Project Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Project Coordinators and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PM-073

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to, coordinating or leading project activities, such as tracking actions, managing work packages, preparing reports or supporting implementation.

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

Projects fail when teams begin delivery without agreed scope, decision rights, realistic plans or a workable approach to risk and change. The result is familiar: missed milestones, cost pressure, unclear accountability, stakeholder conflict and benefits that cannot be demonstrated. Project managers need more than a schedule; they need an integrated management approach that connects strategy, requirements, people, suppliers, controls and delivery decisions.

This 10-day Project Management Training Course moves from project principles to applied management practice. Participants use PMBOK Guide concepts, ISO 21502 guidance, work breakdown structures, network scheduling, risk analysis, earned value management and change control to plan and govern projects. They learn to define a business case, produce a charter, engage stakeholders, set baselines, manage resources and procurement, report performance, and close projects with measurable benefit ownership.

Instruction combines short briefings with sector-based cases, group planning work, simulations and structured review sessions. Participants build a project management pack progressively from the first week, applying each method to a realistic project such as a banking system rollout, public infrastructure programme, NGO service implementation or corporate transformation initiative. They leave with a completed project plan and control pack that can be adapted for current work.

The course suits project managers, workstream leads, programme staff, operational managers and specialists who already contribute to projects and now need a disciplined method for leading defined project work. It is especially relevant where projects involve multiple stakeholders, formal reporting, procurement, regulatory obligations or material delivery risk.

What you will be able to do

  • Develop a project charter, business case and measurable success criteria
  • Create a work breakdown structure, scope baseline and requirements traceability matrix
  • Build a network schedule with dependencies, critical path and resource assignments
  • Prepare cost estimates, a time-phased budget and earned value performance measures
  • Assess project risks using probability-impact analysis, responses and ownership
  • Design stakeholder engagement, communications and governance plans for project decisions
  • Apply change control, issue management and performance reporting against approved baselines
  • Present an integrated project management plan for review and approval

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce credible project plans rather than isolated task lists
  • Lead scope, schedule and budget discussions with greater confidence
  • Identify delivery threats before they become major project issues
  • Use earned value data to explain progress and forecast outcomes
  • Build a reusable project management pack for future assignments

For your organisation

  • More consistent project charters, plans, baselines and status reports
  • Earlier identification of schedule slippage, cost pressure and delivery risks
  • Clearer stakeholder accountabilities and faster escalation of key decisions
  • Better control of scope changes, supplier commitments and project expenditure
  • Stronger handover, benefits tracking and lessons learned at project closure

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can select an appropriate project approach and define the conditions for controlled delivery.

  • Projects, programmes, portfolios and operations distinguished by temporary delivery purpose
  • PMBOK Guide principles linked to project value delivery
  • Predictive, adaptive and hybrid life cycles selected against uncertainty
  • Project constraints assessed through scope, schedule, cost, quality and risk
  • Stage gates establish decision points, funding releases and accountabilities
  • Tailoring project methods to scale, complexity and regulatory requirements

Participants can initiate a project with a justified purpose, authority structure and measurable objectives.

  • Business cases compare options, costs, benefits, risks and assumptions
  • SMART objectives define measurable outcomes, tolerances and completion criteria
  • Project charters document purpose, authority, scope and sponsor commitment
  • Assumptions and constraints recorded within an initial project definition
  • Benefits maps connect deliverables, capabilities, outcomes and strategic objectives
  • Initiation checklists confirm funding, authority, resources and decision routes

Participants can identify stakeholders and plan appropriate engagement for project decisions and adoption.

  • Stakeholder registers capture interests, influence, expectations and communication needs
  • Power-interest grids prioritise engagement effort and escalation attention
  • RACI matrices assign responsible, accountable, consulted and informed roles
  • Stakeholder interviews test assumptions behind project requirements and acceptance
  • Engagement strategies address supporters, opponents, decision-makers and affected users
  • Communication channels matched to urgency, sensitivity, audience and feedback needs

Participants can define controlled scope through requirements analysis, deliverables and work packages.

  • Requirements elicitation uses interviews, workshops, observation and document analysis
  • MoSCoW prioritisation separates must-have, should-have, could-have and excluded requirements
  • Scope statements define deliverables, boundaries, exclusions and acceptance criteria
  • Work breakdown structures decompose deliverables into manageable work packages
  • WBS dictionaries specify ownership, assumptions, acceptance and control accounts
  • Requirements traceability matrices link needs, deliverables, tests and approvals

Participants can develop a feasible project schedule with dependencies, milestones and critical activities.

  • Activity lists convert work packages into schedulable project tasks
  • Precedence diagrams show finish-to-start, start-to-start and finish-to-finish relationships
  • Critical path method calculates earliest dates, float and schedule sensitivity
  • Milestone schedules communicate key approvals, handoffs and delivery commitments
  • Three-point estimates address uncertainty using optimistic, likely and pessimistic durations
  • Schedule baselines record approved dates, dependencies, calendars and milestones

Participants can assign resources, assess capacity constraints and plan practical delivery workloads.

