Upcoming Courses

Register and pay 30 days prior to the course commencement date to receive a 10% early bird discount. Or register a group of 3+ for a 10% group discount. Available for corporate training worldwide.

Key Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, participants are expected to:

• have a reasonable working knowledge of how to go about successfully managing technical projects;
• be ready to take on a limited management role; and
• be better equipped to work within projects.

Higher levels of skill and performance in a project/technical management role will subsequently be attained through practical experience.

Training Method and Materials

The course is delivered using a balanced combination of video, presentations, workshops and discussion sessions. The workshops and discussions are focused on putting into practice the techniques covered in the presentations and the lessons to be learned from the video.

The workshops are used extensively to reinforce learning and to contribute to the development of understanding.

Participants will be provided with:

• a set of comprehensive bound course notes covering the presentation material and workshop exercises;
• other materials and checklists for future reference and use; and
• complimentary access to PPI’s evolving Systems Engineering Goldmine.

Who Should Attend this Course?

This Managing Technical Projects course is designed for personnel of all types who plan, manage, control, specify or support the development or acquisition of important products, including software products, or systems. The course will be of particular value to program managers, project sponsors, project managers and their planning advisers, technical managers, system engineers, software systems engineers, engineers of all other types, stakeholders in the product being developed such as users and planners, and those responsible for the development of policy and processes in the fields of development, acquisition, and supply.

The course will also be of value to anyone who will interface with a Project Team and who seeks an understanding of projects, e.g. members of functional units. Relevant functional units could include Integrated Logistic Support, Configuration Management, Human Resources, Safety, Finance, etc.

To summarize, the course will be of value to anyone who may take on a role within, or in relation to, a project team.

Those seeking a much deeper understanding, especially as relevant to technology-intensive projects, may prefer to attend PPI’s five-day Systems Engineering Management course.

Some Key Questions

• How does managing engineering projects differ from managing in general?
• Why is the following the PMBOK not enough?
• What is systems engineering and how is it relevant?
• What are the Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes (SKAs) conducive to success in conducting technical projects?
• What is the role of the technical manager in ensuring these SKAs are in place?
• How are system life cycle models relevant?
• What is the relevance of Waterfall development, Incremental development, Evolutionary development, Agile, Spiral development, Lean, simultaneous/ concurrent engineering?
• What is the role of Project (Work) Breakdown Structure PBS/WBS in successful projects?
• How can PBS/WBS best be developed?

Do you Offer Tailoring of this Course?

Yes. All courses are tailored informally verbally in delivery by selecting, where possible, examples matched to the domains of interest to the class. We can also work with you to design a formally customized curriculum for the development of your people. We have done so for many client companies, and we would love to work with you to this end. We always suggest that a client takes the corresponding standard course prior to any customization. For systems engineering, this is because systems engineering is the problem-independent and solution technology-independent principles and supporting methods for the engineering of systems, based on systems thinking. So the objectives of customization need to be very clear and focused on adding further value. In practice, customization, if performed, usually becomes the replacement of examples and possibly the main workshop system with domain-specific equivalents. Substitution of the workshop system usually involves substantial redevelopment of courseware. Out of necessity, formal tailoring of courseware is performed on a fee basis.

1. Introduction to Managing Technical Projects (1 hour)

• goals and proven benefits of world class systems engineering and management
• key features of world class systems engineering
• key features of world class management
• International Standardisation Organisation (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 15288:2015,
  Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA)/Interim Standard (IS) 632, EIA 632, Institution of Electrical and Electronic
  Engineers (IEEE) 1220, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) systems engineering standards
• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
• pitfalls and pointers

2. Systems Engineering Basics (1.5 hours)

• systems engineering principles and concepts
• workshop: systems engineering principles
• pitfalls and pointers

3. A Systems Engineering Process View (0.5 hour)

• understanding the inputs and the outputs
• defining the problem — requirements analysis
• designing the physical solution
• describing the logical solution — functional analysis
• effectiveness evaluation and decision making
• specification writing
• system integration
• verification and validation
• Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS)
• pitfalls and pointers

4. Planning the Engineering Effort (4 hours)

• the plan
• styles of development and relationship to planning
• waterfall, incremental, evolutionary, agile, lean, spiral, concurrent engineering
• engineering for modifications
• cost estimating
• scheduling the engineering effort
• decision analysis and value/cost engineering
• project (work) breakdown structure (PBS/WBS)
• workshop: developing a PBS/WBS
• pitfalls and pointers

5. Organizing for the Engineering Effort (2 hours)

• the work to be accomplished
• alternative organizational strategies
• using Integrated Product Teams (IPT), and relationship to Integrated Product and Process Development
  (IPPD)/IPPD
• keys to success
• workshop: designing a project organization
• pitfalls and pointers

6. Engineering Management Controls (3 hours)

• requirements management
• risk management
• configuration management
• interface management
• data management
• knowledge management
• pitfalls and pointers

7. Performance Based Progress Management (1 hour)

• technical performance measurement
• technical progress meetings
• earned value
• pitfalls and pointers

8. Leading and Managing the Technical Team (2 hours)

• roles of leadership in complex projects
• difference between management and leadership
• power and the influencing of behavior
• situational aspect of leadership styles and follower readiness
• team-building and conflict resolution techniques
• successful motivation practices
• effective leader communications

9. What is Needed to Achieve World Class Engineering and Management (0.5 hour)