Executive Project Management

About Course

A 32-hour online executive program for running projects that actually deliver their benefits. Eleven modules cover framing, governance, estimating, costs, risk, contracts, leadership, adoption and AI. Each module is built on a real Canadian case: SAAQclic, Phoenix, Ottawa’s light rail, the Eglinton line. You work on your own project from the first module to the last. You leave with a complete project file, ready to present to your executive team.

Turn a vague mandate into a one-and-a-half-page business case that holds up in front of an executive committee.
Set up governance that makes decisions, and get bad news to travel upward while it is still small.
Choose between predictive, iterative and hybrid delivery on objective criteria, and plan go-live with a real rollback plan.
Write a scope that holds, exclusions included, and turn down a change without making an enemy.
Estimate with reference class forecasting and spot a dead date before the status report admits it.
Build a five-year budget, distinguish contingency from management reserve, and present costed trade-offs to the committee.
Keep a risk register that is actually useful, and set acceptance criteria that withstand date pressure.
Choose the right contract type, spot risky clauses and check compliance from the framing stage (Quebec’s Law 25, PIPEDA, AI risk management frameworks).
Get commitment from people who do not report to you, and write an executive note a leader can decide on.
Measure adoption, run the benefits review and close a project properly.
Use AI in your project management work with judgment, and manage a portfolio based on real capacity.

Course Content

Module 1: Framing, From Mandate to Business Case
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Turn a vague mandate into a defensible business problem. Write a business case that passes the test of an executive committee. Recognize the three signals that a project is poorly framed from the start, before a single dollar has been spent.

1.1 The real moment a project fails
1.2 The mandate you are given and the one you accept
1.3 The business case in a page and a half
1.4 Staged funding, and why it protects you
1.5 Case study: the CASA program and SAAQclic
1.6 The charter, one page, and what it is really for
Individual work for Module 1
Key takeaways from Module 1

Module 2: Governance, the Sponsor and Informing the Decision-Maker
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Set up governance that exists to decide rather than to monitor. Get what you actually need from a sponsor, by asking for it in writing. Write a status report in which bad news can travel upward without its author paying the price.

2.1 Governance is not surveillance
2.2 The three levels, and who decides what
2.3 The sponsor agreement
2.4 Why information stops flowing upward
2.5 Case study: Ottawa’s light rail
2.6 The status report that does not lie
2.7 The test before sending
Individual work for Module 2
Key takeaways from Module 2

Module 3: Choosing the Delivery Approach, Predictive, Iterative, Hybrid
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Choose a delivery approach based on criteria rather than habit or fashion. Put together a hybrid that holds up, by settling the frictions with existing governance in advance. Decide how a deliverable reaches its users, and plan the rollback.

3.1 A badly framed question
3.2 The five decision variables
3.3 What each approach really does well
3.4 The three hybrids you actually encounter
3.5 The forgotten decision: how it reaches the user
3.6 Case study: Phoenix, then Dayforce
3.7 Making the hybrid compatible with existing governance
3.8 Fake iterative
Individual work for Module 3
Key takeaways from Module 3

Module 4: Scope, Requirements and Breakdown
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Write a scope that holds, including its most useful part, the exclusions. Treat a requirement as a trade-off rather than an order. Break a project down into work packages that can be declared finished. Turn down a scope change without making an enemy.

4.1 Scope is not a feature list
4.2 Requirements lie, and not on purpose
4.3 The permanent cost of an exception
4.4 Case study: 80,000 pay rules
4.5 Break down by deliverable, not by phase
4.6 Scope control, without becoming the office police
4.7 What you decide not to do
Individual work for Module 4
Key takeaways from Module 4

Module 5: Scheduling and Estimating Under Uncertainty
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Produce an estimate that does not rest on your team's optimism. Build an executive schedule that fits on one page. Spot a dead date before the status report admits it. Replan without destroying your credibility.

5.1 Why estimates are wrong in the same direction
5.2 Reference class forecasting
5.3 The three numbers you carry
5.4 The executive schedule fits on one page
5.5 Case study: the Eglinton Crosstown line
5.6 Recognizing a dead date
5.7 Replanning without destroying yourself
Individual work for Module 5
Key takeaways from Module 5

Module 6: Costs, Contingency and Financial Trade-offs
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Build a budget that includes what the project will cost after you are gone. Distinguish contingency from management reserve, and defend how each is used. Produce a credible mid-course reforecast. Present an overrun as a trade-off rather than a request for money.

6.1 The figure your finance department listens to
6.2 What the budget always forgets
6.3 Contingency and management reserve
6.4 Case study: SAAQclic, the financial side
6.5 Earned value, in management language
6.6 The estimate at completion
6.7 Do not ask for money, present trade-offs
6.8 Benefits, the promise nobody checks
Individual work for Module 6
Key takeaways from Module 6

Module 7: Risk, Testing and Go-Live
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Turn a decorative risk register into a decision tool. Bring out the risks nobody writes down. Set acceptance criteria that withstand date pressure. Run a go-live meeting where postponement is a possible outcome.

7.1 Why most risk registers are useless
7.2 The risks nobody writes down
7.3 Responding to risk, not contemplating it
7.4 Testing, and the moving target
7.5 Case study: three Canadian go-lives
7.6 The meeting where you are allowed to say no
7.7 After cutover
Individual work for Module 7
Key takeaways from Module 7

Module 8: Procurement, Contracts and Compliance
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Choose a contract type based on the real risk rather than on habit. Spot the clauses that matter before signing. Fill out a compliance grid early enough that discoveries do not become crises. Manage a vendor after signature. A word of caution. This module is not legal advice. It teaches you to prepare the conversation with legal counsel, to ask the right questions and to spot what needs to be checked. The checking itself belongs to someone whose job it is.

8.1 Procurement is not an administrative formality
8.2 Contract types and what they really do
8.3 The single vendor and the exit door
8.4 Public procurement, and fairness that is not only a moral question
8.5 The clauses people regret
8.6 Compliance, and the moment of discovery
8.7 After signature: governing the contract
Individual work for Module 8
Key takeaways from Module 8

Module 9: Leading Without Authority and Executive Communication
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Get commitment from people who do not report to you. Prepare a difficult conversation rather than improvising it. Write a note an executive can make a decision on. Make sure bad news reaches you while it is still small.

9.1 The authority you do not have
9.2 A stakeholder map you can act on
9.3 The difficult conversation is prepared
9.4 Negotiating resources in a matrix environment
9.5 Distributed teams: what really breaks
9.6 Getting bad news to travel upward
9.7 The one-page note
Individual work for Module 9
Key takeaways from Module 9

Module 10: Adoption, Benefits Realization and Closure
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Assess how much your users can absorb before planning a deployment. Build an adoption plan with names and dates. Measure adoption instead of hoping for it. Close a project so that someone else can keep it alive.

10.1 Delivered is not adopted
10.2 Appetite for change is measured beforehand
10.3 ADKAR, and what it does not say
10.4 The champion network, without turning it into another committee
10.5 Training and support, what works
10.6 Measuring adoption
10.7 The benefits review
10.8 Closing
Individual work for Module 10
Key takeaways from Module 10

Module 11: Artificial Intelligence, Data and Portfolio Management
What you will be able to do by the end of this module Use AI in your project management work without naivety and without posturing. Supervise an automated agent the way you would supervise a new team member. Understand how prioritization is decided at portfolio level, and position yourself within it. Build a dashboard an executive team can make decisions on.

11.1 A simple sorting rule
11.2 Agents, and the question people forget to ask
11.3 Data before tools
11.4 The portfolio, or the art of stopping projects
11.5 The project office, and what is expected of it in 2026
11.6 The one-page dashboard
11.7 Your first 90 days
Individual work for Module 11
Key takeaways from Module 11
Program closing

About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

1.1 The real moment a project fails

1.2 The mandate you are given and the one you accept

1.3 The business case in a page and a half

1.4 Staged funding, and why it protects you

1.5 Case study: the CASA program and SAAQclic

1.6 The charter, one page, and what it is really for

Individual work for Module 1

Key takeaways from Module 1

2.1 Governance is not surveillance

2.2 The three levels, and who decides what

2.3 The sponsor agreement

2.4 Why information stops flowing upward

2.5 Case study: Ottawa’s light rail

2.6 The status report that does not lie

2.7 The test before sending

Individual work for Module 2

Key takeaways from Module 2

3.1 A badly framed question

3.2 The five decision variables

3.3 What each approach really does well

3.4 The three hybrids you actually encounter

3.5 The forgotten decision: how it reaches the user

3.6 Case study: Phoenix, then Dayforce

3.7 Making the hybrid compatible with existing governance

3.8 Fake iterative

Individual work for Module 3

Key takeaways from Module 3

4.1 Scope is not a feature list

4.2 Requirements lie, and not on purpose

4.3 The permanent cost of an exception

4.4 Case study: 80,000 pay rules

4.5 Break down by deliverable, not by phase

4.6 Scope control, without becoming the office police

4.7 What you decide not to do

Individual work for Module 4

Key takeaways from Module 4

5.1 Why estimates are wrong in the same direction

5.2 Reference class forecasting

5.3 The three numbers you carry

5.4 The executive schedule fits on one page

5.5 Case study: the Eglinton Crosstown line

5.6 Recognizing a dead date

5.7 Replanning without destroying yourself

Individual work for Module 5

Key takeaways from Module 5

6.1 The figure your finance department listens to

6.2 What the budget always forgets

6.3 Contingency and management reserve

6.4 Case study: SAAQclic, the financial side

6.5 Earned value, in management language

6.6 The estimate at completion

6.7 Do not ask for money, present trade-offs

6.8 Benefits, the promise nobody checks

Individual work for Module 6

Key takeaways from Module 6

7.1 Why most risk registers are useless

7.2 The risks nobody writes down

7.3 Responding to risk, not contemplating it

7.4 Testing, and the moving target

7.5 Case study: three Canadian go-lives

7.6 The meeting where you are allowed to say no

7.7 After cutover

Individual work for Module 7

Key takeaways from Module 7

8.1 Procurement is not an administrative formality

8.2 Contract types and what they really do

8.3 The single vendor and the exit door

8.4 Public procurement, and fairness that is not only a moral question

8.5 The clauses people regret

8.6 Compliance, and the moment of discovery

8.7 After signature: governing the contract

Individual work for Module 8

Key takeaways from Module 8

9.1 The authority you do not have

9.2 A stakeholder map you can act on

9.3 The difficult conversation is prepared

9.4 Negotiating resources in a matrix environment