25654 TEC courses in Edinburgh delivered Online

Introduction to Design Thinking: Virtual In-House Training Innovation is the cornerstone of highly successful companies, especially those that continue to be successful over the years and decades. Design thinking practices fuel this continual innovation, as they are the critical links from inspiration to delivery, concept to showroom floor, and start-up to global business. Design thinking is a structured approach to promoting innovation and creative problem-solving. It is not a new approach. It has been around for centuries, as the art, architecture, and inventions of mankind illustrate. By examining the steps to achieving great design and maximum utility of product, design thinking approaches provide a framework in which to develop new solutions to problems and new products to sell. This highly interactive course is designed to help participants think like designers to generate innovation, and to help teams to produce more innovation and creativity. Since design thinking is based on doing rather than thinking, we participants are challenged to apply the techniques, in the classroom, to create new ideas and solutions to a case study project. What you will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Explain the underlying principles and value of using Design Thinking for innovation Describe the basic concepts of the Stanford Model for Design Thinking Evaluate a set of basic Design Thinking techniques for application to your projects Apply tools, techniques, and skills aligned with the 5 stages of the Stanford Model Drive innovation through Design Thinking at some level in your work environment Foundation Concepts Problems and solutions The Design Thinking difference Design Thinking skills and abilities Design Thinking mindset Design Thinking frameworks Stages of Design Thinking Problems and solutions The Design Thinking difference Design Thinking skills and abilities Design Thinking mindset Design Thinking frameworks General Practices Team formation Visualization Improvisation Personalization Empathize Practices Overview of Empathize techniques Observation Engagement Interviews Define Practices Overview of Define practices Unpacking techniques Defining the customer techniques Integrating the Define experience Ideate Practices Overview of Ideate practices Reusable techniques for the Ideate stage New Ideate techniques to explore Prototype & Test Practices Overview of Prototype practices Examples of prototypes Overview of Testing practices Forms of testing techniques Adopt and Adapt Design Thinking Overview of Design Thinking implementation Design Thinking implementation challenges Success in implementing Design Thinking Summary and Next Steps Workshop summary Next steps: Personal Action Plans

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 175 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies, are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.

Agile Practices for All Projects: Virtual In-House Training Agile methods are becoming increasingly prevalent, and have facilitated projects in reducing time to market, being adaptive to changing customer requirements, and increasing value to customers and organizations. These benefits have been implemented in both IT and non-IT environments to help all types of projects. This course will present key Agile techniques and processes that can be readily incorporated into your projects to enable greater flexibility and higher productivity, while maintaining the traditional project lifecycle framework. The overall goal of the course is for learners to be able to integrate appropriate Agile elements and/or techniques into any project in any environment. What you will Learn Course participants will understand the basic Agile approach, and the various methods for achieving agility and will be able to: Recall project management principles and methodologies Explain Agile practices and compare several Agile methods Apply Agile software development techniques in a project lifecycle framework Employ Agile processes in a project management framework Foundation Concepts Project Lifecycles What is Agile? Agile Benefits Agile Methods Agile Roles Agile Requirement Techniques Agile Requirements User Stories Just in Time (JIT) Requirements Agile Software Development Techniques Agile Design Agile Development Agile Testing Agile Deployment Agile Initiating & Planning Processes Agile Initiating Agile Planning Agile Delivery Processes Agile Execution Agile Monitoring & Control Agile Closing Implementing Agile Practices Agile Approaches Outside of Software Development Dispelling Agile Myths Applying Agile Techniques & Processes Summary and Next Steps What did we learn, and how can we implement this in our work environments?

