Through CERDS Consult Inc. designed courses, increase your career competitive advantage & gain the skills required in a wide range of industry sectors.
The CERDS Consult Inc. project management course is designed for ambitious professionals who are already involved in managing projects, are looking to drive their career forward, or would like to start a new role in this highly rewarding field.

Why Enroll For The Project Management Course?

• Develop the skills employers need: This is now a vital skill in almost every sector, this certification opens the door to a truly diverse range of job opportunities across industries, and especially the local &international NGO sector.
• Practical one – on -one course: Our trainers have been selected because of their extensive project management training experience. You can expect practical skills that you can apply to a work-life setting.
• Unlock a range of career options: After certification, you will have the choice to work in the public sector, education, NGO – non-governmental organization, healthcare, and more. Many of our graduates are now project managers and project control officers
  working in a range of sectors.
  

Successful Graduation From The Project Management Course Will Help You To:
1. Formulate, design and execute projects in both the private and public sector
2. Identify and efficiently manage all project risks in a timely manner
3. Understand the project life circle including organizing, budgeting and control; how to
outline the project management process
4. Perform with ease and efficiency any activities relating to projects
5. Develop effective problem-solving skills when managing projects

Who Should Study CERDS Consult Inc. Project Management?

This program is suitable for:
1. Any professional working or wishing to work in project management set up
2. Graduates & any professional who wants to learn practical skills.

AREAS OF TRAINING

1. Project Management Development
At CERDS Consult Inc. we will start to help your organization to develop its Project Management Capability with a systems review, finding what’s right for your business, rather than forcing you into prescriptive ways. We work with what we call the 3 elements for Project Excellence – tools, processes and people. The review report will highlight the quick wins and longer term development targets that we identify. This will enable successful methodology selection, development & tailoring, together with suitable project management tool implementation.

This works hand-in-hand with our effective development of the relevant people in your organization through an appropriate mix of competence assessment, and structured competence development using facilitated team development. We can mix workshops, training events, e-
learning and individual development & coaching, all with measured results. Our holistic approach to developing your project management people is not limited to the “harder” core PM competence. We prefer to blend in “softer” people & behavioral skills such as leadership, motivation and relationship management.

We can also enhance your capability further by supporting the recruitment of PM resources with requirement profiling, candidate sourcing, initial filtering, and facilitated assessment centres. We find that clients engage us at various stages in the project lifecycle:

Project Planning – when a project is just so business critical that it must be right first time. CERDS Inc. have specific products for kick-starting important projects.

• During Execution – when some early warnings are indicating deviation from plan. Again
  we have specific products for improving live project performance – usually this involves
  reacting to "plug a gap" at the same time as pro-acting to get things back on track
  remainder of the project.
• Project Review – sometimes it is beneficial to have CERDS Inc. independently facilitate a
  review of how the project went and identify lessons learnt. We provide objective data for
  continuous improvement.

If you want more information, or just a chat about any project management development issue give us a call. We would love to hear from you.
CERDS Consult Inc. – desired outcomes, on time, within budget and effectively

2. Project Management Resourcing

It is important that we practice what we preach. Managing projects keeps our consultants fresh, bringing "best practice" to real projects and consulting assignments alike. At CERDS Consult Inc. we will only provide professional interim managers with considerable
experience of a vast mix of project types in most industry sectors. Our Project Managers can work on a full or part-time basis to best suit the needs and resources of our clients.We have considerable strengths and are often engaged in all project “types”, namely:

Business Change Projects: e.g. new system introduction; relocation, business restructuring, procurement projects, bid management

Client Delivery Projects (often called jobs or contracts): e.g. software or equipment rollout, web design, volume purchase, or manufacturing deliveries.

Product Development Projects: i.e. tangible, service or system solution products through all stages of the development lifecycle.

System Integration Projects: e.g. multi-vendor, multi-platform integration systems If you want more information, or just a chat about any project management resourcing issue give us a call. We would love to hear from you.

CERDS Consult Inc. – desired outcomes, on time, within budget effectively

3. Project Management Tools

When an organization has the best project processes in place, they will naturally need the best (most appropriate) tools in place to maximize the efficiency of the process and provide the right information to stakeholders. Different organizations and different project types need different
tools, and there are usually legacy systems to take into account. It is crucially important to find the right tools which support the process, rather than modifying a business process to fit the tool.

Each time we trawl the market there is a huge array of tools out there, and they are all evolving quickly, with new entrants joining the market place on what feels like a daily basis. At CERDS Consult Inc. we continue to maintain our position of independence from the tool suppliers, and
support our clients in the specification, procurement and integration process for appropriate tools, as they need.

