PAI Services & Training

PAI's Project Administration Services offerings are listed below:

1. To have PAI provide a Project Administration Service for your organization select (1).

2. To have PAI train one or more of your Project Administrators to provide your own in house Project Administration Service select (2).

3. To have PAI prepare Project Managers and/or team PA's to perform their own Project Administration select (3).

4. To have PAI construct a project plan to help you estimate cost and schedule in support of a project proposal analysis effort select (4).

5. To have PAI provide an assessment of your current plans and Project Administration capability select (5).

Offerings may be combined or tailored as required.

Which Offering is Most Appropriate?

A Word about Training

PAI specializes in project management software tool training in the live project environment.  Most tool training focuses on a product's features and functions and its application to classroom exercises, but in the work environment as the number of projects, participants, tasks and interdependencies grows the complexity of their relationships multiplies exponentially placing even moderately experienced project managers in unfamiliar territory.

Using the apprenticeship model the work place becomes the classroom and PAI helps the student become a skilled Project Administrator (PA) who can assimilate real world complexity using state of the art tools and techniques to generate the information project managers and executives need to control their projects. 

Classroom training by contrast is short term, and once the class is over the practitioner is left to figure out how to apply the knowledge gained to their real world, fast paced, more complex than the classroom, environment.  Results almost always fall short of expectations.

Our experience has been that people learn project administration best by working on their live projects with advice and assistance available until practical working plans are produced, and the tracking and reporting process is routine and satisfying the control requirements of both project managers and executives.  In our training offerings we initiate the process in Phase 1 without the student in order to become familiar with and to tailor the training to the environment.  In Phase 2 the student works with their plans using the process tailored to their environment in Phase 1.

Offerings

(1) Project Administration Service for Project Organizations

PAI operates as a resident PA developing the required project plans on behalf of project managers and their teams, implements the tracking and reporting process for those projects, and provides tracking and reporting support for project managers and executives for the duration of the project.

Optionally, at some point a resident PA may be assigned to assume the PA role and trained if required as in offering number (2).

Deliverables include:

(2) Project Administration Training for Project Administration Service PA's

PAI helps the project organization implement the Project Administration Service in two phases:

Phase 1 - PAI operates as a resident PA developing one or more project plans on behalf of the project managers and their teams, and then implements the tracking and reporting process for those projects.  When one or more plans are complete, executing, and reporting status....

Phase 2 - PAI works as trainer and mentor with project office PA's on their live projects to help them achieve the necessary project management software skill level.  Activities include construction or upgrading of project plans, and training in the use of their progress tracking and reporting system.  Assistance continues until plans are executing and tracking and reporting are routine and the resident PA's are capable of providing the information needed for project managers and executives to control their projects.

Deliverables include:

(3) Project Administration Training for Project Managers and team PA's

PAI helps the project manager or team PA implement Project Administration for their team in two phases:

Phase 1 - PAI operates as a resident PA developing the project plan, and then implements the tracking and reporting process for the project with the project manager or team PA first observing....

Phase 2 - and then doing under supervision.  Activities include construction or upgrading of their project plan, and training in the use of their progress tracking and reporting system.  Assistance continues until the plan is executing and tracking and reporting are routine, and the resident project manager or PA is capable of providing the information needed to control their project.

Deliverables include:

(4) Project Administration Proposal Assistance for Project Managers and Executives

PAI works with project managers and/or executives to gather the data necessary to develop their initial high level project plan for a proposed project.  The result will be a project plan complete with task durations, work efforts and both internal and external dependency relationships from which can be derived the best possible current estimate of project schedule, cost and work effort over time, break even date, and revenue.

Deliverables include:

(5) Project Administration System Review Service for Project Managers and Executives.

PAI works with project managers and/or executives to gather samples of project plans, tracking system documentation, and sample reports.  Plan content is reviewed using the PAI Readiness Assessment Spreadsheet.  The resulting reports identify missing or threshold exceeding plan components.  For example, most tasks should have predecessors, successors, resources, and work effort.  The reports provide a summary count of tasks that are missing critical information and a detail listing showing which tasks are missing which elements.  Additional written assessments and recommendations are provided on planning practices, the tracking system, and the reports for both executive level reporting and project control.  Task slippage and recovery, rebaselining, change control, and cross plan linkage will also be reviewed.

Deliverables include: