Beginning Project Management: Project Management Level One (Udemy.com)
Project Management: Growing a Successful Career as a Project Manager
Created by: Joseph Phillips
Last updated October 2025
Our take
Based on the ratings of 35,861 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in October 2025. No course pays to be reviewed.
This is a short introduction to project management: about 3.2 hours across 45 lectures and six sections. After a foundations section on what a project is and what a project manager does, it follows the five process groups in order. Those are initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Joseph Phillips teaches it, and his bio lists more than 25 years as a consultant and instructor. It is aimed at absolute beginners and team members who want the vocabulary. Downloadable templates and walkthroughs of project documents are part of the package.
Reviewers like the pacing. They mention the small videos, the calm delivery and the plain, root-level examples. One says Phillips explains the foundations in a really helpful way, and a team lead says it put their daily work in perspective. The complaints are small but they repeat. Two three-star reviews are about the quizzes: one person could not select an answer, another says the quizzes are easy to skip. A four-star reviewer found checking them against the PDF confusing at first. Roughly 88 percent of the 35,861 ratings are four or five stars.
At 3.2 hours, it is a quick way into the field, and it was last updated in October 2025. More than 122,000 students have taken it, so it has been tested on a lot of beginners. It stays at the basics on purpose, and the listing itself warns experienced project managers off. Anyone who wants depth, or a longer path toward a career in the field, will need a bigger course afterward. As a first look before committing to something heavier, it does the job.
Pros
- Small videos and a calm pace that reviewers like
- Follows the five process groups in order, from initiating to closing
- Plain, root-level examples that reviewers find clear rather than fancy
- Downloadable templates and walkthroughs of project documents
Cons
- Some reviewers hit quiz glitches or say the quizzes are easy to skip
- Only 3.2 hours, so it stays at the basics with little depth
- The listing warns experienced project managers off, so it is not a refresher
Good for now. Nice that course is not heavily packed with learning and examples are presented calmly and they are clear root level examples. Not trying to be too fancy.
Beginner fits: the only requirement is willingness to learn, and it suits team members new to project work too.
What you will learn
- Compare and contrast the project management process groups
- Explain what a project is (and is not)
- Explain how to initiate a project
- Work with the project team to plan a project
- Oversee the project execution
- Monitor and control the project activities
- Close out a phase or a project
- Define the roles and responsibilities of a successful project manager
Course content
6 sections · 45 lectures · 3.2 hours of video 7 articles
- 1Project Management Foundations 1 free preview6 lectures · 30 min
- 2Initiating a Project 1 free preview7 lectures · 25 min
- 3Planning a Project 1 free preview9 lectures · 40 min
- 4Executing a Project8 lectures · 45 min
- 5Monitoring and Controlling a Project 1 free preview7 lectures · 29 min
- 6Closing a Project 1 free preview8 lectures · 25 min
Who it is for
The instructor says it suits
- Absolute beginners in project management
- People launching their project management career
- Project team members seeking a better understanding of project management
- Don't take this course if you're an experienced project manager looking for advanced scientific analysis and philosophies of project management. You'll be sad.
What you need before you start
- Willingness to learn
- Acknowledgement that we all start somewhere
- Can-do attitude to finish the course
How it compares
Against the other 243 rated Udemy courses in Project Management on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 44% of them
- Reviews35,861#6 of 244 by number of reviews
- Length3.2 hoursshorter than 53% of them
- Last updatedOctober 2025earlier than 55% of them
Course Description
Project management is an exciting place to be. Project managers help shape the success of organizations, implement new technology, change the business landscape, and have influence over all areas of a business. Project managers earn a nice income and often move up the organizational chain into full-time management positions.
In this course, we’ll examine the absolute basics of project management. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? In this fundamental course, we will explore the big picture of project management and the project management life cycle. You’ll finish this course with an excellent grasp of project management, your roles and responsibilities as a project manager, and how to move forward in your career as a project manager.
This course is designed for people that are new to project management. This course is structured to give you a solid project management foundation and help you speak the project management language. Don’t worry – this course is easy to follow, has a logical approach, and it has a fun, can-do attitude in its delivery.
Projects use processes to move things forward. These processes are universal to all projects, regardless of the industry you may work in. These processes are grouped into logical chunks, and that’s our primary focus of the course. You’ll learn the major components of the project management lifecycle:
Initiating the project
Planning the project
Executing the project
Monitoring and controlling the project
Closing the project
Finally, this course includes several templates you can download and use in your projects. I’ll also show you how to build many project management documents. Let’s get started right now on your project management career.
Instructor Details
- 4.5 Rating
35,861 Reviews
Joseph Phillips
Keep Moving Forward!
Joseph Phillips is the best-selling author and project management instructor.
He has more than 25 years of experience as a project management consultant, educator, technology consultant, business owner, and technical writer. He has consulted as a project manager for a range of businesses, including startups, hospitals, architectural firms, and manufacturers.
Joseph is passionate about helping people learn and master project management. He has led both in-person and web-based seminars on project management, PMP certification, IT project management, program management, writing, business analysis, technical writing, and related topics.
Certifications:
Project Management Professional (PMP)
PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
PURE Project Manager
CompTIA Project+ Professional
CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer+
Certified ITIL Foundations Professional
Professional Scrum Master I
Author of:
PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, McGraw-Hill
CAPM/PMP All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill
PMI-ACP All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill
PMP Project Management Lab Book, McGraw-Hill
The Certified Technical Trainer All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill
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Reviews
By Maizy Davies on 8/5/2026
Make it so we actually have to take the quiz's instead of just doing them ourselves outside of the cource
By Christopher John Faelmoca on 7/12/2026
The Quiz part does not let me select an answer. it missing a checkbox or something for me to select the answer.
By Jean Kozah on 7/10/2026
The person who give the course has the talent to clarify the message that he needs as to know and has a great explanation strategy.
By Della Childs on 5/5/2026
So far, this is such a great beginner course for those who want to learn more about Project Management and to up level your skillset.
By Karl Oliver Peralta on 5/2/2026
Very useful course if you're looking for information on Project Management. It doesn't go to in depth but it gives you an overview of what it is to be a Project Manager.
By Nelly Temgoua on 4/23/2026
The course is very concise to understand, and I really like that the instructor provides us with templates of the documents mentioned in the course. That created a deeper understanding for people who are new to project management.
By Pete Olivarez on 4/13/2026
The delivery is clear, and concise. There are enough knowledge checks / quizzes to help retain the knowledge. The use cases and examples are clear and easy to follow and understand.
By Luke M Sewell on 3/7/2026
I am grasping the concept for of the course easily. The app is user friendly and helps me achieve my daily goals I’ve set for myself.
By Lemore Mcpherson on 2/12/2026
Content is good, I do have some knowledge about Project Management so some things feel abit repetitive however it is a great course to understand the basic principles
By Denilson Barbosa on 1/30/2026
Ajudando a lembrar e consolidar conhecimentos. Muito bom e ótima didática. Estou me identificando bastante inclusive com os GAPs existentes entre a teoria e a realidade. (Os desafios que um GP enfrenta no dia a dia).
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 90 / 100












