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Project management training for companies

In many companies the project goes to whoever knows the subject best. We teach them to run it from the first meeting to sign-off.

We run the training at your company, on the projects participants are starting or already running. Everyone leaves with a charter, a plan and a risk list for their own project. Then we support the first projects, chosen together with you: from the kick-off meeting to the review after the first milestone.

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Illustrative example: project charter from the workshop

Project charterLogistics

ProjectScanners in the warehouse instead of paper goods-in lists

Goal: From 1 March every delivery in both warehouses is booked in by scanner on the day it arrives.
Scope: Goods-in and transfers between warehouses. Dispatch in phase two.
Decides: The operations director, at the monthly steering committee meeting.
Risk: The supplier has not confirmed the scanner delivery date. Owner: purchasing manager, answer due by 15 January.

Next: kick-off meeting on 8 January, with the consultant in the room.

Starting point

Projects are often run by someone who also has a department and targets of their own

The logistics manager rolls out a warehouse system, the finance director changes the month-end close, the head of sales launches a new CRM. They know the subject better than anyone in the company. But nobody taught them how to plan a project, keep track of risks and report progress, and they only have a few hours a week for it.

The project starts with an email saying “let’s go”, the schedule lives in an Excel file on the project manager’s laptop, and the board hears about problems once the deadline has already passed.

Sound familiar?

“The project was meant to take three months. We are in month seven.”
“Every status report is green, and the deadline still slips.”
“Every department has its own task list. Nobody sees the whole picture.”
“After every board meeting the scope is a little bigger.”
“The decision has been waiting for three weeks because nobody knows who should make it.”

Quick test

Five questions for a project that is running now

If the answer to two of them is “I don’t know”, that is where the training starts.

Can the project goal be written in one sentence, with a date?
Does the team know what the project does not include?
Who decides on a change of scope, and how long does that decision take?
Does every risk on the list have someone who keeps an eye on it?
Will the board hear about a delay before the deadline passes?

The question we start with

“What should be different on the day this project ends?”

Our approach

The training uses the projects participants are running now

Instead of textbook cases we take projects from your company: a system rollout, a warehouse move, a new process in a department. On each one, participants practise six things:

A goal in one sentence

What should change, by when, and how the team and the board will know the project has succeeded.

Scope with a boundary

What is in the project, what is not, and who decides when someone wants to add something.

A plan updated every week

The project manager reviews it with the team and revises it when the situation changes.

Risks with an owner

Every risk has someone who watches it and a date for the next step. The list comes back to every status meeting.

A status that asks for decisions

What is done, what is at risk and which decision the project needs from the board, on one page.

A method that fits the project

A waterfall approach, short iterations or a mix of both. The choice depends on how precisely the scope can be defined at the start.

Trouble in a project usually starts with a goal nobody wrote down and a decision that waits three weeks.

Run by practitioners

Mientha consultants roll out process automation, AI agents and CRM systems for clients every day. Each of those rollouts is a project with a deadline, a budget and people from several departments on the client’s side. In the training the consultant talks about what works in such projects.

We work with the tools you already have: Microsoft Planner, Teams and SharePoint, Jira or Excel. The training does not require a new system.

See our implementations

Why we stay on after the training

The training ends on Friday. The project starts on Monday.

In the room, a project charter and a risk list take an hour. It gets harder in week three, when the first argument about scope comes up and a supplier moves a date. That is when old habits are easiest to fall back on. So we stay close to the projects we have selected with you.

UsuallyTraining without support

Training
First project
First crisis
Old habits

With MienthaTraining and support

Choosing projects
Training
Project charter
Kick-off
Status meetings
Steering committee
Review
Next project

Next project with less support, or none

The first project teaches the most

In the room you practise at a calm pace. A real project has deadlines and people with other priorities. That is when advice helps most.

An outsider can ask more easily

A consultant can ask the steering committee what an employee will not always ask their boss: who decides and what happens if the date slips.

