose, characteristics and relationship and use of Breakdown Structures
• Approaches and principles of designing Breakdown Structures
• Purpose of the Work Package, WBS Dictionary and RACI Matrix
• Purpose of Dependency Management cost estimating, budgeting and budget transfers

SCHEDULING (SC)

The following areas will be discussed:

• The definition and elements of scheduling
• Definition of key network analysis terms
• The three identified methods of presenting the results of scheduling
• Typical features associated with schedule density
• Purpose of different types of time-phased schedules, including
• Purpose and use of key elements of schedule design
• Key features of the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) for determining a critical path and the inputs into a Critical Path Analysis (CPA)
• Use and features of different methods of estimating durations
• Types of resources and the purpose of resourcing the schedule
• Typical composition of a Schedule Narrative
• Purpose and scope of Schedule Reviews
• Steps in the scheduling process and steps to prepare for monitoring and control
• The five steps necessary to construct a network, together with the activities of each

MONITOR AND CONTROL (MC)

The following areas will be discussed:

• Definition of Earned Value Analysis (EVA) and its basic terminology
• Definitions of key monitoring terms
• Definitions of key risk management terms
• Definitions of key change management terms
• Purpose and use of a project baseline
• Purpose and use of Baseline maintenance and Change management together with the principles of change management and why change control is needed
• Purpose and use of performance reporting and features of a good control system
• Characteristics of Variance Analysis Methods of Progress Monitoring
• Characteristics of Performance Analysis Methods of Progress
• Monitoring, specifically the use of Network Analysis and measurement of float usage
• The purpose of Short-term Planning, its four key elements, and how it should be linked to project schedules

Our APMG Project Planning & Control™ Foundation training course is suitable for the following roles:

• Planning Managers & Engineers
• Project Control Managers & Engineers
• Cost Engineers
• Project Managers

All relevant course materials are provided, which includes the APM Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control Manual and the APMG Project Planning & Control™ Foundation examination.

No prerequisites are necessary for attendance, although you would benefit from some experience and understanding of basic planning principles and terminology.

Our APMG Project Planning & Control™ Foundation training course uses unique multimedia case-studies and accelerated-learning techniques to ensure that theory is embedded and you feel confident in the practical application of learning points. Additional evening work will be required in the form of consolidation reading and mock examination questions. The evening work is an integral part of the course and you should expect to spend approximately two hours on these activities each evening. The evening work is aimed at helping effective preparation for the examination.

APMG Project Planning & Control™ Foundation Exam

• Exam Format: Multiple Choice
• Exam Delivery: Closed Book
• Exam Duration: 40 Minutes
• Number Of Questions: 50
• Passing Score: 50%

You might be interested in our two-day APMG Project Planning & Control™ Practitioner training course, where you will learn the following:

• The application of products used to gain a clear definition of a project
• The application of techniques used to plan and close a project
• The selection, use and application of various scheduling techniques
• The practices and application of rigorous monitoring to enable proactive control of the project
• The application of effective record keeping, which also facilitates the virtuous feedback and learning cycle.

APMG Project Planning & Control™ guidance and training will:

• Give a step by step controls guide from project initiation to execution.
• Provide a holistic overview of the interdependencies between planning and controls functions.
• Be a practical and scalable companion to almost any project controls professional.
• Enable effective capability growth for delivery organizations.