Start a conversation ↗

Description

Managing an IT Project: Leading the Team, Making Trade-Offs and Meeting Deadlines

Holding the IT project manager role with a delivery team, business stakeholders and a steering committee

  • 3 days — 21 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

IT project managers rarely have line authority over the people they depend on. They must secure output from overloaded developers, obtain trade-off decisions from business owners who change their minds, and get answers from a committee that discovers problems too late. The difficulty is less technical than relational and political.

These three days focus on how the role is exercised rather than on the sequence of project phases. They cover team leadership, the relationship with the business owner, arbitration of change requests and communication towards senior management. Difficult situations are role-played and reviewed collectively.

Learning objectives

  • Clarify your role and mandate with project stakeholders
  • Lead a project team without line authority
  • Structure the relationship between business ownership and technical delivery
  • Arbitrate change requests and take responsibility for the consequences
  • Communicate with the steering committee including in degraded situations
  • Defuse tensions within the team and with business stakeholders

What makes this programme different

Difficult situations brought by participants are role-played then replayed after analysis
A project manager mandate is drafted and negotiated during the session
Sensitive announcements to the steering committee are prepared word by word then filmed

Programme

1The IT project manager role

Negotiating your mandate before you start steering

  • Clarify the responsibilities attached to the role
  • Identify your decision latitude and escalation points
  • Map stakeholders and their interests
  • Formalise a mandate with the sponsor
  • Position yourself with the project's technical experts

2Leading the project team

Securing commitment without line authority

  • Build the team and clarify expected contributions
  • Run short and useful team meetings
  • Allocate tasks taking account of workload outside the project
  • Track commitments made and address delays
  • Sustain motivation on a long project

3Business ownership and technical delivery

Organising a relationship that quickly becomes strained

  • Allocate responsibilities clearly between business and technical teams
  • Translate a business requirement into a usable specification
  • Organise joint decision-making bodies
  • Manage expectations and implicit promises
  • Handle disagreements over the compliance of a delivery

4Arbitrating changes and risks

Saying no while offering an alternative

  • Assess a change request and quantify its impact
  • Arbitrate between scope schedule and resources
  • Formalise the decision and its consequences
  • Anticipate risks and prepare mitigation measures
  • Manage schedule pressure without degrading quality

5Communicating and handling tense situations

Raising the alert early and keeping trust

  • Build reporting that senior management can read
  • Announce a delay or a budget overrun
  • Prepare and run a steering committee meeting
  • Manage an open conflict between two project stakeholders
  • Maintain the relationship after an unfavourable decision

Who is it for

Newly appointed IT project managers · technical team leaders and business referents required to lead a project team.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with how an IT project unfolds and with its main deliverables.

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.