This course provides project controls professionals with a practical foundation in project management principles and practices. It explains how scope, schedule, cost, resources, risk, quality, procurement, communication, and stakeholder management work together throughout the project life cycle.

The course connects project management concepts with day-to-day project controls responsibilities, including developing baselines, monitoring performance, forecasting outcomes, managing changes, and preparing management reports. Participants will work through practical exercises and a project case study applicable across engineering, construction, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and other project-based environments.

 

Duration 3 Days – 21 hrs.

 

Objectives

• Explain fundamental project management principles, terminology, and life-cycle phases.
• Distinguish project management responsibilities from project controls responsibilities.
• Translate project requirements into defined scope, deliverables, and work packages.
• Develop the basic components of an integrated project management plan.
• Understand schedule development, dependencies, milestones, and critical-path concepts.
• Establish and manage schedule and cost baselines.
• Monitor actual performance against approved plans and budgets.
• Apply basic earned value management and project forecasting techniques.
• Identify, assess, and monitor project risks and opportunities.
• Understand project change control and its effects on scope, schedule, and cost.
• Prepare concise project performance reports and communicate control information effectively.
• Support informed decision-making through reliable project controls data.

 

 Target Audience 

• Project controls professionals
• Project controls analysts
• Cost engineers and cost controllers
• Planning and scheduling professionals
• Project coordinators
• Junior project managers
• Project engineers
• Quantity surveyors
• Estimators and budget analysts
• Contract and commercial professionals
• Professionals transitioning into project management or project controls roles

 

Prerequisites 

• Basic exposure to projects or project-based work
• Familiarity with project costs, schedules, reports, or progress monitoring
• Basic spreadsheet skills
• An understanding of their organization’s project environment

 

Course Outline 

Day 1: Project Management and Planning Fundamentals

Module 1: Introduction to Project Management 

• Definition and characteristics of a project
• Projects, programs, portfolios, and operations
• Project success criteria and value delivery
• Project constraints and competing priorities
• Predictive, adaptive, and hybrid project approaches
• Role and responsibilities of the project manager

 Module 2: Project Life Cycle and Governance 

• Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing
• Project governance structure
• Business case and project justification
• Project charter and authorization
• Decision gates and approval levels
• Roles of the sponsor, project manager, project controls team, and functional teams
• Project management office and assurance functions

 Module 3: Role of Project Controls 

• Purpose and components of project controls
• Project management versus project controls
• Planning, monitoring, forecasting, and reporting cycle
• Schedule, cost, risk, change, and document controls
• Importance of accurate and timely project data
• Project controls calendar and reporting cycles
• Integrated project controls framework

 Module 4: Scope and Deliverables Planning 

• Requirements and stakeholder expectations
• Project scope statement
• Deliverables and acceptance criteria
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Work packages, control accounts, and planning packages
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix
• Scope validation and control
• Preventing and managing scope creep

Practical Exercise: Develop a simplified project charter, stakeholder register, and Work Breakdown Structure.

 

Day 2: Schedule, Cost, and Performance Control

Module 5: Project Schedule Management 

• Schedule management planning
• Activities, milestones, and dependencies
• Estimating activity durations
• Network diagrams and sequencing
• Critical Path Method
• Float and schedule flexibility
• Resource availability and schedule constraints
• Schedule baseline and progress updating
• Look-ahead schedules and recovery planning
• Schedule variance and delay indicators

 Module 6: Project Cost Management 

• Cost-management planning
• Cost-estimating methods
• Direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs
• Project budgeting and time-phased budgets
• Cost Breakdown Structure
• Management reserves and contingencies
• Cost baseline and control accounts
• Commitments, actual costs, accruals, and forecasts
• Estimate at Completion and Estimate to Complete
• Cash-flow planning

 Module 7: Performance Measurement and Earned Value Management 

• Performance Measurement Baseline
• Planned Value, Earned Value, and Actual Cost
• Schedule Variance and Cost Variance
• Schedule Performance Index and Cost Performance Index
• Budget at Completion
• Estimate at Completion and Variance at Completion
• To-Complete Performance Index
• Trend analysis and performance forecasting
• Limitations and appropriate use of earned value indicators

Practical Exercise: Calculate schedule and cost performance indicators and prepare a basic project forecast.

 

Day 3: Risk, Change, Reporting, and Integrated Control

Module 8: Project Risk and Opportunity Management 

• Risk-management process
• Risks, issues, assumptions, and constraints
• Risk identification techniques
• Probability and impact assessment
• Qualitative risk analysis
• Risk responses and ownership
• Contingency planning
• Risk register and risk monitoring
• Connecting risks with schedule and cost forecasts

 Module 9: Integrated Change Control 

• Sources and types of project changes
• Change request and approval process
• Assessing impacts on scope, schedule, cost, resources, and risk
• Change-control board and delegated authority
• Approved, pending, and rejected changes
• Maintaining baseline integrity
• Change logs and audit trails
• Management of trends, variations, and claims
• Rebaselining principles

 Module 10: Project Monitoring, Forecasting, and Reporting 

• Establishing project performance indicators
• Data collection and status cut-off dates
• Variance and root-cause analysis
• Progress measurement methods
• Forecasting completion dates and final costs
• Schedule, cost, risk, and change dashboards
• Preparing weekly and monthly project reports
• Exception reporting and escalation thresholds
• Communicating project-control information to management
• Turning project data into actionable insights

 Module 11: Project Closeout and Lessons Learned 

• Verifying completion and acceptance
• Contract and financial closeout
• Closing outstanding changes and claims
• Final cost and schedule reconciliation
• Archiving project controls records
• Lessons learned and continuous improvement
• Post-project performance review

 Module 12: Integrated Project Controls Case Study 

• Review project scope and Work Breakdown Structure
• Examine the baseline schedule and budget
• Update progress and actual costs
• Calculate project performance
• Identify emerging risks and variances
• Assess a proposed project change
• Revise forecasts
• Prepare and present a concise project status report