  • Resource breakdown structures classify people, facilities, equipment and materials
  • Responsibility assignment matrices connect work packages with delivery ownership
  • Capacity plans compare required effort against available skills and time
  • Resource levelling resolves overallocations by adjusting sequence, duration or assignments
  • Resource smoothing protects fixed deadlines while redistributing noncritical work
  • Team charters establish working agreements, escalation routes and meeting cadence

Participants can estimate project costs and establish a time-phased budget for control.

  • Analogous estimating uses costs from comparable completed project work
  • Bottom-up estimates aggregate work package labour, materials and supplier costs
  • Parametric estimating applies unit rates, productivity factors and quantities
  • Contingency reserves address identified risks within the approved budget
  • Management reserves cover unknown risks under sponsor control
  • Time-phased budgets align planned expenditure with schedule and funding releases

Participants can identify, analyse, respond to and monitor project risks and opportunities.

  • Risk workshops identify threats, opportunities, causes, events and consequences
  • Probability-impact matrices rank risks using agreed scoring criteria
  • Risk registers record owners, triggers, responses, dates and residual exposure
  • Avoidance, mitigation, transfer and acceptance address negative project risks
  • Exploit, enhance, share and accept responses address project opportunities
  • Monte Carlo simulation concepts explain confidence ranges for cost and schedule

Participants can set quality requirements and manage acceptance throughout project delivery.

  • Quality management plans define standards, measures, assurance and control activities
  • Acceptance criteria convert stakeholder expectations into testable delivery conditions
  • Quality assurance reviews assess process compliance before deliverable acceptance
  • Control charts distinguish common-cause variation from special-cause variation
  • Root cause analysis uses five whys and fishbone diagrams
  • Quality checklists support consistent inspections, testing and handover decisions

Participants can plan procurement activities and control supplier delivery against contractual commitments.

  • Make-or-buy analysis compares internal capability, cost, capacity and risk
  • Statements of work define supplier deliverables, standards and acceptance terms
  • Procurement schedules align tendering, evaluation, award and mobilisation activities
  • Bid evaluation criteria assess technical quality, price, capacity and compliance
  • Contract types allocate cost, performance and delivery risk differently
  • Supplier performance reviews track obligations, milestones, issues and corrective actions

Participants can design reporting that supports timely decisions by different stakeholder groups.

  • Communications plans specify audience, purpose, format, frequency and ownership
  • Status reports present progress, forecast, risks, decisions and planned actions
  • Dashboards use leading indicators, threshold breaches and trend information
  • Traffic-light reporting applies defined criteria rather than subjective judgement
  • Meeting agendas separate information sharing, decisions, problem solving and escalation
  • Decision logs record authority, rationale, actions and implementation dates

Participants can organise project team collaboration and address delivery conflict constructively.

  • Tuckman's team development model informs leadership during project phases
  • Team norms clarify behaviours, availability, decision-making and information sharing
  • Situational leadership matches direction and support to team capability
  • Conflict modes apply Thomas-Kilmann strategies to project disagreements
  • Motivation plans recognise autonomy, mastery, purpose and practical constraints
  • Difficult conversations separate facts, interpretations, interests and agreed actions

Participants can establish governance arrangements that provide oversight without delaying delivery.

  • Governance structures define sponsor, steering committee and project manager responsibilities
  • Terms of reference establish authority, quorum, decisions and reporting routes
  • Stage-gate reviews test readiness against agreed evidence and tolerances
  • Project assurance independently reviews viability, controls, risks and delivery confidence
  • Escalation thresholds identify decisions requiring sponsor or board intervention
  • ISO 21502 guidance informs governance, stakeholder and control arrangements

Participants can measure progress objectively and forecast project cost and schedule outcomes.

  • Planned value measures budgeted work scheduled by reporting date
  • Earned value records budgeted work completed against approved scope
  • Actual cost captures expenditure incurred for completed project work
  • Schedule performance index indicates progress against planned delivery rate
  • Cost performance index indicates spending efficiency against completed work
  • Estimate at completion forecasts final costs using earned value data

Participants can manage issues and changes while protecting approved project baselines.

  • Issue logs distinguish current problems from uncertain future risks
  • Change requests document rationale, impact, options and approval requirements
  • Integrated change control assesses scope, schedule, cost, risk and quality impacts
  • Configuration management identifies controlled products, versions and release status
  • Change control boards review material requests against delegated authority
  • Baseline updates preserve an auditable record of approved project decisions

Participants can combine predictive controls with iterative delivery methods where uncertainty requires adaptation.

