A blog that looks at all aspects of project and program finances from budgets, estimating and accounting to getting a pay rise and managing contracts.
Written by Elizabeth Harrin from RebelsGuideToPM.com.
As this month's theme is global projects, I thought I'd share with you this video about PRINCE2 and The PMBOK® Guide. When you work with people from different countries, especially across the Atlantic divide, you'll often find that they gravitate to one or the other way of working. As this video shows, the two approaches are equally valid and work well together. So that's one less international conflict to have to worry about when working on projects across borders.
APM Group have launched their earned value qualification. Apparently, there is enough of a market demand for the exam. In the current economic climate, earned value is under the spotlight and APMG believe that this qualification will help. Sponsors will be able to identify if the project is delivering the value expected and track budget and financial measures. Project managers also gain by being able to measure and monitor more effectively, ensuring the project delivers the best possible value for the company.
Earned value as a technique has some benefits. It helps ensure that people are aware of what has been spent, deliverables to date, outstanding work, final cost forecasts and expected completion dates. But you don’t need a qualification to do that.
Still, having completed a course and taken an exam would provide the confidence you needed to use EVM on your projects. EVM follows the same pattern as the other exams from APMG, with a Foundation and Practitioner level, although only Foundation is available at the moment. As with the other Foundation papers, this exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions. You get an hour to complete the exam and it’s closed book, so you need to have a good memory! The pass rate is 65%, which is broadly in line with the other Foundation papers.
It looks as if the EVM qualification is shaping up to be a full 5 day course, a lot like PRINCE2. Foundation is currently a two day course, like the PRINCE2 Foundation, which makes me think that when Practitioner is available next year, it will fill the rest of the week. The current EVM Foundation course covers:
APM Group have launched their earned value qualification. Apparently, there is enough of a market demand for the exam. In the current economic climate, earned value is under the spotlight and APMG believe that this qualification will help. Sponsors will be able to identify if the project is delivering the value expected and track budget and financial measures. Project managers also gain by being able to measure and monitor more effectively, ensuring the project delivers the best possible value for the company.