CERDS Consult Inc. – desired outcomes, on time, within budget effectively.

4. Project Management Training

At CERDS Consult Inc. we are often asked to provide Project Management Training. Strategically, we do not wish to compete in the training space, when there is such a vast range of excellent, great value specialist project management trainers available. What we do for our clients is help them to define what project management competence development (we look at skills and experiential learning) is needed for their organization,
measure the competence, agree the gap, and then help them to source the right training to fill that gap. If needed we can facilitate a programme and then measure competence improvements achieved and provide post learning coaching to help draw out the optimum business benefits as well as personal benefits. Often this is all seamlessly integrated with the existing appraisal or performance management systems.

CERDS Consult Inc.at all times seek to maintain independence, allowing us to offer the very best advice to our clients. That said, when requested, we can bring to the table a number of trusted professional training organizations, with whom we have worked for some time, and negotiated preferential rates for CERDS Consult Inc. clients. If needed, CERDS Consult Inc. will work with training companies on our client's behalf, providing a one-stop seamless approach and great value for money.

CERDS Consult Inc.- desired outcomes, on time, within budget, Effectively.

5. Project Management Coaching

Project Management can be a lonely business. Even with a big project team, the project manager is looked to as having all of the answers, and can feel unable to ask for support or advice. For a project manager new to a business, to a market place, or to the role, this can be especially true.
Similarly managing the project may not be the project manager's sole responsibility (it’s often not even their “day job”). They recognize the criticality of the project success to the business, but are often unsure of where to turn.

CERDS Consult Inc. provide PM Coaching to many of their clients providing planned or ad-hoc, face-to-face or telephone advice, guidance and support to boost confidence and performance. Terms of reference are agreed up front to ensure that the balance is set for transparency and
confidentiality.

6. Project Expediting

Project Management can be a lonely business. Even with a big project team, the project manager is looked to as having all of the answers, and can feel unable to ask for support or advice. For a project manager new to a business, to a market place, or to the role, this can be especially true.
Similarly managing the project may not be the project manager’s sole responsibility (it’s often not even their “day job”). They recognize the criticality of the project success to the business, but are often unsure of where to turn. CERDS Consult Inc. provide PM Coaching to many of their clients providing planned or ad-hoc, face-to-face or telephone advice, guidance and support to boost confidence and performance. Terms of reference are agreed up front to ensure that the balance is set for transparency and confidentiality.

7. Project Management Office Set-Up

Many organizations, who recognize the important contribution that project and programme management makes to their business success, have a PMO.  It sounds good, but what is it?  PMO stands for Project Management Office.  PMOs are normally characterized by 3 key elements:

• Administrative support & assistance for project managers
• Collection, assessment and reporting of project information, and
• Assurance that project management processes are being used appropriately

In addition the PMO will often be involved in resource management, knowledge management,project coaching, governance and strategic planning, but the function is best uniquely structured to fit within the existing organization. Setting up a PMO (project or programme) can seem a daunting task. Where does one start, who can be spared to successfully drive it through? Having been through the experience themselves,
CERDS Inc. consultants will support clients deliver this business change, guiding them through the challenges of finding appropriate process / methodologies, identifying, sourcing and implementing the right tools, and sourcing and integrating the right people with the right
competence to make it all work together.

Using their proven techniques and thorough understanding of the subject, CERDS Inc have a scalable system for implementing a PMO for all types of organization, big and small.  What’s more they use the systems from their own PMO, to implement your PMO.  Just another example
of CERDS Inc. practicing what they preach.

CERDS Inc – desired outcomes, on time, within budget effectively.

8. Contract And Vendor Relation Management

Project Management is widely recognized as a critical factor in project success. CERDS Consult Inc. firmly believes that competence in project leadership is an essential part of a successful project manager’s toolkit.
The Project Leader needs to be able to:

• Develop the project vision
• Build the project management team and lead the team through the key steps of the project
  management process
• Lead the project team through the four stages of team development (Storming, Forming,
  Norming and Performing)
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills: verbal, both one-on-one and with a group,
  and written skills.
• Understand and use interpersonal relationship skills such as constructive feedback,
  conflict resolution, managing individual styles and personalities
• Demonstrate high level facilitation skills
• Be skillful at influencing, persuading and negotiating across the organization and
  removing obstacles for the team
• Have the ability to accept criticism, feedback and input from others
• Use skills in using tools and approaches such as brainstorming, organizing, decision
  making, project management, conflict resolution, and so on.
• Sell and promote the project both within and often outside the organization.

