Overview

Learn to build and control a project's schedule, finances, and resources using proven, in-demand tools: the critical path method, three-point estimating, and earned value management (EVM).

Fully updated for the PMBOK® Guide, Eighth Edition (2025), this hands-on, exercise-driven course shows you how to turn project scope into accurate duration, cost, and resource estimates; build and analyze a network diagram and critical path; forecast schedule and cost performance with EVM; lead a project team; and manage change within project constraints. The course centers on three of the 8th Edition's seven performance domains — Schedule, Finance, and Resources — and how they interconnect across the project lifecycle.

Syllabus

Module 1: A Refresher: The PMBOK® Guide – Eighth Edition Framework

Summarize the six principles, seven performance domains, five focus areas, and forty processes of the PMBOK® Guide – Eighth Edition, including tailoring.
Locate the Schedule, Finance, and Resources performance domains within the overall PMBOK® Guide – Eighth Edition framework.
Describe how the Schedule, Finance, and Resources performance domains relate to one another across the project lifecycle.

Module 2: Creating the Baseline: Inputs to Scheduling, Finance, and Resources

Describe the relationship between project scope and schedule, finance, and resource planning.
Create project scope outputs for the work breakdown structure (WBS) to inform schedule, finance, and resource planning.
Use the Scope Statement and WBS as inputs for subsequent planning activities.

Module 3: Scheduling, Part 1: Determining and Sequencing Activities

Link project scope outputs to project schedule inputs.
Create an activity network diagram to sequence project activities.
Understand activity sequencing terms and concepts.

Module 4: Schedule, Finance, and Resources Estimating Techniques

Define common project estimating techniques, such as analogous and parametric estimating.
Calculate project activity duration, resource, and finance estimates using the most appropriate techniques.
Recognize the benefits and limitations of each estimating technique.

Module 5: Scheduling, Part 2: Determining the Critical Path and Finalizing the Project Schedule

Learn how to calculate the critical path using forward and backward pass techniques.
Finalize the project schedule and understand the concept of "float" or "slack" in scheduling.
Use network diagrams to identify critical activities that impact the project timeline.

Module 6: Working with the Project Team

Identify communication barriers and methods to overcome them.
Understand the stages of team development and how to manage teams at each stage.
Define the five competencies of emotional intelligence and their application in project management.

Module 7: Schedule, Finance, and Resources Control

Learn methods for maintaining integrated project control through project reviews and change control boards.
Understand earned value management (EVM) and calculate project performance based on finance and schedule data.
Identify methods to modify project schedules and forecast project outcomes using earned value management.

Taught by

Bruce Gay, Natalya H. Bah, Willie Morris, Deanne Larson, Bascom Destrehan “Dit” Talley, Brian Simms, Henry Gonzalez, Joe Mlakar, Clarissa J. Corbin, and Shamika Minisee