Project Estimating and Scheduling: Virtual In-House Training Establishing realistic estimates and goals for projects that support business objectives and meet client expectations is one of the most challenging aspects of project planning. Delivering those results within the agreed-upon time, cost, and quality constraints is also challenging. Attempting to meet impossible deadlines with limited budgets often leads to unplanned product shortfalls, causing long-term support and utilization problems. We have all anguished about this recurring problem, but without having the skills or knowledge to take action, we are unable to break the cycle! The goal of this course is for you to be able to support business objectives and meet client expectations by selecting the right planning approach for realistic and cost effective schedules, as well as project budgets. To achieve that, you will focus on gaining the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques. What You Will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Use the work breakdown structure (WBS) as the basis for effective estimating of project resources Estimate effort and duration using a variety of techniques Develop preliminary schedules using the critical path method Apply a variety of optimization techniques to refine preliminary schedules Establish realistic schedule and cost baselines, with appropriate contingency reserves Explain how earned value management (EVM) contributes to control time and cost performance Foundation Concepts Project management basic definitions and concepts PES Key driver: competing constraints PES Process and success factors Project Definition and the WBS Project definition overview Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Decomposition: WBS development technique Resource Planning Resource planning overview Identifying resource requirements Identifying and filling resource gaps Applying resource planning tools Effort and Duration Estimating Estimating overview Estimating perspectives and approaches Estimating techniques Effort and duration estimating best practices Project Scheduling Overview of project scheduling Dependencies and the project network diagram Critical path method (CPM) Optimizing the schedule Budget, Risk, and Contingency Planning Overview of budget, risk, and contingency planning Estimating costs Determining the budget Project risk management processes Planning contingency reserves Project Baseline and Control Overview of project baseline Negotiating and the project baseline Earned value management (EVM) Project variances and actions Project control

Decision Making and Problem Solving (Virtual) We may live in an era of fast technology and increasing reliance upon automation, but our human abilities to think critically, make careful decisions, and solve nuanced problems are more important than ever. Our personal lives depend on those things, and so do the lives of our organizations. Since business is now conducted at remarkable speeds, we put our organizations at great risk daily when we have weak competencies with decision-making and problem-solving. Decisions and solutions that are executed impulsively and without structured approaches can create more problems or make existing ones worse! This course aims to help participants improve their skills so they can execute well and add value to the workplace. Learners will experience multiple decision-making and problem-solving models, tools, and techniques meant for the real world. They will learn how to align their growing toolboxes with the right situational contexts so that they can transfer that skill to the workplace. They will also discover how indecision, cognitive bias, and default thought processes can create obstacles to effective decision-making and problem-solving. What you will Learn Recognize the importance of making a sound decision in a timely manner Infer types of cognitive biases and obstacles that impact decision-making Separate facts, requirements, ideas, and perceptions when making a decision or solving problems Apply structured decision-making and problem-solving approaches Conduct cause and effect and Force Field analyses Evaluate alternative solution methods using various techniques Analyze real world situations to determine the best aligned decision-making and problem-solving models, tools, and techniques Implement decision-making and problem-solving models, tools, and techniques Getting Started Foundation Concepts Contextualizing decisiveness and problem-solving Discriminating between decisiveness and problem-solving Understanding Decision-Making Decision-making challenges and impacts Key drivers of good decision-making Thought processes and obstacles Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) Decision-Making Models and Supporting Tools Decision-making models, tools, and guidelines Tools to evaluate alternatives Translating requirements into action Problem-Solving Defining the problem Problem-solving models Cause and effect analysis Quick hit vs. innovative problem-solving Summary and Next Steps Course summary Personal action plan

Managing Complex Projects: Virtual In-House Training As knowledge and technology expand exponentially, organizations are finding that the tools, processes, and methods used to select, plan, and manage their projects are insufficient for the challenges posed by them. The goal of this course is to provide participants with a working knowledge of project complexities and a framework for managing the ambiguities involved in today's fast-changing, competitive, and technology-based environment As knowledge and technology expand exponentially, organizations are finding that the tools, processes, and methods used to select, plan, and manage their projects are insufficient for the challenges posed by them. Complex projects don't necessarily follow the rules of traditional projects - in many instances the projects' end-products, and the methods by which they will be produced, are not easily defined. Stakeholder diversity and geographical dispersion contribute to the difficulties project managers face in their efforts to gain acceptance of project goals, objectives, and changes. Additionally, hierarchic leadership styles, traditional lifecycle approaches, and traditional project manager competencies may no longer maximize the efficiencies that need to be realized on complex projects. The goal of this course is to provide participants with a working knowledge of project complexities and a framework for managing the ambiguities involved in today's fast-changing, competitive, and technology-based environments. What you Will Learn The learning objectives of this workshop are to enable participants to: Appreciate complexity and its impact on the management of projects Describe the differences among traditional, complicated, and complex projects Explain the effects of complexity on the PMBOK® Guide's process groups Apply a high-level model in the management of real- world projects Complexity and Projects Some characteristics of complex systems Important models/characteristics of complex projects Major players in project complexity Landscapes and project typologies A supplemental framework for complex projects Framing Framing overview Potential pitfalls in framing complex projects Possible solutions Inception Centrality of risk management PM competencies, selection Stakeholder identification, analysis Blueprint Collaborative planning Stakeholder engagements Alternative methodologies/life cycles Collaborative scheduling Procurement management Oversight, Navigation, and Adjustment Leadership and the project team Stakeholder management Networks Close and Continuous Improvement Transition/support Post-project evaluations Rewards/Recognition