Recognizing this, CERDS Consult Inc. have developed a number of project leadership development modules which can be structured around the specific needs of a business to provide a tailored project leadership programme. Typically these fall into 2 broad categories, i.e. Team Communication and Relationship Building, and Creating a High Performing Project Team. Contact us to see how CERDS Consult Inc. can help you.
CERDS Consult Inc.- desired outcomes, on time, within budget effectively

There are 5 Ways to Use Simulations to Develop Leaders: Risk-Free, Realistic Leadership Preparation
The often repeated phrase “Good leaders aren’t always born – they can be made!” is true. Quite often though, these leaders are created with the help of highly sophisticated software; and not in boardrooms or around negotiating tables, but behind a screen and a keyboard! While traditional leadership development tools, such as learning exchange, action learning, and role-rotation, are good, they can be time consuming. There may be a considerable lag-time from the time that future leaders enter such programs, to the time they finally emerge as fully trained leaders. The use of simulators is a very quick, cost-effective, and risk-free way to develop leadership skills; and many world class organizations have already embraced them. In this article, we’ll talk about different ways to use simulations to develop leaders.

How to Use Simulations to Develop Leaders: Creating Competitive Advantage

It’s true that leadership skills are horned in the field, but the strategic use of simulators can provide prospective leaders a competitive advantage over some of their colleagues, even though the latter may be long in the tooth in “experience”. That’s because unlike real-world experience, which can be encountered only by leaders who are actually in those situations; simulators can be leveraged to deliver a wide range of leadership experiences – even for situations  that have yet to be encountered! Here are 5 ways in which you can use simulators to develop leaders for your organization:

1. Choose Your Simulation Application Based On Your Needs

Like any problem solving approach, the use of simulators must be done in a precise and deliberate manner, and not as a “one size fits all” strategy. A predominantly research-oriented organization might prefer “Concept simulators”; senior management training needs may be best
met with the help of “Top management game simulation”; while line-managers may best hone leadership skills through “Functional game simulation”.

The corporate technology needed to introduce simulators, as part of the training solution, must also be reviewed based on these needs. While some simulations may be implemented using popular platforms such as Xbox or Wii, others may need proprietary hardware and software
solutions. The idea is that, in order to develop effective leaders across the depth and breadth of the company, you need the right type of simulation toolset.

2. Integrate Simulators within Core Leadership Training

Simulators on their own, as standalone tools might have limited impact on leadership development. To be truly effective, simulators must be integrated into broader leadership training. For instance, a seminar focused on providing existing leaders with refresher training about Workplace Health & Safety, can be made more effective if:

• Traditional virtual or in-class training also incorporates simulation workshops.
• The simulation can produce various scenarios about health and safety situations, and develop leadership responses to those situations.
• Simulated situations may also be developed to train leaders on the latest occupational safety rules and regulations.

Subsequently, you could then roll up discussions about the simulated cases, and various responses to them by aspiring leaders, into the formal in-class or virtual discussions.

3. Make Simulations a Group Activity

There is definitely a use case for single participant simulations, for instance, when testing a driver of a newly developed experimental vehicle. However, most business scenarios benefit from making them into group simulation exercises.

• Teams of players, even though geographically dispersed, can be pitted against one-another in a simulated business war scenario.
• The actions and responses to various simulated scenarios (e.g. Product choices for a specific market; Pricing strategies for a certain region etc.) can yield invaluable details about how regional thought impacts corporate leadership decisions.
• In playing “with” each other on the same team, future leaders gain invaluable insight into how their counterparts work, think and act – invaluable team-building traits.
• In playing “against” each other on opposing teams, simulation can bring out highly competitive skills of future leaders to gain market share or obliterate business rivals.

As a group, simulated exercises can also be fine-tuned to create more realistic business scenarios – for instance, a single company executive trying to sell an idea to more than one member of a company board of directors. In the absence of simulators, such use cases might be difficult to readily test an individual’s leadership skills.

4. Focus On Outcomes… Not Process

One of the chief attributes of simulated training for future leaders is that the exercise should be outcome driven, as opposed to process driven. The final deliverable of any simulated situation must result in an acceptable outcome based on the company’s unique culture and climate.

For instance, if players participating in a simulated situation related to “Loan Issuance at the Bank of XYZ” end the game by following all the rules – but still end up issuing some “bad loans”; then, the outcome should be reviewed carefully. Though all of the banks’ processes may
have been followed, the outcome is something that the bank may not desire in real-life!

