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Managing With PMP (Project Management Professional)

There are so many advantages to good Project Management. If you're looking to find out more about training courses to join this industry, you will see how diverse the roles can be. The role is excellent for those who have good spatial skills, and enjoy working through tasks. The ability to communicate well with others is a plus point as well, because much of the success of a project depends on everyone pulling together.

...With Ease And Efficiency

Modern businesses are always looking to improve the quality, efficiency and delivery of their goods and services. All stages of a business or production process need to be professionally controlled and optimised, hence the need for Project Management. Learning how to use scarce resources efficiently in a commercial context will allow you to get into this valuable sector.

There are many colleges and training companies offering courses in Project Management. You'll be taught about project planning, lifecycles, initiating executing and completing a project, time management, scheduling, budgeting and cost control and people management among other things.

Terminology

Students will need to be 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. Different Project Managers use a number of different approaches, but whichever training route you take there is a lot of common ground.

An Old And Revered Profession

As with many modern processes Project Management has early beginnings, but it's come a long way over the years. 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. Although Gantt Charts are now regarded as a common charting technique, they were ground-breaking when they were first introduced. Gantt created his bar chart to illustrate time lines and schedule dependencies.

A More Modern Approach

It took another four decades or so for Americans to really start to embrace the idea that Project Management was a distinctive discipline arising from management techniques. It was when the Polaris Missile System was being developed that engineers realised their production systems were inadequate. This led to the invention of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Other mathematical project-scheduling models were also developed which quickly spread to private enterprises. Alongside scheduling projections came technology for engineering economics, cost estimating and cost management.

IPMA (International Project Management Association)

European project managers formed an association known as the IPMA towards the end of the sixties. It brought together several PM associations from various different countries and now has members throughout the world. In terms of training, the IPMA offers a Four Level Certification program that covers technical competencies, contextual competencies and behavioural competencies.

Project Management Institute

In 1969 the Project Management Institute was created in America to advance state-of-the-art project management. The globally acknowledged project management guide PMBOK was first published by PMI in 1996 (although the latest edition now contains major changes). It's designed to cover variables that will apply to the majority of projects throughout industry. You will be considered a great asset to any PM team if you understand the techniques and practices detailed in this guide. Specialist colleges provide training on each of the processes covered in the guide.

Once trained, you will be ready to take the global standard PMI certifications, namely the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) and the PMI Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM).

PRINCE2 - PRojects IN Controlled Environments

You will discover many training organisations offering various courses in PRINCE2 - a generic project management method that was released in 1996. It offers a structured approach, combining the original PRINCE program with IBM's MITP (managing the implementation of the total project) methodology. The framework is scalable and systematic, and if you train in this discipline you will learn how it can be used for all sizes of project.

PRINCE2 covers procedures for co-ordinating people and activities, design and supervision and how to make adjustments if things don't go to plan. It's the sum total of over 20 years of industry experience.

You'll find a number of other PM courses that will allow you to train for a successful career, or give you a good understanding of the principles. The best offer a blend of tools to use to save time and money, plus those all-important management skills that teach leadership, motivation and teamwork. A career in Project Management takes study and work - but it could prove the most satisfying thing you do.