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Career Project Management With Prince2 & PMP...

Every area of industry and commerce can be improved with Project Management. A career in this profession will provide you with opportunities to really make a difference to an organisation's bottom line. If you have a methodical mind and can structure your thoughts well, this could be right for you. 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.

...Delivering The Goods

The number of project management teams has increased over the years as commercial organisations realise their worth. Large scale projects can involve a complex mix of time lines, tasks, people and organisations. 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. Entry level courses will cover the basics of project preparation, costing, execution and completion. More advanced courses will lead onto human resource management and risk analysis etc.

Common Terms

Project Management has a good deal of terminology that students need to comprehend. Along with learning about the essential characteristics of each project, you'll need to get in tune with modern accepted wisdom. 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 Recent Discipline?

It sounds like a very modern application, but in fact you could say project management is as old as the pyramids! Architects like Sir Christopher Wren in the seventeenth century and the great engineers of the early nineteenth century actually did their own style of project management. 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. F W Taylor's great scientific management contribution is still in evidence today, as modern project management tools have their origins in much of his work including WBS (work breakdown structure) and resource allocation.

A More Modern Approach

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. It was when the Polaris Missile System was being developed that engineers realised their production systems were inadequate. 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. Pioneering work by Hans Lang and others led to technology for estimating and managing costs, along with engineering economics.

The International Project Management Association

The International Project Management Association was formed in 1967. It was an amalgamation of several national Project Management associations, and now boasts worldwide membership. In terms of training, the IPMA offers a Four Level Certification program that covers technical competencies, contextual competencies and behavioural competencies.

Project Management Institute (PMI)

Shortly afterwards in 1969 the American 'Project Management Institute' was launched. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge has been published by the PMI. It's designed to cover variables that will apply to the majority of projects throughout industry. Any student of project management should understand the processes and terminology that are featured in this guide. Commercial courses have been designed to take students through all the aspects. These prepare students for the most widely recognised Project Management certifications across the globe, namely the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) and the PMI Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM).

PRINCE2:2009

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. It offers a structured approach, combining the original PRINCE program with IBM's MITP (managing the implementation of the total project) methodology. 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 leads to the efficient and economic use of management time.

There are other project management methods and training schemes that you might find interesting, depending on the knowledge you currently have. Learning how to lead and help people understand the processes will prove just as important as learning the processes yourself. Start looking for training now - and get your personal project on track!