  • Agile principles support incremental delivery, feedback and changing requirements
  • Product backlogs prioritise user value, technical work and emerging needs
  • User stories express needs, value and acceptance conditions succinctly
  • Sprint planning selects achievable work against team capacity and priorities
  • Kanban boards visualise workflow, work limits and delivery bottlenecks
  • Hybrid delivery models retain governance while using iterative team practices

Participants can close projects formally and transfer ownership of deliverables and intended benefits.

  • Benefits realisation plans assign measures, owners, dates and review points
  • Operational readiness assessments confirm people, processes, systems and support arrangements
  • Handover plans transfer assets, documentation, training and outstanding actions
  • Formal acceptance confirms deliverables meet agreed scope and quality criteria
  • Lessons learned reviews capture evidence, causes, actions and reusable knowledge
  • Closure reports confirm final performance, contracts, finances and benefit ownership

Participants can diagnose distressed projects and prepare a focused recovery plan for senior decision-makers.

  • Recovery assessments examine scope, schedule, cost, risks, governance and team capacity
  • Root cause analysis separates symptoms from underlying delivery failures
  • Schedule compression considers crashing and fast-tracking risks before approval
  • Recovery options compare costs, benefits, feasibility and stakeholder consequences
  • Escalation papers present evidence, decisions required, options and recommendations
  • Recovery plans reset baselines, accountabilities, milestones and monitoring arrangements

Participants can test alignment between scope, schedule, budget, risk, resources and governance arrangements.

  • Integrated management plans align subsidiary plans with project objectives
  • Cross-plan checks identify inconsistent assumptions, dates, budgets and responsibilities
  • Dependency maps expose interfaces, handoffs, constraints and external commitments
  • Scenario analysis tests response options against plausible delivery disruptions
  • Readiness reviews assess whether plans support authorised project commencement
  • Peer review criteria test clarity, feasibility, control and decision usefulness

Participants can build, review and present a complete project management pack for approval.

  • Project charter consolidates purpose, objectives, authority, assumptions and success measures
  • Scope baseline combines requirements, WBS, exclusions and acceptance criteria
  • Integrated schedule links activities, dependencies, milestones, resources and critical path
  • Cost baseline includes estimates, contingency, funding profile and control accounts
  • Risk, stakeholder, communications and governance plans support delivery decisions
  • Performance dashboard presents earned value, forecasts, issues and required decisions

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

What you take back to work

  1. Project charter template
  2. Work breakdown structure and WBS dictionary
  3. Integrated schedule and cost baseline
  4. Risk register and response plan
  5. Stakeholder engagement and communications plan
  6. Project performance dashboard

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need repeatable methods for planning, controlling and closing projects
  • Project Coordinators — need stronger planning tools and governance responsibilities
  • Workstream Leads — need to manage dependencies, risks and delivery commitments
  • Operations Managers — need to deliver change while protecting operational performance
  • Business Analysts — need to convert requirements into controlled project scope
  • Technical Leads — need to plan delivery, suppliers and cross-functional decisions

Skills and tools covered

Project planningSchedule managementRisk analysisStakeholder engagementCost controlChange governance

Tools and standards

PMBOK Guide, ISO 21502, Work Breakdown Structure, Earned Value Management

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by case analysis, planning workshops, group exercises, decision simulations and individual application planning. Participants work with realistic project data, including requirements, estimates, stakeholder concerns, risks, supplier information and performance reports. Each module adds a practical component to an evolving project management pack. Facilitated reviews test assumptions, challenge planning choices and connect methods to participants' own projects. Live online delivery uses shared workspaces, breakout groups and instructor feedback.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to, coordinating or leading project activities, such as tracking actions, managing work packages, preparing reports or supporting implementation. They should be comfortable reading simple budgets, timelines and business documents. Familiarity with spreadsheet software is useful because planning and control examples use tables and calculations. Formal project management certification, prior use of scheduling software, advanced financial knowledge and experience managing large projects are not required. The course explains core terminology before applying the methods.

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

You should have experience contributing to projects or coordinating project activities. You do not need formal certification, prior project manager experience or advanced scheduling software skills.

Bring details of a current or recent project if confidentiality permits, including objectives, stakeholders, milestones and known challenges. A laptop is useful for adapting templates, although course materials are provided.

It is suited to project managers, coordinators, workstream leads, technical leads, analysts and operations managers. It is designed for people who need to plan and control defined projects rather than only contribute specialist tasks.

This course covers end-to-end project management, including business cases, governance, scope, scheduling, cost, risk, procurement, reporting and closure. Agile and Scrum are addressed as delivery approaches within a wider predictive and hybrid project framework.

Participants build reusable documents including a charter, work breakdown structure, schedule, budget, risk register and reporting dashboard. These can be adapted to a live project after the course, subject to internal governance requirements.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week develops the core plan, while the second week focuses on control, adaptive delivery, recovery, closure and the final capstone presentation.

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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