Project Management Training

When it comes to project management training, there is a wide variety of options out there. In the same way, it can be difficult to test for project management skills, it can be equally challenging trying to “train” someone to be a project manager. From my experience, here are a few insights and observations I’ve accumulated over the years on project management training:

• Mentoring— The absolute best way to learn project management is to observe it being done well. When possible, newer project managers should serve on a project team with a more senior project leader. This could be as a project manager with a senior program manager, or it could be as a project coordinator, a project administrator, a business analyst/lead (if skill set applies), or as a technical lead (again, if the skill set applies) with a senior project managers who enjoys the opportunities to mentor others.

• Focus on specific skills— Another worthy training strategy is to focus on one skill set at a time. In most cases, professionals have specific areas they need to improve, and often when these skills are improved, it will have a cascading effect on other areas of performance.

• Simulations— Given the nature of projects, it is difficult to anticipate the specific situations and scenarios that a project manager will face or to bring the reality of projects to the classroom environment. Due to the improvements in technology over the years, a tremendous advancement in training is the use of computer and gaming simulations. I am convinced this is the future for all training efforts.

• Computer based— I find computer-based, web-based, virtual training offerings (webinars, online seminars, and so on) to be an efficient and convenient method for staying informed on current trends and tools and for refreshing key fundamentals.

• PMI Special Interest Group Conferences— I have received a lot of benefit from attending the educational conferences provided by the PMI special interest groups. I believe the main reason for this is the presentations are provided by practitioners from the field and the content is very current and relevant.

• Skills to target— As you gain experience in project management and attain a certain mastery of the project management fundamentals, it can be more difficult to find project management training that offers a lot of value to you. Well, one of the great things about project management is that it covers almost all aspects of business, management, and your industry, so there is never a shortage of things to learn about or improve upon. For most people, there is value in acquiring additional training in the following areas:

  • Business management

  • Procurement

  • Leadership

  • Quality techniques

  • People management

• Tool-specific— Especially tools used for project management, communication, and collaboration.