Excel for Project and Programme Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Programme Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PM-119

Before you join: Participants should be comfortable entering data, formatting worksheets, using basic formulas such as SUM and IF, and creating simple charts in Microsoft Excel.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Project and programme managers often receive fragmented updates from workstream leads, suppliers, finance teams and operational managers, then need to turn them into credible schedules, forecasts, risk views and reports. Excel remains central to this work, particularly where formal portfolio systems are unavailable, incomplete or poorly configured. Poor spreadsheet design can create conflicting milestone dates, inaccurate cost forecasts, weak audit trails and misleading RAG ratings.

This five-day course shows participants how to build and maintain project and programme management workbooks that support decision-making. Participants develop structured registers, integrated schedules, resource plans, cost forecasts, earned value reports, RAID logs and executive dashboards. They apply Excel Tables, structured references, lookup formulas, conditional formatting, PivotTables, Power Query and scenario analysis to real project controls tasks. The course also addresses governance requirements common in public bodies, regulated organisations and large delivery portfolios.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with guided case work, group analysis, spreadsheet build activities and report-review simulations. Participants work with realistic programme data, including capital projects, technology change, service transformation and grant-funded initiatives. Each participant leaves with a reusable project and programme controls workbook structure, reporting templates and a personal application plan for improving an active project or programme.

The course suits managers and analysts who already use Excel and need stronger methods for planning, monitoring and reporting delivery performance. It is particularly relevant where teams must provide clear evidence for sponsors, steering groups, assurance reviews, finance functions and external funders.

What you will be able to do

  • Build structured Excel registers for project, programme and portfolio control data
  • Apply advanced formulas to validate, reconcile and summarise delivery information
  • Create integrated milestone schedules and dependency analyses using Excel
  • Develop resource capacity plans and workload forecasts for delivery teams
  • Produce cost forecasts, cash-flow profiles and variance analyses
  • Calculate earned value metrics and interpret schedule and cost performance
  • Design RAID reporting and governance dashboards for senior decision-makers
  • Automate repeatable project reporting workflows using Power Query and PivotTables

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce credible project reports without relying on manual consolidation
  • Identify schedule, cost and resource problems earlier through structured analysis
  • Build audit-ready workbooks suitable for governance and assurance reviews
  • Present concise delivery evidence to sponsors and steering groups
  • Reduce repetitive reporting effort through reusable Excel models

For your organisation

  • Improves consistency of project controls across programmes and workstreams
  • Provides clearer evidence for funding, governance and assurance decisions
  • Reduces reporting errors caused by uncontrolled spreadsheets and duplicate data
  • Strengthens visibility of cost, schedule, risk and capacity pressures
  • Creates reusable reporting assets for PMO and delivery teams

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can structure project and programme data for reliable analysis, reporting and audit.

  • Project, programme and workstream tables structured with unique identifier fields
  • Normalised registers separating projects, milestones, risks, actions and assumptions
  • Excel Tables, structured references and named ranges for maintainable models
  • Data validation lists prevent invalid status, owner and date entries
  • Source-to-report data lineage documented for audit and handover
  • Protected input cells and version-control conventions preserve model integrity

Participants can use advanced Excel formulas to validate, reconcile and summarise project information.

  • XLOOKUP retrieves controlled reference data from project registers
  • SUMIFS and COUNTIFS summarise delivery data by multiple criteria
  • IFERROR and ISBLANK handle incomplete updates without misleading outputs
  • Date formulas calculate slippage, ageing, reporting periods and milestone status
  • Reconciliation checks identify missing owners, duplicate identifiers and inconsistent dates
  • Formula auditing traces precedents, dependents and calculation errors systematically

Participants can create schedule models that expose critical milestones, dependencies and delivery slippage.

  • Work breakdown structures translate scope into controllable deliverables and activities
  • Gantt charts display planned, forecast and actual milestone dates
  • Finish-to-start dependencies reveal downstream consequences of delayed work
  • Critical path method identifies activities driving the programme completion date
  • Baseline dates compared with current forecasts quantify schedule variance
  • Milestone trend analysis shows forecast movement across successive reporting cycles

Participants can model resource demand, capacity constraints and workload forecasts in Excel.

  • Resource breakdown structures classify roles, teams, suppliers and specialist skills
  • Demand profiles map planned effort against weekly or monthly periods
  • Capacity calculations account for availability, leave, vacancies and allocations
  • Conditional formatting highlights over-allocation against agreed capacity thresholds
  • Skills matrices identify capability gaps across project and programme workstreams
  • Scenario tables compare staffing options, delivery dates and cost implications

Participants can build project cost models that support budget control and forecast decisions.

  • Cost breakdown structures separate labour, supplier, contingency and capital expenditure
  • Phased budgets align approved funding with planned delivery milestones
  • Actual, committed and forecast costs produce estimate-at-completion calculations
  • 13-period cash-flow forecasts identify funding peaks and timing pressures
  • Variance analysis distinguishes price, volume, timing and scope drivers
  • Sensitivity analysis tests contingency requirements against cost and schedule assumptions

Participants can calculate and interpret earned value measures for project performance reporting.

