Introduction to project management/IPM103/Course description

Planning a project
At the heart of any successful project is a well-considered plan.

This course provides the opportunity for you develop the skills and knowledge needed to create this comprehensive project plan. The critical steps that you will need to undertake are worked through using traditional project management frameworks. You will develop an understanding of budgets, resource allocation, quality and risk in order to produce a document that outlines the project's pathway to success.

What's it about?
Project managers are usually responsible for producing the plan to take the project from an idea through to its successful implementation. During this micro course you will identify and describe the fundamental elements required for your project. Thinking in a structured way ensures that you can inform your team about the required resource requirements to deliver the identified outcome. You will also be assessing risks and quality to ensure that all possibilities are addressed before your project is commenced.

What will I learn?
In this micro course you will create a project plan (for a project that you choose). In generating this plan, you will:


 * Estimate project resources
 * Schedule time frames
 * Apply the basics of budgeting
 * Assess quality and risk
 * Understand the process of procurement

What's involved?
There are eight learning pathways each containing numerous resources and eight learning challenges, the last one being an assessment. The learning pathways are:


 * Your Project
 * Resources
 * Time
 * Budget
 * Quality
 * Procurement
 * Risk
 * Putting it all together

What prerequisites should I have, if any?
Anyone is free to participate in this course. An internet connection and basic web browsing skills are recommended with the ability to create a blog and microblog account (instructions and self-study tutorials provided.) You are requested to keep a personal course blog to share and reflect on the outputs of your learning which has been shown to increase learning markedly.

Planning a project is one of four micro-courses required for formal credit towards Introduction to Project Management, a 1st year-level Bachelors course at Otago Polytechnic. Each micro course can be studied independently in any sequence, however learners may find it beneficial to study the micro courses in the following order.

Learners aiming to submit assessments for formal academic credit will need to meet the normal university admission requirements of the conferring institution (e.g. language proficiency and school leaving certificates).