5. Take Simulation to the Next Level

While to be effective, simulations should be integrated into core teaching activities; the outcomes must also be used to make decisions about the next steps. In our example above, if the simulated exercise determines that future leaders are still making
“dubious calls” about loan issuance, senior management should consider:

• Whether these leadership candidates need additional refresher training to strengthen core knowledge about the banks’ basic lending policies; OR
• Whether there is a need to review those policies and enact clarifications or changes to them.

Either way, simulations can highlight room for improvement, not just in future leadership of the company, but also within various facets of the organization itself.

Effective To A Point, Unless…

Make no mistake: Simulators are indeed highly effective leadership development tools for all of the above mentioned reasons…and more! However, their effectiveness as training aids is limited only by the complexity and realistic nature of the scenarios that are simulated. Simulators will therefore become ineffective unless:
1. The use-cases are grounded in real-life situations.
2. The scenarios are continually upgraded to evolve as the organization continues to evolve.
3. Formal review and ‘lessons learned’ sessions are conducted as part of the post-simulation debrief.

These 3 conditions will set the stage for leveraging the power of simulators to create highly effective leaders that can not only deal with situations previously encountered by other leaders; but who can adapt their leadership styles to meet scenarios that they might face in the future.

If you want to learn about creating successful simulations for leadership, get a copy of the Instructional Design For eLearning: Essential Guide To Creating Successful eLearning Courses book where you will find instructional design and eLearning tips, tricks, suggestions, and best practices. In addition, you may be interested in the Instructional Design For eLearning course, which also focuses on creating successful, results-oriented training materials, games, and simulations

In today’s day and age, project management is all about using the right tools and techniques. Having these two things in order can help you manage your projects easily and effectively. It has been found in many surveys that using the right project management tools and techniques can increase your overall performance, productivity, and happiness-levels at work.

There are a wide variety of techniques which can be used to help develop ideas and thinking in a programme or project management  environment. Many of these tools have been around for a long time and originated in areas not directly related to PPM.

Tools and Techniques

Some of the tools and techniques that can be used in programme and project management are outlined below.

SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

SWOT Analysis Diagram
A SWOT analysis can be used to draw out the threats and opportunities facing a programme or project. It has the advantage of being quick to implement and is readily understood. Analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats brings together the results of internal business analysis and external environmental analysis. Common and beneficial applications of SWOT are gaining a greater understanding and
insight into competitors and market position.
A similar and related form of analysis is known as PEST – examining Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors.

A RACI diagram is used to describe the roles and responsibilities of the participants in a business or project activity in terms of producing predetermined deliverables. RACI is an acronym formed from the four participatory roles which are:

• responsible – those who undertake the activity or the resources
• accountable – those who take the credit for success or accountability for failure or the activity manager; and there must be at least one for each activity
• consulted – those whose opinions are sought
• informed – those who are kept advised of progress

An expanded version, RACI-VS, can also be used, adding the roles of:

• verifies – the party who checks whether the product meets the quality criteria set out in the product description
• signs off – the party who approves the verification decision and authorizes the product handover

Stakeholder Matrix

Stakeholder Matrix
A stakeholder matrix is used to map stakeholders in terms of their importance and potential impact on programme or project activity. Stakeholders are the individuals or groups who will be affected by an activity, programme or project. They could include:

• senior managers whose business areas are directly or indirectly involved
• end-users including customers outside the organization
• suppliers and partners

Effective management of the stakeholders’ interests includes the resolution of conflicting  objectives and representation of end-users who may not be directly involved in the activity. Stakeholders’ interests can be managed through stakeholder meetings and specific user panels
providing input to a requirement specification. The key objective is to capture, align, record, sign off and deliver stakeholder objectives. One way of prioritizing this activity is to use a stakeholder matrix.
Cause and effect diagram

Cause and Effect Diagram
Also known as fish-bone diagram, a cause and effect diagram can be used to represent event causes and potential impacts. It is a graphical representation of the causes of various events that lead to one or more impacts. Each diagram may possess several start points (A points) and one or more end points (B points).

Construction of the diagram may begin from an A point and work towards a B point or extrapolate backwards from a B point. This is largely a matter of preference.

Risk map

Risk Map With RAG Status
This is a simple representation of risk in terms of likelihood and impact. It requires that the probability of a risk occurring is classified as low, medium or high – with a similar classification for the impact if the risk materializes. A combined risk classification of high probability and high impact if the risk occurs is clearly an important risk. The classification can be extended to include very low and very high.

Summary Risk Profile

Summary Risk Profile

A summary risk profile is a simple mechanism to increase the visibility of risks. It is a graphical representation of information normally found on an existing risk register. In some industry sectors it is referred to as a risk map.

