Operations Management (M3)

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution."

— Aristotle

🕊️Welcome to the Peacebuilder Academy (PBA)

Every peacebuilder’s journey begins with a commitment — to yourself, your community, and to a more peaceful world. By the end of this short guide, you’ll know how to leverage the resources available to you, and begin shaping the change you want to see in the world.

🧰PBA Resources:

1. 🌐 Public Mind Maps

   1. Here at the Peacebuilder Academy (PBA), we use AYOA mind maps to guide your learning and save you time by providing visual notes for each lesson. Most public mind maps won’t require a login, but Pro features use AYOA templates that do require an AYOA account. (Note: Best viewed on Desktop)

2. 💬 Captions & Transcripts
   1. Our videos use the Descript platform, which lets you read and follow along with captions while you watch. Just click the chevrons (<<) in the upper right-hand corner of the video player to view the full transcript alongside the video. On mobile, rotate your screen horizontally for the best viewing and caption experience.
      1. ⏩Learn faster by increasing the video playback speed — up to 2x! 
3. 🔗 Lesson Links
   1. To help your learning and viewing experience, all lesson links are highlighted in green and will open in a new tab or window. You can also right-click any link to open it in a separate tab while keeping your place in the lesson.

📌 Deliverables

Deliverables are small, action-focused steps designed to help you apply what you’ve learned right away. They’re not tests — they’re practical checkpoints that move you from knowledge to action.

At the PBA, deliverables also double as real-world assets — notes, plans, and frameworks you create here can become working documents for your project, business, or product. Every lesson is intentionally designed to leave you with something usable, not just theoretical.

By the end of the course, you won’t just have learned — you’ll have built. You’ll walk away with a portfolio of project plans, business strategies, product outlines, and conflict resolution frameworks ready to launch, refine, or share.

📱 Navigation Tip

On mobile, tap the ☰ hamburger menu in the top right corner to open site navigation options (About, Courses, Community, Pricing, Login, etc.). You can also tap the Peacebuilder Academy logo or text logo at the top to return to the homepage.

💡 AI/Tool Tip:  Use ChatGPT or your PBA AI Companion (coming soon!) to brainstorm, refine, and expand your lesson deliverables. AI can help you design your product, shape your service, or clarify your vision into practical next steps.

💫 From conflict to clarity. From purpose to profit. Accelerate your journey with Pro.

Unlock the full Peacebuilder Academy experience — designed to help you resolve conflict with confidence, launch your mission-driven business, and earn income doing what matters.
✅ Personalized course tracking & gamified learning
✅ AI-powered agent support (coming soon!)
✅ Proven frameworks, templates, and real-world use cases
✅ Group coaching & community to guide your growth

🔓 Upgrade to Pro and turn your peacebuilding vision into lasting, profitable change.

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things."

— Peter Drucker

⚙️ Welcome to Operations Management & Resource Breakdown Structures!

Armed with your lean project plan from Module 2, you’re now ready to step into the impact phase—where ideas turn into measurable results.

In Module 3: Operations Management, you’ll gain the tools, tactics, and strategies to track work performance, manage your project efficiently, and collect the social proof that will fuel your influence, attract supporters, and lay the foundation for sustainable growth in later modules.

We’ll begin by exploring the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)—a powerful framework for organizing your resources, personnel, and equipment so you can deliver your project effectively and on time. When you know exactly what you have and where it’s going, you can focus on impact without the chaos.

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

3. Project Management (PM) Plan Workbook (from Module 2)

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverable

1. Create your project Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) using the Project Management (PM) Plan workbook from Module 2 or your own template.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT to help map out your RBS by listing all possible resources, assigning categories, and suggesting efficient allocations. For visual clarity, organize it in AYOA or Miro so you can share and update it easily.

💫 From conflict to clarity. From purpose to profit. Accelerate your journey with Pro.

Unlock the full Peacebuilder Academy experience — designed to help you resolve conflict with confidence, launch your mission-driven business, and earn income doing what matters.
✅ Personalized course tracking & gamified learning
✅ AI-powered agent support (coming soon!)
✅ Proven frameworks, templates, and real-world use cases
✅ Group coaching & community to guide your growth

🔓 Upgrade to Pro and turn your peacebuilding vision into lasting, profitable change.

"The ultimate test of agility is whether you can keep all your stakeholders happy."

— Anoop Raghav

🤝 Welcome to Lesson 2: Stakeholder Analysis

Knowing who is involved in your project—and how to engage them—can mean the difference between momentum and roadblocks. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to identify, assess, and manage the people and groups who can influence your success.

We’ll explore how to map out stakeholder power and influence, tailor your communication and engagement methods to their preferences, and use conflict management strategies to transform detractors into allies. You’ll also learn how to spot and develop project champions—people who will help you push your mission forward.

By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of your stakeholder landscape and the tools to keep relationships strong throughout the project lifecycle.

