PM Training - Why?
From the Project Management 2.0 Blog
by Dave Garrett
New technologies, concepts, and Web 2.0 tools are popping up everywhere. How can you use them to help your project team collaborate, communicate - or just give your project an extra boost? [Contact Dave]
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Date
Situation: You are thinking about a PM training buy.
This morning I had an email exchange with one of our members, Dan Fitzpatrick (who sells PM training). Dan said some nice things about gantthead and asked,
"I want to do the best possible job with providing clients solutions that will provide them solid results with our great programs. What would you recommend salespeople in pm know to better understand companies training needs?"
My response was:
IF YOU ARE SELLING TO INDIVIDUALS
New PMs really need:
- practical ground level techniques, basic skills, opportunities for experience. The kind of stuff you find in Rita M's Crash Course book.
New PMs end up getting certification training because the PMP is a door opener.
New PMs rarely worry about PM certs other than the PMP, whether they are other PMI certs or ones issued by various training firms. Everything is a harder sell than a PMP.
IF YOU SELLING GROUP TRAINING
Companies generally buy group training when:
- times are good
- they have a quality-driven requirement that all PMs are certified PMPs.
- they are under stress (not historically meeting deadlines, cost overruns, projects not meeting objectives, etc.)
- have some sort of board-driven program related to compliance underway.
Companies need group training when:
- they want to get everyone speaking the same language and adopting the same general approach to managing projects.
The reason I make the buy versus need distinction above related to group training is that training isn't going to solve quality problems or other PM issues. The experience people get over time trying to apply PM approaches makes them (slowly) better. If they all see those approaches through a similar lense, it makes it easier to learn from each other's experiences over time.
I could be way off base, but those are my impressions from talking to training buyers over time. What do you think?
Posted on: January 09, 2009 09:35 AM |
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Comments (3)
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Josh Nankivel
Engineering Project Manager| Apple
Sioux Falls, Sd, United States
I agree with Dave''s comments as a general rule of thumb, however I would approach your question differently.
In order to know what people need, the best way to find out is by finding out what their problems are. Studying reports like Standish''s CHAOS or the VoPM study by PMI may provide some insight.
Better yet, meet with potential customers and ask them about their problems. Don''t ask about solutions, or what they would buy. Ask about their pain points, and that you are conducting a survey to develop solutions to root causes of project failure or other problems.
You may even do something like develop a free training product that shows them how to use root cause analysis tools and then use that relationship as a way to gather data about root causes.
All of this will give you information to both focus your product offering and marketing efforts.
Josh Nankivel
pmStudent.com
I think this sums it up pretty well. Still, tailored corporate training is another route: designing a course that helps the company build its own methodology, a version of PMBoK or equivalent that works for them.
AstroWix is a Global Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) of PMI®, the world's largest body of Project Management Professionals. Its training program entitles the participants to PMI®'s Professional Development Units (PDUs). Besides, it has now become mandatory for anyone interested in appearing for PMP® Certification that he/she must have gone through 35 contact hours training approved by PMI®.
Companies turn to it for help with scoping, defining and implementing complex programs and projects, and then look up to us to provide the relevant training or up-skilling required to enable them to operate their new solutions.
It also offers a regular schedule of training courses, which can be availed by any one.
AstroWix is a Registered Education Provider of the Project Management Institute and offers Public and Corporate training sessions
Please go through the link attached if you want to know more about it http://www.astrowix.com/pmp_india/
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