Career studio / Project Management Fundamentals
Build evidence for the Project Coordinator role
Cedar Learning is launching a six-session online workshop. A sponsor approves the date but trainers, handouts and registration depend on different owners. You coordinate the work without pretending to own every decision.
Your outcome: Workshop coordination pack: action register, dependency board, weekly update and handover note.
Start with the right expectations
Who this is for
Comfort with a spreadsheet and written English.
This path develops a demonstrable work sample for the named role. It does not replace employer-specific experience, professional qualifications or supervised practice.
Plan your study time
Use a flexible six-week project schedule: one week for each of the first four stages and two weeks for the portfolio and review. Allow roughly 3–5 hours per week for the case work, in addition to course study. This is a planning suggestion, not a measured course duration or a promise of job readiness.
Read the course access notes before starting. Free viewing or reading does not automatically include certificates, graded assessments, software licences or paid cloud resources. Core case work can be documented with a free editor and spreadsheet; optional implementation tools may have additional requirements.
Your course sequence
Start in the order below. Use the course outline to select the sections relevant to the stage tasks, and complete foundation exercises before moving on. Full provider courses can be substantially longer than this project schedule. These are course resources, not a claimed count of individual lessons.
Resource 01 / Google
Free Project Management Course by Google
Purpose: Build the foundations. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; a Google certificate is not included
Resource 02 / Google
Free Project Execution and Tracking Course by Google
Purpose: Develop the role-specific method. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; a Google certificate is not included
Resource 03 / Learn Skills Daily
Trello Project Management: Free Course
Purpose: Strengthen practical application. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
- Create a board structure in which lists and cards represent a clear workflow and specific tasks.
- Use labels, checklists, due dates and attachments to make work easier to understand and coordinate.
- Follow the later tutorials on collaboration, filtering and connected Trello features.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; certificate not included
Learn, make, check
Keep a decision log as you work. For each stage, capture the assumption, your work product, a check and the change you made after that check. The acceptance criterion is the stopping condition for the stage.
Stage 1 / suggested project week 1
Define the assignment
Understand: Distinguish a deliverable, activity, owner and approver.
Make: Write a one-page brief with the launch date, six sessions, three exclusions and an approval owner.
Check before moving on: Every deliverable has one accountable owner and a testable acceptance condition.
Study companion: Free Project Management Course by Google. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 2 / suggested project week 2
Build a reliable action board
Understand: Use explicit states and dependencies rather than a decorative task list.
Make: Turn the supplied activities into a board. Record predecessors, due dates, blockers and the next action for each item.
Check before moving on: Do not mark registration ready before the venue and trainer decisions are approved.
Study companion: Free Project Execution and Tracking Course by Google. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 3 / suggested project week 3
Run the weekly rhythm
Understand: A useful update makes a decision possible.
Make: Draft a 150-word status update with one milestone, one blocker, two actions and one decision request.
Check before moving on: Each action names an owner and a date; the overall status follows evidence.
Study companion: Trello Project Management: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 4 / suggested project week 4
Close the loop
Understand: Handover transfers responsibility and evidence.
Make: Prepare an acceptance checklist and a handover note for the workshop host.
Check before moving on: A second reader can identify incomplete work without asking you to explain the board.
Study companion: Trello Project Management: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 5 / suggested project weeks 5–6
Present your portfolio
Assemble the four work products into Workshop coordination pack: action register, dependency board, weekly update and handover note. Write a README explaining the problem, your assumptions, the decisions you made, tests actually performed and what remains incomplete.
Give a five-minute walkthrough: one minute for the problem, two for the work and evidence, one for trade-offs and one for the next improvement. If you have not implemented a proposed system, label it a design or prototype rather than a deployed solution.
Acceptance: a reviewer can locate each work product, reproduce the key reasoning and identify the limits without a private explanation from you.
The portfolio brief
Cedar Learning is launching a six-session online workshop. A sponsor approves the date but trainers, handouts and registration depend on different owners. You coordinate the work without pretending to own every decision.
Deliver: Workshop coordination pack: action register, dependency board, weekly update and handover note.
| task | owner | duration days | predecessor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve brief | Sponsor | 1 | |
| Confirm trainers | Coordinator | 3 | Approve brief |
| Prepare handouts | Trainer | 4 | Confirm trainers |
| Open registration | Coordinator | 2 | Confirm trainers |
| Host workshop | Host | 1 | Prepare handouts + Open registration |
Use these small inputs to make the reasoning visible. They are not a representative dataset, a real client engagement or evidence of production performance. Where the brief requires additional sample records, create them yourself, label them synthetic and explain why you added them.
The ZIP includes the case CSV, four stage worksheets, course sequence, decision log, test log, portfolio README template, review rubric and reference reasoning. It is a starter kit for your work, not a completed application, professional report or proprietary project file.
Check your reasoning
The handout owner misses a date by two days. What should change in the update?
Write your answer and assumptions before opening the reference.
Read the reference reasoning
Keep the missed date visible, record the revised forecast and owner, check whether registration or delivery depends on the handout, and request a decision if the launch is threatened. Do not silently replace the baseline.
Portfolio review rubric
| Criterion | Points | Evidence required |
|---|---|---|
| Problem and scope | 4 | A clear user, need, boundary and assumptions |
| Role-specific work | 8 | 2 points for each of the four stage acceptance checks |
| Reasoning and validation | 4 | Independent checks, actual results and uncertainty |
| Communication and reproducibility | 4 | A usable README, source links and reviewable work products |
Aim for at least 16/20 as a self-review target, with no missing stage acceptance check. This is a WikiFree practice rubric, not an industry credential or a hiring assessment.
Interview practice
Tell me about a blocked dependency and how your coordination changed the next decision.
Answer using the case: context, your action, evidence and limitation. Describe this honestly as a self-directed project. Do not present fictional organizations, invented interviews or practice results as paid work experience.
Your progress
Use this checklist as a personal study aid. Progress is stored in this browser when local storage is available; it is not an account record or a certificate.
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Questions before you start
Will this path qualify me for a job?
It helps you study relevant foundations and produce a work sample. Employers may require additional skills, qualifications and experience. Review actual role requirements before applying; no job or certification is guaranteed.
Are all tools and certificates free?
The linked learning routes were selected for free viewing or reading. Follow the separate access and certificate notes on each course. Paid tools and cloud deployment are optional; document a local design when implementation resources are unavailable.
Can I follow this on a phone?
You can read the path and many learning resources on a phone. Coding, detailed spreadsheet work, design tools and mobile-app development are easier or require a suitable computer. The page is designed to reflow; that is not a claim that every physical device has been tested.
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