Most clients Real-Life Projects, Inc. use a blend of services. We work together to decide what will be most effective for your organization. Read below for the details on training, speaking, and consulting services available.

Project Management Training

• “Alex Brown’s ‘Project Schedules and Return on Investment’ focuses on a subject that schedulers and project managers often do not think much about, but which is vital to consider in the business case for any project. Alex’s presentation was very well done, and his paper should be required reading for all schedulers.”

  • –Russell Archibald, PMP
    • Member #6 of Project Management Institute, PMI Founding Trustee, PMI Fellow
    • Honorary Fellow and founding member #3 of Association of Project Management
    • One of the first to apply project management and critical path scheduling to IT projects in the 1960’s
  • For more on Russ, see www.russarchibald.com

Training can give your team, department, or company practical skills, to perform at their best and to achieve consistent results. After discussing your company’s needs, I may recommend one or more training programs to help deliver better bottom-line results for the company.

Your training experience will be customized to your needs, based on the material needed to achieve the results you seek. Courses provided in the past have included:

• Scheduling Real-Life Projects: Advanced and intermediate training on how to handle real-life, tough scheduling problems. Students learn to create a schedule that is a realistic, resilient model, not just a collection of dates. The schedule will react to change predictably and appropriately. Instead of teaching scheduling software, the course teaches the skills needed to produce useful, realistic schedules. This material can be adapted to any brand of project management or scheduling software.
• Scheduling and Return on Investment: Understand the impact of scheduling decisions on the investor and owner of the project. This course explains key financial measures that impact all projects, but which most project managers do not understand, including time value of money, return on investment, and payback period. Improve communication and cooperation between project sponsors and project managers by giving them a common understanding of these critical financial issues and their impact on projects.
• Strategic Project Management: Explore the critical relationship of the project sponsor and project manager, and their responsibilities for identifying and implementing strategic goals. This course can establish a common understanding of everyone’s role and to help promote better teamwork and understanding. This course will reinforce the strategy, policies and procedures of the organization. Before the class, I will review and understand the organization’s use of project management, adapting the course material to reinforce the organization’s policies. Some organizations use this opportunity to develop policies, procedures, and internal controls around project management. The course material can be customized to teach new policies and procedures to staff.

Project Management Speeches and Keynote Addresses

Bring a new voice to your next event. Inspire your staff with a vision of what they could achieve based on real-life experiences. Teach them critical skills. Open their eyes to new ideas. Whatever your goal, I can create a speech to help transform your business, especially for project-oriented groups.

Possible topics include:

• Projects and Return On Investment: Describes the key factors that create business benefits and financial returns for projects. Eliminate misunderstandings between project managers and the business people who rely on them. A call to action for your project teams, managers, and sponsors. Enable the project team to take specific action to improve returns, and encourages business, financial, and project staff to communicate and collaborate more effectively.
• Project Start-Up: Show your staff what it takes to propose a new idea for a project. Tap into staff creativity by giving them the tools to make their ideas into actionable business proposals. New projects drive the future of the organization, so help your employees put their best ideas before your executive team today. Many organizations lack a clear process to start new projects. I can help you develop appropriate procedures, and then launch the new process through a large-group speech or training session.

Consulting

You may need some advice on policies, procedures, specific projects, business strategy, or other issues. Perhaps you are looking for an independent evaluation of your current business situation or your project staff. Real-Life Projects is available for short-term consulting to help you with these problems.

Typical engagements are two to four weeks in length. The work can be done fully or partially at your business location. Engagements may be part-time or full-time, and may include speaking or training services. I am flexible and will work with you to figure out the right services to meet your goals.

If you need long-term project management staffing or consulting, I will gladly refer you to partners who can fill your project staffing needs. I believe I provide my clients with the most value by transferring skills quickly to existing staff, so I am not needed on-site for the long term.

What Does It Cost?

Contact me to get a quote for services for your company. I will deliver a detailed proposal explaining each service, its value, and its cost. My clients have found my services to provide better value than leading project management training companies, consultants, and speakers.

I will work on a time and materials basis if you insist, but I prefer providing a fixed-cost proposal, showing all costs needed to achieve specific results. The proposal includes all travel costs and incidentals, so you know the cost of the full engagement ahead of time.

My fee depends on your satisfaction. I charge nothing for developing a proposal. The proposal will contain valuable ideas for how to improve your company, and they are yours at no charge. If you agree to the proposal,

• Pay half up front and you receive all the agreed-on services
• Pay the last half of the fee only if you are satisfied with the final results

If I can provide additional classes or days of work to satisfy our agreed-on results, then I will do so at my own cost. My goal is to satisfy every client.

Non-Profits and Professional Societies

I extend discounts for non-profit organizations and professional societies. My yearly schedule always includes some free speeches. I am dedicated to supporting any worthy group, and I am confident we can find a way to have me speak or teach at your event. Do not worry about the cost. Contact me with your ideas and we will find a way to make it work.