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Stakeholder Register (See Stakeholder tab on PM Plan Workbook)

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

3. Power/Influence Grid- Stakeholder Analysis 
   

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

4. Company Organizational (Org) Chart

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

5. RACI Matrix

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverable

1. Complete your Stakeholder Register, mapping key individuals and groups, their influence, and engagement strategies.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use  AYOA to visually map your Power/Influence Grid. Then use ChatGPT to suggest tailored engagement strategies for each stakeholder group.

💫 From conflict to clarity. From purpose to profit. Accelerate your journey with Pro.

Unlock the full Peacebuilder Academy experience — designed to help you resolve conflict with confidence, launch your mission-driven business, and earn income doing what matters.
✅ Personalized course tracking & gamified learning
✅ AI-powered agent support (coming soon!)
✅ Proven frameworks, templates, and real-world use cases
✅ Group coaching & community to guide your growth

🔓 Upgrade to Pro and turn your peacebuilding vision into lasting, profitable change.

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot."

— Michael Altshuler

📆 Welcome to Lesson 3: Operational Planning Considerations

Effective planning is what keeps your project on course, even as conditions change. In this lesson, we’ll revisit the Triple Constraint Model from Module 2—balancing cost, schedule, scope, and quality—and explore how to manage these elements in real time.

In Part 1, you’ll learn techniques for managing scope and schedule using practical tools like the Elevator Statement, User Story Map, Milestone Chart, Requirements Tracker, and Network Diagram. These resources will help you clarify priorities, track progress, and ensure alignment between your plans and actual performance.

You’ll also update or confirm/deny your project baselines, using the work performance data you’ve gathered so far. This will keep your project grounded in reality while still moving toward your vision.

Keep up the momentum Peacebuilder!

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Requirements tracker

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

3. Elevator Statement

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

4. User Story Map

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

5. Milestone Chart

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverable

1. Update your Requirements Document.

2. Create your project’s Milestone Chart.

   1. Use your Requirements Document and Work Breakdown Structure to complete your schedule and milestone chart.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT to turn your requirements list into a visual User Story Map or milestone sequence. You can then import this into tools like AYOA or Trello for easy team collaboration and tracking.

💫 Resolve conflict. Launch your impact business. Get paid to do good.

Pro gives you everything you need to learn faster, build smarter, and grow sustainably — with expert support, guided tools, and (Coming Soon) AI-powered peacebuilders by your side.

🔓 Upgrade to Pro to access every deliverable, download, tool, template, etc., and start turning your mission into impact and income.

"There is now a cost control mentality in place that will continue to prevail."

— Chris Adams

💲 Welcome to Lesson 4: Cost Management & Performance Tracking

Peacebuilder, managing your project’s costs isn’t just about staying within budget—it’s about making sure every resource you use delivers maximum value. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to track, evaluate, and control costs so your project remains healthy and sustainable.

We’ll cover the different types of project costs, including quality-related costs, and explore essential performance formulas like the Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI). These tools will help you compare actual performance to your original baselines, spot variances early, and make data-informed decisions.

By the end, you’ll be able to assess whether your project is on track, ahead, or behind—and take action to adjust scope, cost, schedule, or quality before small issues become big problems.

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Cost of Quality (COQ), Template
   

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverables

1. Determine your Cost of Quality (COQ).

2. Track your CPI and SPI to measure cost and schedule efficiency.

   1. Adjust scope, cost, schedule, and quality based on your project’s performance against baselines.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT to calculate CPI and SPI from your project data, then ask for recommendations on corrective actions if results show you’re off-track.

💫 Resolve conflict. Launch your impact business. Get paid to do good.

Pro gives you everything you need to learn faster, build smarter, and grow sustainably — with expert support, guided tools, and (Coming Soon) AI-powered peacebuilders by your side.

🔓 Upgrade to Pro to access every deliverable, download, tool, template, etc., and start turning your mission into impact and income.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

🧭 Welcome to Lesson 5: Decision Analysis

Decision-making is at the heart of leadership—and the ability to make timely, well-informed choices can determine your project’s success. But beware of analysis paralysis, where the pursuit of perfection prevents meaningful progress.

At the Peacebuilder Academy, we embrace the Agile mindset: progress over perfection. In this lesson, you’ll explore decision-making frameworks that help secure team buy-in, build group consensus, and keep momentum moving forward. You’ll also learn to use the Decision Brief—a strategic tool for influencing stakeholders and driving rapid change.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll know how to manage relationships up, down, and across your organization, prioritize key decisions, and confidently present concise, actionable recommendations that get results.

🧰Resources:

1. Use these interactive mind maps as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the links below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
   2. Prompt List- PMESII Framework, Planning Tool, Public Mind Map
   3. Prompt List- PESTLE Analysis Framework, Public Mind Map
2. Porter's 5 Forces Analysis- Competitor Analysis Framework

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

3. Decision Brief Template 

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverables

1. Identify or update your critical decision points.

2. Prioritize decisions using a multi-criteria decision matrix.

3. Conduct a Decision Brief to a decision maker.

   1. Keep it simple—shorter is often more impactful.

   2. Use this exercise to uncover project considerations and refine your communication skills in preparation for investor pitches in Module 5.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT to simulate decision-making scenarios and test different strategies. Provide your project’s context, and ask it to generate PMESII, PESTLE, or Porter’s 5 Forces analyses for rapid insight.

