Project Scheduling, Monitoring, Budgeting & Cost Management-with Project Management Essentials
Cost per Delegate
R19,999.00
Course Overview
In today’s competitive and resource-constrained environment, the success of any project depends heavily on the ability to deliver on time, within budget, and according to agreed specifications. However, many projects fail because of unrealistic schedules, ineffective monitoring systems, poor cost control, and weak integration between planning and execution.
This course on Project Scheduling, Monitoring, Budgeting & Cost Management (with Project Management Essentials) is designed to address these challenges by equipping participants with both the technical tools and the practical management approaches required to effectively plan, track, and control projects.
The program begins with an overview of project management fundamentals, providing participants with the necessary foundation to understand how scheduling, budgeting, and monitoring integrate into the overall project life cycle. Participants will then gain hands-on experience in developing realistic project schedules, creating budgets, monitoring performance, and applying Earned Value Management (EVM) to measure and forecast project outcomes.
Course Objectives
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
• Understand the role of project scheduling and cost control within the overall project management framework.
• Apply tools and techniques to develop realistic project schedules.
• Monitor project performance against established baselines.
• Estimate and manage project costs with accuracy.
• Apply Earned Value Management (EVM) to track project health and forecast outcomes.
• Identify and mitigate risks that affect time and budget.
• Use case studies and practical exercises to apply theory to real-world projects.
Who Should Attend:
• Project team members responsible for planning, scheduling, budgeting, or monitoring
• Engineers, Planners, and Schedulers
• Project Managers who want to strengthen cost and scheduling control skills
• Financial officers involved in project cost tracking
• Professionals from construction, energy, IT, oil & gas, public works, and other project-driven industries
COURSE OUTLINE
Module 1: Project Management Essentials (Inclusion Module)
• Definition of a Project vs. Operations
• Project Life Cycle: Initiation → Planning → Execution → Monitoring & Control → Closing
• Project Constraints: Time, Cost, Scope, and Quality
• Stakeholder Roles & Responsibilities: project manager, sponsor, team members, cost controllers, schedulers
• Integration Point: How scheduling and cost management underpin project success
Module 2: Project Scheduling
• Scheduling Basics: purpose and benefits of scheduling in project management
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): breaking down deliverables into manageable tasks
• Activity Definition & Sequencing: dependencies (FS, SS, FF, SF)
• Network Diagrams: visualizing task relationships
• Critical Path Method (CPM): calculating longest path, float/slack, project duration
• Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT): three-point estimating for uncertain activities
• Milestone Planning: setting key checkpoints
• Resource Allocation & Leveling: managing human and material resources within the schedule
• Software Tools: hands-on intro to MS Project / Primavera for schedule creation
Module 3: Project Monitoring & Control
• Monitoring vs. Controlling: difference and importance
• Baselines in Projects: scope baseline, schedule baseline, cost baseline
• Progress Tracking Techniques:
o Percentage complete
o Tracking Gantt
o Milestone slip analysis
• Performance Indicators (KPIs): schedule adherence, productivity, cost-to-completion
• Variance Analysis: schedule variance (SV), cost variance (CV)
• Change Control Process: managing scope creep and its impact on schedule/cost
• Communication in Monitoring: reports, dashboards, stakeholder updates
Module 4: Project Budgeting & Cost Estimation
• The Role of Budgeting: aligning financial planning with project execution
• Cost Estimation Techniques:
o Analogous (top-down)
o Parametric (based on historical data)
o Bottom-up estimating
o Three-point estimating
• Budget Development: compiling estimates into a cost baseline
• Direct vs. Indirect Costs
• Fixed vs. Variable Costs
• Reserves: contingency reserves vs. management reserves
• Cash Flow Forecasting: projecting funding requirements across the project lifecycle
Module 5: Cost Control & Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Purpose of Cost Control: keeping project within approved budget
• Cost Control Techniques: trend analysis, variance reporting, forecasting
• Introduction to Earned Value Management (EVM):
o Planned Value (PV)
o Earned Value (EV)
o Actual Cost (AC)
• Key Performance Metrics:
o Cost Performance Index (CPI)
o Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
o Estimate at Completion (EAC)
o Variance at Completion (VAC)
• Forecasting with EVM: predicting project outcomes based on trends
• Corrective Actions: responding to negative variances
Module 6: Risk Considerations in Scheduling & Costing
• Introduction to Project Risk Management
• Types of Risks: schedule risks, cost risks, resource risks
• Qualitative Risk Analysis: probability-impact matrix
• Quantitative Risk Analysis: Monte Carlo simulations (overview)
• Risk Responses: avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept
• Integrating Risk into Project Planning: buffers, contingencies, reserves
Module 7: Practical Case Studies & Workshops
• Scheduling Workshop: create a project schedule using WBS and CPM
• Budgeting Exercise: prepare a cost baseline with contingency reserves
• EVM Simulation: calculate CPI, SPI, EAC, and VAC for a sample project
• Case Study Review: analyzing causes of project delays and overruns in real-world projects
• Group Presentation: teams present a mini-project plan (schedule, budget, monitoring approach)
Module 8: Wrap-Up & Assessment
• Recap of key learning points
• Linking scheduling, monitoring, budgeting, and cost management with overall project success
• Open discussion: lessons learned and best practices
• Final assessment / knowledge check
• Certificates of Completion
End of the Workshop
For Training arrangements call us on the detail below
TANZANIA: +255 749 50 26 78
SOUTH AFRICA: +27 694 31 79 73
KENYA: +255 749 50 26 78
DUBAI: +27 694 31 79 73
