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overview
Key Learning Objectives
- Establish the authority needed in the project director role
- Navigate between project management and project director tasks to achieve strategic goals
- Understand the commercial essentials in project director work
- Use complex project risk tools and their outputs
- Learn the importance of proper planning and avoiding shortcuts
- Use a range of methods for determining project value
- Effectively use the psychology of leadership and communication
- Apply proven trouble shooting techniques in a range of situations
About the Course
A true project director role differs significantly from that of the traditional project manager. The project director effectively becomes the voice of the client, and makes both commercial and technical decisions on behalf of the client.
It simply isn’t possible to become a great project director simply by virtue of experience in a range of traditional project management roles. Project directors must understand how to apply and interpret advanced project selection tools, risk profiling and managing tools, and have a thorough understanding of the commercial aspects of the projects they direct.
This course will provide you with those skills and more. You will also learn some advanced leadership skills to assist in the all important people management side of the project director’s position.
Who Will Benefit
This course is relevant for all those involved with project management, project planning and project delivery looking to make the transition into a project director role. This is also a good refresher for project directors wanting to benchmark against others and revise their skills, and for managers wanting to gain insight into the skills involved
A CPD Course
For those who have a professional status and require Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to retain your status, you can use this course to fulfil the educational requirements.
Contact your association to learn how.
Testimonials
“The casual atmosphere and the knowledge of Alan… he is a very friendly and pleasant instructor with a knack for putting people at ease”
Senior Policy Officer, Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry
“Very informative, explained any issues well. I would definitely attend one of Alan’s courses again”
Quantity Surveyor, Unidel
Agenda
Setting the stage – Getting the terminology in perspective
- Project Director vs. Project Manager – the history, development, and differences
- So what is Project Direction and what is a Project Director today?
- Differences between terms ‘Project Director’, ‘Client’s Representative’ and ‘Project Development Manager’
The Project Director and critical project success factors
- Understanding client/customer vs. stakeholder objectives, and managing expectations for effective project direction
- Why and how effective Project Directors work in a partnering style to help the client become firm in their idea of project requirements
- Preventing delivery stage change by spending planning phase time clearly defining client requirements
- Outside the Triple Constraint – the real area for outstanding Project Direction skills – risk management, communications management
Why an effective project director MUST BE a ‘commercial animal’
- The Project Director’s role in project selection and interpreting analysis
- Overview of BCR, NPV, IRR, feasibility principles and sensitivity analysis
- The Project Director’s role in consultant and other team member appointments
- Reviewing the process for ‘forming and developing effective teams’ from a Project Director’s rather than a Project Manager’s perspective
- How to become an effective link pin between the project team, senior management and the client – the art and science of effective structuring of major and complex projects
Specific Project Director’s skills for the planning & delivery phases of complex projects
- Why great project management is based on great risk management
- PERT and Monte Carlo analysis – essential elements and how to interpret the results
- How an effective Project Director directs – people management on complex projects
- Corporate and project politics – an investigation into their cause and growth, their impacts, and how to rise above them
- Why and how effective Project Directors make project change/variation decisions based on feasibility information rather than budget and schedule information only
Benchmarking lessons for Project Directors
- Understanding project value from more than one perspective
- The concept of ‘rate of capitalisation’ (or ‘yield’) and its impact on end value
- The importance of congruence of contractual documents and other related agreements
- The four levels of connection and communication between project participants
- Using the four levels for maximum project control
The Project Director as project trouble-shooter
- What to do if it all ‘turns to mush’
- The need for different styles at different times
- Case studies of projects that went wrong and how they were ‘rescued’
The Project Director as project psychologist/leader
- Vision, motivation and sense of purpose
- The Situational Leadership Model (Blanchard et al.) and its relevance and application to the projects environment
- Jungian concepts as applied to projects for more effective outcomes
- Conflict and its resolution in the major/complex projects context
On-site & in-house training
Deliver this course how you want, where you want, when you want – and save up to 40%! 8+ employees seeking training on the same topic?
Talk to us about an on-site/in-house & customised solution.