Course description

Been handed a project and not sure where to start? This course shows you, step by step, how to plan, run and finish a project well, whether it's a shop opening, an office move, a new website or a community event. You'll learn the tools project managers really use, in plain English, and practise every one on a project of your own.

It's a full course, not a quick list of tips. There are 10 sections and 57 step-by-step written lessons, and every lesson ends with a practical task. Every section has a practice pack of templates to download, and the course follows one fictional project from start to finish: a small plant shop opening its second branch.

What you'll learn

• Starting well: business cases, SMART objectives, scope, stakeholders and a one-page project brief.
• Planning: work breakdown structures, estimates, dependencies, milestones and a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets.
• Money: building a project budget, tracking spend and working with suppliers.
• Risks and issues: a simple risk matrix, risk responses and a RAID log you'll actually keep up to date.
• People: RACI charts, communication plans, meetings, status reports and handling conflict.
• Staying in control: change control, quality checks, scope creep and getting a late project back on track.
• Agile and Kanban: Scrum basics, Kanban boards, user stories and when to use them.
• Closing: handover, lessons learned and benefits.

Two final projects

You'll plan a real project of your own from brief to risk log using the project toolkit, and carry out a health check on a project that's going off track, then write the status report and recovery plan.

Who this course is for

• Anyone who has been asked to run a project at work with no training.
• Team leaders, office and admin staff who coordinate changes and events.
• Small business owners planning a launch, move or new service.
• People thinking about a career in project management who want a solid start.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the Try it task on your own project or the practice scenario. All you need is a spreadsheet app such as Excel or Google Sheets. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you start a new project.

What will i learn?

• Start a project well with a business case, SMART objectives and a clear scope
• Write a one-page project brief and run a kick-off meeting
• Break work down, estimate it and build a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets
• Build and track a project budget and work with suppliers
• Find, assess and manage risks and issues with a RAID log
• Communicate with RACI charts, status reports and well-run meetings
• Control changes and get a late project back on track
• Use agile, Scrum and Kanban ideas, and close a project properly

Frequently asked question