Project management courses are extremely popular in Australia. Every year a great deal of people undertake courses where they sit in a classroom or work online with the goal of attaining some kind of qualification.
Here’s something to consider though. If you’re one of the people who is trying to learn how to be a project manager, what is going to happen when you leave the classroom?
Why Do People Take The Courses?
Instead of going straight into what is likely to happen to a person when they finish their qualification course, let’s consider the time before they enter the classroom. The most basic question to ask for this situation is, “why is this person interested in project management training courses?”
The responses to this question are usually pretty varied, but they tend to fall into one of the following areas. The person believes that they will be able to charge more money for the services they offer if they have a Prince2 training qualification. They may have been sent to take the course by their superior, or they might say that they are planning to resign from their current position and having a project management qualification will help them find a new job. Other times, the person has taken the class before a long time ago but are interested in revisiting the information. There are even cases where people say they’ve been asked to run a project but know little or nothing about project management.
Help Your Trainer Help You
While everything that was stated above is completely alright, but it doesn’t help the people who are providing the training. It’s extremely helpful to trainers if you have a very well defined goal for the training course. The main takeaway here is that the qualification process isn’t just a process for the trainee. Everyone who is involved in the process, which means the employer who is paying for the training and the trainer, should be well aware of what is going to be achieved through the training.
This means that if you’re the trainee, make sure that you communicate with your employer. Talk to them and ask about what they need you to do as a result of the training. This information will assist you by knowing what skills you’re supposed to get out of the course and help you stay focused on the correct aspects of the training. You should also take the information back to the training provider so that they can help tune the training to your individual needs.
Training Isn’t the Same as Experience
Make sure that you have realistic expectations of what this training is going to be. It’s extremely unlikely that you’re going to go to class for one week and then come out of it as a project managing expert.
Make sure that you approach the training course the right way. Consider it a primer. Your foundation for project management knowledge. Not a comprehensive guide. You will always have more to learn.
What’s My Objective Then?
With all this said, you probably want to know what your main goal of a short project management course should be. The easy answer comes from what you said in the above section for what you need to get out of the training course. It also factors in your personal work experience. However, there are some good general outcomes you can strive for.
- The ability to understand and define what the specific elements of project management are and the benefits of utilizing them.
- All of the roles that comprise successful project management.
- An understanding of the best times to take a project management approach to a situation or idea.
- How you can continually take advantage of the skills you’ve learned back in the workplace.
It cannot be stressed enough that you communicate with your employer before the training begins. It will allow you to get the most out of the training. You can ask your employer questions like, “What is my intended role when I work in project management scenarios?”, “What types of projects am I going to be working on when I finish my training?”, and “Will there be others I can talk to about the training for additional guidance after my training has been completed?”
All of these questions can greatly assist you before, during, and after the training process.
Long Term Plans
Part of what you learn from the training course should help you create an idea of how your new skills will be utilized when you return to your workplace. Be sure to use the skills you learned as much as possible to ensure you don’t forget your new knowledge.
