Which project management training should I choose?

Project management is a discipline focused on improving how undertakings are run in organisations of all types. Undertakings are, of course, very diverse, just as the organisations we work in are very diverse. That is why the question often arises: which project management training to choose? 

What is a project for an organisation?

To put it in a nutshell, the goal of every project is to bring something new into being or to modify something that already exists. It may be, for example, a new product, a new line of business, a new version of a product or a change in organisational structure. Of course, we always want our undertakings to be as effective and efficient as possible. That is exactly what project management is about – but for it to be effective, choosing the right methods is important. 

The most common problem for novice project managers

People appointed to run undertakings often have no formal training in this area. Managers often choose project managers based on subject-matter expertise. They do not always take into account that a newly appointed project manager will have to bring together the efforts of other employees. It often happens that coordinators chosen this way rely on their intuition but lack substantive training in project management. 

To some extent this can be effective. However, the experience of many organisations shows that knowing the principles of project management helps avoid many mistakes. During training sessions, I have seen many times that even experienced project managers benefit greatly from our project management training. They have the opportunity to systematise their knowledge using best practices, that we pass on.

Best practices in project management

Best practices – in other words, recommendations based on the experience of more than 5 generations of project managers. Over the years they have been tested in real situations and refined to reflect the needs of real projects. They form the basis of all the standards and methodologies we use in our project management training. If you want to bring order to your personal practice, you can choose from a wide range of training for project managers focused on developing specific skills. Above all, we offer them as part of the PMP® Academy, based on the standards of PMI® (Project Management Institute).

Comprehensive project management training

PMP® Academy is a series of training courses aimed at building strong project manager competencies. We start the series with the training "Managing Projects in Organizations”. It focuses on helping participants understand the most important aspects of project work and how to manage it deliberately. Together we go through the generic (in other words, natural) phases of a project: pre-project, initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, closing and post-project. Our goal is to make participants aware of the formal and informal mechanisms that influence project success. Along the way, we practise using the basic tools, the so-called artefacts. 

The first module of the PMP® Academy certainly allows participants to systematise their approach to running projects and introduce the first improvements. However, this is only the beginning of our journey together. As we continue along it, we go deeper into the individual areas covered by the good practices recommended by PMI®. During second module we learn to define the project scope precisely and to master its schedule and costs. In module three we explore a deliberate approach to risk management and the challenges hidden in the areas of quality and project procurement. Module four is dedicated to Power Skills, i.e. the skills of working with the people involved in the project. 

Learn more about the PMP® Academy and develop your project manager competencies

PMP® exam preparation training

Usually, the group taking part in the entire PMP® Academy together meets every month for 2-day sessions. This is an opportunity for exchanging experience between participants and motivating each other for those who want to take the Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam. For this group of project managers, there is an additional dedicated training PMP® PREP, which we deliver as a PMI® partner in line with the Institute's programme and based on its materials. 

Ideally, this should be an intensive five-day review of the material shortly before the exam, together with a discussion of sample exam questions. However, it should be remembered that taking the PMP® exam requires meeting formal requirements. An example is having the required length of experience in running projects. So it is worth planning the certification preparation process well in advance. 

CAPM® exam preparation training 

If you do not yet have the required experience, you can still successfully take part in the entire PM Academy. Remember that your group will include people not only with different lengths of experience but also from different industries. Everyone will be learning something new or organising their existing knowledge and honing their skills. Everyone also brings their own experiences and questions to the training, which others can benefit from too. The PMP® exam may still be out of your reach, but the Project Management Institute (PMI®) then gives you the option of taking the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® exam.

It is a shorter exam with fewer questions. Importantly, CAPM® focuses on the perspective of a project team member whereas PMP® is aimed at project managers. In practice, many elements discussed during the PM Academy will also apply in this case. However, the CAPM® exam preparation training itself is best taken according to its dedicated programme, which we also deliver as a PMI® partner based on the Institute's materials, practising sample questions typical of the CAPM® exam.

Project management – training with certification

People looking for a way to confirm their project management knowledge with a certificate can also choose other internationally recognised training, based on the methods PRINCE2® be AgilePM®. In both cases, these training courses are focused on preparing for certification. This means that we focus less on practical exercises and instead go through mock exams together. Both methods have two levels of certification, Foundation and Practitioner, corresponding to different levels of project management proficiency. 

Exam PRINCE2® Foundation is meant to confirm knowledge of the entire method. Three days of training are dedicated to learning it. Meanwhile, the exam AgilePM® Foundation focuses on the basics of the DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method) approach, and the training covers only two days. 

In both cases, the Practitioner level involves answering questions related to a scenario attached to the exam. However, the training AgilePM® Practitioner digs deeper into the method and the rules and activities it recommends. In both cases, Practitioner-level training lasts two days. 

PRINCE2® training or AgilePM® training

I haven't yet mentioned the basic difference between the two methods. Although the certification mechanism is similar, the two PRINCE2® and AgilePM® differ significantly. According to its creators, the PRINCE2® method can be applied to any project. However, its structure is particularly suited to undertakings with several or even many stages. The AgilePM® method, on the other hand, is designed for environments where we can apply agile product delivery, characterised by working in short timeboxes of fixed length, which successively bring us closer to the solution. 

Professional Scrum Master training

Both of the above methods extensively address ways of working at the project management level and the involvement of business roles. However, in small organisations, or with single teams, a more basic solution may be sufficient. Worth considering implementing an agile way of working based on the simplified framework contained in Scrum. 

Our two-day certified Scrum training introduces the basics of agile product delivery and the rules contained in the Scrum Guide. It also prepares you for the Professional Scrum Master exam.  

Which Project Management Training Should You Choose?

Choosing the right training for you may not be obvious at all, and we will gladly help you make a decision. It is worth remembering that each approach to project management offers us structuring work. They all also take into account the need for agility, so important in today's world, which is characterised by rapid change. The differences between them are often quite subtle, and the choice of the right training will depend on your specific needs. 

Consider whether you need training with certification. A certificate is, of course, confirmation of your competencies that helps your career. However, exam preparation courses (PMP®, CAPM®, PRINCE2®, AgilePM®) are strongly focused on meeting the syllabus requirements. As a result, they leave less room for discussing the practical challengesyou face. On the other hand, training dedicated to individual knowledge areas of project management (the individual modules of the PMP® Academy) will let you develop your practical skills to the fullest. Open training gives you the chance of a clash of perspectives with people from other industries, while closed training lets you address the specific challenges of your project.

Which project management training should you choose to start with?

There are many ways to set up your training path. Your individual needs are the key. If you are just at the very beginning of your career as a project manager or project team member, I recommend starting with a certification course in PRINCE2® or AgilePM®. It will give you a solid foundation, both in terms of the PM role and the organisational requirements important for project success. 

As you gain experience on subsequent undertakings, I would encourage you to deepen your knowledge based on training dedicated to a specific area, i.e. the PMP® Academy modules, as well as the Professional Scrum Master training. Depending on whether the role of project manager or team member suits you better, the next step will be PMP® or CAPM® certification. 

Advanced project management training

And what next? If your project management journey takes you further, we have further levels of mastery for you. We invite you to our training for experienced project managers, That is Project Programme Management or Project Portfolio Management. We can also offer individual training and explore together an area that is particularly important to you (e.g. scheduling, risk, etc.). This way we will address the specific challenges facing you and your project.