Certified Associate in Project Management Exam Prep (CAPM) with Organizational Leadership

Hours: 300 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

This course will provide entry-level project managers with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete the Project Management Institute’s nationally recognized Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam.  This credential is considered the standard of excellence in the field of project management and is often a required credential in the field.  This comprehensive course will use learning activities, practice exams, and assignments to help students prepare for, and successfully complete, the CAPM exam. 

Certified Associate in Project Management Exam Prep Objectives:

• Describe the importance of project management, organizational project management maturity and the CAPM® certification process
• Identify the nine knowledge areas of PMI’s Guide to the PMBOK®
• Describe the project management process from start to finish
• Identify the 47 key processes of project management and how they relate
• Describe projects and project management disciplines
• Identify the steps taken when initiating a project
• Describe how to plan project work
• Develop project schedules, cost estimates, and budgets
• Explain how to plan project quality, staffing, and communications
• Describe the process for monitoring and controlling project work, schedules, costs, quality, staffing, and communications
• Explain how to monitor and control project risks and contracts

Offering a straightforward introduction to the basic principles of leadership, this course provides students with practical strategies for becoming more effective leaders in organizational settings and in their own lives. Using leadership theory and practical activities, this course will provide a comprehensive overview of the basics of leadership in an understandable, student-centered format.  Each section of this course will focus on a fundamental aspect of leadership, discuss how it can be applied in real leadership situations, and provide relevant profiles of leaders.  The course will utilize applied activities such as case studies, self-assessment questionnaires, observational exercises, and reflection and action worksheets to help the student further explore leadership concepts and real-world applications.

Organizational and Behavioral Leadership Objectives:

• Define leadership and explain the evolution of the concept of leadership
• Identify the different traits of leaders
• Describe how to engage people’s strengths through the leadership process
• Define the three types of leadership: the authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire styles, and develop an individual leadership style and philosophy
• Describe the strategies used to attend to both tasks and relationships as part of the leadership process
• Describe the importance of developing leadership skills, and identify common leadership skills that improve effectiveness
• Describe the process of developing a workable vision within any context of leadership
• Identify the strategies used to establish a constructive climate, manage conflict, and overcome obstacles

This course prepares the student to take the Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification exam.

Course Outline:

Certified Associate in Project Management Exam Prep Curriculum:

Lesson One: Introduction to Project Management and the PMBOK Guide

This lesson will provide an overview of the PMBOK Guide, as well as the concept of project management. The Relationships among Portfolio Management, Program Management, Project Management, and Organizational Project Management will be discussed. In addition, students will learn about the business value of project management and the relationship between project management, operations management, and organizational strategy. Finally, students will learn about the role of the project manager and his or her responsibilities within the organization.

Lesson Two: Organizational Influences and Project Life Cycle

Projects and project management take place in an environment that is broader than that of the project itself. Understanding this broader context helps ensure that work is carried out in alignment with the organization’s goals and managed in accordance with the organization’s established practices. This lesson describes how organizational influences affect the methods used for staffing, managing, and executing the project. It discusses the influence of stakeholders on the project and its governance, the project team’s structure and membership, and different approaches to the phasing and relationship of activities within the project’s life cycle.

Lesson Three: Project Management Processes

The PMBOK® Guide describes the nature of project management processes in terms of the integration between the processes, their interactions, and the purposes they serve. Project management processes are grouped into five categories known as Project Management Process Groups (or Process Groups). This lesson provides information for project management of a single project organized as a network of interlinked processes. It details the project management processes, and includes information regarding project management process interactions and project management process groups.

Lesson Four: Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Groups. In this lesson, students will learn how Project Integration Management includes making choices about resource allocation, making trade-offs among competing objectives and alternatives, and managing the interdependencies among the project management Knowledge Areas.

Lesson Five: Project Scope Management

This lesson will explore the topic of Project Scope Management. Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. Managing the project scope is primarily concerned with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project.

Lesson Six: Project Time Management

In this lesson, students will learn the processes involved in Project Time Management, which refers to the components required to manage the timely completion of the project. Specifically, this lesson will address the concepts of schedule planning and management, activity definition and sequencing, estimating activity resources and durations, and schedule development and control.

Lesson Seven: Project Cost Management

This lesson will provide an overview of the processes involved in Project Cost Management. Students will learn how to ensure that projects can be managed in a way that allows for completion within the allocated budget. Within this lesson, students will learn about planning, estimating, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs for each project.

Lesson Eight: Project Quality Management

This lesson will provide a comprehensive overview of Project Quality Management. This topic includes the processes and activities of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. Project Quality Management uses policies and procedures to implement, within the project’s context, the organization’s quality management system and, as appropriate, it supports continuous process improvement activities as undertaken on behalf of the performing organization. Project Quality Management works to ensure that the project requirements, including product requirements, are met and validated.

