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Project Management in Practice: schedules, risks and tools

Education only. Techniques in this course are standard project management practice, described in Project Management Institute (PMI) materials. Check PMI's current guidance if you are studying for a certification. Free tools change their features and limits, so look at the tool's own page.

What you'll be able to do
  • Turn a charter into a scope baseline: requirements, a scope statement and a WBS with a dictionary.
  • Estimate with ranges and the three-point method, and separate effort from duration.
  • Build a schedule with dependencies, find the critical path and read float.
  • Set a budget baseline and use earned value (PV, EV, AC, CPI, SPI) to see where you really are.
  • Score risks with a probability and impact matrix and plan responses with owners and triggers.
  • Run weekly status reporting from a task board and keep a change log.
Words in this course 56Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

From charter to scope baseline

In simple words

Your charter said "we will build a treehouse." Now you need the plan for every plank, every nail and what "finished" looks like. If you do not write it down, everyone pictures a different treehouse.

Key facts
  • Before this course: Project Management Basics (course 8.4). You should already be able to write a one-page charter, list tasks, keep a simple risk list and give a status report. This course goes deeper on each of those and does not repeat the basics.
  • A requirement is something the project must deliver or a condition it must meet. Write each one so it can be tested ("The booking page loads in under 3 seconds on a phone"), not vague ("fast").
  • A scope statement describes the deliverables, what is out of scope, the assumptions and the acceptance criteria (how the sponsor will decide a deliverable is done).
  • A WBS (work breakdown structure) splits the scope into smaller pieces. A common rule of thumb is the 100% rule: the pieces under any item must add up to all of that item's work, and nothing extra.
  • A WBS dictionary adds a short entry for each work package: description, owner, acceptance criteria and estimate.
  • Together, the approved scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary are called the scope baseline. After approval you change it only through change control.
DocumentQuestion it answers
Requirements listWhat exactly must it do?
Scope statementWhat is in, what is out, how do we accept it?
WBSWhat are all the pieces of work?
WBS dictionaryWhat does each piece mean, and who owns it?
Step by step
  1. Take the charter from your Beginner project (or a new small project of 2 to 6 weeks).
  2. Write 8 to 12 requirements. Make each one testable.
  3. Write the scope statement: deliverables, out of scope, assumptions, acceptance criteria.
  4. Build a WBS with 3 to 5 deliverables and at least 15 work packages.
  5. Check the 100% rule: do the parts under each deliverable add up to the whole deliverable and nothing more?
  6. Add a dictionary line for each work package: owner and acceptance criteria.
  7. Ask the sponsor to approve the scope baseline.
  8. Check: every requirement maps to at least one work package.
LESSON 01From charter to scope baseline
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Host] "A charter says why. A scope baseline says exactly what."
[Screen: list of requirements with test words] "Write requirements you can test. 'Fast' is not testable. 'Under three seconds on a phone' is."
[Screen: WBS tree with dictionary notes] "Break the scope into a WBS and give each piece an owner and acceptance criteria."
[Text on screen: Scope baseline = scope statement + WBS + dictionary] "Once the sponsor approves it, changes go through change control."
Try it now

Write 8 to 12 testable requirements, a scope statement and a WBS with a dictionary for one small project. Ask someone to read it and say what "done" means. If their answer differs from yours, fix the text.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Project Management in Practice: schedules, risks and tools" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "From charter to scope baseline".

What the lesson teaches:
- Before this course: Project Management Basics (course 8.4). You should already be able to write a one-page charter, list tasks, keep a simple risk list and give a status report. This course goes deeper on each of those and does not repeat the basics.
- A requirement is something the project must deliver or a condition it must meet. Write each one so it can be tested ("The booking page loads in under 3 seconds on a phone"), not vague ("fast").
- A scope statement describes the deliverables, what is out of scope, the assumptions and the acceptance criteria (how the sponsor will decide a deliverable is done).
- A WBS (work breakdown structure) splits the scope into smaller pieces. A common rule of thumb is the 100% rule: the pieces under any item must add up to all of that item's work, and nothing extra.
- A WBS dictionary adds a short entry for each work package: description, owner, acceptance criteria and estimate.
- Together, the approved scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary are called the scope baseline. After approval you change it only through change control.
- Document - Question it answers

The exercise I'm working on:
Write 8 to 12 testable requirements, a scope statement and a WBS with a dictionary for one small project. Ask someone to read it and say what "done" means. If their answer differs from yours, fix the text.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "From charter to scope baseline" from the course "Project Management in Practice: schedules, risks and tools".

Here's what the lesson says:
Your charter said "we will build a treehouse." Now you need the plan for every plank, every nail and what "finished" looks like. If you do not write it down, everyone pictures a different treehouse.

The activity:
Write 8 to 12 testable requirements, a scope statement and a WBS with a dictionary for one small project. Ask someone to read it and say what "done" means. If their answer differs from yours, fix the text.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Estimating with ranges

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

Build the schedule and find the critical path

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

Budget and earned value

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

05

A risk register that works

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

Run status reporting in a tool

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

07

Change, close and show your work

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++

Final project

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??

Quiz

  1. What three documents make up the scope baseline?

  2. What is the PERT average formula?

  3. What is the difference between effort and duration?

  4. What is float?

  5. What is true of tasks on the critical path?

  6. What do CPI and SPI equal?

  7. What does a CPI of 0.89 mean?

  8. How do you score a risk on a 1 to 5 scale?

  9. What is a trigger in a risk register?

  10. What is a baseline?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.