Project Appraisal and Risk Management

Introduction:

This training seminar emphasizes awareness of how to appraise a project for viability, feasibility, and project risk.

When an organization wants a solution to a business problem, purpose, or opportunity, it needs to plan and develop a project that will provide an effective method of implementing the solution. At specific points along the project lifecycle, the organization will need to appraise the potential project to make sure the project is in-line with strategy, will achieve its objective and success criteria and the chosen solution will solve the required problem. In addition, the organization must understand all risks to the organization, as well as to the project. In this context, project appraisal serves as the major process of analyzing, approving, or terminating the project.

Project management has a heavy focus on risk management; the ability to seize opportunities, minimize threats and optimize results. Risk management is often treated as a reactive process, or worse, not done at all. In this course, a proactive approach to both sides of risk is explored: threats and opportunities. The approach is based on a clear understanding of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to risk management.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Understand projects from a strategic perspective
• Understand in the project lifecycle when gateways take place
• Understand the role of the project steering group
• Understand the key contents of key documentation
• Be aware of project financing
• Understand, guide, and be able to apply a Risk Management Process
• Identify procurement strategies and contracts
• Understand the benefits of Earned Value Management

Course Outlines:

Day 1: Project Appraisal: Identification, Policy Analysis & Selection:

• Introduction
• Projects, Programmes, and Portfolios
• Principles of Project Governance
• The Project Steering Group
• Strategic Context of Project Decision Analysis
• Vision, Values, Mission and Strategy
• The Balanced Scorecard
• Financial, Customer, Business Process and Change / Growth Perspectives
• Defining Project Scope and Estimating Timeline
• The Purpose and Contents of the Business Case
• The PMP
• Evaluating Project Costs
• Direct and Indirect costs

Day 2: Project Appraisal: Identification, Policy Analysis & Selection Continued:

• Project Analysis under Risk and Uncertainty
• Viability vs. Feasibility vs. Risk
• Strategic Project Selection
• Linking Strategy and Objectives (Cause and effect)

Project Appraisal: Financial and Economic Factors:

• Source of Finance
• Project Economic Evaluation
• Project Finance
• Investment Decisions
• Traditional Project Delivery Systems
• New Trends in Project Delivery Systems
• Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Project Delivery
• Project Feasibility Studies
• Best Practices in Contractor’s Selection

Day 3: Project Appraisal: Financial and Economic Factors Continued:

• Managing, Controlling, and Modelling Cashflow
• Types of Cost
• Upfront Costs
• Annual Cost and Benefits
• The Challenge of Financial Economic Decision-Making
• Time Value of Money
• Financial Analysis Techniques
• Revisit the Key Concepts in Decision Making 
• Earned Value Management

Day 4: Project Risk Analysis & Management:

• Risk Planning (Step 1): Plan the Approach to Risk Management
• Risk Identification (Step 2)
• Risk Assessment & Quantification (Step 3)
• Risk Response Plan (Step 4)
• Risk Management Plan Execution (Step 5)
• Evaluating Risk Response Results (Step 6)

Day 5: MODULE 3 Continued:

• The PPP Contract Model
• Project Funding Solutions
• Course Review and Summary