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Projects With PMP or Prince 2 Practitioner Certifcation...

The benefits of Project Management can be seen everywhere. A career in this profession will provide you with opportunities to really make a difference to an organisation's bottom line. The role is excellent for those who have good spatial skills, and enjoy working through tasks. Also, PM requires a good deal of interaction with other departments and organisations, so there is a need for a clear and unambiguous exchange of ideas.

...With Ease And Efficiency

For businesses to be profitable margins are often tight, hence controlled project management is often essential. Owners, shareholders and customers have increasingly high expectations, hence the need for effective Project Management at every stage of the business process. Project management work today is very highly respected and can command an excellent salary. Why not learn the skills of effective project control and build a worthy career for yourself?

Project Management courses at various different levels can be studied through a number of training institutions. All project management training will cover certain fundamentals, but the more advanced the course, the more you will get into the complexities of planning and controlling large scale operations.

Basic Concepts

Project Management has a good deal of terminology that students need to comprehend. 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. Do some research of your own to discover the different approaches used by Project Managers, and the various training routes that will prepare students for work.

It's Been Around A While...

We might think of Project Management as a fairly recent discipline, but actually it has a long and interesting history.

It was originally the responsibility of senior engineers and architects - think Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th century and Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 19th century. 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. 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.

A More Modern Approach

Prior to the nineteen fifties, projects in the United States were largely managed on an informal basis - probably with a Gantt Chart but generally with ad-hoc tools and techniques. There was a major challenge facing the US Navy - how to incorporate and integrate a complex system to build the Polaris submarine. Thus the PERT chart was developed to simplify the planning and scheduling of this massive project. The Critical Path Method (another mathematical technique) was also developed around this time. Now known as AACE International, the American Association of Cost Engineers was formed by early practitioners in 1956.

IPMA (International Project Management Association)

Under the original name 'International Management Systems Association', the renamed International Project Management Association was established in the sixties. Over forty thousand people are now members of this Swiss registered alliance. The International Project Management Association offers a four level certification track ranging from Associate to Director.

The PMI

At the end of the sixties what's now the world's largest PM organisation was formed - the Project Management Institute. PMI publishes a guide to the 'Project Management Body of Knowledge' (known as the PMBOK Guide). This process-based guide deals with just about all information and practices in project management. In addition to the general guide, specialised extensions have now been produced which cover the unique aspects of certain industries (e.g. Government, construction etc). Courses are available which train students on the various facets of the PMBOK. They are available throughout the world, and prepare students for the PMI certifications, the prestigious PMP and CAPM qualifications. Employment experience alongside your studies is required.

PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)

Another widely used project management model which originated in the UK is PRINCE2. Various commercial training providers offer in-depth courses. PRINCE2 2009 describes forty different activities that can be organised into seven processes. It's a process-based approach for project management providing an easily tailored and scalable method. PRINCE2 is designed to reduce the impact when change is necessary in the commercial environment. It promotes consistency and re-usable assets. It's the sum total of over 20 years of industry experience.

Other training options include degrees that incorporate project management modules, and also of course pure project management degrees. Learning how to lead and help people understand the processes will prove just as important as learning the processes yourself. Why not make finding the right course for you your first Project Management assignment?