+Project management course downloads

These project management courses are based on the PMI philosophies, but also tap into the "secrets" of master project managers--at an affordable price. No longer do you need to learn from the school of hard knocks--or shell out huge sums of money to learn effective project management.

Basic Courses Series

Click on a course name for more information on that course.

Basic Course 1: A foundation for learning project management principles

Basic Course 2: How to initiate a project properly

Basic Course 3: How to build the project plan

Basic Course 4: Matching project resources to the requirements of stakeholders

Basic Course 5: How to develop component plans to support the project

PM Basic Entire Set

Compare the price of our basic series to the $1,980 charged by one of our competitors.

If you are already in any kind of management position, you can probably deduct the cost on your income tax, making your overall cost even less. That small investment WILL pay for itself many times over.

You aren't risking much money--but we guarantee your satisfaction anyhow! Your big risk is in not learning what these project management courses can teach you.

And, if you don't think the course is worth what you paid, we'll refund your money. We want you to be a happy customer, and we want good referrals. We are not out to make a one-shot sale.

+Project Management Courses

Boost your project management skills today. We help you do that quickly and efficiently. If you want to improve your success in any of the following areas:

Look no further. You'll find it at Mindconnection's Project Management Connection!

Project management career stymied? Are you now "doing more with less?" Would you like to improve your project management skills? Would you like to go beyond project management? Tired of expensive seminars and books that repeat the same old basic stuff? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, our project management courses are for you!

At Mindconnection's Project Management Connection, you'll discover an easy to use, information packed web site. Click here to learn more about project management courses.

Need project templates? Check this out.

The three components of management:

* Planning

* Measurement

* Control

Have you mastered these? Or are they mastering you? Even if you think you have mastered these, our courses will help you do better. In these tough times, you need that edge.

Sample text from one of our courses:

Sam was a project manager who worked very hard. He put in 12 hour days, and he tried his best to please the customer. Sam's project turned out to provide the largest single loss to his company, and the customer was extremely upset.

Five years later, the company talked the customer into doing a similar project.

This time, Pam was the project manager. The first thing she did was pull out the files from the old project.

She noticed the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) set up unrealistic expectations and held her company hostage to the whims of the client's project manager. The T&Cs included several customer review cycles, none of which stopped the clock on her company's project obligations.

Pam negotiated new T&Cs that held the customer's feet to the fire to achieve overall project completion.

When Pam suggested this before meeting the customer to negotiate those T&Cs, the salesman was horrified. Pam explained that the customer's review cycle was part of the project timetable, and if the customer could be a wild card then she would refuse to do the project.

She then laid out a strategy for getting the customer to agree.

As a result of Pam's new T&Cs, the project came in far under the projected cost - which was based on the salesman's estimate.

This turned out to be the company's most profitable project ever. And, the customer was delighted with the on-time delivery.

As a result, that customer booked several more projects - each of which had multi-million dollar valuations. Pam worked 40 hour weeks for the duration of that project and for subsequent ones. When various managers criticized Pam for "leaving early," she asked them which part of her profit increase they objected to.

This is a true story, though the names are fictional.

In this lesson, we'll look at the tools, techniques, and concepts you need to learn to ensure you have successes like Pam's, rather than humiliations like Sam's.

Here's the table of contents from our project funding course:

Table of Contents

PM401: PROJECT FUNDING. GOING BEYOND THE BASIC CAPITAL

REQUEST............................................................................................................ 8

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 9

REASONS GIVEN FOR “NO!”.......................................................................... 10

RESPONSES TO UNREASONABLE REASONS .......................................................... 11

It costs too much. You think “budget” is a foreign word. ................................................................13

It’s overkill. It’s a space shuttle......................................................................................................13

We’ve gone without it all these years…...........................................................................................13

We’ve tried this before, and it hasn’t worked. .................................................................................14

We need new furniture in the lobby, first.........................................................................................14

You’re stupid. ................................................................................................................................15

It’s not in the plan..........................................................................................................................15

We don’t have the resources to do it. ..............................................................................................15

We don’t have the expertise to do it. ...............................................................................................16

Isn’t there a simpler (better, faster, cheaper) way to do this............................................................16

I don’t think upper management will understand this......................................................................17

I don’t think upper management will approve this...........................................................................18

WHY THESE REASONS EXIST .............................................................................. 19

Financial issues .............................................................................................................................19

Managerial issues..........................................................................................................................19

Cultural issues ...............................................................................................................................19

Communication issues....................................................................................................................19

ELIMINATING THE REASONS................................................................................ 20

This requires effort and research on our part..................................................................................20

You need to find funding in all the right places ...............................................................................20

Funding won’t come looking for you ..............................................................................................20

WHERE TO LOOK (ALL THE RIGHT PLACES) .......................................................... 21

Your Goal......................................................................................................................................22

Define it. What are you really trying to do, here? .......................................................................................23

Determine what it takes to meet your goal..................................................................................................24

Design what it takes to meet your goal.......................................................................................................25

THE COMPANY’S BUSINESS NEEDS .................................................................... 26

Determine if this project fits with long-term goals...........................................................................27

Determine the specific benefits of this project.................................................................................27

RESOURCES ..................................................................................................... 28

Tap underutilized resources ...........................................................................................................28

Resolve resource limitations...........................................................................................................31

The overlook list.......................................................................................................................................32

Resource identification tips .......................................................................................................................33

Determine if the implementation is sustainable...............................................................................35

YOUR PROJECT OPTIONS .................................................................................. 36

SWOT analysis...............................................................................................................................38

Cost-benefit analysis......................................................................................................................39

Judgment.......................................................................................................................................40

Using your expertise .................................................................................................................................40

Using someone else’s expertise .................................................................................................................43

