Project Management   

This course covers the techniques required to break down and map requirements into plans that will ultimately drive software production.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Create effective plans for software development
• Map user requirements to developer tasks
• Assess and plan for project risks
• Apply velocity-driven planning techniques
• Generate work estimates for software products

When does an opportunity to increase the bottom line become a liability for long-term brand sustainability and profitability? That is the question that GAS GAS, an off-road motorcycle manufacturer, is confronting.

In this culminating course, it’s time to use the business tools you have learned throughout the specialization to solve this real business problem. To help you as you develop a solution to the GAS GAS dilemma, in the Capstone you will also learn a six-step analysis of business problems methodology. By the end of the course, you will understand how to weave together considerations from accounting, finance, marketing and organizational behavior in order to arrive at a sound decision that will positively impact the firm’s future.

A good project schedule helps all team members’ work together to meet project objectives. A project budget with realistic cost constraints is also an essential bedrock of any project. In this course you’ll learn to plan and stick to time and cost constraints in order to ensure the success of your projects.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
1. Identify the resource needs of the project
2. Decompose work packages into activities
3. Define what is needed to estimate activity durations
4. Define milestones and create a milestone schedule
5. Determine the critical path and calculate float
6. Describe the purpose of using leads and lags in a project schedule
7. Estimate the quantities and costs of resources required to perform project activities
8. Select one of three common cost estimating techniques to determine a project budget
9. Use a responsibility assignment matrix to assign responsibilities
10. Recognize the components of a project’s quality management plan

By the end of this project, you will be able to build a lean workflow applying the Kanban method to support efficient business process management.

To do this you will gain hands-on experience working in the Miro online visual collaboration platform for teamwork where you will leverage agile principles and the Kanban framework to produce a lean workflow.

Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We’re currently working on providing the same experience in other regions.

Communication has changed! The traditional rules for speaking and presenting, meeting coordination, influencing people, negotiating and selling ideas no longer apply in a world of skype, messenger, video and teleconference. This course will act as an overview on several concepts each of which could be a course of their own and our goal is to give you tools that you can practice and perfect on your own.

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

• Apply communication principles and techniques for in-person and virtual teams
• Use a science based approach to create impactful presentations
• Refine your communication style to better persuade and influence others
• Run more effective and impactful meetings
• Incorporate strategies to have positive difficult conversations and make people feel valued and listened to

*** This course will require you to record yourself speaking. Therefore you must have a phone/computer with a functional camera and microphone.***

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE?
Anyone looking for professional and/or leadership development. This class mainly uses examples from the professional, business environment. If you are looking to advance at your current organization or to enhancing your personal value for potential employers this course is for you.

WHAT MAKES THIS COURSE EFFECTIVE?
Many educational experiences describe and explain, but in this course we will apply and demonstrate. We teach practical and proven concepts, show you how to apply them and give you opportunities to practice them in a safe and supportive environment. This course is full of opportunities to put the ideas presented into practice and test their effectiveness for yourself.

WHY SHOULD YOU TAKE THIS COURSE?
We will challenge the preconceived ideas about what it means to be part of a virtual team, and support you to be a dynamic team contributor no matter where you work. In this course you can expect to be both energized and uncomfortable – like in most experiences that result in positive growth and change!

This course is offered through the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (https://learn.utoronto.ca/).

Have you been assigned to manage a project and don’t know how to start capturing all the pertinent information into a succinct and crisp format?

By the end of this project, you will create a master and living document, containing important information that you and stakeholders can refer back to as your project develops.

A Project Charter is a living document that displays core information of a project, such as the project's name, sponsors, problem and goal statements, scope, benefits, and timeline. It is used typically in Lean Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology at the inception of the project, and is consistently referred back to throughout the project’s life, and thereafter.

With minimal software skills, you will be able to categorize this information into a document using a simple table structure. This course will include beginner level skills using Google Docs. Creating a logically organized Project Charter is a great way to not only summarize all the moving parts of your project into one handy document but also to measure your project's success.

