Introduction

Whether it is developing a new learning experience, adapting an existing learning experience, finding the right self-paced solution, rolling out the best software to drive performance, or hiring the right vendor to work with, you are constantly working on projects. Years ago, project managers tended to work on one or two at a time. But in today’s multitasking workspace, this is no longer possible. Projects today are really like flash mobs—people come together through virtual communication to do something with clear outcomes and then disperse. Isn’t this what happens as you attend one-hour meetings on project after project all day long?

In the second edition of Project Management for Trainers, you will learn how to manage the projects that you are not dedicated to and neither is anyone else. Think about how you would manage a flash mob: through lean and fast project management to balance your workload and multitasking.

You will also learn practical techniques for rolling out performance improvement solutions through learning and development that solve a business problem. It’s exciting, creative, and sacred—because you are managing people’s work. Your first question could be, “What will your staff be able to do after this experience that they can’t do now?” This question gets to the heart of most business problems, which are caused by a missing skill (something people can’t do), a missing piece of knowledge (something people don’t know), or an inappropriate attitude (something people believe mistakenly).

Depending on what’s best for your learners and their situation, your solution can be delivered to the learners through instructor-led training, e-learning, video-based programs, webinars, conference calls, articles, coaching, or even job aids—all of which are referred to in this book as learning experiences. Your solution is likely only part of the answer to this business problem, and it is important that your business clients understand the role they play as your partner. New performance initiated in a learning experience must be reinforced by supervisors, job descriptions, and performance reviews for change to occur.

Navigating This Book

Depending on your project experience, you may skip some of the chapters that you already feel comfortable with. But try not to skip chapter 2; you’ll find the approach to creating project charters easy, fun, and powerful.

Chapter 1: Beginning the Project. In this chapter, you will learn what a project is and how it differs from a task and a process. You’ll also learn the roles of the project manager, project sponsor, and stakeholders, as well as the phases of project management as you begin to “dare to properly manage resources.” The language introduced in this chapter will help you understand the other chapters.

Chapter 2: Defining the Project. In the define phase of the Dare Approach, you will learn how to build an initial project charter. This document captures the project scope, the initial business and project objectives, and the risks and constraints, as well as the communication, governance, and transition plans.

Chapter 3: A Course Development Template. Before you can start to build the project schedule, you have to figure out all the tasks that need to get done, what order they’ll be in, and who has the right skills to work on each. You can use development methodologies as cheat sheets to help jumpstart this brainstorming period. These methodologies—known as ADDIE, SAM, and Agile (with a couple of other variations available as well)—were developed by experts and outline the tasks needed to do a project. Your project is unique, so you’ll have to make decisions about what (if any) methodology and tasks will work best for you.

Chapter 4: Planning the Project. In the plan phase of the Dare Approach, you will learn how to build a project schedule, which you will create from the methodology choices described in chapter 3. The schedule will be made up of measurable tasks assigned to different people with appropriate due dates. You can drop this into an Excel spreadsheet to use as a dashboard. You will also learn how to create a budget, if needed, using a costing worksheet.

Chapter 5: Managing the Project. In the manage phase of the Dare Approach, you will learn how to implement a project schedule. You’ll find out ways to adapt to the constant change, how to track the status of a project, how to influence stakeholders, and what to do if you’re falling behind.

Chapter 6: Reviewing the Project. In the review phase of the Dare Approach, you will learn how to end and transition a project well, and how to apply a standard evaluation process to capture and share lessons learned.

Chapter 7: Managing Consulting Projects. In this chapter, you will read about how experts in the field are creating new approaches to delivering performance solutions beyond training programs. This will help you apply project management to projects that are not event driven, but may occur over time—for example, coaching, facilitation, and mentoring.

Chapter 8: A Template for Managing External Suppliers. Some or all of your projects may be outsourced to external providers. In this chapter, you will learn about balancing detail and flexibility in the requests for proposal and contracts, managing contractor law, honoring confidentiality, establishing communication, managing change, negotiating effectively, and planning for knowledge transfer and shared risk.

Chapter 9: The Project Begins. This chapter will encourage you to make a personal commitment to improving your project management abilities every time you get a new project.

How to Utilize This Book

The first step to successfully applying this book and improving your ability to grow performance in others is to set some goals for growing your own performance. Pick your top three most important learning objectives from Table I-1. Although it would be wonderful if you had the time to read this book from cover to cover, you are likely crunched for time, so focus on the objectives most pertinent to you and your situation.

Finally, think about a worrisome learning and development project that you are just starting or managing (for example, writing a new learning experience, installing an LMS, or building competency models). Use this project to complete the exercises at the end of each chapter. It will accelerate your learning.

Table I-1. Learning Objectives and Corresponding Chapters

Project Management Best Practices

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a U.S.-based membership association of professional project managers. PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a detailed encyclopedia of current best practices in project management. PMI also offers multiple project management certification programs based on the PMBOK and the role you intend to play on projects. The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is the most well-known. There are local chapters in every major U.S. city, and many globally, so if you are interested in learning more, check out your local chapter for programs and study groups.

Outside the United States, project managers may look to PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments, version 2), initially developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency as a U.K. government standard for IT project management and currently managed by AXELOS for certification.

Whether or not you become certified in project management, the process, tools, and techniques you will learn in this book will improve your ability to manage projects and will not conflict with any PMBOK guidelines. Where there is terminology confusion in the industry, it will be noted in a sidebar.