💫 From conflict to clarity. From purpose to profit. Accelerate your journey with Pro.

Unlock the full Peacebuilder Academy experience — designed to help you resolve conflict with confidence, launch your mission-driven business, and earn income doing what matters.
✅ Personalized course tracking & gamified learning
✅ AI-powered agent support (coming soon!)
✅ Proven frameworks, templates, and real-world use cases
✅ Group coaching & community to guide your growth

🔓 Upgrade to Pro and turn your peacebuilding vision into lasting, profitable change.

"You should never go to a meeting or make a telephone call without a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve."

— Steve Jobs

📅 Welcome to Lesson 6: Meetings & The Scrum Framework

Meetings can either be a driver of clarity and momentum—or a drain on time and energy. The difference lies in preparation, purpose, and execution. As a project or operations manager—and especially as an aspiring CEO—your ability to run efficient, focused meetings is a leadership skill you can’t afford to overlook.

In this lesson, you’ll learn to apply the “less is more” principle: questioning whether a meeting is truly necessary, or if objectives could be met more effectively via a call, message, or quick update. Then, you’ll be introduced to the Scrum Framework, an Agile method designed to keep meetings short, structured, and outcome-driven.

By mastering these techniques, you’ll keep your team aligned, motivated, and moving forward—while protecting everyone’s most valuable resource: time.

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Meeting Agenda Template

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

3. Sprint Planning Worksheet

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

4. Daily Scrum Meeting Template

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

5. After Action Review (AAR), Sprint Retrospective Template

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverables

1. Use the Meeting Agenda Template to structure your next meeting.

2. Apply the Daily Scrum Meeting Template for short, focused check-ins.

3. Conduct a Sprint Retrospective or AAR to identify lessons learned and process improvements.

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT to draft clear, concise meeting agendas and time-boxed talking points. You can also have it generate AAR or Sprint Retrospective summaries from your meeting notes.

💫 Resolve conflict. Launch your impact business. Get paid to do good.

Pro gives you everything you need to learn faster, build smarter, and grow sustainably — with expert support, guided tools, and (Coming Soon) AI-powered peacebuilders by your side.

🔓 Upgrade to Pro to access every deliverable, download, tool, template, etc., and start turning your mission into impact and income.

"A company can seize extraordinary opportunities only if it is very good at the ordinary operations."

— Marcel Telles

🎯 Welcome to The Module 3 Review & Key Deliverables

Peacebuilder, you’ve reached the final stretch of Module 3: Operations Management—a milestone in mastering the systems and strategies that keep projects running smoothly. In this lesson, we’ll do a quick progress review and outline the essential deliverables you need to complete before advancing to Module 4.

While this module may be wrapping up, remember that operations management is a continuous journey. The tools and techniques you’ve learned here will serve you long after this course—helping you maximize impact, stay organized, and lead with confidence.

🧰Resources:

1. Use this interactive mind map as your visual notes! (Note: Best Viewed on Desktop)
   Right click the link below and open the AYOA mind map in a new tab or window — no account or login required. It’s safe, free to use, and designed to help you follow along and review key concepts. 
   1. M3 Public Mind Map: Operations Management
2. Project Management (PM) Plan Workbook

   1. 🔒 Pro Exclusive

📌 Deliverables

1. Do the work, be the difference!

2. Create/update your Resource Breakdown Structure.

3. Update your MVP using the Elevator Statement Worksheet or Tweet Method.

4. Update your project documents (see PM Plan Workbook from Module 2).

   1. Update project baselines with gathered work performance data.

   2. Create/update your Stakeholder Register.

   3. Create/update your Milestone Chart.

5. Conduct initial Competitor Analysis using one of the frameworks:

   1. SWOT Analysis

   2. Porter’s 5 Forces

   3. Prompt Lists: PMESII, PESTLE, VUCA

6. Conduct a Decision Brief for one decision point with a potential decision maker.

7. Organize your team (or future team) using the Scrum Framework:

   1. Select one meeting template and lead a meeting in 15 minutes or less (e.g., sprint planning).

💡 AI/Tool Tip: Use ChatGPT as a project audit assistant—paste your deliverables list and have it flag gaps, suggest improvements, and create a timeline for completing any unfinished tasks before moving on.

💫 From conflict to clarity. From purpose to profit. Accelerate your journey with Pro.

Unlock the full Peacebuilder Academy experience — designed to help you resolve conflict with confidence, launch your mission-driven business, and earn income doing what matters.
✅ Personalized course tracking & gamified learning
✅ AI-powered agent support (coming soon!)
✅ Proven frameworks, templates, and real-world use cases
✅ Group coaching & community to guide your growth

🔓 Upgrade to Pro and turn your peacebuilding vision into lasting, profitable change.