Silicon Beach Training Blog » PRINCE2

Using Social Media for Project Management

Andy Trainer — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:52:23 +0000

Social Media Networks provide effective tools for Project Managers

“Did you know that we provide some of the best PRINCE2 training courses in the UK? Don’t forget to ask your provider about class sizes before booking. We pride ourselves on quality, we’ll never pack you in! “

As a Project manager you need to keep in touch with messages from clients, stakeholders, developers and team members, arranging meetings, keeping up with project updates. This takes a lot of time, in fact you could say that this makes up most of your job. There are emails to check and send, phone calls to make, meetings to attend, information and reports to chase.

Having done all the above, you then need to update your project plan, communicate the updates to senior managers and stakeholders, creating reports, communicate the progress of the project. Knowing the importance of personal relations, you probably wish you had more time to talk face to face with important clients, but your time gets eaten away with endless e-mails, phone calls and meetings. Not only that, you will need to keep on top of being able to locate and distribute the latest updates of documents for yourself and for your team.

This will not only eat up your time, all the emails and updates need to be read by your team members and it will subsequently eat up their time too. If they are unsure about whether they have the latest updates they must contact you directly, probably by email again to make sure they are up to date with project changes and deadlines. They may lose emails or miss them in the ocean of updates. This will keep you even busier as you may feel the need to check receipt of messages.

Project managers are busy people sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a rut, endlessly trying to keep the ball rolling, much too busy in fact to contemplate strategy or your team’s motivation. You probably work long hours, and worry about work after you get home.

Using social media can enhance the value project managers bring to their organisations.

Using a Web-based project management system

How about taking a deep breath, forget about the pressure and the race and take a moment to think about your project routine differently. Imagine a world where you only receive a small percentage of those emails that need reading in the morning. Imagine using a Web-based project management system. Using such a system allows everyone to check the project progress online, no matter where in the world they are, no matter what time it is, and no matter whether they are senior executives, or an individual with a small role to play. With such a system in place team members could update their progress online keeping the project plan up-to-date.

Click here for the Top 5 Project Management Apps that connect with Google Apps – using these you can connect your project to GMail, Google Docs and Google Calendar.

Create a Project Blog

WordPress is so simple and free, consider creating a project blog. Here you can publish your project development vision. Is a very simple method of getting feedback from team members, it allows collaborative discussions. Here you may be able to identify potential problems early on and deal with them before they get bigger. Team members could share their ideas and project-relevant thoughts.

Consider using Skype or Google+

The great things about Skype are instant messaging, call and video conferencing features all in one place. Of course if all of your team members had a Google+ account you could use hangouts instead. You can hold virtual meetings with team members and global customers.

Consider using Twitter, Google+ or other microblogging systems

Team members can use team members use it to report what they are working on real-time. You can allocate a project project hash tags to ask project specific questions. Team members can share links to files they are working on. Google+ would be ideal for this as you can create circles for key stakeholders, departments, senior management etc. You can share these circles with the appropriate people and then you can send messages and with just the relevant circles, or you can make announcements to all of your circles documents. Team members can ask for help and advice here, and everybody can check and create updates from their phones. It’s instant, it’s free and available to check whenever and wherever you may be.

Consider using a Project Wiki

Avoid document version confusion with a project wiki. Your wiki can become a universal reference resource. Its advantages are that it’s easily searchable, editable, and available.

Consider using Social Media channels to build relationships

As maintaining personal relationships is so important for any project manager. Think about using Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, and check in now and again to stay connected.

Social Media encourages and enables collaboration

The more your team collaborates and communicates the fewer mistakes they will make, the more they will share and understand project goals and objectives. There will be much more of a sense of community even when team members may not even be working on the same continent. Team members will begin to recognise each other even if they have never met in person. Those who are experts in particular fields will stand out so that other team members will know where to go to ask advice. As a project manager if you use these social and collaborative tools you will also establish yourself clearly as a project leader that your team members will respect.

Use Social Media to learn from your peers

Find other project management thought leaders on twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+.

Know when to turn off

Make sure that you have a purpose and a plan for everything you do using social media networks, otherwise you will begin to waste all the time you have saved!

Manage your social media activity by downloading this free Social Media Schedule. There is also a great list of social media management tools to help you keep track of your accounts.

Be careful what you publish and who can see it.

It’s important to understand what information is public and choose friends wisely.

Conclusion

Social networking sites are powerful communication tools for project managers. There are over 3,000 groups related to project management on LinkedIn. Social media allows businesses and organisations to efficiently, organise and deploy teams, collaborating across borders and between departments.

If you are new to Project Management you may be interested in our Project Management Training, Microsoft Project or PRINCE2 courses.

PRINCE2 Training – Quality not Quantity

Andy Trainer — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:41:03 +0000

How can you differentiate providers of PRINCE2 Training Courses?

Small PRINCE2 Class Sizes Guaranteed

PRINCE2 is the most widely used Project Management methodology in the UK – so there are a lot of training companies offering PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner courses.

On the face of it, all PRINCE2 courses are the same product. After all, to provide PRINCE2 training you have to use the syllabus set by APMG, and have your PRINCE2 course materials assessed by them.

So – the only difference in PRINCE2 courses is price, right…?

WRONG!

We had a call recently from someone who wanted to book PRINCE2 Practitioner Conversion because they had failed their exam with another provider. They told us that the course had been very rushed, and we were shocked to hear that there had been 20 delegates on the course. Twenty Delegates!!! With one trainer…!

For an intensive course with exams like PRINCE2, 20 is a HUGE group (well, it’s a huge group for ANY course!).

