Project Initiation: Starting a Successful Project

This is the second course in the Google Project Management Certificate program. In this course, you will discover how to set a project up for success in the first phase of the project life cycle: the project initiation phase. As you explore the key components of this phase, you will learn how to determine a project’s benefits and costs, create measurable project goals and deliverables, manage project scope, and measure a project’s success criteria. You will learn how to define project roles and responsibilities, complete a stakeholder analysis, and utilize RACI charts. You will also learn the typical resources needed to manage a project, practice developing a project charter, and evaluate various project management tools. Current Google project managers will continue to instruct you in how to accomplish all of these tasks, describing the right tools and resources for the job at hand.

Learners who complete this program should be equipped to apply for introductory-level jobs as project managers. No previous experience is necessary.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the significance of the project initiation phase of the project life cycle.
• Describe the key components of the project initiation phase.
• Determine a project’s benefits and costs.
• Define and create measurable project goals and deliverables.
• Define project scope and differentiate among tasks that are in-scope and out-of-scope.
• Understand how to manage scope creep to avoid impacting project goals.
• Define and measure a project’s success criteria.
• Complete a stakeholder analysis and explain its significance.
• Utilize RACI charts to define and communicate project team member responsibilities.
• Understand the key components of project charters and develop a project charter for project initiation.
• Evaluate various project management tools to meet project needs.