Trick or Treat: A Halloween Guide to Project Management Training

Zak the Zombie job hunter is desperate to climb out of the graveyard of unemployment and into the world of project management, but which training is most suitable?  To be a project manager requires leadership skills, planning skills and most importantly communication skills; nobody was going to consider him as he stood.

Casper the ghost longs to progress from his administration role into project management but being a will-o-the-wisp, he’s not sure what he would like to do.  He welcomes change more than Zak who likes more of a waterfall approach.  But then the mist starts to clear…

Both delegates begin to carve shapes into the pumpkin of possibilities and the seeds of training opportunities leap out at them.  Would the skeleton of Microsoft Project be a good place to begin?  A process-driven package, this is a much-recommended starting point for any would-be project manager and a perfect way to start putting flesh on a project-managing career.  Both Zak and Casper decide to pursue this option. 

Then, would it be PRINCE2®; the wizard of waterfall methodology?  Consisting of principles, processes and a digital badge on completion, this was one contender for the next branch of the career tree.  A 5-day course to take both Foundation and Practitioner with an accredited certification at the end, Zak was sold.  He had also done his homework and knew that this would flesh out the bones of his CV as a highly sought-after certification.

Casper, on the other hand, was looking at a more agile approach to project management and decided he would like to qualify as a practitioner in AgilePM.  He liked the idea of iteration and a not-so-rigid methodology as that of PRINCE2®.  Like the witch’s cat, always on the alert for prey, Agile was always alert for issues and resolutions, so Casper thought this would be a suitable course for himself.

Once qualified, Casper decided he was going to pursue the spell-binding witch that is Scrum Master.  He relished the idea of sweeping away the traditional project manager’s role that this course offers.  Rather than be solely responsible for the success or failure of a project, Casper was keen to learn how to train members of a team to become self-organised.  In Scrum issues are discussed and resolved by all team members and no one person is accountable for the success or failure of a project.   What Casper liked most about this certification was that there are no ‘ghosts’ in a Scrum Team; everyone is visible, audible and equally accountable.  It was a perfect choice for him.

Zak the Zombie decided that he too, once qualified as a PRINCE2® Practitioner would pursue his training still further with a PRINCE2 Agile qualification.  This little spider weaves a web of both PRINCE2® and (you guessed it…!) Agile.  Zak had dreams of attiring his newly reformed body in snazzy project managing clothes and for him, this package would be ideal, but it doesn’t stop there…

Greedy for career progression, both Zak and Casper considered taking on the cauldron of Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) because they both recognised that this training could lead to a big fat earning potential.  MSP offers best-practice guidance for handling all types of transformational change for any organisation – large or small, public or private.  It creates a structured framework that acknowledges that every programme is unique but at the same time must be universally applicable, delivering quality outcomes and lasting benefits. By creating a framework that encourages organisations to focus on outcomes, mitigate risks and anticipate issues in advance, MSP is proven to work even for the most challenging, multiple programmes. This then, was the pastry on top of the pumpkin pie…