ChoosingCareer.co.uk

Projecting Your Career Forward With A PMP Or Prince 2 Course...

The benefits of Project Management can be seen everywhere. Work in this sector can be very interesting and fulfilling, as you will discover if you explore the training routes available to enter the industry.

People who are well organised and have good spatial logic can make very competent project managers. Other skill-sets that are useful to have are an ability to explain things well to others and good management skills.

...Delivering The Goods

For businesses to be profitable margins are often tight, hence controlled project management is often essential. When a plan involves different but inter-dependent things happening at different times and in different places, it must be project managed all the way.

Project management work today is very highly respected and can command an excellent salary. Why not learn the skills of effective project control and build a worthy career for yourself? Certifications can be attained through professional associations, usually via commercial colleges.

All project management training will cover certain fundamentals, but the more advanced the course, the more you will get into the complexities of planning and controlling large scale operations.

De-mystifying The Jargon

The phraseology in project management is often the first thing to understand. Training will help you to get inside not only the terms, but also the thought processes that have developed into the recognised techniques and tools. Do some research of your own to discover the different approaches used by Project Managers, and the various training routes that will prepare students for work.

As Old As The Pyramids

Much of what we term Project Management today has been around for a very long time. Until the turn of the twentieth century, large civil engineering projects would have been managed by the design architects and engineers themselves. Henry Gantt and Henri Fayol were born in the mid-nineteenth century and are considered to be two of the key forefathers of project management.

Gantt was called the father of planning and control techniques. The Gantt Chart was considered to be revolutionary when it was first introduced. Essentially a type of bar chart, it illustrates a project schedule which can show the start and finish dates of every element of a project and even the dependency relationships between activities.

Project Management In The 20th Century

Project Management as defined by today's standards started to unfold around the middle of the 20th century, as a more systemised approach came into play. There was a major challenge facing the US Navy - how to incorporate and integrate a complex system to build the Polaris submarine. The PERT - Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review Technique - model was used to analyse and represent all the tasks involved.

The Critical Path Method (another mathematical technique) was also developed around this time. In the mid-fifties pioneering work on cost estimating, cost management and engineering economics was also added to the mix.

The International Project Management Association

In 1967 the IPMA (International Project Management Association) was founded in Europe. Over forty thousand people are now members of this Swiss registered alliance. The IMPA four-level certification programme is assessed on three competence ranges - behavioural, technical and contextual.

The Project Management Institute

Then in the US in 1969 the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed. In the nineties it published its first version of the definitive guide to project management, the PMBOK Guide. This covers project management procedures that are common to "most projects, most of the time." As it recognises 42 processes that come within five process groups and nine knowledge areas of PM, you could benefit greatly from the knowledge it contains. Learning programs can be accessed which teach the elements of the guide in great detail. They are available throughout the world, and prepare students for the PMI certifications, the PMP (Project Management Professional) and the CAPM (Certified Associate of Project Management).

PRINCE2

PRINCE2 as the name suggests is the second major version of this PM method. It is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce, an independent office of Her Majesty's Treasury.

Project management is a complex discipline, and PRINCE2 attempts to provide guidance on how much of the process to apply. Students of PRINCE2 will learn how the method provides a framework covering the wide variety of disciplines and activities needed for a successful project.

PRINCE2 is designed to reduce the impact when change is necessary in the commercial environment. It promotes consistency and re-usable assets. It's a checklist for success.

There are various other training programmes and qualifications that can be attained through the professional associations. If this will be your first project management training, then make sure you choose one that's recognised commercially. Why not make finding the right course for you your first Project Management assignment?