Global Project Management: Virtual In-House Training In this course, you will dig deeper-and differently-into project management processes, tools, and techniques, developing the ability to see them through the lens of global and cultural project impacts. In today's increasingly global environment, managing a project with customers and support organizations spread across multiple countries and continents is a major challenge. From identifying stakeholders and gathering requirements, to planning, controlling, and executing the project, the basic logistics of a global project present their own standard challenges. However, with additional cultural, language-based, and regional elements, global projects involve more complexities than teams often realize. There are unique communication needs, cultural awareness elements, varying customs and work expectations, and critical legal differences to consider. In this course, you will dig deeper-and differently-into project management processes, tools, and techniques, developing the ability to see them through the lens of global and cultural project impacts. This will leverage you to problem solve differently on global projects, prevent problems, and ensure success. The goal is for you to effectively navigate the challenges of leading projects with multi-regional footprints and globally diverse sets of stakeholders. What you Will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Determine when a project meets the criteria of being a true global one Articulate global project needs based on the project grid and framework Identify and analyze global project stakeholders Recognize cultural differences and articulate how they impact project work Determine global project estimating, scheduling, and staffing challenges Assess global project risks and develop problem-solving responses Analyze complex cultural situations and align optimal project communication and negotiation tools and techniques Apply best practices for conducting virtual team work and mitigating virtual challenges Evaluate ways to control for global project scope, cost, and procurement Align customer management best practices with global customer needs Implement key global project closing activities Foundation Concepts What is a global project? What makes a global project different? A global project management framework Initiating the Global Project Launching a global project Respecting cultural differences Identifying and analyzing stakeholders Developing the communications plan Defining the ideal global project manager Crafting a global project charter Planning the Global Project Gathering requirements for a global project Defining the scope, region by region Estimating and scheduling for global projects Staffing the global project Developing the global risk management plan Executing the Global Project Managing global stakeholder expectations Embracing cultural diversity Honing global negotiation techniques Procuring goods and services on a global basis Managing global legal and regulatory issues at the micro and macro level Monitoring and Controlling the Global Project Status reporting Virtual communication Cost control Schedule control Scope control Customer satisfaction Closing the Global Project Contract closure at the macro and micro levels Administrative closure with global reach Lessons learned

Business Intelligence: Virtual In-House Training Business Intelligence (BI) refers to a set of technology-based techniques, applications, and practices used to aggregate, analyze, and present business data. BI practices provide historical and current views of vast amounts of data and generate predictions for business operations. The purpose of Business Intelligence is the support of better business decision making. This course provides an overview of the technology and application of BI and how it can be used to improve corporate performance. What you will Learn You will learn how to: Specify a data warehouse schema Identify the data and visualization to be used for data mining and Business Intelligence Design a Business Intelligence user interface Getting Started Introductions Agenda Expectations Foundation Concepts The challenge of decision making What is Business Intelligence? The Business Intelligence value proposition Business Intelligence taxonomy Business Intelligence management issues Sources of Business Intelligence Data warehousing Data and information Information architecture Defining the data warehouse and its relationships Facts and dimensions Modeling, meta-modeling, and schemas Alternate architectures Building the data warehouse Extracting Transforming Loading Setting up the data and relationships Dimensions and the Fact Table Implementing many-to-many relationships in data warehouse Data marts Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) What is OLAP? OLAP and OLTP OLAP functionality Multi-dimensions Thinking in more than two dimensions What are the possibilities? OLAP architecture Cubism Tools OLAP variations - MOLAP, ROLAP, HOLAP BI using SOA Applications of Business Intelligence Applying BI through OLAP Enterprise Resource Planning and CRM Business Intelligence and financial information Business Intelligence User Interfaces and Presentations Data access Push-pull data access Types of decision support systems Designing the front end Presentation formats Dashboards Types of dashboards Common dashboard features Briefing books and scorecards Querying and Reporting Reporting emphasis Retrofitting Talking back Key Performance Indicators Report Definition and Visualization Typical reporting environment Forms of visualization Unconstrained views Data mining What is in the mine? Applications for data mining Data mining architecture Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CISP-DM) Data mining techniques Validation The Business Intelligence User Experience The business analyst role Business analysis and data analysis Five-step approach Cultural impact Identifying questions Gathering information Understand the goals The strategic Business Intelligence cycle Focus of Business Intelligence Design for the user Iterate the access Iterative solution development process Review and validation questions Basic approaches Building ad-hoc queries Building on-demand self-service reports Closed loop Business Intelligence Coming attractions - future of Business Intelligence Best practices in Business Intelligence

Effecting Business Process Improvement: Virtual In-House Training Business analysts facilitate the solution of business problems. The solutions are put into practice as changes to the way people perform in their organizations and the tools they use. The business analyst is a change agent who must understand the basic principles of quality management. This course covers the key role that business analysts play in organizational change management. What you will Learn You will learn how to: Define and document a business process Work with various business modeling techniques Perform an enterprise analysis in preparation for determining requirements Analyze business processes to discern problems Foundation Concepts Overview of business analysis and process improvement Defining the business process Introducing the proactive business analyst Focusing on business process improvement for business analysts Launching a Successful Business Process Improvement Project Overview of the launch phase Understanding and creating organizational strategy Selecting the target process Aligning the business process improvement project's goals and objectives with organizational strategy Defining the Current Process Overview of current process phase Documenting the business process Business modeling options: work-flow models Business modeling options: Unified Modeling Language (UML) model adaptations for business processes Analyzing the Current Process Process analysis overview Evaluation: establishing the control group Opportunity techniques: multi-discipline problem-solving Opportunity techniques: matrices Building and Sustaining a Recommended Process Overview of the recommended process and beyond Impact analysis Recommended process Transition to the business case Return to proactive state

Business Analysis Fundamentals: Virtual In-House Training This course is part of IIL's Business Analysis Certificate Program (BACP), a program designed to help prepare individuals to pass the IIBA® Certification exam to become a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP™). This course teaches participants the overall process of business analysis and where it fits in the bigger picture of the project life cycle and the business context. The course is interactive and combines discussion, active workshops, and demonstrations of techniques. The goal is bottom-line results that cut through the real-world problems facing people seeking to improve the way they operate to develop new and improved systems and products or otherwise deliver results through project performance. What you will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Define the solution scope Work with the development team in the systems testing stage Ensure the solution is usable in the business environment Foundation Concepts Defining the business analyst (BA) function The role of the BA as change agent An introduction to the BABOK® Guide BA roles and relationships through the project life cycle (PLC) Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring Overview of business analysis planning and monitoring (BAP&M) Business analysis planning and monitoring - process and tools Business analysis planning and monitoring - roles and responsibilities Business analysis planning and monitoring - governance, information management, and performance improvement Elicitation and Collaboration Overview of elicitation and collaboration Elicitation and collaboration techniques Requirements Life Cycle Management Overview of requirements life cycle management Requirements life cycle management task details Strategy Analysis Overview of strategy analysis Analyze current state Define future state Assess risks Define change strategy Requirements Analysis and Design Definition Overview of requirements analysis and design definition (RA&DD) The anatomy of requirements RA&DD task descriptions RA&DD techniques Solution Evaluation Overview of solution evaluation Solution evaluation tasks Solution evaluation in development stages Underlying Competencies Overview of underlying competencies (UC) Underlying competencies