Project Management Training

Published: 2009-06-09
Last updated: 2022-03-20

Project management training is an integral part of the personnel development system of any organization doing business mainly with projects. Here, we describe its most important aspects:

• Integration into the organization's training management system.
• Principles of a project management curriculum.
• Main elements of a project management curriculum.
• Design and delivery.
• Mentoring and coaching.

(1) Integration into the Organization's Training Management System

We have to integrate project management training into the organization's training management system which follows this generic process:

There are mainly two groups of training requirements.

• Organizational needs: sales, revenue, profit, project-relevant technical areas of expertise etc.
• Individual needs: acquiring knowledge and skills, personal development, better career opportunities, etc.

The combination of these organizational and individual needs leads to a comprehensive project management curriculum.

(2) Principles of a Project Management Curriculum

The project management curriculum must match the organization’s project manager development system.

Corresponding to the basics of learning in organizations, it supports and accelerates the natural way of learning by doing, offering a structured system of seminars, workshops and training programs for beginners, project managers (PM's), advanced project managers (APM's) and senior project managers (SPM's).

(3) Main Elements of a Project Management Curriculum

A structured project management training system or curriculum could consist of these main elements (first column), delivered with different methods and intensity on the four consecutive levels of Beginners, PM's, APM's and SPM's (corresponding to the levels of learning, cf. learning in organizations).

CORE ELEMENTS

	Beginners	PM's	APM's	SPM's
Project Management Process	Remember (cf. introductory course)	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Risk Management	Remember (cf. introductory course)	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Project Change Management	Remember (cf. introductory course)	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Project Planning Process	Remember (cf. project planning guide)	Understand and apply (cf. project planning guide)	Analyze / evaluate / create
Contract Management		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Problem Solving Techniques		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Dealing with Complexity		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Financing of Projects			Remember	Understand and apply
Strategy Development and Projects			Remember	Understand and apply
Sales of Large Projects			Remember	Understand and apply
Dealing with Crisis			Remember	Understand and apply
Project Portfolio Management			Remember	Understand and apply
Project Management Office			Remember	Understand and apply

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING - INTRODUCTORY COURSE:

If you want to get a compact overview of project management, then you use this e-book in pdf-format that introduces the basic PM concepts. It is also a good preparation of classroom training in project management. The e-book contains five lessons, complemented by five tests and a final test, which are integral part of the book. The tests do not only help you to check your learning progress but also enhance your understanding of project management. Together with the e-book you receive a separate answer key for all tests, also in pdf-format. Click here for more info, or

Alternatively, there is a computer based training (CBT) available which you easily install on your computer and run in your preferred browser. Like the e-book, it is also organized into five lessons, five corresponding tests, and a final test. It takes typically four to six hours to work through the whole course including all the tests. Click here for more info, or

PROJECT PLANNING GUIDE: A COURSE IN AN E-BOOK

If you are looking for a textbook covering the complete project planning process, here, we offer you our e-book, Project Planning Guide, in PDF-format. It describes the core planning process in ten steps and contains an example (a photo-voltaic solar plant) to illustrate the application of the explained principles. This e-book complements classroom training on project management. Click here for more info, or

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS

Effective Communication	Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Working in Teams and Group Dynamics	Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Self Management and Time Management	Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Leadership Skills		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Cross-cultural Communication		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Negotiation Skills		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Coaching of Team Members		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create
Dealing with Conflict		Remember	Understand and apply	Analyze / evaluate / create

(4) Design and Delivery

An organization can design and deliver training with its own resources, sub-contract it to external vendors, or combine both.

Where ever we need participants to understand, apply or analyze / evaluate / create, predominant format of project management training is classroom training and workshops. There, we can use methods like work on case studies, role plays, simulation, facilitated discussion and best practice sharing, etc. If we focus on delivery of content the participants have to remember, or if we want to train certain basic skills in form of frequent repetitions, we can use computer or web based training. Usually, we integrate these forms into hybrid or blended learning, combining classroom and workshop methodologies with computer or web based approaches.

(5) Mentoring and Coaching

From the perspective of the organization, a very important aspect of project management training is the aspect of learning transfer:

• How can participants of a seminar or training program transfer their learning into their work environment so that the organization benefits in the predefined way?
• What can the organization do in order to support and guide that learning transfer?

Within a mentoring program experienced staff members, so called mentors, support talents to transfer their learning from seminars into real projects and identify areas of improvement and further learning opportunities. Similarly, independent coaches can help colleagues on all levels to identify their own training needs, learning barriers and blockages and to remove them.