Syllabus
The Project Management Certificate
The Project Management Certificate is a self-paced, flexible program that can be completed in 6 months. You’ll be equipped with project management skills and emerge prepared for the industry-recognized Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam. You’ll complete hands-on assignments to develop project plans, budgets and timelines. You will also learn how to manage and communicate with project stakeholders, plan kickoff activities, and mitigate risks. Finally, you’ll master Agile methodologies and practice using those skills to manage a real technical project. This certificate is a Career Launch program, designed for employees with no prior experience. Expect to spend 10 hours or less a week, with individualized support along the way. Career Launch certificates provide in-demand skills AND result in college credits that can count towards a degree.
Why Project Management?
Project management skills are highly valued in nearly every industry
Understanding how to manage teams and projects can help you improve business operations or pursue a new role as a dedicated project manager
Project management skills enable you to manage teams and projects
4 Courses | Hands-On Learning and Career Exploration
Course 1:
Foundations of Project Management
Course 2:
Effective Project Planning
Course 3:
Risk, Quality, and Integration Management
Course 4:
Agile Project Management
Course 1: Foundations of Project Management
In this course, you will be introduced to the foundations of project management. You will become familiar with the role of the project manager and the leadership skills needed to be successful as a project manager. You will learn essential information about projects, project life cycles, project management processes and methodologies, and you will explore stakeholder management and create a plan for engaging with stakeholders. You will be introduced to Asana, a leading tool in the project management industry, and other project management tools such as spreadsheets.
Learning Outcomes:
- Prepare a project charter that defines a project, guides the project activities and serves as an agreement between stakeholders.
- Create a scope statement based on the sponsor’s requirements that details what is in scope and out of scope and identifies objectives, constraints, assumptions, acceptance criteria and deliverables.
- Create a work breakdown structure using project management software.
Course 2: Effective Project Planning
In this course, you’ll use tools to schedule and budget a project. You’ll learn about procurement and project resources, develop kickoff activities and create a communication plan to take your project management processes to the next level.
Learning Outcomes:
- Use Asana to create a project schedule.
- Use Google Sheets to create a project budget.
- Develop a detailed communication plan.
- Develop project kickoff activities.
Course 3: Risk, Quality, and Integration Management
This course will teach you how to address risk and ensure quality in your projects. You’ll use tools to make reports and manage changes. Finally, you’ll learn how to close a project and conduct a retrospective.
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify project risks and effectively plan and implement risk responses.
- Establish standards for quality management and make sure your project is meeting those standards.
- Update project plans and communicate changes and actions to stakeholders.
Course 4: Agile Project Management
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of Agile project management methodologies. The learning experience is highly interactive and hands-on, providing you with the opportunity to learn by doing. You will begin by exploring the fundamentals of Agile, including frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, and XP. You will then learn about Scrum in detail, covering key concepts, such as sprints, adaptive planning and estimation. You will also learn how to conduct daily scrums, retrospectives and other key meetings to successfully plan and manage a project. While learning these concepts and frameworks, you will practice key project management related soft skills, such as how to plan for unexpected challenges and proactively manage issues that arise on a team.
Learning Outcomes:
- Manage a technical project from start to finish using key Agile methodologies, concepts, tools and frameworks.
- Create and monitor a Kanban board to organize sprints and share information with the project team throughout the lifecycle of an Agile project.
- Initiate a Scrum project by decomposing a release plan into user stories and analyzing project risks.
- Plan a kickoff sprint in Asana by grooming a backlog, establishing a point structure, and committing to the sprint.
- Support a hypothetical Scrum team through executing a sprint by creating and analyzing a burndown chart.
- Continuously improve Scrum team efficiency throughout sprint cycles by analyzing and resolving velocity issues.
- Conduct a sprint review in Asana, and close a project by facilitating a retrospective.
4 Courses | Hands-On Learning and Career Exploration
Course 1:
Foundations of Project Management
In this course, you will be introduced to the foundations of project management. You will become familiar with the role of the project manager and the leadership skills needed to be successful as a project manager. You will learn essential information about projects, project life cycles, project management processes and methodologies, and you will explore stakeholder management and create a plan for engaging with stakeholders. You will be introduced to Asana, a leading tool in the project management industry, and other project management tools such as spreadsheets.
Learning Outcomes:
- Prepare a project charter that defines a project, guides the project activities and serves as an agreement between stakeholders.
- Create a scope statement based on the sponsor’s requirements that details what is in scope and out of scope and identifies objectives, constraints, assumptions, acceptance criteria and deliverables.
- Create a work breakdown structure using project management software.
