A well-thought-out and well-managed schedule is critical to successful project management and is integral to the efficient management of project costs. Project Scheduling and Cost Planning offers students an opportunity to learn effective tools and techniques that can allow project managers to translate specifications to realistic project plans that lead to a resource-loaded schedule and baseline budget. These tools and techniques can be used to minimize bottlenecks and downtime, identify and plan for resource needs, develop contingencies, and manage risk and scope creep. This course builds on the project schedule to explore cost estimation methods, break-even analysis, earned value management, and to develop confidence levels. Offers students an opportunity to learn to manage the project budget and revise cost estimates. Topics include schedule development, cost estimating, and cost and schedule management through earned value management.

Program Learning Outcomes:

• Define and explain tools used in managing project disciplines, including scope, risk, quality, schedule, cost, quality and performance metrics, while understanding and addressing the needs of different project stakeholders.
• Describe the significance and implications of project management in terms of challenges and trends in your professional or organizational context.
• Share various project team roles and responsibilities in the creation of an integrated project plan that meets strategic goals in a real-world setting, while addressing common project challenges.
• Develop and justify a position on an ethical issue in project management; explain its civic and global significance.

Course Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the effectiveness and applicability of schedule planning approaches in different project environments.
• Create a realistic schedule and cost estimate.
• Critique and apply various estimation methods.
• Construct a project schedule through the iterative analysis of activity sequences, dependency, durations, logical relationships, resources, requirements, constraints, and assumptions.
• Aggregate estimated costs and durations to establish cost and schedule performance baselines.

Venue

Silicon Valley, San Jose Campus

This course is currently being offered at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies.