Instructor led training

Introduction to Project Planning

Practical, two-day workshop focused on building the skills needed to plan reliably and maintain control over projects — whether they are delivered in a predictive, hybrid, or agile way.

This workshop is a natural follow-up to the “Foundations for Project Management” training. It starts at the point where project assumptions and goals are already defined. Now it’s time to choose the right approach to planning and delivering the project, along with the tools that go with it. This is a critical moment that strongly impacts how much control we’ll have over the work and whether we’ll be able to deliver on our commitments.

Participants explore both predictive planning tools and agile techniques, learning how to combine them into hybrid approaches. The workshop focuses on key areas such as understanding project constraints and context, working with requirements and product design, managing scope and delivering value as early as possible, and learning the basics of estimation and time planning.

What makes this workshop stand out is its highly practical approach, with plenty of real-world examples from various industries.

All workshop exercises are based on real-life cases brought in by participants. That’s why both beginners and experienced project managers will find valuable insights — and more importantly, an opportunity to reflect on their own way of working. It’s also a great chance for project teams to work together on their project and ensure it has a solid start.

Interactive workshop
16
hours

Basic
level

Online
or onsite
Max. 16
participants
English
or Polish
Target audience

  • Project managers with no or medium level experience

  • Product Owners

  • Key project team members

Interested to join?

What participants say

Quotes from surveys after the workshop

I was really captivated by the Kano model and many other techniques that Grzegorz showed in the context of creating value for the customer. I can already see that my meetings with clients and working with the backlog will be much easier.

Customer perspective

From now on, I’ll approach project scheduling in a completely different way. Now I understand why clients were pushing me to deliver certain tasks that didn’t make much sense from the engineers’ point of view, but actually had strong business value at that specific moment.

Focus on value

I finally understood many techniques that used to feel purely theoretical to me. All thanks to countless real-life examples showing how to actually use these tools in practice.

Practice, practice, practice...

I have a feeling I’ll be coming back to these materials with every new project. They’re well-written and straight to the point. And there are audiobooks too!

Materials you want to come back to
I’m glad Grzegorz showed us how to play around with different approaches and tools. I used to think I had to stick to one specific methodology, but now I see I can mix and match approaches, techniques, and tools – even for different parts of the same project!
Adaptation instead of a fixed framework

It was great that even when the answer was “it depends,” we always found out what it depends on. And the answers were always spot-on and backed with examples! Thanks!

Clear and to-the-point answers

Workshop program

Part 1: Project Context, Constraints & Priorities

A solid understanding of the project’s context and constraints is the foundation for choosing the right delivery approach and setting planning priorities.

We begin with a recap of value-driven delivery principles, especially in the context of working with requirements and project scope. We also look at the entire product or service lifecycle to better understand the role of the project within it.

Next, we explore potential project constraints across six areas: time, budget, scope, quality, resources, and risk. Participants learn how to identify key priorities — for example, time-to-market for a new product, or implementing a new regulatory requirement as quick and cost-effective as possible in a mature product. They also learn how to distinguish between actual constraints and project parameters that can still be negotiated.

To complete the picture, we use techniques to identify environmental factors (such as regulatory changes) that may affect the project. Strategic analysis tools like the PESTLE model are introduced to support this process.

The outcome is a solid input for selecting the right delivery approach and creating a high-level roadmap.

Key Skills

  • Analysis of the product lifecycle to define project priorities and constraints

  • Identification of project constraints and areas open for negotiation

  • Assessment of environmental factors that can impact the project

Tools & Techniques

  • Product lifecycle (as defined by PDMA – Product Development and Management Association)

  • The system of project constraints (based on the PMBOK® Guide)

  • PESTLE analysis

Part 2: Selection of the Delivery Approach and Development of the Project Roadmap

Before diving into detailed planning or agile product development, it’s worth taking the time to consciously select the best-fit delivery approach and tools for the project, as well as to consider the overall project roadmap.

This part of the workshop begins with a recap of the various delivery approaches introduced in the “Foundations for Project Management” course. We then build on that with a deeper understanding of concepts such as POC, MVP, and MSP. Based on these foundations, the project is divided into phases and streams, while identifying key milestones linked to the ability to deliver value. This forms the project roadmap.

We also take a closer look at the role of process assets, organizational knowledge, and the basics of lean thinking. These elements are essential when designing a way of working where various teams, often from different organizations, can fully use their potential while keeping administrative overhead to a minimum.

This part concludes with a practical look at project management plans, especially in the context of projects delivered by multiple organizations (e.g. in collaboration with suppliers or in consortia).

Key Skills

  • Selection of the delivery approach for the project or its components

  • Development of the project roadmap based driven by the earliest possible value delivery

  • Identification of milestones and key decision gates

  • Identification of the simplest approaches and solutions to deliver value

  • Definition of POC, MVP, and MSP, along with success criteria

  • Identification of process assets from organizations involved in the project

  • Development of practical Project Management Plans

Tools & Techniques

  • Project roadmap

  • Milestones and decision gates

  • POC (Proof of Concept)

  • MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

  • MSP (Minimum Shippable/Sellable Product)

  • Project Management Plans

  • Basic lean tools (e.g. SIPOC)

Part 3: Value-Driven Product Design

In order to fully focus on delivering value, it’s important to move beyond the traditional pattern of “collecting requirements → defining scope”. That’s why, in this part of the workshop, we introduce concepts and tools commonly used for product design and development.

We start by focusing on what represents real value from the stakeholders’ perspective. To shift the thinking from “what can we deliver?” to “what brings the most value to stakeholders?”, we explore product and service design using the Value Proposition Canvas. This is complemented by the basics of business model design.

Next, we dive into techniques for working with requirements from different stakeholder groups. We begin with Design Thinking as an example of participatory methods. With a strong foundation in active collaboration with stakeholders, we then explore a wide set of requirement identification techniques, including both their strengths and common risks to watch out for.

This part of the workshop ends with a set of tools for organizing and prioritizing requirements. One of the most interesting is the Kano model, which focuses on potential stakeholder satisfaction.

Key Skills

  • Identification of real stakeholder needs and definition of a value proposition

  • Identification of key elements of a business model

  • Designing product or service development processes using the Design Thinking approach

  • Selection and use of basic requirement gathering techniques

  • Building and prioritizing a product backlog

  • Prioritizing requirements based on various criteria (including user satisfaction)

Tools & Techniques

  • Value Proposition Canvas

  • Business Model Canvas

  • Design Thinking

  • Requirement gathering techniques

  • Product backlog

  • User stories

  • Requirement prioritization techniques (including the Kano model)

Part 4: Scheduling Fundamentals

The final part of the workshop focuses on scope management and scheduling in predictive and hybrid projects. It builds on the solid foundation developed throughout the workshop, as well as on the knowledge gained during the “Foundations for Project Management” course.

We begin by discussing the differences in the scheduling process between predictive and hybrid approaches. Participants also learn about work decomposition techniques such as WBS and backlog, while understanding how their structure and use vary depending on the delivery method. In the section dedicated to predictive projects, we also cover key tools like the network diagram and Gantt chart.

The next step is exploring various techniques for estimating effort and delivery time in a project. Each technique is presented along with its advantages and potential risks. Participants learn both expert-based methods and group estimation techniques.

The workshop concludes with a discussion on using visualization techniques to analyze and communicate the project’s status. These include methods useful in both predictive and agile environments.

Key Skills

  • Planning of the scheduling process in predictive and hybrid projects

  • Identification of key factors influencing schedule quality and reliability

  • Decomposition of scope using WBS, including selection of the optimal WBS structure

  • Selection and application of basic techniques for effort and time estimation

  • Visualization of project status

Tools & Techniques

  • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

  • Network diagram

  • Gantt chart

  • Effort and time estimation techniques (individual and group-based)

  • Project status visualization techniques (including burn-up and burn-down charts)

  • Obeya Room technique

Interested to join?