We do less every week

At the start we prepare meetings together with the project manager. Then they prepare them on their own, and afterwards we tell them what to change. The aim is a next project run without us.

Training and support

Six stages: from choosing projects to the first milestone

The training is the second of six stages. Before it, we choose with you the projects for the training and the ones we will support. After it, we support the start of the selected projects and their first weeks, and after the first milestone we review together what works.

Stages 1 to 3Before and during the training

01
Choosing projects
We talk with you about projects that are running or starting in the coming months, and choose the ones we will support. Each participant picks one project to work on in the training and describes it in a short questionnaire: goal, deadline, team and what is causing the most trouble right now.
ResultThe consultant knows the participants’ projects before walking into the room.
02
Training on your projects
Every part of the programme ends with work on the participant’s own project. Participants write down the goal and scope, build the plan, list the risks and prepare a first status report, while the consultant sits down with each of them over their documents.
Result“I know where I’ll start on Monday.”
03
Project charter and plan
By the end of the training everyone has a project charter, a draft schedule with milestones and a risk list with owners. Projects with support already have a date for the first joint meeting.
ResultDocuments you can take to the sponsor the next day.

This is where training usually ends, and where the project is only just starting.

Stages 4 to 6Support on the first projects

04
Kick-off with support
Before the start we read the project charter and plan, and the project manager gets our comments in writing. We help prepare the kick-off meeting and attend it, so the discussion stays on the goal and scope. If the project is already running, we start with a review of the plan and the next status meeting.
ResultThe project starts with a goal and scope the whole team knows.
05
The first weeks
We attend the first status meetings and the first steering committee meeting, which we help prepare. After a meeting we go through what to change with the project manager. Between meetings they can book an online consultation about a specific issue: “The supplier has moved the date by three weeks. What do I tell the board?”
ResultA routine of status reports and decisions the team will keep up without us.
06
Review after the first milestone
Together with the project manager and the sponsor we agree what to improve before the next project.
ResultLessons on one page and a decision on whether the next project needs support.

The next project follows the same routine, with less support or none at all.

Training programme

Six parts. Each one ends with work on your own project.

The training takes one or two days, in one go or in half-day blocks. Groups have up to 12 people, and the consultant works with each participant on their project and in the tools your company uses.

Goal and scopeProject start

A goal with a date and a measure of success that the team and the board understand the same way. Scope, together with a list of what the project does not include. A one-page project charter.

People and decisionsStakeholders

Who decides, who needs to know and who the project affects most. Which decisions belong to the sponsor and which to the steering committee. How to agree time from people in other departments with their line managers.

Plan and schedulePlanning

Phases, milestones and dependencies. The critical path: the tasks whose delay moves the end of the project. Slack where the project depends on a supplier or on someone else’s decision.

Risks and changesControl

A risk list with owners and the date of the next step. Scope changes go through a decision, with their cost and a new date, instead of tasks being added at every meeting.

Project routineRunning the project

Short team meetings, a weekly status and a one-page report for the board. How to raise a delay early, while something can still be done. Meeting notes and draft status reports with the help of AI.

Sign-off and lessonsClosing

Acceptance criteria, handing the result over to the department or to support, and a short meeting on what to take into the next project.

Each participant leaves with

a charter for their own project with goal, scope and sponsor
a draft schedule with milestones
a risk list with owners and next steps
a template for the status report and the board report
a plan for the first weeks of the project

You get

an overview of participants’ projects: what is ready and what needs a decision
a list of issues for sponsors, such as scope, budget and people
shared templates for project documents across the company
a plan for supporting the first projects

Projects we work on

Every kind of project has its own pitfalls

The tools are the same, but a system rollout looks different from a warehouse move. Below are examples of projects participants can work on in the training, and what we watch out for in each.

System rollout

In a system rollout most of the work is in data, testing and preparing people. Those parts are often missing from the supplier’s schedule.