Course 2:
Effective Project Planning
In this course, you’ll use tools to schedule and budget a project. You’ll learn about procurement and project resources, develop kickoff activities and create a communication plan to take your project management processes to the next level.
Learning Outcomes:
- Use Asana to create a project schedule.
- Use Google Sheets to create a project budget.
- Develop a detailed communication plan.
- Develop project kickoff activities.
Course 3:
Risk, Quality, and Integration Management
This course will teach you how to address risk and ensure quality in your projects. You’ll use tools to make reports and manage changes. Finally, you’ll learn how to close a project and conduct a retrospective.
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify project risks and effectively plan and implement risk responses.
- Establish standards for quality management and make sure your project is meeting those standards.
- Update project plans and communicate changes and actions to stakeholders.
Course 4:
Agile Project Management
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of Agile project management methodologies. The learning experience is highly interactive and hands-on, providing you with the opportunity to learn by doing. You will begin by exploring the fundamentals of Agile, including frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, and XP. You will then learn about Scrum in detail, covering key concepts, such as sprints, adaptive planning and estimation. You will also learn how to conduct daily scrums, retrospectives and other key meetings to successfully plan and manage a project. While learning these concepts and frameworks, you will practice key project management related soft skills, such as how to plan for unexpected challenges and proactively manage issues that arise on a team.
Learning Outcomes:
- Manage a technical project from start to finish using key Agile methodologies, concepts, tools and frameworks.
- Create and monitor a Kanban board to organize sprints and share information with the project team throughout the lifecycle of an Agile project.
- Initiate a Scrum project by decomposing a release plan into user stories and analyzing project risks.
- Plan a kickoff sprint in Asana by grooming a backlog, establishing a point structure, and committing to the sprint.
- Support a hypothetical Scrum team through executing a sprint by creating and analyzing a burndown chart.
- Continuously improve Scrum team efficiency throughout sprint cycles by analyzing and resolving velocity issues.
- Conduct a sprint review in Asana, and close a project by facilitating a retrospective.
What You’ll Learn:
After completing this program, you’ll be ready to:
- Develop a project plan that includes a schedule, budget, and resource estimations using tools such as Asana software and Google Sheets
- Develop a project outline, charter, and scope statement
- Plan a structured agenda for a project kickoff meeting with your team
- Set up communications with team members and stakeholders
- Manage a technical project from start to finish using Agile methodologies, tools and frameworks
Learning Experience
- No required times to log in. Complete lessons at times during the week that work for you. Keep up with deadlines to stay on track and complete in 6 months.
- Complete real business projects in an online platform and get individualized support and feedback from instructors.
- Practice using project management software directly in the learning platform. No separate downloads.
- Explore the real work that project managers and operations specialists do on the job and apply those skills to your own career.
- Access individualized career coaching to help you get promoted and advance professionally.
FAQs
What is the schedule?
There are four courses which will be open for 5 weeks each with a 1-week grading period after each. You should expect to spend 10 hours per week getting through the coursework. Courses will open and close on a specific start and end date, after which you’ll no longer be able to access the course or submit projects for grading. The program is flexibly-paced, meaning you can move as quickly or slowly as you’d like through each course, as long as you complete all sections and projects during the 5-week course period. We provide a suggested course schedule to help pace yourself through each course. Students who follow this schedule are more likely to earn the certificate and get more out of the course by spreading out their workload, and our instructors often provide weekly nudges to keep you on track. As long as you submit all projects by the course end date, you can progress through the course at whatever pace works best for you! For example, you might do all your work over the weekend or space it out throughout the week. We’ve found that students who follow our suggested course schedule are much more likely to earn the certificate.
Can I work full-time while enrolled in this program?
Yes, the entire course experience is online and can be completed on your own schedule as long as you work towards the deadlines set in each course. There are no set times or classes when you need to log in. Our courses are designed for working professionals, students, and parents!
What prerequisites do I need?
Students must have a high school degree prior to take this program. There are no other prerequisites for this certificate program – our courses are designed to help those with little or no experience get started in the field of project management. Many experienced project management professionals also take this certificate to refine their digital skills, but no prior experience is required or expected.
What industry certifications will I be prepared for?
This certificate program aligns to the Certified Associate in Project Management Exam (CAPM). While we recommend additional study beyond this program, you’ll gain a headstart in your preparation for these industry-leading certifications.
What is Pathstream?
Pathstream is a provider of digital skills training based in Silicon Valley. We partner with leading tech companies and universities like Harvard, New York University (NYU) and Emory University to develop programs that prepare people for in-demand jobs.
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