Planning A Career With Project Management Training (UK)
All businesses need to Project Manage their procedures. Those considering training or retraining to build a career in this sector will find it a stimulating and exacting profession, and extremely rewarding. People who are well organised and have good spatial logic can make very competent project managers. Also, PM requires a good deal of interaction with other departments and organisations, so there is a need for a clear and unambiguous exchange of ideas.
...On Time, On Budget
For most companies time and money are critical, yet they don't want to compromise on quality and delivery. To over-simplify, a plan has a start and end date, a list of tasks and a list of the resources needed.
Then we need to add in all the real-life complexities that most projects have to deal with. Learning the skills to utilise commercial resources in the most lean and efficient manner will enable you to enter this well-paid and well-thought of profession. Training courses in Project Management can be sought from various different companies. Depending on the level of training you take, you will learn about initiating, managing, and maintaining small to large-scale projects that can be implemented in all areas of industry.
Tools And Techniques
Students will need tobe introduced to the idioms used in Project Management. As well as learning about basic PM tools and techniques, it's essential to be familiar with common terms and the current ways of thinking. Not all project managers use the same approach, but introductory programmes will equip you with a certain amount of flexibility to join most teams.
A Long And Interesting History...
We might think of Project Management as a fairly recent discipline, but actually it has a long and interesting history. Techniques such as brute force may have been common in early projects, but the discipline evolved over the centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century, American and French engineers F W Taylor, H Gantt and H Fayol were producing their own scientific management theories. Their works have been very influential in the development of modern PM tools.
Frederick Winslow Taylor could be regarded as one of the first management consultants, and was one of the leaders of the Efficiency Movement in the US. He maintained there was always one best way to fix a problem.
The Story Of Modern Project Management
Fast forward to the 1950's, and we see the beginnings of Project Management as we know it today - with the systematic application in the USA of PM tools and techniques to complex projects. New methods had to be developed to deal with the complexities of building the Polaris Missile submarine programme. The PERT - Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review Technique - model was used to analyse and represent all the tasks involved. This mathematical model can still be used as a basis to find a critical path through various planned and interconnected tasks. Pioneering work by Hans Lang and others led to technology for estimating and managing costs, along with engineering economics.
IPMA (International Project Management Association)
In 1967 the IPMA (International Project Management Association) was founded in Europe. It was an amalgamation of several national Project Management associations, and now boasts worldwide membership. 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. A project management guide, the 'Project Management Body of Knowledge' from PMI is now on its fourth edition. It documents and standardises internationally accepted project management practises, information and procedures. A thorough understanding of the fundamentals covered would make you a subject matter expert. Training courses are available which cover all aspects of the PMBOK Guide. They will prepare you for some of the most the industry-respected qualifications, which are known as PMP (the Project Management Professional) and CAPM ( the Certified Associate of Project Management).
PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)
PRINCE was introduced in the UK in 1989 as a government standard for IT project management. PRINCE2 is now aimed at all other types of projects as well. The model embodies many years of 'Best Practice' in project management. Training programs will provide students with the ability to organise, plan and control projects using the PRINCE2 method. Checks and balances are in place with the PRINCE2 method for co-ordinating all activities and participants. It's product focus clarifies to all what and when a project will deliver.
Other training options include degrees that incorporate project management modules, and also of course pure project management degrees. Learning how to manage people has been found to be just as important as learning how to manage processes - the best courses will deal with both aspects. Why not make finding the right course for you your first Project Management assignment?