Scope and contractWhat the contract with the supplier covers, what will be a paid change and who on the company side decides.
DataWho cleans the data before migration, by when, and who checks the result.
Acceptance testingTest scenarios written by people from the department, on their real cases.
User trainingWho learns the new system, when and on what data, before they start working in it.
The first week after go-liveOn-call cover, bug reporting and a fallback plan in case you need to return to the old system.

DecidesThe sponsor on the company side. The supplier advises, but scope and acceptance are yours.

Common pitfallA schedule with a go-live date but no dates for testing and acceptance.

Process automation

An automation project starts with a description of the process. A robot given an undocumented process will repeat its mess, only faster.

Process descriptionSteps, exceptions and input data written down before the build, together with the person who runs the process every day.
Process ownerOne person in the department who accepts the automation and decides on changes after go-live.
Before and afterTime, number of cases and errors measured before the rollout, so there is something to compare with afterwards.
ExceptionsWhich cases the robot hands over to a person, and who in the department handles them.
MaintenanceWho responds when the system or form the robot works with changes.

DecidesThe process owner, together with IT.

Common pitfallAutomating a process nobody has written down from start to finish.

Organisational change

There is no system to sign off here. The project ends when people work the new way, so the switch itself needs a plan too, with dates and owners.

Who the change affectsThe teams and roles whose work changes, and what exactly changes for them.
CommunicationWho tells people about the change, when and through which channel, before they hear about it in the corridor.
Transition periodHow long the old and new ways of working run side by side, and who settles disputes.
MeasuresHow we will know the change has stuck, for example from case handling time or the number of complaints.

DecidesThe board or the director of the area affected.

Common pitfallA plan that ends on the day the change is announced.

Supplier project

An outside company does part of the work, but responsibility for the project stays with you. The project manager has to know what the supplier promised, by when, and what happens if a date is missed.

The contract in the planDates, phase acceptance and contractual penalties carried over from the contract into the schedule.
One scheduleThe supplier’s plan and the company’s plan combined into one, with the dependencies between them.
Phase acceptanceWho on the company side checks the result of each phase, and against which criteria.
EscalationWhat the project manager does when the supplier goes quiet, and when the issue goes to the board.

DecidesThe sponsor on the company side. The project manager keeps an eye on the contract and escalates in time.

Common pitfallA supplier’s status report accepted without checking.

Several locations

When the team works from three offices or two countries, what is agreed in the corridor does not reach everyone. Whatever matters has to be written down in one place.

One place for informationPlan, decisions and risks in one place, for example in Teams and SharePoint, open to the whole team.
Meeting scheduleShort meetings at times that suit every location, with notes after each one.
Project languageOne language for documents and a clear rule on what gets translated for local teams.
Leads on siteOne person at each location who is responsible for what is agreed there.

DecidesThe project manager and the sponsor, with the location leads.

Common pitfallHalf the team never hears about a decision made on a call.

Launch

The project has a hard deadline: the day the line, warehouse or branch starts working. Anything that will not be ready by then has to be known well in advance.

Critical pathTasks whose delay moves the launch date, marked in the plan and checked every week.
Inspections and permitsDates for technical acceptance, permits and health and safety training in the plan from day one.
People for the startRecruiting and training the team, planned backwards from the launch date.
Ramp-up periodWho reports problems in the first weeks and who decides on fixes.

DecidesThe sponsor and the operations director.

Common pitfallA launch date announced before there is a plan.

These are examples. In the training everyone works on their own project, as they are running it.

Running a different kind of project? We’ll tell you what the training would look like for you

What changes

How you will know the training has worked

The first changes show in project documents and meetings before they show in deadlines and budgets. At the review after the first milestone we check them together with the project manager and the sponsor.

In projects

Every project starts with a charter stating goal, scope and sponsor
The plan has milestones, dependencies and task owners
Risks have owners and come back at every status meeting
A scope change goes through a decision, with its cost and a new date

In the company

The board gets status reports in the same format from every project
Delays are known earlier, while there is still time to react
Decisions are made at the steering committee, with a date and a named owner
Departments know how much of their people’s time goes into projects
Project managers run the next projects on their own

Who it’s for

For companies where projects are run by people from the departments

The training fits a mid-sized company with a few projects a year, and a large organisation where department managers run projects.

People who run projects alongside their job

A department manager, specialist or team lead who has been given a project and wants to run it properly from day one.

Project managers who want one standard

Experienced people who each run projects their own way. The training gives the company a shared project charter, a status template and one way of keeping the risk list.

Teams before a major rollout

In a few weeks the company starts a system rollout or an automation project. The training uses that project, and the support covers its start.

You’ll get the most out of it if:

your projects are run by people who also have their regular duties,
projects are run in different ways and are hard to compare,
the board hears about problems in projects too late,
projects that have to succeed start in the coming months.

It’s not the right choice if:

you are looking for a course to prepare for a certification exam, such as PMP or PRINCE2,
you need a lecture on methodologies for a large audience,
no project is running or about to start in the company. Then let’s start by talking about what you want to change.

Frequently asked questions

Questions worth asking before you decide

Your question isn’t here? Ask it on a call and we’ll answer it using projects from your company as the example.

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Does the training teach a specific methodology, such as PRINCE2 or Scrum?

We do not stick to one methodology. We teach tools that are useful in any project: the project charter, the plan, the risk list and regular status meetings. We also show when a waterfall approach is enough, when short iterations work better, and when to combine both. If your company already uses a methodology, we work within it.

Which projects do we work on in the training?

Yours. Before the training each participant chooses a project they are running or will start soon, and describes it in a short questionnaire. Anyone without a current project takes one the company is planning, or goes through a recently finished one again.

Does the training take place at our premises?

Yes. The consultant comes to you, because participants work on their own documents and in their own tools. During the support phase, consultations take place online, and for project meetings we either come over or join remotely, as agreed.

How long is the training and how many people can take part?

The training takes one or two days, in one go or in half-day blocks. A group has up to 12 people, so the consultant can sit down with each of them over their project.

What does the support on the first projects look like?

Before the start we read the project charter and plan, help prepare the kick-off meeting and attend it. Then we join the first status meetings and the first steering committee meeting. Between meetings the project manager can book an online consultation. After the first milestone we hold a joint review. If the project is already running, we start with a review of the plan.

Will you take over running the project?

No. Your project manager runs the project, and we help them prepare and tell them what we see. That way they can run the next project on their own.

How many projects do you support, and for how long?

We set that in the proposal: which projects we support, for how many weeks and at which meetings. You know in advance what you are paying for.

Should the board and project sponsors take part as well?

They don’t need to attend the whole training. It helps if they join the part on decisions and the steering committee. Then both sides agree what a status report looks like, when the project asks for a decision and how long it waits for one.

Which tools do we use?

The ones you have: Microsoft Planner, Teams and SharePoint, Jira, Asana or Excel. We show how to keep the plan, the risk list and status reports in them. The training does not require buying a new tool.

Is AI part of the programme?

Yes, in the part on running the project: meeting notes, draft status reports and sorting the task list with AI, in a tool your company has approved. Working with AI across the whole team is covered by our separate AI training for companies.

Can we mix people from different departments in one group?

Yes. Projects in companies usually run across several departments, so in a mixed group participants hear straight away what a project manager from another department needs from them.

How do you protect information about our projects?

In the training we work on the documents participants bring and do not need access to your systems. If a project is confidential, the participant can work on a simplified version without names or amounts. During the support phase we see the real project documents, so we agree confidentiality rules before the start.

How much does the training cost?

The price depends on the number of participants and groups and on the scope of support: how many projects and for how many weeks. On a short call we agree the scope, and you receive the quote in writing.

After the training. If your project is about process automation or AI agents, we also describe how we deliver such projects: process automation and AI agents on Microsoft Teams. For teams that want to work with AI every day, there is our AI training for companies.

First step

Which projects start at your company in the coming months? That is where we begin.

In 15 minutes we work out who runs your projects and where support makes the most sense. Then you receive a written proposal for the scope and a quote.

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