Wanted: Project Management Training
Project management is such a hot topic that many people, and organizations, are looking for training solutions…immediately!
From an organizational perspective, the leadership teams are witnessing projects that are out of control, not meeting the needs of the stakeholders, and running over on the schedule and/or budget. Whereas, individuals are looking to learn more about the concept of project management and how they can introduce project management practices into their role within the organization. The individuals that I know, and have taught, are interested in elevating their level of success with projects. Many of my clients see the power of project management and understand how valuable their contributions can be to the project, the strategic initiative, and ultimately the organization. If you’re looking for project management training as an organization, please continue reading for some insights on the existing training programs available.
Many, if not most, organizations now have on-demand courses available through partnerships with Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning and other online solution providers. I was reading an article recently that mentioned the significant decline of in-person training for some organizations that have relied heavily on these programs in the past. Yet, I still believe there is room for both!
As an author, trainer, and consultant in the field of project management, I would like to make the following suggestions to organizations looking to fill an immediate need for project management training.
Some questions to consider at an organizational level:
Are you currently offering project management training to your employees? If so, have you followed up on the training to determine if it’s working? Have you established success criteria for the training program and metrics that can illustrate the success of the program?
What are the requirements for the project management training that you are offering to your employees? What, exactly, do you want the employees to learn through the training program?
Based on the answers to these two questions, the leadership team will be in a much better position to identify a project management training program that will meet the needs of the employees, and the organization. I have witnessed organizations encouraging employees to take any/all courses available on Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn. These are the three largest on-demand educational spaces and, combined, they offer over 12,000 project management courses. If I were an employee, I would be asking the question, “Which one of these 12,000+ courses should I be spending my time on?” Good question.
I have recommended to my clients that a pilot project be kicked off, internally, to determine which of the many online courses would be most appropriate for the organization. For instance, employees could be taking courses on Agile methodologies when in fact the organization does not use Agile methods for the project work. Although learning a new skill (Agile) is a great growth opportunity for both the employee and the organization, you may want the initial focus to be on helping your employees identify learning programs that align with the organization, today.
Other considerations when selecting the best project management training program for your organization include:
Cultural fit - does your organization have a project management framework, or process, that’s used for all project related efforts? If so, the training program should reinforce these processes. It could be confusing to recommend training courses that do not reflect the systems and processes of the organization. Idea: If the organization has an existing project management process and framework, I would highly recommend establishing your own internal training program. This approach would not only solidify the practice internally with a sustainable program it will also develop in-house subject matter PM experts for your organization.
Facilitation approach - learners may be exposed to various interpretations of project management processes, terms, artifacts, practices and systems due to the large number of facilitators available online. Idea: Seek out a facilitator that best reflects the processes, practices, and terminology used at your organization. Or, you could also document your project management processes and provide those process maps along with a glossary to your employees with the understanding that online learning is a supplement to the organizational practices.
Stakeholders - determine who might be impacted by project work in your organization and offer them training. I witnessed a large project management training program rollout for an IT team yet they never included their colleagues in customer service, HR, product development, tech writing, marketing or the PMO in the training rollout. How unfortunate. This would have been a great opportunity for the organization to learn how they can work together more efficiently, and effectively, for the project deliverables. This would also ensure that the process would be sustainable, repeatable, and understood by all employees.
Selecting the best project management training program for your organization should not be taken lightly. We all want to succeed with our projects and this is the best opportunity to help your employees succeed in learning better practices.
Your action for today will be to consider the 2 questions listed above:
Do you currently offer project management training to your employees and is it working? Why or why not?
Have you identified your requirements for the project management training? What do you want the employees to learn?
Based on your answers, then you can take the next step. If you need help determining your next step, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Go for it, your employees will thank you!