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Had a search of the forum but couldn't find much information.
I'm looking at doing a PM course soon, but was looking for some first hand experience/insight into the usefulness of the courses.
I work in IT related field and have taken on a more project management oriented role, so thought a decent qualification will be useful, even if only for the CV.
Due to the pre-requisites, it's looking like either APMP (now AMP PMQ) or Prince2 would be the best/only option, rather than PMP. I could potentially do both over the course of next year, depending on company paying etc.
What are your thoughts on APMP or Prince2?
Does anyone use waterfall methodology anymore? It's all about Agile now.
Think you need the thread above /\
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-high-can-you-piss ]Project Managers Seminar[/url]
Not sure, our Dev team use Agile, but it's not really applicable to what I do I don't think - software implementation projects.
MoreCashThanDash - Member
Think you need the thread above /\Project Managers Seminar
I'll just nip out to the car park to test and report back.
I've got the APMP qualification, not that I really use it, but it is a quite a good grounding in 'general' project management. If you are always going to be IT specific and especially for UK government then Prince2 might be a better option, there is a fair bit of overlap between the two though and I think if you have one, you can reduce the time needed to complete the other.
Agile IMO isn't really project management. Lobs in grenade and runs away.
APMP is a course on how to do project management.
Prince 2 is a project management methodology.
So if an organisation uses prince 2 then the APMP isn't particulalry helpfull. If they dont use Prince 2 then either would be usefull, but probably moreso the APMP.
So it really depends on the project/company. The civil service wrote Prince 2 so any governmwnt jobs will follow that. And as a result so do a lot of UK IT and infrastructure companies. The APMP is more international, although I think the states have their own as well.
I did an APMP course at Leeds Met. COurse delivery was really interesting as we went through different applications of methodologies. Plenty of IT bods doing the course with me.
However as above, if it's any way related to govt projects then PRINCE2 based course is best.
Everything else - APMP
Real world - experience wins
Would you be paying yourself or would work?
My wife collects these. She has Prince2, (A?)PMP and is an Agile scrum master. She's off to start becoming a solution architect next week.
Her general opinion is that the courses themselves are just box ticking. They teach her nothing she hasn't learnt doing the job for the last 9 years. But clients want their contractors to have the qualifcations.
She works for a large IT consultancy so in general they have their own processes to follow and train their staff accordingly.
I know you are not interested in PMP but I am currently studying this for the my exam at the end of the month and happy to share some course content if you are interested, email in profile.
A.P.M.P. Quite intense 5 day course and loads of rubbish acronyms to remember...but then you can chat hyper babel and have a qualification to prove it.
I work in IT related field and have taken on a more project management oriented role, so thought a decent qualification will be useful, even if only for the CV.
Useful for what? Doing your job or planning the next job move?
Not meant as a criticism, more a suggestion that you're clear on your motives as they will influence the choice...
TM
Thanks for the insight.
Looks like APMP, or whatever it's called now, may be the best way to go to get a grounding in general PM then, and maybe do Prince2 in future.
Work would be paying so no worries about that - Leeds isn't too far away so may look into that also.
I'd do apm if you want to learn, as suggested above. I've seen p2 exams for as little as £85 if all you need to do is box tick... Re agile vs prince they aren't mutually exclusive as people can lead you to believe (generally people who only understand one side of the coin)
To get things done you need direction, management and delivery. Guess where agile lives?
I'm currently trying to complete the collection...msp, p2, mor, p3o along with safe, csm, cspo, coach with a sprinkling of togaf and others...
PRINCE2 is the benchmark and one that a lot of employers look for. Having said that it's good to look at Agile too.
I was looking for a course for some of my team, probably this time lsat year and a fellow forumite put me in touch with Susan Tuttle who runs her own training company She gave me access to her PM course on the proviso we tested and reported back. It will cost now but I can strongly recommend it as a very good introduction to project management. You won't get certification at the end of it but you will have a very good grounding in effective project management.