Project Management
Kilian Murphy talks to project managers and some of the leading providers of project management training and explores the value of training in the skills required to be effective in the area
Project management is a series of skills and disciplines, which ensure that an undertaking is completed on time, and to its maximum potential. Can a company benefit from enrolling its employees in a project management training course? Some may think that it is an unnecessary luxury, but there are many others who feel that it is of critical importance, if an organisation wishes to maximise its efficiency.
Fergus O’Connell is the founder of ETP (EtPint Ltd), one of the world’s leading programme and project management companies. He believes that any expense a company splashes out on effective project management training will ultimately be recouped, if the instruction is used constructively.
‘Small companies tend to think they can’t afford project management training, but it’s often a false economy,’ he alleges. ‘The amount of money they fritter away on projects far exceeds what they might have spent on the training.’
Ed Naughton is the Director General of the Institute of Project Management of Ireland, an organisation whose mission statement is ‘to establish and maintain an organisation to advance the theory and practice of project management in Ireland.’ It is an organisation involved with the promotion, training and accreditation of project management. Naughton believes that project management’s importance over here has been ‘driven by the involvement of US multinationals, who would have been strong proponents of it’.
As the demand for quality instruction in this sphere rises, the number of training options increases. However, Naughton is concerned that ‘the more widely it becomes spread, the more likely that the quality will be reduced’, he comments. ‘There are only so many really good people out there, and they all can’t be doing it at the same time in the same place’.
Choosing a training programme
So, how does one ascertain the quality of a project management training programme, prior to subscribing to it? Naughton believes that courses in which an individual trainer covers all aspects of project management are usually of inferior quality.
‘You may have courses where there is one provider that is doing the entire spectrum of the course,’ he explains. ‘We would lean towards having specific expertise in each topic, as opposed to having one generalist for the whole spectrum. I am a project manager with a massive amount of experience, but I will only speak on particular elements of it.’
The ETP Model of Training
Fergus O’Connell has pioneered an innovative mixture of project management consultation and project management training in the workshops delivered by ETP. Attendees do not work on case studies, they actually work on a plan for the project they are preparing. In the case of small-to-medium-sized projects, the plan is completed by the course’s conclusion, though some detail may be added to large-scale projects afterwards.
‘Our courses are unique, in that attendees don’t work on a case study, or play games with Lego blocks during the course’, O’Connell asserts. ‘They solve real problems and get real work done. Attendees see immediately the applicability of the concepts to them, and they are far more likely to take on board the lessons of the course than if they had just worked on some hypothetical case study.’
This approach is always favoured by the ETP, even in public courses, which are attended by members of different companies, working on different projects. So, the instructor has to provide skilled consultation and assistance on numerous different projects; a tall order, perhaps, but O’Connell believes it can be achieved, if he hires the right trainers. Naturally, a rigorous selection process is required. ’We have an extensive train-the-trainer programme that they have to go through, before being allowed to teach courses solo. Most trainers, even those with long track records, find it too daunting. I know of no other company who does this,’ claims O’Connell.
Other Leading Providers
Of course, there are a large number of project management training providers in Ireland, with a wide range of different approaches. ESMI (Effective Service Management Ireland), another notable and highly-regarded training company, do not plan out individual projects in their public courses. However, they will provide advice on a project’s specifics in their private courses – though it is often the case that companies underestimate the level of planning involved.
Ruadhri McSharry, ESMI’s Managing Director, explains how ‘the company receiving training might say: “In the course of delivering the training on best practice project management, we want to make progress on our project – here are all the inputs”. We may then say: “well, if you think that those are all the inputs, we’ve got a lot more work to do!” You need to think about a project initiation document, or you need to think about this type of framework, and so on.’
However, ESMI’s approach to training is usually concerned with providing a framework or foundation, around which the attendees can model their project. For instance, they provide courses and instruction in PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments), which is perhaps the most established and recognised methodology for project management. Realistically, some informed instruction is needed to reap the full benefits of PRINCE, and to pass the exams required to receive full accreditation. ESMI are accredited by the APM Group, the UK body responsible for approving PRINCE2 trainers and practitioners, and are therefore confirmed authorities in this field.
‘You could just go to the shop to buy the book, and you don’t need to take any training,’ McSharry explains. ‘But, obviously, only a small number can do it that way, because you would need to have a lot of structures in place to give you the support that you need. Our courses provide this support.’
Accreditation is an important issue in project management. The two most important certifications available worldwide come from the IPMA (International Project Management Association) and the PMI (Project Management Institute), an American organisation. The Institute of Project Management of Ireland are the Irish national body for the IPMA.
‘Within the IPMA certification system, there would be about 1300 to 1400 certified professionals in Ireland,’ Naughton advises. ‘However, you can only certify individuals. You can’t certify an organisation, as the standard is variable across their different functions. Within an organisation, the IT department could be strong on project management, but the HR function could be weak.’
The PMI certification is centrally-driven, so its accreditation tests can only be delivered by the PMI themselves (i.e. there is no Irish national body of the PMI). Certain doubts have been raised about the validity of the PMI’s Project Management Professional certification, as the multiple-choice accreditation test’s theory/computer-based nature is somewhat at odds with the hands-on practicality required in the project management sphere.
Naughton explains that ‘some people who know a lot about project management have alleged that “all accreditation is certifying is that you have knowledge of project management”. It doesn’t say you can do anything. For instance, I know the rules of ice hockey – as I lived in Canada for many years – but I can’t play it. So, do you want to hire me to play hockey, because I have a cert that says I have a knowledge of it?’
Best Practice in Project Management Training
A fair point, but what is the best way of putting a knowledge of project management into practice? What are the qualities of a good project manager, and what are the key elements in running an efficient operation? Fergus O’Connell believes that simplicity is vital.
‘Project management isn’t complex,’ O’Connell states. ‘Projects may be complex, but the management of them isn’t. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a project go wrong for complex reasons; they go wrong for very simple reasons.’
So how does one get around this?
‘For me, good project management is about two things: attention to detail and good communication,’ O’Connell continues. ’Personally, I think that the role of leadership in project management is over-rated. Give me someone who is good with detail and communication, as opposed to the charismatic leader that you would follow through the fires of hell.’
