21 Training Tools

Dr. Andrew Makar is an IT program manager and is the author of the Microsoft Project Made Easy series. For more project management advice, visit the website TacticalProjectManagement.com.

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Topics: Career Development, Knowledge Management, Lessons Learned, Talent Management

What do you think of when you hear the words “project management training”? I experience the near Pavlovian response of zoning out and falling to sleep. Don’t get me wrong--continuing education and training are key to improving as a IT project manager or IT professional. With each learning opportunity, I continue to add tools to the ever expanding toolkit.

However, the traditional ways of adding new tools to the toolkit lack innovation and really any excitement. Selecting a training class from a catalog or travelling to a boondoggle (i.e. “conference”) in Las Vegas isn’t all too engaging or cost effective; I challenge you to patiently sit through two days of project portfolio management training with the warm weather, the jingle of slot machines and hollow promises of Lady Luck enticing you. (And I won’t even begin to mention the horrors behind the “read a module and take a quiz” computer-based training, either…).

Fortunately, you don’t always have to travel or take a CBT to add a few new tools to the toolkit. Below are 21 ways to add new tools to your toolkit as an IT project manager or an IT professional:

1. If you are a Waterfall project manager looking to expand into agile processes, check out PMI’s Agile Community of Practice site or join a local Meetup.com group in your area
2. If …

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