This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.

This course will help you understand the role of creativity and innovation in your own work and in other disciplines. It will challenge you to move outside of your existing comfort zone and to recognize the value of that exploration. This course will help you understand the importance of diverse ideas, and to convey that understanding to others.

The principal learning activity in the course is a series of "differents" where you are challenged to identify and change your own cultural, habitual, and normal patterns of behavior. Beginning with a prompt, e.g. "eat something different", you will begin to recognize your own = limits and to overcome them. In addition, you are encouraged to understand that creativity is based on societal norms, and that by it's nature, it will differ from and be discouraged by society. In this course, the persistence of the creative person is developed through practice. At the same time, these exercises are constrained by concerns of safety, legality, and economics, which are addressed in their creative process.

‘Critical Path Analysis Using Lucidchart ” guided project is for anyone who wants to learn the Critical Path Method for project schedule planning. This project will benefit professionals wanting to broaden their knowledge and skillset in the area of project management. Project Coordinators and entry-level managers seeking to obtain project management certifications will also find this project complementary to their studies. To complete the project you will need a Lucidchart account. In this project we are going to focus on three main learning objectives: creating a Precedence Diagram using Lucidchart, learning how to use the Critical Path Method for project planning, and performing Critical Path calculations. By the end of the project, you will learn how to create a precedence diagram using Lucidchart and will be able to perform critical path calculations to analyze your project schedule.

This course is designed for professionals interested in learning the principles of Lean Sigma, the DMAIC process and DFSS. This course is number 8 of 8 in this specialization dealing with topics in Design for Six Sigma

Professionals with some completed coursework in statistics and a desire to drive continuous improvement within their organizations would find this course and the others in this specialization appealing.

Method of assessment consists of several formative and summative quizzes and a multi-part peer reviewed project completion regiment.

Not so long ago, the job of product manager was about assessing market data, creating requirements, and managing the hand-off to sales/marketing. Maybe you’d talk to a customer somewhere in there and they’d tell you what features they wanted. But companies that manage product that way are dying.

Being a product person today is a new game, and product managers are at the center of it. Today, particularly if your product is mostly digital, you might update it several times a day. Massive troves of data are available for making decisions and, at the same time, deep insights into customer motivation and experience are more important than ever. The job of the modern product manager is to charter a direction and create a successful working environment for all the actors involved in product success. It’s not a simple job or an easy job, but it is a meaningful job where you’ll be learning all the time.

This course will help you along your learning journey and prepare you with the skills and perspective you need to:

Create the actionable focus to successfully manage your product (week 1)
Focus your work using modern product management methods (week 2)
Manage new products and explore new product ideas (week 3)
Manage and amplify existing products (week 4)

This course is ideal for current product or general managers interested in today's modern product management methods.

Please note that there are new additions to this course and subtitles for these videos will soon be available.

This course was developed with the generous support of the Batten Institute at UVA’s Darden School of Business. The Batten Institute’s mission is to improve the world through entrepreneurship and innovation: www.batteninstitute.org.

The goal of the course is to give you the tools to initiate a project plan, manage both stakeholders and relationships, organize their team, develop a project charter, and build a business case for a project.

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

- Perform a project assessment using information from previous projects and lessons learned
- Identify key deliverables based on business requirements while managing customer expectations
- Perform a stakeholder analysis and create a management plan
- Analyze and develop a project organization
- Create a project charter
- Explain the business case for a project and calculate Net Present Value
- Inform stakeholders of the charter and ensure all parties know the deliverables and expectations

As part of the course, you will prepare organization charts, create a Stakeholder Register, and write a Project Charter based on an engineering project in a provided Case Study. The Stakeholder Register will outline the key parties to the project, their concerns and how you will manage their expectations. Your Project Charter will provide the key guidance your team needs to understand the scope, requirements and purpose for the project.

All of this will position you for initiating and planning your first project and/or understanding how you can maximize your contributions on your next project team.

