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Project Management Careers With Prince 2 Certification

All processes can benefit from the discipline of Project Management. Should you consider training to get employment in this area, you'll find the work to be really thought-provoking and challenging. 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.

...On Time, On Budget

Companies today want everything to come in on time, at the right quality and within the original budget. To over-simplify, a plan has a start and end date, a list of tasks and a list of the resources needed. Then we need to add in all the real-life complexities that most projects have to deal with. We're all project managers to some extent, but if you learn how to use the tools and techniques for commercial productivity, you can build a very lucrative and interesting career.

There are many colleges and training companies offering courses in Project Management. 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

There's a certain amount of industry jargon to understand with project management. Training will help you to get inside not only the terms, but also the thought processes that have developed into the recognised techniques and tools. There are many processes in project management, but as all projects seek to achieve the same goals you'll find a good deal of cross-over in the various training approaches.

As Old As The Pyramids

As with many modern processes Project Management has early beginnings, but it's come a long way over the years. In the Industrial Revolution, civil engineers such as Thomas Telford and Brunel would have taken responsibility for project managing their own builds.

Around a hundred years ago, several forerunners to current project management techniques were developed - namely 'The Principles of Scientific Management' by F W Taylor, 'Fayolism' by Henri Fayol and the 'Gantt Chart' by Henry Gantt.

Frederick Winslow Taylor could be regarded as one of the first management consultants, and was one of the leaders of the Efficiency Movement in the US. He maintained there was always one best way to fix a problem.

Fast Forward To Recent Times

By the mid twentieth century we had moved into the early days of the modern Project Management era, when it started to become recognised as a discipline in its own right. There was a major challenge facing the US Navy - how to incorporate and integrate a complex system to build the Polaris submarine. 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.

IPMA (International Project Management Association)

The IPMA was formed in Europe in the late 1960's. It brought together several PM associations from various different countries and now has members throughout the world. Member associations promote project management and provide information about trends and developments.

The Project Management Institute

Two years after the IPMA was formed, the PMI (Project Management Institute) was founded in America. PMI publishes a guide to the 'Project Management Body of Knowledge' (known as the PMBOK Guide). It provides the fundamentals of Project Management as they apply to a great cross-section of projects. As it recognises 42 processes that come within five process groups and nine knowledge areas of PM, you could benefit greatly from the knowledge it contains. Courses are available which train students on the various facets of the PMBOK. They will prepare you for some of the most the industry-respected qualifications, the PMP (Project Management Professional) and the CAPM (Certified Associate of Project Management).

PRINCE2 (Derived from PROMPT and PRINCE)

You'll discover many training organisations offering various courses in PRINCE2 - a generic project management method that was released in 1996. The model embodies many years of 'Best Practice' in project management.

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 very specific, efficient and manageable.

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. Look for training that handles both the leadership and personnel skills as well as the mathematical and logistical elements. Draw up a critical path now to work out the optimum career track for you.