PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENT

Introduction
You have been selected to attend RA Project Management training based on PwC’s Programme and Project Management (PPM) methodology from 15-19 July 2002.
This brief contains details of the work you need to do BEFORE attending the course.
The deliverables from this pre-course work will be used during the classroom-based section of the course. Therefore, you need to allow yourself time to complete the deliverables if you are to take full advantage of your own participation in the course, and if you are to support the learning of the other participants, particularly the team to which you are assigned.
Aims and Objectives
The overall aim of this course is to enable you to understand the principles, skills, tools, and techniques that will enable you to succeed in your role as a consultant Project Manager.
As you progress from being a Team Leader to a Project Manager, you will need to manage all the 7 Keys of Project Management, not just a selection of them. You will take on increasing responsibility for the client relationship and the RA’s profitability for the assignment. You will have to take a more thorough view of risk and scope management. You will be dealing with stakeholders who can influence your project in positive and negative ways. You will need to manage increasing complexity – be that in the number of work streams you manage, the complexity of the deliverables, or the diversity of the team (client and RA). Above all, you will be expected to exercise increasing creativity and judgement in the approach you take to successfully completing a project.
This course will enable you to learn more about the tools and techniques in the PPM method that will be useful to you. It will also enable you to practice your new skills in a safe environment, before you are expected to practice them for real with a client.
Specifically, this course will allow you to:
• Experience the role of a Project Manager through each stage of the PPM method
• Gain an appreciation of the complexities and skill involved in juggling the 7 Keys to project management success
• Learn about and practice a number of PwC’s project management techniques that will help you in your Project Manager role

Introducing PwC’s “7 Keys”

We recognise that while some of you will be familiar with PwC “7 Keys” approach to Programme and Project management, others will not be so familiar. Well, we will spend five days learning about how to use PPM. However, to help you complete this pre-course assignment we have provided a brief overview of the 7 Keys and what they mean in the context of managing a consulting project.

KEY OBJECTIVE ACTIVITIES
Stakeholders Stakeholders are committed Identifying, evaluating, informing, and influencing the individuals and groups who are affected by or who influence the project.

(Client) Business benefits (Client) business benefits are realised Estimating, measuring, and monitoring the benefits the client organisation will gain from the project. Benefit includes expected result and the associated cost, both financial and non-financial, of achieving that result.#p#分頁標題#e#

Work and Schedule Work and schedule are predictable Controlling the production and acceptance of project services and deliverables, and ensuring their provision to specified performance and acceptance requirements.

Team & Infrastructure Team & Infrastructure are high performing Identifying, mobilising, and developing the people required for the project team. Obtaining and maintaining appropriate space, equipment, and other resources required for successful completion of the project.

Scope Scope is realistic and managed Agreeing, maintaining and amending the boundaries of the project.

Risks Risks are mitigated Identifying and evaluating risks and issues. Developing avoidance, mitigation, and resolution activities to counteract those risks and issues.

PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENTDelivery Organisation (i.e. RA) benefits Delivery organisation
benefits are realised Establishing how the project will contribute to the wider organisation (RA). By supporting other programmes or projects in the organisation. Maintaining and protecting the organisation's interests in relation to the project.

Where do you want to get to?
Hopefully, you want to develop to be a really good project manager. Completion of this pre-course work will enable you to get the most out of the classroom-based sessions. Taking the course will then equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to become an excellent project manager. Hopefully you want to get to the top – for yourself, your colleagues and your clients. This course for new project managers will help you scale the heights.
In designing this course, you will work through a project scenario, in all its stages, and examine many real life complications and challenges. The theme of ‘getting to the top’ and ‘scaling the heights’ inspired us. So on this course you will be performing as the project management team leading a commercial expedition to Mount Everest. Such teams have to:
• Draw up and agree contracts with their clients and suppliers about the scope, nature and timing of deliverables (the ascent date, oxygen supply, etc.)
• Set up and manage a diverse project and team infrastructure
• Ensure reasonable milestones are set, and project plans adhered to
• Ensure they meet a budget as well as getting the clients safely up and down the mountain
• Meet or manage the needs of all interested parties
• Minimise the risks associated with climbing Everest.
This aligns closely with the core project management method we use in PwC. It covers the core concepts we too have to manage in our projects.
We are not going to teach you how to climb mountains. We are, however, going to examine project management with mountains in mind.
To get the most from the course, you will find it useful, as well as fascinating (some people have been so gripped by this they have sat up all night reading particular accounts) to read a little about the project management challenges of climbing Everest. On Everest, failure to manage one of the 7 Keys or project management stages may not just result in a decrease in profit, but may lead to someone’s death.#p#分頁標題#e#

What we want you to do BEFORE attending RA Project Management Training.

Consulting Ethics as part of professional Project Management
As you take a greater lead as a project manager, you will be taking greater control of all aspects of the project. If you decide to read the remainder of Krakauer’s book, you will find that the survivors faced a number of ethical dilemmas up on the mountain, deciding:
• who to save and who not to;
• whether or not to save yourself and leave others to die;
• to abandon potential survivors on the mountain, although you knew they were alive at the time, because they would not manage the descent;
• to lead novices up the mountain in the first place.
Being part of a wide-ranging professional services firm does present us with our own unique dilemmas, however. There are a number of key ethical themes common for the RAs.

RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR CLIENTS
• Serving Our Clients
• Maintaining Independence
• Use and Protection of Client Information
• Insider Information and Trading
• Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
• Professional Standards and Performance
? Continuing Professional Education
? Professional Performance
• Respecting Client Practices and Property

RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR PEOPLE
• Treating Each Other Respectfully, Courteously and with Dignity
• Respecting Employee Privacy
• Work-Life Quality
• Diversity
• Equal Employment Opportunity and Non-discrimination
• Sexual and Other Forms of Harassment
• Appropriate Use of Communications Tools
• Family and Personal Relationships
• Maintaining Safety in the Workplace
• Protecting the Environment.
RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR ORGANIZATION
• Protecting RA Assets
? Intellectual Property and Proprietary and Confidential Information
? Computers, Other Equipment, and Network Security
? Guarding Against Industrial Espionage and Sabotage
• Obligations Relating to Prior or Subsequent Employment
• Managing Client-Related Risk
? Client Acceptance and Continuance
? Risks Identified During Engagement
• Outside Activities
? Outside Employment or Business Pursuits
? Political Activity
? Professional Organizations
? Charities and Community Service
• Firm Reports and Firm Time
• Public Image and Public Communications
• Contracting and Signing on Behalf of the Firm
• Legal Procedures
? Document Retention
? Communications with Outside Counsel

COMPETITIVE PRACTICES
• Fair Competition
? Gathering Competitive Information
? Confidentiality and Exclusivity Agreements #p#分頁標題#e#
• Gifts, Entertainment and Gratuities
• Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights of Others

PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENTGetting to Base Camp
As with all good mountain climbing (or consulting) teams, you will need to get to know your fellow mountaineers before you arrive at Base Camp. You will be working in teams during the ascent, and it is important that you know each other well. You will have received a list of the participant teams with your pre-course assignment and reading which will enable you to complete activity two.

Thank you for completing your pre-course work. It will give you valuable insights into the course materials, and will be used throughout the week.
We look forward to seeing you on the RA Project Management Training Programme.