Rice Center for Engineering Leadership is a Registered Education Provider through the Project Management Institute (PMI)®. Learners who complete this course on the Certificate track will be awarded 12 hours of Profession Development Units. These are recognized by PMI for continuing education or can be applied toward the 35 hours of education required for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification.

PMI and PMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Scope, time, and cost management are at the heart of successful project management. This course will give you the tools to develop a project scope, schedule and budget and then status them to predict project performance. Throughout the course, you will learn about change management and techniques to implement it.

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

• Create a requirements document
• Create a Project Scope Statement
• Identify ways to control the scope of the project
• Decompose the work and develop work packages
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Develop a Critical Path Schedule
• Review types of cost estimates and identify whether they are “top down or bottom up”
• Review budgets, contingencies and reserves
• Calculate planned and earned values to compare with actual cost
• Perform a cost and schedule analysis

Each week you will prepare a key deliverable for the project plan based on a provided Case Study. These deliverables include:

• Project Scope Statement
• Project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and WBS dictionary
• Critical Path schedule sequence diagram
• Bar Chart Schedule (Gantt Chart)
• Project Cost Estimate
• Project Status using an Earned Value Calculation

All of this will position you to set up a plan to control your next assignment or your next project whether this is as the project manager or as an area leader.

Rice Center for Engineering Leadership is a Registered Education Provider through the Project Management Institute (PMI)®. Learners who complete this course on the Certificate track will be awarded 14 hours of Profession Development Units. These are recognized by PMI for continuing education or can be applied toward the 35 hours of education required for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification.

PMI and PMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

The second course of the specialization EVALUATING PROBLEMS will show you how humans think and how to utilize different disciplinary approaches to tackle problems more effectively. It advances your knowledge of your own field by teaching you to look at it in new ways.

EVALUATING PROBLEMS is constructed in the following way: Week I. “Thinking about Thinking” – How problem solving evolved in nature, how the mechanics of our brains work, and the psychological biases that can emerge when we think. Week II. “Philosophy, Science, and Problem Solving” – How humans have historically approached problem solving, from ancient times to the present. Week III. “Approaching Problems in the Natural Sciences” – How people in the natural sciences deconstruct problems. Week IV. “Statistics and Problem Solving” – How statistics can be used to evaluate problems and think critically. Week V. “Approaching Problems in the Humanities” – How people in the social sciences and humanities deconstruct problems. Week VI. “Evaluating the Anthropocene” – How to evaluate the problems of the Anthropocene.

This is a basic course in designing experiments and analyzing the resulting data. The course objective is to learn how to plan, design and conduct experiments efficiently and effectively, and analyze the resulting data to obtain objective conclusions. Both design and statistical analysis issues are discussed. Opportunities to use the principles taught in the course arise in all aspects of today’s industrial and business environment. Applications from various fields will be illustrated throughout the course. Computer software packages (JMP, Design-Expert, Minitab) will be used to implement the methods presented and will be illustrated extensively.
All experiments are designed experiments; some of them are poorly designed, and others are well-designed. Well-designed experiments allow you to obtain reliable, valid results faster, easier, and with fewer resources than with poorly-designed experiments. You will learn how to plan, conduct and analyze experiments efficiently in this course.

To successfully lead major projects you have to understand typical investor and project financing approaches. In this course, you’ll learn to interpret some key contractual instruments that are relevant for the financing of major engineering projects so that you are in a position to ensure the financially secure delivery of your project. You’ll explore the concept of “time value of money” and be able to compute key indicators such as “Pay-back time”, “Net Present value” and “Internal Rate of Return”.
You’ll identify common stakeholder and management approaches, and be able to implement key messaging, take accurate requirements and manage expectations.

Through real-life case studies, you’ll identify appropriate best practices related to governance, execution strategies, requirements management, procurement, asset and risk management and organisational design and development for the successful delivery of large engineering projects.

This course explores concepts analysed in the University’s Online MSc in Engineering Management. If you are interested to develop your skills further, take a look at our online degree.

To deliver agile outcomes, you have to do more than implement agile processes- you have to create focus around what matters to your user and constantly test your ideas. This is easier said than done, but most of today’s high-functioning innovators have a strong culture of experimentation.

In this course, you’ll learn how to identify the right questions at the right time, and pair them with the right methods to do just enough testing to make sure you minimize waste and maximize the outcomes you create with your user.

This course is supported by the Batten Institute at UVA’s Darden School of Business. The Batten Institute’s mission is to improve the world through entrepreneurship and innovation: www.batteninstitute.org.

Emotional intelligence, hope, mindfulness, and compassion help a person reverse the damage of chronic stress and build great leadership relationships. The Positive and Negative Emotional Attractors inspire sustained, desired change and learning at many levels.

This MOOC explores different aspects of intercultural management, including teams, leadership, Human Resource Management, marketing and negotiations. When you complete this MOOC, you will have a richer understanding of the concept of culture, and how culture influences the way that individuals behave.

You will also get a deeper knowledge about how culture shapes management practices in international organizations. We will introduce you to a number of experts in the field of intercultural management who will discuss the challenges and the benefits of dealing with employees on a global level.

Moreover, we will share with you insights from our own research to illustrate recent developments in the field of intercultural management. During the MOOC we will provide you with a variety of concepts and tools that empower you to successfully interact with people from other cultures to achieve your desired personal and business-related goals.

Please have a look at the teaser available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVze_O6vjKI

This course covers communication skills that engineering leaders use every day to motivate, inspire, and support the people in their organizations.

Speaking and writing are basic leadership communication skills. (We covered these topics in the Specialization course 1 and 3.) However, leaders also need to be skillful interpersonal communicators. Modern business requires communication skills that are effective across cultures, generations, and genders. Communication is also a key skill in building your personal brand. Leaders need to look, act, and speak like leaders. Another important leadership skill is the ability to handle difficult, emotional communications with employees, supervisors, and colleagues. Finally, engineers are often at the center of crisis communication.

In this course, you will learn
1. How to communicate in a global environment,
2. How to communicate across cultures, generations, and genders
3. How to use communication to build your personal brand, communicate your values, and your leadership promise
4. How to handle high-stakes, emotionally charged, difficult conversations with employees, supervisors and your colleagues
5. How to handle crisis communication


Required Material Disclaimer- The purchase of a case study is necessary to complete this course, as it is tied to an assessment. This case is an excellent illustration of the typical business situations requiring skillful handling of difficult conversations. Currently, the cost associated with this case study is $8.95 USD and is subject to change.

Selected materials courtesy of Communiation Faculty at Rice University - all rights reserved.

The concepts and use of project management tools, techniques and methodologies are becoming all-pervasive. This course addresses project management in the context of IT projects, including software projects. Using the framework of the project life cycle, the course covers various aspects pertaining to (i) project initiation, (ii) project planning and scheduling, (iii) project monitoring and control, and (iv) project termination. For planning and scheduling of projects, the use of project networks and estimation of time and cost are covered in detail. Scheduling of projects with resource limitations is covered next.

Risk assessment methods including simulation and risk reduction approaches are also be covered. The students will be required to use the software @risk to simulate project completion times. The use of Earned Value Analysis for Project Monitoring and Control is emphasized. For Software Project Management, the Waterfall Model and Agile Project Management are covered in detail.

Manage large projects by identifying their key characteristics, examining the key factors and risks that affect their performance and exploring methods to counter their impact on the successful delivery of projects.

Looking into examples of best practice, you'll explore the relationship between projects, programmes and portfolios. You'll also discover the roles performed by the project manager, examine the difficulties associated with quantifying transaction costs in major project management and consider how different management approaches impact on these costs. Optimism bias and strategic misinterpretation regularly cause delays to major engineering projects. Using stimulating case studies, you'll evaluate the measures of success and compare and contrast 'project success' versus 'project management success'. In the final week of the course, you'll research and present a contemporary example of a major engineering project from your own country.

This course explores concepts analysed in the University’s Online MSc in Engineering Management. If you are interested to develop your skills further, take a look at our online degree.

This course is designed for professionals interested in learning the principles of Lean Sigma, the DMAIC process and DFSS. This course is number 1 of 8 in this specialization dealing with topics in Organization Planning and Development.

Professionals with some completed coursework in statistics and a desire to drive continuous improvement within their organizations would find this course and the others in this specialization appealing.

Method of assessment consists of several formative and summative quizzes and a multi-part peer reviewed project completion regiment.

This capstone project is designed to allow you to take the knowledge you have gained through the Specialization and put that knowledge into practice. In the capstone, you will create several of the key planning deliverables that have been discussed in these courses and either work on a project you choose or use a suggested case study. You will begin the capstone project by writing part of the project charter. You will build on that information to define your project, and then ultimately create a schedule, budget and responses for the risks you identify. The goal is for you to use what you have learned in the previous courses and to perform your own research on how to best move forward with the capstone project. Your work will be peer reviewed by your classmates. In turn you will peer review the work of other classmates. Instructions on how to conduct peer reviews will be included in the course. Upon completing this series, you will be able to (1) write a narrative charter statement, (2) create a work breakdown structure, (3) sequence project activities,(4) build a project schedule, (5) create a project budget, (6) create a responsibility assignment matrix, (7) identify project risks and (8) define responses for those risks.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
1. Write a narrative charter statement
2. Create a work breakdown structure
3. Sequence project activities
4. Build a project schedule
5. Create a project budget
6. Create a responsibility assignment matrix
7. Identify project risks and define responses for those risks

In this guided project you will learn how to build a precedence network diagram. You will start with a WBS (see Guided Project: Creating a WBS, for how to create one), and decompose the work packages (lowest elements in the WBS) into the necessary activities. You will order the activities based on the logic of the work, and decide which can be done in parallel and which have to be done in sequence, because of dependencies. You will consider the different types of task relationships and use them as necessary. You will do the task (we are using task and activity interchangeably) definition in Google docs,and the generation of the network and task relationships in scheduling tool (we will use an open source tool: Project Libre) but the concepts can be used with any other tool(s).

Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We’re currently working on providing the same experience in other regions.

In this guided project you will learn how to build a WBS for your project. You will decompose your project into the main elements, then further decompose those into even smaller, more manageable pieces of work. As we decompose our project into smaller elements, we will be using decomposition rules such as the 100%, and the mutually exclusive elements rules. You will continue decomposition until you get elements that can be estimated properly and that you can delegate to a person or a team. You will also create a WBS dictionary, explaining the elements in your WBS. We will do all of this in Google Sheet, but the same concepts can be used with any tool, i.e. Excel SP, WBS creation tools, etc.

Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We’re currently working on providing the same experience in other regions.

This course combines the essential elements of Project Management and Team Leadership into one course. Through class engagement and reflection, you will acquire further understanding of the responsibilities of leadership and become better prepared to apply this knowledge to the project environment.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
1. Learn about the role of high performance teams and leadership in project management
2. Learn about the tools and techniques for developing and strengthening high performance teams and team members
3. Learn about the stages in project cycle
4. Apply best practices to develop competencies and skills in planning and controlling projects to ensure successful outcomes
5. Learn how to monitor project activities and assess progress
6. Learn to communicate proficiently to report project status and performance to stakeholders and contribute to organizational knowledge base

This course is for you if you are looking to dive deeper into Six Sigma or strengthen and expand your knowledge of the basic components of green belt level of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will take you deeper into the principles and tools associated with the "Analyze" phase of the DMAIC structure of Six Sigma.

It is highly recommended that you complete the "Yellow Belt Specialization" and the courses "Six Sigma and the Organization (Advanced)" and "Six Sigma Advanced Define and Measure Phase" before beginning this course.

In this course, your instructors will introduce you to, and have you apply, some of the tools and metrics that are critical components of Six Sigma. This course will provide you with the advanced knowledge of hypothesis testing and design of experiments as they are associated with Six Sigma and Lean.

Every module will include readings, videos, and quizzes to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied.

Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is NOT required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly-recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course is for you if you are looking to dive deeper into Six Sigma or strengthen and expand your knowledge of the basic components of green belt level of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will take you deeper into the principles and tools associated with the "Define" and "Measure" phases of the DMAIC structure of Six Sigma.

It is highly recommended that you complete the "Yellow Belt Specialization" and the course "Six Sigma and the Organization (Advanced)" before beginning this course.

In this course, your instructors will introduce you to, and have you apply, some of the tools and metrics that are critical components of Six Sigma. This course will provide you with the advanced knowledge of team dynamics and performance, process analysis, probability, statistics, statistical distributions, collecting and summarizing data, measurement systems analysis, process and performance capability, and exploratory data analysis associated with Six Sigma and Lean.

Every module will include readings, videos, and quizzes to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied.

Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is NOT required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly-recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course is for you if you are looking to dive deeper into Six Sigma or strengthen and expand your knowledge of the basic components of green belt level of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will take you deeper into the principles and tools associated with the "Improve" and "Control" phases of the DMAIC structure of Six Sigma.

It is highly recommended that you complete the "Yellow Belt Specialization" and the courses "Six Sigma and the Organization (Advanced)," "Six Sigma Advanced Define and Measure Phase," and "Six Sigma Advanced Analyze Phase" before beginning this course.

In this course, your instructors will introduce you to, and have you apply, some of the tools and metrics that are critical components of Six Sigma. This course will provide you with the advanced knowledge of root cause analysis, lean tools, control plan, process control, and statistical process control (SPC) as they are associated with Six Sigma and Lean.

Every module will include readings, videos, and quizzes to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied.

Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is NOT required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly-recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course is for you if you are looking to dive deeper into Six Sigma or strengthen and expand your knowledge of the basic components of green belt level of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will introduce you to the purpose of Six Sigma and its value to an organization. You will learn about the basic principles of Six Sigma and Lean. Your instructors will introduce you to, and have you apply, some of the tools and metrics that are critical components of Six Sigma. This course will provide you with the basic knowledge of the principles, roles, and responsibilities of Six Sigma and Lean.

Every module will include readings, videos, and a quiz to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied. You will also have the opportunity to participate in discussions and peer review exercises to give you the opportunity to apply the material to your daily life.

Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is NOT required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly-recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course is for you if you are looking to learn more about Six Sigma or refresh your knowledge of the basic components of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will introduce you to the purpose of Six Sigma and its value to an organization. You will learn about the basic principles of Six Sigma and Lean. Your instructors will introduce you to, and have you apply, some of the tools and metrics that are critical components of Six Sigma. This course will provide you with the basic knowledge of the principles, roles, and responsibilities of Six Sigma and Lean.

Every module will include readings, videos, and a quiz to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied. You will also have the opportunity to participate in discussions and peer review exercises to give you the opportunity to apply the material to your daily life.

Our applied curriculum is built around the latest handbook The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition) and students will develop /learn the fundamentals of Six Sigma. Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is not required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course will cover the Measure phase and portions of the Analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process. You will learn about lean tools for process analysis, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), measurement system analysis (MSA) and gauge repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R), and you will be introduced to basic statistics. This course will outline useful measure and analysis phase tools and will give you an overview of statistics as they are related to the Six Sigma process.

The statistics module will provide you with an overview of the concepts and you will be given multiple example problems to see how to apply these concepts. Every module will include readings, discussions, lecture videos, and quizzes to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied.

Our applied curriculum is built around the latest handbook The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition) and students will develop /learn the fundamentals of Six Sigma. Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is not required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course is for you if you are looking to learn more about Six Sigma or refresh your knowledge of the basic components of Six Sigma and Lean. Six Sigma skills are widely sought by employers both nationally and internationally. These skills have been proven to help improve business processes and performance. This course will cover the Define phase and introduce you to the Measure phase of the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process. You will learn about Six Sigma project development and implementation, you will become familiar with project management tools, you will be introduced to statistics and understand its significance to Six Sigma, and finally you will learn about data collection and its importance to an organization.

Every module will include readings, videos, and a quiz to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied. You will also have the opportunity to participate in peer review exercises to give you the opportunity to apply the material to your daily life.

Our applied curriculum is built around the latest handbook The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition) and students will develop /learn the fundamentals of Six Sigma. Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is not required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

This course will provide you will the tools necessary to complete the final components of the analyze phase as well as the improve and control phases of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process. This course is the final course in the Six Sigma Yellow Belt Specialization. You will learn about relationships from data using correlation and regression as well as the different hypothesis terms in hypothesis testing. This course will provide you with tools and techniques for improvement. You will also understand the importance of a control plan, as well as its key characteristics, for maintaining process improvements. Every module will include readings, discussions, lecture videos, and quizzes to help make sure you understand the material and concepts that are studied.

Our applied curriculum is built around the latest handbook The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition) and students will develop /learn the fundamentals of Six Sigma. Registration includes online access to course content, projects, and resources but does not include the companion text The Certified Six Sigma Handbook (2nd edition). The companion text is not required to complete the assignments. However, the text is a recognized handbook used by professionals in the field. Also, it is a highly recommended text for those wishing to move forward in Six Sigma and eventually gain certification from professional agencies such as American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Recently revised and updated! Effective teamwork and group communication are essential for your professional and personal success. In this course you will learn to: make better decisions, be more creative and innovative, manage conflict and work with difficult group members, negotiate for preferred outcomes, improve group communication in virtual environments, develop a better overall understanding of human interaction, and work more effectively as a team. Our goal is to help you understand these important dynamics of group communication and learn how to put them into practice to improve your overall teamwork.

This final course in the specialization provides an introduction on types of the construction projects as well as the main concern of the productivity challenge in the construction industry. Through case studies, you will learn the industry characteristics and its unique environment that led to such productivity performance as well as touch base on other several examples of challenges we are facing internally in the industry.

In the 2nd part of the course, Professor Odeh will give an overview of 10 mega trends that are making us change the way we think about construction. Furthermore, Professor Odeh will discuss the main role of three levels on what needs to be done: an industry collaborative effort and role; a government role; and last but not least a company role. In this discussion, Professor Odeh will also touch base on several technological and innovative trends that are rising in our construction industry.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:
-Understand the overall history of construction industry
-Analyze the optimal ways to respond to the opportunities and challenges brought by current industrial trends such as aging infrastructure, climate change, sustainability trends and tools, the rise of urbanization, and an aging/shrinking workforce
-Recognize the importance of collaborating with governments and public officials in pursuit of industry transformation
-Comprehend the rising technological trends in the AEC industry and give examples of how to apply technology to the construction industry

By the end of this project, you will be able to leverage Gantt charts to plan, schedule, and graphically represent the progression of a project plan over time so that stakeholders and sponsors can quickly understand the status, dependencies, and future requirements.

To do this, you will gain hands-on experience applying, planning and scheduling a project by creating a Gantt chart in the Miro online visual collaboration platform for teamwork.

Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We’re currently working on providing the same experience in other regions.

This program provides the skills you need to advance your career in cloud security and provides a pathway to earn the industry-recognized Google Cloud Professional Cloud Security Engineer certification. 

How It Works

Get access to world-class learning and credentials by following these four easy steps to success:

1. Add the certification that meets your learning goals to your cart and finalize the checkout process
2. Watch your inbox for confirmation and login instructions
3. Complete the course based on your schedule
4. Receive an NKU certificate to include on your resume