YOUR PERFORMANCE ASSUMPTIONS.................................................................. 44

Make accurate assumptions............................................................................................................45

Base assumptions on solid information, not on guesses...................................................................46

Question validity and accuracy ......................................................................................................47

Assign confidence factors when in gray areas.................................................................................48

If you’re unsure, say why ...............................................................................................................51

YOUR FINANCIAL CALCULATIONS ............................................................... 52

FINANCIAL SUMMARY......................................................................................... 53

TERMINOLOGY .................................................................................................. 55

PRESENTATION ................................................................................................. 58

Concise written statements.............................................................................................................59

Graphics........................................................................................................................................59

Financials conclusion ....................................................................................................................60

UNMEASURABLES.............................................................................................. 61

Goodwill........................................................................................................................................62

Morale...........................................................................................................................................63

Professionalism .............................................................................................................................64

Safety.............................................................................................................................................66

YOUR ACCOUNTANT.......................................................................................... 67

Virgin proposals ............................................................................................................................68

Critical veteran proposals..............................................................................................................69

PROJECT PORTFOLIO......................................................................................... 70

New markets..................................................................................................................................71

New business with existing customer ..............................................................................................75

YOUR WRITING ................................................................................................. 79

General writing tips .......................................................................................................................80

Project proposal writing tips..........................................................................................................81

Leave out history ......................................................................................................................................81

Write tight ................................................................................................................................................81

Eliminate judgment statements ..................................................................................................................81

Justify all assumptions ..............................................................................................................................82

Sell the benefits that are important to the gatekeepers.................................................................................84

Take a methodical approach. .....................................................................................................................84

Project proposal form tips..............................................................................................................85

Use lead-in summaries ..............................................................................................................................86

Use headlines............................................................................................................................................86

Use conclusions ........................................................................................................................................87

Add a short glossary..................................................................................................................................88

Include references and sources ..................................................................................................................88

Developing writing skills................................................................................................................90

Do general reading....................................................................................................................................90

Read about writing....................................................................................................................................90

Take a course............................................................................................................................................91

Write often ...............................................................................................................................................91

Volunteer to tutor......................................................................................................................................92

CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 93

PM 401 EXERCISES.......................................................................................... 94

PM402: DEALING WITH A DIFFICULT CUSTOMER --AND MAKING THAT

CUSTOMER YOUR BIGGEST SUPPORTER. .................................................. 95

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 96

SUBSTANCE TRUMPS FORM................................................................................ 98

Spin ...............................................................................................................................................99

Trust............................................................................................................................................ 101

DOS AND DON’TS ............................................................................................ 102

Don’t:.......................................................................................................................................... 104

Instead, do:.................................................................................................................................. 105

The customer says your work is faulty .......................................................................................... 107

The customer blames you for something he did. ............................................................................ 113

Hypothetical example #1.........................................................................................................................114

Hypothetical example #2.........................................................................................................................117

The customer expects you to control things beyond his control...................................................... 119

The customer is unreasonable, no matter what you do. ................................................................. 122

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER................................................................................... 125

PM 402 EXERCISES........................................................................................ 126

PM 403: DEALING WITH A DIFFICULT PARTNER: HOW TO HANDLE

MANIPULATIVE, BACKSTABBING, OR INCOMPETENT COWORKERS AND

BOSSES .......................................................................................................... 127

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 128

BEHAVIOR CHOICES......................................................................................... 129

RULES OF CONFLICT........................................................................................ 132

HANDLING INCOMPETENCE AND INCOMPETENTS................................................. 134

Expose the fraud.......................................................................................................................... 136

Feed the shark to the wolves......................................................................................................... 139

Let the lazy one hang himself........................................................................................................ 141

HANDLING THE BACKSTABBER .......................................................................... 145

Signs you are being backstabbed.................................................................................................. 147

Some clues as to who the backstabber is....................................................................................... 148

Defensive tactics for handling backstabbing................................................................................. 149

Confront, confront, confront....................................................................................................................149

Ask, and you shall find............................................................................................................................150

Keep your own porch clean.....................................................................................................................152

Watch the brownie points........................................................................................................................153

Smile......................................................................................................................................................153

Mind your own business..........................................................................................................................153

Watch the kudos .....................................................................................................................................154

Sow seeds of assurance ...........................................................................................................................154

Offensive tactics for handling backstabbers.................................................................................. 155

Pretend to befriend..................................................................................................................................156

Document deficiencies ............................................................................................................................157

Tattle......................................................................................................................................................158

Super-dirty tricks ......................................................................................................................... 160

Set him up as a lecher..............................................................................................................................161

Ruin his personal life ..............................................................................................................................162

THE SECRET TO ALL OF THIS............................................................................. 167

PM 403 EXERCISES........................................................................................ 168

BONUS........................................................................................................... 168

PM404: CYA TRICKS THAT DON'T BITE YOU LATER................................. 169

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 170

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY .................................................................................... 171

THE PREVENTION ASPECT OF “GOTCHAS” .......................................................... 173

Inputs to consider ........................................................................................................................ 174

HANDLING THE UNEXPECTED............................................................................ 179

CAUGHT IN AN ERROR...................................................................................... 182

SOLVING THE GOTCHA GRACEFULLY.................................................................. 187

KEYS TO RESOLVING “GOTCHAS” ...................................................................... 189

Preparation ................................................................................................................................. 190

Integrity....................................................................................................................................... 190

Honesty ....................................................................................................................................... 190

Empathy ...................................................................................................................................... 191

Responsiveness............................................................................................................................ 191

Creativity..................................................................................................................................... 191

Cooperation................................................................................................................................. 191

Thinking ...................................................................................................................................... 191

PM 404 EXERCISES........................................................................................ 192

Project Management Course Connection

Instructor credentials:

+Project Management Courses

Sample text from one of our courses: