Course Information
Project Management Fundamentals for Audit
Parking for SAO, Professional Development courses is in Garage B (1511 San Jacinto Blvd.). The Garage signage may read 1511 San Jacinto or Garage B. The elevator in Garage B is not reliable. If you are unable to walk the stairs, please contact the professionaldevelopment@sao.texas.gov for alternate parking arrangements. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.
A course coordinator will Email you a parking permit prior to the course start date. A permit must be displayed or you will be ticketed.
Course Description
The audit engagement is a project, but rarely are proven project management methodologies used in managing internal audits. Audits are regularly subject to delays, changes in scope, scope creep, resource shortages, and frequent struggles with timeliness. And rarely do formal Project Management courses translate easily into specific steps and techniques that can be leveraged in an audit. This course will translate formal project management skills into audit-specific methods and techniques that will help audit teams overcome common engagement challenges and immediately increase credibility by delivering on-time and focused audits. The tools and techniques shared can be immediately implemented in every audit process. Real-life examples of failures and successes will be covered to highlight the learning process. This course is interactive with multiple hands-on exercises and class participation to provide opportunities for you to practice what you learn.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
• Learning the basic concepts and fundamentals of formal project management methodologies from the Project Management Institute
• Understanding how to apply formal project management methodologies to the audit process
• Learning the basic tools and techniques used in formal project management
• Understanding how to use formal project management in managing audits
• Learning how to deal with changes to scope and scope creep
Detailed Course Outline
Project Management Overview
Fundamentals of project management
Benefits of project management
Project characteristics
Phases of project management
Project management case studies
Project Management Fundamentals
Project Management Institute (PMI) framework
Cornerstones of project management
Gantt charts
Critical path
Work breakdown structure
Dependencies and scheduling
Scope
Audits as Formal Projects—Planning
Translating project steps into audit steps
Choosing and modifying project tools for audits
Formal scoping approaches—SIPOC/Visual Tools
Audits as Formal Projects—Executing, Monitoring, and Controlling
Monitoring and controlling the audit like a project
Measurements and metrics for audits—schedule, budget to actual, etc.
Formal change management to minimize scope change/creep
Communicating results—leveraging the 5 Cs
Lessons learned and post-mortems for continual improvement
Formal Project Communication Plans
External communication plan—audit client
Internal communication plan—audit team
Understanding the difference between information and communication
Expectations and consistency
Reporting
Managing Multiple Projects
Managing different personalities
Difficult people and situations
Communication approaches
Time management tools and techniques
Additional Information
TAC Rule 523.142(g) requires the CPE Sponsor to monitor individual attendance and assign the correct number of CPE credits. Participants will be asked to document their time of arrival and departure in compliance with this Rule. Additionally, attendance will be monitored throughout the day and CPE certificates will reflect actual attendance of each participant.
To see answers to our Frequently Asked Questions, visit http://www.sao.texas.gov/training/faq.html.