Advanced Project Management Leadership and Governance Training Course

Course overview

Senior project leaders are expected to deliver outcomes while operating within funding limits, regulatory obligations, portfolio priorities and competing stakeholder interests. When governance is weak, projects can appear healthy until decisions are delayed, risks escalate, benefits erode or sponsors lose confidence. This course addresses the leadership challenge of directing complex projects and programmes through disciplined governance rather than relying on status reporting alone. Participants learn how to establish decision rights, challenge assumptions, manage escalation and give executives the information required to intervene at the right time.

The course covers governance design, portfolio alignment, assurance, benefits realisation, financial control, risk oversight and executive stakeholder leadership. Participants build practical skill in creating a governance framework, defining steering committee terms of reference, setting stage-gate criteria, interpreting earned value indicators, using RAID and decision logs, and preparing concise board-level reports. They also practise handling difficult governance conversations, including scope disputes, sponsor misalignment, underperforming suppliers and recovery decisions. Microsoft Project, Jira and Power BI are used to connect delivery data with management decisions.

Teaching combines instructor-led analysis with a continuing complex-project case study, facilitated governance simulations and hands-on reporting workshops. Each participant develops an applied Project Governance and Leadership Pack for a live or realistic initiative. The pack includes a governance operating model, RACI and decision-rights matrix, assurance plan, stage-gate checklist, executive dashboard specification, escalation route and 90-day implementation plan. This gives both the participant and their manager a usable framework for strengthening project control immediately after the course.

The programme is designed for experienced project professionals moving into senior delivery, programme, portfolio or PMO leadership roles. It is equally valuable for managers who sponsor, assure or govern strategic initiatives and need a more reliable way to turn project information into timely decisions.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design a project governance operating model with defined forums, accountabilities and decision rights
• Construct a RACI matrix and delegated-authority schedule for sponsors, steering committees and delivery teams
• Apply stage-gate assurance criteria to approve, conditionally approve, redirect or stop a project
• Interpret earned value, schedule and risk indicators to identify management intervention points
• Produce an executive project dashboard and narrative using Microsoft Project, Jira and Power BI data
• Facilitate sponsor and steering-committee decisions using structured options, recommendations and decision logs
• Develop a benefits realisation plan linking deliverables, ownership, measures and post-project reviews
• Create a 90-day governance improvement plan for a live project, programme or PMO environment

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Senior Project Managers — who need to lead complex initiatives through executive scrutiny and competing priorities
• Programme Managers — who coordinate interdependent projects and require consistent governance across workstreams
• PMO Managers — who design assurance, reporting and control standards for delivery portfolios
• Project Sponsors — who must make timely investment, risk and escalation decisions
• Portfolio Managers — who balance strategic alignment, capacity and funding across multiple initiatives
• Transformation Leaders — who govern high-impact change with multiple senior stakeholders and suppliers

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience managing projects or workstreams, including familiarity with scope, schedule, budget, risk, stakeholder and change control concepts. They should be able to read a project plan, RAID log and basic status report, and should understand the role of a sponsor and steering committee. Prior use of Microsoft Project, Jira or Power BI is helpful but not essential; guided examples are provided. Formal PMP, PRINCE2 or PMI certification is not required, and the course does not assume advanced financial modelling or technical software implementation experience.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses instructor-led briefings to establish governance methods, followed by workshops that apply them to a complex transformation case and participants’ own work contexts. Teams analyse project evidence, run a simulated steering committee, challenge a failing business case, build dashboard requirements and make stage-gate recommendations. Exercises use sample Microsoft Project, Jira and Power BI outputs alongside PMBOK guidance. Daily debriefs connect the methods to organisational realities, and the final session converts learning into an individual 90-day governance implementation plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Governance architecture and leadership accountability

• Project governance principles and the PMBOK governance domain
• Governance operating models for projects, programmes and portfolios
• Sponsor, steering committee and PMO accountabilities
• RACI matrices and delegated authority frameworks
• Decision rights, escalation thresholds and approval routes
• Terms of reference for governance forums
• Governance maturity assessment and control gaps

Workshop: Participants assess a complex project scenario and produce a governance operating model with named forums, accountabilities and decision rights.

Day 2: Strategic alignment, business cases and benefits

• Strategic alignment tests for project selection
• Business case assumptions and investment logic
• Portfolio prioritisation criteria and scoring models
• Benefits maps and benefit-owner accountability
• Benefits realisation plans and measurement baselines
• Dependency mapping across programmes and operational change
• Stopping, pausing and redirecting underperforming initiatives

Workshop: Participants challenge a deteriorating business case and prepare a benefits map, prioritisation rationale and recommendation for the investment board.

Day 3: Assurance, risk oversight and performance control

• Stage-gate assurance models and evidence requirements
• Independent assurance reviews and audit trails
• RAID logs, risk appetite and escalation criteria
• Earned value management indicators and forecast interpretation
• Schedule health metrics and critical path analysis
• Scope control, change authority and configuration decisions
• Project recovery governance and corrective-action ownership

Workshop: Participants conduct a stage-gate review using project evidence and produce an approval decision, conditions register and recovery actions.

Day 4: Executive reporting and stakeholder decision-making

• Board-level reporting principles and information hierarchy
• Microsoft Project schedule and cost reporting fields
• Jira delivery metrics, workflow signals and dependency views
• Power BI dashboard requirements for governance audiences
• Decision papers, option appraisals and recommendation writing
• Stakeholder power-interest analysis and engagement strategies
• Difficult conversations with sponsors, suppliers and delivery leads

Workshop: Participants build an executive reporting specification and facilitate a simulated steering committee decision on a high-risk project.

Day 5: Leading governance improvement in practice

• PMO service models and governance capability development
• Standardising templates without creating administrative burden
• Governance cadence for agile, hybrid and predictive delivery
• Supplier governance, commercial checkpoints and performance reviews
• Ethical decision-making and transparent project assurance
• Measuring governance effectiveness through leading indicators
• Ninety-day implementation planning and leadership commitments

Workshop: Participants complete and present their Project Governance and Leadership Pack, including a 90-day implementation plan for their own environment.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Project, Jira, Microsoft Power BI, PMBOK Guide

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions