PM Essentials
Project management foundations — scope, schedule, budget, risk, stakeholders — plus the AI tools working PMs actually use today. Taught live by practitioners. Small group. You can apply what you learn in your next project.
Alina Piddubna
years in PM education
graduates
years managing advanced technology programs
PMI ATP Premier in Ukraine
Who this course is for
Professionals coordinating project work without formal PM training
You're already doing it. This gives you the structure, and the AI tools to do it without recreating everything from scratch.
Managers stepping into project delivery for the first time
The jump from individual contributor to project lead is real. This covers what nobody explains before you make it.
IT specialists, engineers, and analysts growing into lead roles
Technical skills got you here. Project management skills, and knowing where AI fits into them will take you further.
NGO and non-profit staff managing donor-funded programs
Grant projects have tight accountability requirements. This gives you the language and structure to meet them.
Career changers entering project management from other fields
No prior PM experience needed. We start from zero and build to a working foundation.
Anyone preparing for CAPM who wants practical grounding first
The CAPM exam tests concepts. This course shows what those concepts look like in actual project work, including AI-assisted workflows PMI now references in its standards.
This course is NOT for you if...
You already hold PMP or have 5+ years of formal PM experience, you're looking for a certification exam prep course specifically (see our CAPM Exam Prep), or you want a general productivity-with-AI course that isn't grounded in project management practice.
Why we created this course
What you'll be able to do
Concrete skills and outcomes you'll walk away with
Define and protect project scope
so that any change requires an explicit conversation, not a silent workaround
Build a realistic project schedule
with dependencies mapped, and buffer placed where the risk actually is
Run a risk identification session and maintain a register people use
not one that lives in a folder and gets updated the day before a status meeting
Write a stakeholder communication plan
and know who needs what information, in what format, and how often
Use AI tools for PM tasks you're doing anyway
status reports, meeting summaries, risk brainstorming, stakeholder communication drafts — with ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Notion AI
Explain what agile means and when it fits
including when a hybrid approach makes more sense than a pure Scrum setup
Close a project properly
with a lessons-learned session that produces something worth keeping, not a formality nobody reads
Know your next step in PM development
CAPM, PMP, or building skills in your current role, with a direct recommendation from your trainer
Multiple sessions. One coherent program.
Module 1 — What Is a Project?
Where does a project end and operations begin — and why does that distinction matter from day one?
What does a project lifecycle actually look like, and what happens at each phase?
How do projects most often fail — and which failures are preventable?
What is the PM's role in 2026, and where are AI tools entering the work?
- Where does a project end and operations begin — and why does that distinction matter from day one?
- What does a project lifecycle actually look like, and what happens at each phase?
- How do projects most often fail — and which failures are preventable?
- What is the PM's role in 2026, and where are AI tools entering the work?
Why learn with INSTAR and this trainer
Treaining with certified practitioners
Alina holds PMP, PgMP, PfMP, and PMI-CPMAI. Natalia holds PMP, and is an authorized PMI trainer. That combination is held by very few practitioners globally.
This course wasn't adapted from a generic PM curriculum
The AI tooling examples come from actual PM workflows, not demos built for a slide deck. What gets included is what working PMs are actually using right now.
INSTAR is Ukraine's PMI Premier ATP — the only one
Our graduates are working in PM roles across Ukraine, EU, UK, and North America. We understand both the PMI framework and the real conditions most PMs are working in.
Who leads the course
Alina Piddubna
Principal management consultant · Director
Alina is one of very few practitioners worldwide to hold both PfMP® and PgMP®. She has managed portfolios of advanced-technology programs since 2021, where governance, benefits realization under uncertainty, and organization-level stakeholder management are daily work. She also holds PMP, PMI-CPMAI, PMI-ACP, PMO-CP, PSM, CLSSGB, SAFe Practice Consultant, AWS certification, and a PhD in Economics. Alina is a contributor to the PMBOK Guide 8th edition, a speaker and blogger on management and advanced technology topics.
Natalia Starynska
Senior Project Management Consultant
Over 15 years of managing organizational, consulting, and educational projects, including 5 years of experience managing projects in the public sector; 10 years of consulting experience in establishing project management practices in organizations; 10 years of delivering project management training; Head of the NGO "Vyshche" - a community for learning and teaching; Educational trainer and consultant. Author and developer of “Personal Couching” format Takes active part in public activities in PMI Kiev Chapter Participant of the program of experience exchange and work with international institutes and organizations in the sphere of project management.
Graduate results and what they say
of course participants on average receive a job offer or promotion within 1 month after completing the course.
Our graduates are working in PM roles across Ukraine, EU, UK, and North America.
"Very good"
"A lot of useful information which is possible to implement during working process"
"I liked the lecturer very much; there were a lot of examples from everyday life. Organizational moments made my day - whole communication as of the moment of filing the application up to the lecturer’s attitude to the audience"
"I’m thrilled to share that I’ve completed the IT Project Management course from the Project Management Institute! 🚀 This course was an insightful and hands-on experience, equipping me with essential project management methodologies, tools, and best practices that I can apply in real-world scenarios. I’m incredibly grateful to Alina Piddubna, who not only guided me through the InStar course as an instructor but has also been an inspiring mentor at Intellias. Your support, expertise, and encouragement have been invaluable—thank you for helping me grow! A special thank you to Anastasiia Hibaieva, for your motivation and for always being there along the way. Your support truly meant the world to me! Excited to put these new skills into practice!"
Learning approach
Live discussion
Every session is live. Questions get real answers in real time. The small group format means you can surface the specific situations you're dealing with.
AI tools used inside sessions
You'll use ChatGPT, Copilot, and other tools during sessions — not watch someone else demo them. Each module includes a hands-on AI exercise tied to that module's topic.
Small groups and real depth
Enrollment is capped. This is deliberate. It makes it possible to actually work through hard questions instead of moving on when time runs out.
Practitioner templates you keep
Risk register, communication plan, stakeholder map, lessons-learned template, AI prompt library for PM tasks. Yours to use after the course ends.
Group chat with trainer and cohort
Access to the course group chat during and after the program for questions, sharing what you tried, and getting feedback on real situations.
Format and price
Course information
- Dates:
- Group forming — register to reserve your spot; start date announced when minimum group size is reached
- Duration:
- 8 sessions × 2 hrs (weekly)
- Level
- Beginner
- Language
- Ukrainian
- Format
- Live online sessions
- Path forward
- CAPM Exam Prep · PMP Exam Prep · Workshops
Related certifications
FAQ
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