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Managing The Plan With PMBOK & Project Management

Project Management has a place in all areas of industry. 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 work suits people who are well disciplined, and usually good at maths and technology subjects. Additionally, people skills will stand a project manager in good stead as exacting projects need everyone's compliance.

...With Ease And Efficiency

The number of project management teams has increased over the years as commercial organisations realise their worth. Shareholders want profits and customers want value and convenience. Unless production is managed with a fine toothcomb, that's not going to happen easily! 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.

Certifications can be attained through professional associations, usually via commercial colleges. You will learn skills that include preparing project plans; initiating projects; executing, monitoring, controlling and closing projects, cost estimations and planning and performing quality assurance.

Terminology

The phraseology in project management is often the first thing to understand. In addition to language you'll need to learn the principles involved, and the most important PM skills and techniques. Different Project Managers use a number of different approaches, but whichever training route you take there is a lot of common ground.

It's Been Around A While...

Much of what we term Project Management today has been around for a very long time. Until the turn of the twentieth century, large civil engineering projects would have been managed by the design architects and engineers themselves. 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. The Gantt Chart was considered to be revolutionary when it was first introduced. Essentially a type of bar chart, it illustrates a project schedule which can show the start and finish dates of every element of a project and even the dependency relationships between activities.

The Story Of Modern Project Management

You could begin the story of modern planning project management in America in the 1950's, but of course it hadn't yet really got into the human attributes of motivation and leadership. It was when the Polaris Missile System was being developed that engineers realised their production systems were inadequate.

The PERT technique, developed by Booz-Allen & Hamilton was the answer. Along with later developments this led to mathematical techniques being used to find the critical path through a project. Now known as AACE International, the American Association of Cost Engineers was formed by early practitioners in 1956.

The International Project Management Association

In the late 1960's the International Project Management Association (IPMA) was founded. A non-profit Swiss registered organisation, it now claims to have over 40,000 global members. Members come from a number of business sectors, and have a broad competence in the profession.

The PMI (Project Management Institute)

America followed in '69 with their non-profit professional organisation, the Project Management Institute (PMI). The 'Project Management Body of Knowledge' from PMI is now an internationally recognised standard in the industry. It documents and standardises internationally accepted project management practises, information and procedures. Anyone looking to get into or further their career in Project Management today would do well to have a thorough understanding of this set of guidelines and best practices.

Specialist colleges provide training on each of the processes covered in the guide. You will be in a position at the end of such a course to take the world standard PM exams, the prestigious PMP and CAPM qualifications. Employment experience alongside your studies is required.

PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)

'Projects in Controlled Environments' (now version 2) is used extensively in PM, although it was initially designed purely for the management of IT projects. It's a widely used flexible PM method that navigates you through all the essentials for running a successful project.

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 the sum total of over 20 years of industry experience.

There are various other training programmes and qualifications that can be attained through the professional associations. 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. Take time to go through all the training options available to you.