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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Initiating and Planning Projects by University of California, Irvine

4.7
stars
22,671 ratings

About the Course

The courses in the Introduction to Project Management Principles and Practices Specialization are a recommended precursor to UCI's Applied Project Management Certificate. Successful projects require careful upfront planning. In this course, you’ll learn the key roles and responsibilities of the project manager and project team. You’ll also learn to answer some key questions upfront to help you meet project objectives: What will this project accomplish? Why is this project important? Who benefits from this project? How will we plan for successful outcomes? Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Identify the key characteristics of a project 2. Identify primary project constraints 3. Define the role and responsibilities of the project manager 4. Identify Project Organizational Structures 5. Understand the definition of a Project Stakeholder 6. Identify project stakeholders 7. Identify information needs of the project stakeholders 8. Define responsibility for managing stakeholder and controlling stakeholder engagement 9. Define the purpose of using a project charter 10. Summarize the key elements of a project plan 11. Identify common sources of conflict within a project environment 12. Describe the difference between authority and influence...
Highlights
foundational knowledge

(842 Reviews)

introductory course

(675 Reviews)

Top reviews

SY

Aug 30, 2020

The course is a very great asset to any aspiring project manager. You get to understand the fundamentals and essentials in any given project and the means to ameliorate conflicts amongst stakeholders.

DS

Nov 19, 2017

It was very helpful for me to understand what the project management is. I am just thinking about starting this new career path and i was feeling comfortable in this field during the learning process.

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76 - 100 of 4,239 Reviews for Initiating and Planning Projects

By Hermione F

•

Aug 22, 2016

I found this course disappointing. Whilst the presenter, Margaret Meloni, was enthusiastic and pleasant to listen to, the content was very sparse indeed. A large part of the content each week was simply reading a presentation which you could get from a book. I would expect an online course to be more interactive, have more videos, and more varied content. I found the case studies (where you had to imagine a real life situation and select a decision) useful - there was one of these per week when I think there could have been more, perhaps three a week. The course would also have been improved by the use of peer assessment on the assignments. This would have made them feel more worthwhile and that someone else was actually reading them.

By Diaa A

•

Feb 18, 2022

The course is mostly a read out of the PMBOK with quizzes that verify that you memorized what was in the slides rather than actually understood it.

The final exam was just a collection of all the previous quizzes with the exact same questions repeated.

By Elham L

•

Jun 26, 2021

The quality of videos were low most of them have so many issues, also the content is more fit a 2 hour short course rathen than a course. Overal, the quality was not even close to other courses I have taken in courseara

By Tyler N

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Oct 29, 2015

This class is taught a terrible pace and is very old-school in it's thinking. It was pretty painful to get through actually

By Rafael P V

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Jul 10, 2020

It said I could earn a certificate of completion... I paid and all and didn't get anything! I'm really disapointed.

By Jennifer D S

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May 4, 2016

Amazing in it's simplicity! It allowed me to understand the core concepts of Project Management without all the fluff that exists in some on campus courses. Truly designed with the professional in mind. Quick, simple, comprehensive, all with a very professional appearance. I especially appreciated the real life examples and the case studies Melonie presented. They really helped me better understand the principles she was trying to explain.

By Tamrat W

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Mar 20, 2017

I have been working in various indigenous and international based Humanitarian community development projects for over ten years. Working in these organization has given me the opportunity to attend training organized both at home and international levels. compare to all training I attended, I found yours really exciting and helpful to person like me who have ambitions to enrage in project planning,design and implementation.

By Ying L

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Nov 25, 2015

Love the Bonus video part of the course! The course has a simple structure and helps you work through the key factors in Project Management efficiently. I recently began to work on a project. With the ios App and self-paced course, I can learn the course while I am commuting between work and home in one week. I plan to work on stakeholder registry and WBS with team members to bring the concepts into practice. Big applause to Meloni!

By Smit P

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Nov 22, 2019

A good course .

I am pursuing my bachelor's in Computer Science and this is my first course in PMP and hence find it very informative from my perspective since I don't have any prior knowledge of Project Management .

Very informative , Lot of material for reading is provided with good examples for application of the knowledge.

I guess most the CS or Engineering students would find it Very informative . It is Worth taking the Course

By Dana H

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Sep 22, 2017

I have attended a few project management online courses and most of the time, the material is being presented in attached, theoretical form that you spend most of your time trying to stay interested. However this course presented interesting topics in a way that is relatable and understandable . I am invested because Ms. Meloni gave her real life experiences, showing the importance of the material to success. Thank you

By Bernard D V

•

Jan 16, 2018

First course of the specialisation "Project Management Principles and Practices Specialization".