  • Earned value management links scope completion, planned cost and actual cost
  • Planned value profiles establish time-phased performance measurement baselines
  • Earned value methods select weighted milestones, units complete or percentage complete
  • Schedule performance index and cost performance index quantify delivery efficiency
  • Estimate-at-completion forecasts translate current performance into probable final cost
  • Performance thresholds trigger escalation, recovery planning and management action

Participants can maintain RAID information and produce decision-ready risk reporting.

  • RAID logs distinguish risks, assumptions, issues and inter-project dependencies
  • Probability-impact matrices calculate inherent, residual and target risk ratings
  • Risk appetite thresholds distinguish tolerable exposure from escalation conditions
  • Mitigation actions assign owners, due dates, costs and effectiveness measures
  • Issue logs record decisions, blockers, consequences and agreed resolution actions
  • Dependency maps show predecessor commitments, receiving workstreams and required dates

Participants can design concise dashboards for programme boards, sponsors and assurance reviews.

  • RAG criteria use defined thresholds rather than subjective status labels
  • PivotTables consolidate workstream updates into programme-level performance views
  • Slicers filter reports by directorate, project, owner, period and status
  • Variance charts compare baseline, forecast and actual delivery performance
  • Heat maps prioritise risks, issues and dependencies requiring management attention
  • Executive narrative links dashboard evidence to decisions, actions and accountabilities

Participants can automate data preparation and refresh repeatable project reporting outputs.

  • Power Query imports project updates from workbooks, folders and CSV files
  • Query transformations standardise dates, statuses, owners and workstream names
  • Append queries combine monthly submissions into a controlled reporting dataset
  • Merge queries connect project registers with finance and resource reference data
  • Refresh procedures maintain traceable reporting cycles without repeated manual copying
  • Exception reports identify late submissions, missing fields and invalid classifications

Participants can align Excel-based controls with governance requirements and improvement priorities.

  • Stage-gate reporting aligns evidence, approvals and decision criteria
  • Assurance checklists test schedule, cost, risk and benefit-control quality
  • Benefits realisation registers connect outputs, outcomes, measures and accountable owners
  • Workbook review criteria assess usability, traceability, control and reporting fitness
  • Reporting calendars define cut-off dates, validation steps and publication responsibilities
  • Application plans prioritise immediate workbook improvements for current delivery work

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Project and programme controls workbook template
  2. Milestone schedule and dependency analysis model
  3. Resource capacity planning template
  4. Cost forecast and earned value model
  5. RAID register and escalation checklist
  6. Executive dashboard and reporting calendar

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need reliable plans, forecasts and progress reports
  • Programme Managers — need consolidated workstream controls and executive reporting
  • PMO Analysts — need repeatable templates, data checks and portfolio reporting methods
  • Project Support Officers — need stronger spreadsheet controls for registers and reporting
  • Business Change Managers — need to track benefits, dependencies and implementation actions
  • Finance Business Partners — need transparent project cost forecasts and variance analysis

Skills and tools covered

Project controls modellingSchedule analysisResource forecastingEarned value reportingRAID managementExecutive dashboards

Tools and standards

Microsoft Excel, Power Query, PMBOK Guide, Earned Value Management

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings followed by guided spreadsheet construction, case-based analysis and peer review of reporting choices. Participants work with realistic project and programme datasets containing milestones, budgets, risks, resource assignments and status updates. Group exercises examine reporting trade-offs for sponsors, delivery boards and finance teams. Simulations test how changing dates, costs, risks and resource assumptions affect reports. Participants finish by defining practical improvements to an active workbook, report or project controls process.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable entering data, formatting worksheets, using basic formulas such as SUM and IF, and creating simple charts in Microsoft Excel. Experience of supporting or managing projects, programmes, PMOs, change initiatives or operational improvement work is assumed. Participants should understand common terms such as milestone, risk, budget, forecast and stakeholder. Prior knowledge of Power Query, PivotTables, earned value management, VBA, Microsoft Project or formal project management certification is not required. Participants should bring a laptop with a desktop version of Microsoft Excel where possible.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

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

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should already be comfortable with basic worksheets, formulas and formatting. The course teaches advanced project controls applications without assuming prior knowledge of Power Query, earned value management or VBA.

Participants should bring a laptop with a desktop version of Microsoft Excel where possible. They may also bring a non-confidential project report, register or workbook to inform their application planning.

It is designed for project managers, programme managers, PMO staff, project support officers, change managers and finance partners. It is most useful for people who prepare, review or rely on project controls information.

The course teaches Excel through project and programme management tasks rather than generic business examples. Models, formulas and reporting methods focus on schedules, budgets, resources, risks, dependencies, governance and executive reporting.

Participants leave with reusable templates and a prioritised application plan. They can use these materials to improve a live status report, RAID log, schedule model, cost forecast or programme dashboard.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten connected modules, with technical instruction, case work, spreadsheet build activities, discussion and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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