Project management training is not particularly straightforward as there are various associations and methodologies. There are lots of different training options available and lots of different modules or courses that you can undertake.
However, the one thing that you should bear in mind when you look at any training course is what it can offer you in terms of professional recognition. If a course looks really easy and is incredibly cheap, then it is likely that the course will not be well recognised professionally, so remember that you want a training course that will actually equip you with the skills to be a good project manager and will be recognised, rather than an easy course that will provide you with a certificate, but is not worth anything and you still will not have any project management skills.
Online Or Classroom Training?
Perhaps the first thing that you need to consider is whether you want to try online training or traditional training in a classroom. Now initially you may feel drawn to classroom training, after all it can be much easier to learn in a classroom, where you can have all the stimulus of the other students and you can support each other and perhaps even bounce ideas of each other.
So if you are now thinking that this sounds just perfect for you, it may be worth just giving the matter some more consideration. Most people study project management whilst they are employed. So if you opt for classroom training or online training, then you will need to do this when you are working and classroom training can be hard.
For a start, classroom training is very fixed and your days are set. Think about the implications of this; on late Monday afternoon everything goes wrong at work and you are due in to college on Tuesday. What do you do? Do you ignore work and go to college or do you fall behind at college because you went into work?
The beauty of online training is that you can do it whenever suits you, from early in the morning till late at night and if you have a very busy period at work then you can put your training on hold until things calm down again.
PRINCE2
If you are looking for a good, well recognised project management course, then you should certainly look for one that offers you PRINCE2 training.
PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments and is an excellent training course for anyone who wants to be a project manager.
Although it originated from the public sector, PRINCE2 is now used quite extensively within the private sector as well, because it is very much a system that is process based and extremely methodical in its approach, which makes it a really good basis for learning the principles of project management.
PRINCE2 is particularly good for providing a really clear organisational structure that can be applied to any project management team and it demarcates the project itself into various stages to ensure that each stage can be effectively managed and controlled. This system can also be used on nearly every project you will come across because it is flexible enough to adapt to different circumstances.
Other Courses
If your looking for alternatives to Prince 2, methodologies such as PMBOK, PMP and others exist – these will all have associated training courses available, which as with Prince 2 offer introductory and advanced versions to students.
Some other, quite specific project management courses are also available and these may focus on risk assessment, budget allocation etc. These are obviously very helpful and can really help students to understand the more intricate aspects of project management. But for those starting off in project management, the PRINCE2 training course is the best all round introductory training course that you will find and it is for this reason that it is professionally recognised.