You will learn the basis of a project, how to manage stakeholders, what is a project charter,...

It's a great course about project management. It's a 6 week duration but you will work less than 2 hours a week.

I recommend this course if you are ready to do all the specialisation because doing this course only makes no sense.

By Bothina D M H

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Jun 12, 2021

This course very useful for me I understand what the project , and who is project manager and that his responsibility and the definition of a project stakeholder, identify who they are , identify their information needs, and define responsibility for managing stakeholders and controlling their engagement. Also I understand the conflict and how we can solution deserve

By Akshay D

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Jun 26, 2020

One of the best Project Management course I have taken so far. The concepts are explained in a simplistic engaging format. The additional PMBOK related material covered through PPTs and as additional videos is extremely helpful and beneficial for someone who is planning to get their PMP certification. Case studies are also very interactive to understand the concepts.

By Melanka J d S

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Jun 24, 2020

This course was an excellent course for a Civil Engineer like me who has the potential of becoming a Project Manager in near future. Specially the course content was really high standard, and the presentations were very clear and attractive as well. Also the interviews were very useful in order to get an idea on field exposure.Thank you! Keep it up the great work!

By Ekok N

•

Feb 16, 2020

This was very comprehensive and easy to understand with tasks and exercises that was very helpful in implementing every knowledge gained per modules.

The program manager did a good job in breaking it into smaller units/modules for proper understanding. I strongly recommend you take this course if you interested in starting or growing a career in project management.

By jimoh m

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May 23, 2020

Great course to learn online for every individual aimed in becoming a successful Project Manager in the construction industry, public and private sector, and organization. I really love and enjoyed my period of learning this course with my Instructor Margaret Meloni, MBA, PMP. Though it requires time, dedication, and commitment. So i have earned my certificate.

By Khurram A

•

Oct 1, 2015

Excellent course, especially for project managers like me, who have not had a formal training of project management. This course showed me several ways to do things in project planning that I have been doing the same way over the years. It has also impressed upon me, the importance of getting formal education/training to get to a higher level of understanding.

By Peter A

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Jun 8, 2021

This is awesome. The ability to learn from the comfort of your home/office makes this style of learning very unique. I have been equiped with various project initiating and planning techniques. With this course I am getting closer to my dream career of Project Management. Thanks Coursera, Thans to my able instructor; Margaret Meloni, MBA, PMP. Thank you.

By A d j

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Feb 14, 2021

This course help me understand in knowing the importance of initiating and planning projects. It gives me knowledge on how to manage a team and how to plan and to successfully execute action in order to achieve our goals. Thank you University of California - Irvine and its Educators for being well informed and well-versed regarding this topic. I enjoyed it!

By Dayana M

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Nov 25, 2020

It was a very great inputs and experiences. I was a Biotechnology graduate who has a deep interest to venture into project management course and im so glad that this course did help me a lot to understand the basic knowledge. I would also like to thank Ms Margaret Maloney for the great lectures and assistant. This course is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for beginners!

By Senura V G

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Aug 22, 2021

This course was a great help in gaining the knowledge I needed to take my next steps in the organization where I work. Those who are willing to do this course are also advised to do this course without any fear and I highly recommend this course. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to Ms. Margaret Maloney and all of the Coursera staff for leading this course.

By WatsonWang

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Apr 26, 2020

It is a great online course. Although I am not an English speaker, nor having any experiences about initiating and planning project, now I have general ideas about what it is about. The lessons are not too hard to understand but at the same time, they are challenge enough for a beginner like me. So, thank you, UCI, for creating this online course.

By Bill

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May 5, 2017

This was an exceptional overview of project management, with a lot of information that was very well presented. I look forward towards finishing this specialization. I took a year long project management program with Boston University and this specialization from UC Irvine is a excellent review of that material. I highly recommend this course.

By Anton D

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Oct 15, 2015

The course is a fantastic refresher on basic principles of Project Management. Margaret Meloni presents material in an engaging format. In fact you can see her wealth of experience shine throughout the whole course. Case studies and panel interviews also did add a bit of 'practical' flavour to PMBOK fundamentals. Recommended by a Project Manager!

By Mahmudur R

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Jun 29, 2020

Honestly, I didn't know a lot about project management that have learned here. PMBOK guide is really a helpful supplement. And the matrix-based analysis was much more understandable for me. I Experienced as a real project manager. I tried to learn the lessons more efficiently. Thanks to Coursera, UCI, and all the associates for this opportunity.