The project manager or risk manager needs to update the risk register on a regular basis and then regenerate the graph, showing risks in terms of probability and impact with the effects of mitigating action taken into account. It is essential for the graph to reflect current information as
documented in the risk register. The profile must be used with extreme care and should not mislead the reader. If an activity has over 200 risks it will be impractical to illustrate all of the risks – it will be more appropriate to illustrate the top 20 risks, for example, making it clear what
is and is not illustrated.

A key feature is the risk tolerance line. It shows the overall level of risk that the organization is prepared to tolerate in a given situation. If exposure to risk is above this line, managers can see that they must take prompt action. Setting the risk tolerance line is a task for experienced risk managers. It reflects the organization’s attitudes to risk in general and to a specific set of risks within a particular project. The parameters of the risk tolerance line should be agreed at the outset of an activity and regularly reviewed.

The use of RAGB (red, amber, green, blue) status can be useful for incorporating the status  reporting from risk registers into risk profiles, and can provide a quick and effective means of monitoring.
Decision tree

Example of a Simple Decision Tree
A decision tree is a useful tool for enabling choice between several courses of action. It provides a highly effective structure within which options can be explored and possible outcomes can be  investigated. It also helps to form a balanced picture of the risks and rewards associated with each possible course of action.
A decision tree is particularly useful when choosing between different strategies, projects or investment opportunities – particularly when resources are scarce.

Radar Chart

An Example of a Radar Chart
Also known as a spider chart, a radar chart is a diagram that is used to show the number of risks that different projects are exposed to. Initially, the data is placed in a table that is subsequently converted into a chart. In a radar chart, a point close to the centre on any axis indicates a low
value and a point near the edge is a high value.

 

Introduction
Needs assessment is a systematic approach to assessing the knowledge, abilities, interests, or early behavior of learners or groups of learners before they are enrolled in a learning program. Needs assessment is an important process that is needed so that learners can verify their level of
knowledge and skills, clarify their interests and thoughts, and determine their learning habits and choices when enrolling in a particular learning program. In addition, needs assessment is also important for the learning program developers or curriculum developers to be able to know and describe the competency gap that is already possessed or mastered by the learners in terms of what is needed during the times they follow the language program later on. The reason underlying this vast study of needs assessment is the convincing fact that needs assessment is the foundation or basis for decision-making related to the curriculum. Through this needs assessment stage, curriculum policymakers will acquire the learners' data, objectives, learning projections, learning style, and learning strategy preferences, as well as the language situation that they will enter so that the curriculum/program developers can develop the curriculum components or language training programs effectively and systematically.

E-learning is an innovative approach to delivering a well-designed, learner- centered, interactive learning process facilitated by an open, flexible, and distributed learning environment by utilizing a variety of digital technology or information and technology as well as communication  tools. As an innovative approach, e-learning demands a  paradigm shift not only from the learners, but also from the teachers, instructors, trainers, administrators, technicians, and other support staff. In e-learning implementation and in an effort to create an open, flexible, and distributed learning environment, the learning program or curriculum developers should explore important issues related to the various dimensions of e-learning  environments

Customized, competency-based training

We know that training and developing a skilled workforce is a challenge for many organizations, and we are here to help. From work force development, to complete institutional building projects, we will help you develop world-class programs, instructors and labs to ensure the
success of your existing and future workforce.

Our complete educational and training services are designed to help achieve strategic results. We will work with you to create an educational structure that aligns with your organizations to meet your defined outcomes for success.

Develop your workforce through:

• Customized Training Solutions
• Institutional Building & Strengthening
• Capacity Development
• Instructor Development
• Hands-on Learning
• Joint Certification
• Curriculum Design, Development and adaptation

Customized Training Solutions
To provide flexible training solutions that meets your real-world needs.
With years of experience collaborating with industry, businesses, governments and other training institutions world-wide, our specialized training options are your solution. By conducting a thorough needs assessment, we are able to develop a flexible training solution that meets your workforce training needs. We identify any training gaps and with access to hundreds of specialized courses, can design, develop and deliver a comprehensive trainingprogram when and where you need it.

Capacity Building

To improve the abilities, skills and expertise of your local educators, to ensure a solid and sustainable workforce We work directly with local industry to ensure that we are delivering hands-on, practical skills that are responsive to the evolving needs of your industry and community, now and in the future. We endeavor to design practical, competency based programs that are customized to meet the specific needs of your country’s business and industry.  Our curriculum development focuses on the outcome of each customized program, letting your needs guide the instructional and facility requirements.

Our needs assessment will help determine any gaps that may exist between current situation and the desired training outcome, enabling a more effective implementation of the overall program.