Project Management Certificate Courses, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Program Courses

To earn a Certificate in Agile Practices from Northwestern University, students must complete the following courses:

1. Agile for Practitioners Core Course (PROJ_PMI 403-0)
2. Any two Agile or project management electives

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PDP courses are offered online, remotely, and on-campus. Please refer to the Schedule Notes for course delivery information.

IMPORTANT: The registration process for all professional development courses requires you to register for your course and update your emergency contact information in CAESAR, Northwestern University's Student Enterprise System.

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PROJ_PMI 300-0 : Managing Distributed Teams: Adaptive Project Management

Description

This course offers a comprehensive approach to managing distributed project teams, which are becoming increasingly common in today's flexible and remote work environments. Over four weeks, participants will learn key strategies and tools through lectures, articles, discussions, and practical group exercises.

The course objectives include:

• Establishing Clear Rules of Engagement: You'll learn how to define and reach consensus on ground rules for collaboration, ensuring that all team members understand how to work together effectively, despite being in different locations.
• Developing Effective Communication Channels: The course will provide insights into setting up the most effective communication protocols and platforms, allowing teams to stay connected and work efficiently, even across time zones.
• Adjusting Roles and Responsibilities: Understanding the unique challenges of distributed teams, you'll learn how to modify traditional roles and responsibilities to fit this new project environment, ensuring clarity and avoiding overlap or gaps in tasks.
• Navigating Decision Rights and Influence: With team members dispersed, decision-making processes can be more complex. You'll explore how existing influence structures can affect team dynamics and decisions, ensuring that you navigate these challenges smoothly.
• Enhancing Business Knowledge for Project Managers: You'll gain the necessary business knowledge and judgment to make informed and strategic decisions, even when working with a distributed team.
• Adapting Project Management Tools: The course will teach you how to adapt traditional project management tools—such as governance structures, stakeholder engagement maps, communication plans, and project playbooks—to meet the needs of distributed teams.
• Exploring the Impact of AI on Project Management: You'll explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming project management, particularly within distributed teams. This includes understanding how AI-driven tools can enhance project planning, resource allocation, risk management, and team collaboration, as well as automating routine tasks to improve overall efficiency and decision-making processes.

By the end of this course, you will have acquired a skill set and strategies to effectively lead and manage distributed project teams, ensuring high productivity and collaboration across different locations.

Total Professional Development Units (PDUs): 24 (Ways of Working: 5; Business Acumen: 2; Power Skills: 17)