Project Management for Product Managers Delivering Technology Change Training Course

Course overview

Product managers are often accountable for outcomes without having formal authority over engineering capacity, operational readiness, supplier dependencies, release windows or business adoption. Technology change initiatives can lose momentum when product roadmaps are not translated into delivery plans, when risks are discovered late, or when stakeholders receive updates that describe activity rather than decisions, trade-offs and forecast dates. This course helps product managers run change initiatives with enough project discipline to protect value, pace and customer commitments without turning every product decision into a lengthy governance exercise.

Participants learn to convert a product initiative into a practical delivery structure: a charter, scope statement, milestone plan, dependency map, RAID log, stakeholder engagement plan and reporting cadence. They practise defining outcomes and acceptance criteria, breaking work into deliverable-based work packages, estimating effort with delivery teams, sequencing work using critical-path logic, managing change requests, and using Jira and Microsoft Project to track progress. The course also covers hybrid delivery approaches, showing when to combine product discovery, Scrum delivery and formal project controls for regulated, enterprise or cross-functional technology change.

Teaching combines instructor-led demonstrations, technology-change case studies, facilitated planning workshops and role-played stakeholder reviews. Each participant works on a realistic initiative from their own environment or a supplied case, progressively building a Product Change Delivery Pack. The completed pack includes a delivery charter, integrated roadmap, dependency and risk register, stakeholder plan, governance calendar, dashboard design and 90-day implementation actions that can be adapted for use immediately after the course.

The course is suited to product managers who need to lead platform migrations, new product launches, customer onboarding changes, data initiatives, operating-model improvements or major feature releases involving several teams and senior stakeholders.

Course objectives

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

• Create a product change charter that defines outcomes, scope boundaries, assumptions, constraints and measurable success criteria
• Build a deliverable-based work breakdown structure and milestone plan for a technology change initiative
• Sequence product, engineering, operational and supplier dependencies using critical-path and dependency-mapping techniques
• Develop a RAID log with risk scoring, owners, response actions and escalation thresholds
• Produce a stakeholder map and communications plan tailored to sponsors, delivery teams, customers and operational users
• Configure Jira boards, epics, releases and dashboards to report delivery progress and impediments
• Evaluate scope changes using impact assessment across value, time, cost, capacity, risk and customer commitments
• Present an executive delivery status report with forecast dates, decisions required, exceptions and recovery actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Product Managers — who must coordinate technology change across engineering, operations and commercial stakeholders
• Senior Product Managers — who own complex roadmap initiatives with multiple teams, dependencies and governance requirements
• Technical Product Managers — who translate platform, data and integration work into deliverable plans and decision-ready reporting
• Product Owners — who need stronger control of release dependencies, delivery risks and stakeholder expectations
• Digital Transformation Managers — who lead business and technology changes that require product-led delivery discipline
• Business Analysts — who support product change initiatives and need to structure scope, requirements, risks and implementation readiness

Requirements and prerequisites

This course is accessible to product professionals with basic experience of a product backlog, roadmap or release planning process. Participants should understand common terms such as epic, user story, sprint, stakeholder and acceptance criteria, and should be comfortable working with spreadsheets and browser-based collaboration tools. Experience of Jira is useful but not essential; guided exercises introduce the relevant features. No formal project management qualification, advanced scheduling expertise, finance background or prior use of Microsoft Project is required. Complete beginners in project management should expect a practical foundation before progressing to dependency, risk, governance and reporting techniques.

Training methodology

The programme uses a running technology-change case, supplemented where appropriate by participants’ own initiatives. Instructor-led sessions introduce delivery tools and decision methods, followed by hands-on workshops to build plans, registers and dashboards. Small groups test assumptions, negotiate dependency conflicts and conduct simulated sponsor reviews using changing case information. Jira and Microsoft Project demonstrations show how plans can be maintained and reported in practice. On the final day, participants refine their Product Change Delivery Pack and create a 90-day application plan for their workplace.

Course outline

Day 1: Framing product change as a managed initiative

• Product outcomes, project outputs and operational benefits
• Technology change lifecycle from discovery through adoption
• Product change charter structure and approval criteria
• Scope boundaries, assumptions, constraints and exclusions
• Success measures, benefits hypotheses and acceptance criteria
• Hybrid delivery models combining Scrum and project controls
• Roles, decision rights and RACI for cross-functional change

Workshop: Participants create a Product Change Charter for a platform migration or new digital service, including scope, outcomes, constraints and named decision owners.

Day 2: Planning work, milestones and dependencies

• Deliverable-based work breakdown structures
• Work package definition and accountable ownership
• Estimation approaches for product and technology work
• Milestone planning and stage-gate design
• Dependency mapping across teams, systems and suppliers
• Critical-path analysis and schedule contingency
• Microsoft Project timeline and milestone views

Workshop: Participants build an integrated milestone plan and dependency map, then identify the critical path and two schedule-protection actions.

Day 3: Controlling delivery through risks, scope and data

• RAID log design and risk scoring matrices
• Risk response planning and escalation thresholds
• Issue management and decision-log discipline
• Scope-change intake and impact assessment
• Capacity constraints, release windows and trade-off decisions
• Jira epics, releases, boards and workflow states
• Jira dashboards for progress, blockers and forecast reporting

Workshop: Participants configure a case RAID log and Jira reporting view, then assess a late scope request against time, value, capacity and risk.

Day 4: Leading stakeholders and governing change

• Stakeholder mapping by influence, impact and commitment
• Sponsor alignment and decision-making cadence
• Communications planning for technical and non-technical audiences
• Executive status reporting using RAG criteria and forecast dates
• Vendor, procurement and third-party dependency management
• Operational readiness, training and service-transition planning
• Recovery planning for delayed or at-risk releases

Workshop: Participants conduct a simulated steering-group review, presenting an exception report and securing decisions on risks, funding and scope.

Day 5: Integrating product delivery into business change

• Product roadmap alignment and portfolio prioritisation
• Benefits tracking after release and adoption measurement
• Confluence decision records and delivery documentation
• Governance calendars, checkpoints and evidence packs
• Change-control workflow and baseline management
• Post-implementation reviews and lessons-learned capture
• Ninety-day action planning for workplace application

Workshop: Participants assemble and present their Product Change Delivery Pack, receiving peer feedback before committing to a 90-day implementation plan.

Tools & standards covered

Jira Software, Confluence, Microsoft Project, PMI 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