Lesson Nine: Project Human Resource Management

This lesson will provide an overview of Project Human Resource Management, which includes the processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team. The project team is comprised of the people with assigned roles and responsibilities for completing the project. Project team members may have varied skill sets, may be assigned full or part-time, and may be added or removed from the team as the project progresses. Project team members may also be referred to as the project’s staff. Although specific roles and responsibilities for the project team members are assigned, the involvement of all team members in project planning and decision-making is beneficial.

Lesson Ten: Project Communications Management

This lesson will provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform effective Project Communications Management. This includes the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information. Project managers spend most of their time communicating with team members and other project stakeholders, whether they are internal (at all organizational levels) or external to the organization.

Lesson Eleven: Project Risk Management

In this lesson, students will learn about Project Risk Management, which includes the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project. The objectives of project risk management are to increase the likelihood and impact of positive events, and decrease the likelihood and impact of negative events in the project.

Lesson Twelve: Project Procurement Management

This lesson will provide a comprehensive overview of Project Procurement Management, which includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team. The organization can be either the buyer or seller of the products, services, or results of a project. It also includes the contract management and change control processes required to develop and administer contracts or purchase orders issued by authorized project team members. In addition, Project Procurement Management includes controlling any contract issued by an outside organization (the buyer) that is acquiring deliverables from the project from the performing organization (the seller), and administering contractual obligations placed on the project team by the contract.

Organizational and Behavioral Leadership Curriculum:

Lesson 1: Understanding Leadership

In this lesson, you will explore the multifaceted nature of leadership, examining six unique perspectives. You will learn to distinguish between leadership and management, analyze significant findings from global leadership studies, and identify examples of destructive leadership. Additionally, you will understand the key factors that contribute to effective leadership in various contexts.

Lesson 2: Recognizing Your Traits

In this lesson, you will explore the essential traits that contribute to effective leadership. You will examine six key traits that successful leaders commonly exhibit and compare how these traits have manifested in the leadership of renowned global and historical figures. You will also gain insights into how specific traits influence the leadership process in various contexts.

Lesson 3: Understanding Leadership Styles

In this lesson, you will explore the concept of personal leadership styles and their impact on effectiveness. You'll analyze the implications of Douglas MacGregor’s theories, compare and contrast authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership styles, and assess your own leadership style in various contexts. This exploration will help you develop a deeper understanding of your personal leadership philosophy.

Lesson 4: Attending to Tasks and Relationships

In this lesson, you will examine the dual dimensions of leadership behavior: task orientation and relationship orientation. You'll compare these styles and discuss their significance in effective leadership. By reflecting on your own inclinations toward tasks and relationships, you will better understand how to balance these behaviors to enhance your leadership effectiveness.

Lesson 5: Developing Leadership Skills

This lesson focuses on the crucial skills required for effective leadership, grouped into administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual categories. You will gain a comprehensive understanding of how these skills contribute to successful leadership by enhancing your ability to influence others and address challenges effectively.

Lesson 6: Engaging Strengths

This lesson addresses recognizing and leveraging leadership strengths. You will assess the role of strengths in leadership development and learn to engage your own strengths and those of others. The focus will also be on understanding how to utilize these strengths to foster better team dynamics and drive organizational success.

Lesson 7: Creating a Vision

This lesson focuses on the importance of creating a compelling vision in leadership. You will learn to identify the five key characteristics of a vision and assess the skills needed to transform a vision into reality. Understanding how to develop and communicate a vision will enhance your leadership effectiveness.

Lesson 8: Working With Groups

This lesson examines the dynamics of working with groups in an organizational setting. You will learn about different types of groups, the stages of group development, and the roles individuals play within groups. Additionally, the lesson will cover practical strategies for enhancing group effectiveness, including setting goals, establishing norms, and building cohesiveness.

Lesson 9: Embracing Diversity and Inclusion

This lesson explores the critical concepts of diversity and inclusion in leadership. You will review the interrelated processes of diversity and inclusion and evaluate how they impact organizational outcomes. Additionally, you will analyze Brewer’s assertion that inclusion requires both assimilation and differentiation and summarize the six key components of the experience of inclusion.

Lesson 10: Managing Conflict

This lesson addresses the inevitability of conflict in groups and organizations, highlighting it as both a challenge and an opportunity for leaders. You will learn how to manage conflict to produce positive change, explore various approaches to resolving conflicts, and understand the crucial role of effective communication in conflict resolution.

Lesson 11: Addressing Ethics in Leadership

This lesson examines the ethical responsibilities inherent in leadership. You will learn to define ethical leadership, analyze its key factors, and recognize the challenges of universally defining ethical behavior. Understanding these aspects will help you better navigate the moral dimensions of leadership and make decisions for the common good.

Lesson 12: Exploring Destructive Leadership

This lesson explores destructive leadership and its impact. You will examine the three defining components of destructive leadership and the Toxic Triangle framework. The lesson also covers how to identify and address toxic leadership by evaluating the roles of leaders, followers, and situational factors.

All necessary materials are included.

Certification(s):

This course prepares the student to take the Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification exam.

To apply for the CAPM, students will need to have:

• Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent)
• 23 hours of project management education completed by the time you sit for the exam.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.