We could put 20 people in a training room and charge £500 a head – but we won’t.
Not now – not ever.

There are PRINCE2 training providers out there who proudly claim that they “will not be beaten on price”.

At Silicon Beach we are proud to say that we will not be beaten on PRINCE2 Training quality.

Our courses are not the cheapest available – but for the quality of PRINCE2 training and customer service we provide our PRINCE2 courses represent excellent value for money.

Quality not Quantity: What sets our PRINCE2 Training Courses Apart?

Group size – Maximum 12

You won’t ever find more than 12 delegates on our PRINCE2 courses. There will always be questions you want to ask about how PRINCE2 applies to real projects – not just to help you pass the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam, but also to help you apply what you have learned when you return to work.

If you train with a provider that books 20 people on a course, you’ve got almost no hope of getting a thorough or useful response.

PRINCE2 Trainers who are Experienced Project Managers

All PRINCE2 trainers have to be accredited by APMG. But just being accredited doesn’t make a great trainer.

We only use trainers with real world PRINCE2 project management experience. This is important for two reasons:

First – the PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam is about applying the PRINCE2 methodology to scenarios. A trainer who has real experience is in a much better position to explain the rationale to you than someone who’s just learned the theory well enough to be accredited.

Second – whilst passing the exam is important – just passing the exam doesn’t make you a great project manager. PRINCE2 is a toolkit, which is adjusted for each project. Because our trainers have years of hard-earned experience, they can provide advice on doing just that, which means the training is more valuable when you get back to the office on Monday.

Comprehensive PRINCE2 Pre-Course Reading

APMG’s quality auditors recommend that delegates are sent the full PRINCE2 manual at least three weeks prior to the course.

To cut postage costs, some providers will send out sample (incomplete) pre-course material by e-mail and you won’t receive your PRINCE2 manual until you arrive on the day.

At least three weeks before you attend, we will post you:

The full PRINCE2 Manual
Our own, hard copy, pre-course reading guide, which will take you through the sections of the manual you need to cover, with quizzes to help you make sure you have covered everything you need to

Our Own Purpose Built PRINCE2 Training Rooms

All of our public PRINCE2 courses run at our state of the art, purpose built training rooms in Brighton.

We designed and built them ourselves to make them perfect for training.

We don’t use cheap hotels or conference facilities – so no dodgy projectors and no late starts because someone forgot to set the room up!

Extensive Free PRINCE2 Resources

As you can probably tell – we really care about providing as much help to delegates as we can.

So – we’ve put together a wide range of free resources. In our PRINCE2 Resources section you’ll find:

An interactive PRINCE2 Quiz,
A PRINCE2 Crossword to aid revision
PRINCE2 exam tips
PRINCE2 Project Templates
A comprehensive guide to PRINCE2 Processes and Themes
PRINCE2 Case Studies

And we’re adding more resources all of the time too!

Excellent PRINCE2 Pass Rates

We’ve left this one until last. Not because we think it’s less important, but because we think that all of the above contribute to this. At the time of writing, we enjoy:

99% pass rate for PRINCE2 Foundation
84% pass rate for PRINCE2 Practitioner

Both well above the national averages!

So – if you want to pay the lowest price possible to be rushed through your PRINCE2 course along with 19 other delegates in a hotel conference room, we’re not the provider for you.

If you want a training company that cares about your learning experience, and will take the time to provide you with the best quality training, materials, environment, customer service, support and expert guidance at a reasonable price – then book your PRINCE2 course with Silicon Beach Training!

What questions should you ask your PRINCE2 Training Provider?

What is the maximum class size?
Do I get a full printed copy of the PRINCE2 Manual in good time before the course?

Copyright Statements

What is Agile Project Management?

Alistair Wylie — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:16:50 +0000

Silicon Beach Training now offers the increasingly popular range of Agile Project Management training courses – but what is Agile Project Management, and why is it such a big deal all of a sudden?

In March 2011 the government unveiled it’s new ICT Strategy which identified a number of problems (or challenges using their words!) with the method in which IT projects and programmes were managed and delivered, causing them to fail. The first of these challenges being:

“projects tend to be too big, leading to greater risk and complexity, and limiting the range of suppliers who can compete”

Silicon Beach Training now offer accredited Agile Project Management training, including the Agile Project Management Foundation course and Agile Project Management Practitioner course.

For example, if a project to implement a large IT system is deemed to take 5 years to complete, it is very likely that, in those five years circumstances (e.g. technology, customer and business requirements, even governments!) will have changed, rendering the final solution based on the original specification unfit for purpose.

A number of strategies were identified to address these challenges, one of which is “by the application of lean and agile methodologies that will reduce waste, be more responsive to changing requirements and reduce the risk of project failure”.

Agile methodologies have been used in software development for some years, but are now being applied in project management as they offer a flexible process that can change according to customer or organisational needs.

How does Agile Project Management differ from traditional project management methodologies?

Traditionally a project manager may direct the project team using a ‘command and control’ style, actively directing their team towards the work that must be completed. Agile project management uses a different technique. At the beginning of an Agile project a high level plan will be created by the project manager, which is based around basic requirements and a high level vision of the solution. From there on the final project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each increment building on the previous increments. Agile Project management also differs in the way that team members create the plans for each increment, rather than the project manager themselves.

Close collaboration between the business or customer and the project team allows the team to understand the details of potentially changing requirements and create and validate an evolving solution accordingly.

Which agile method is Agile Project Management based on?

Agile Project Management is based on the longest-established Agile method, DSDM Atern (Dynamic Systems Development Method), which is the only Agile methodology to focus on the management of Agile projects. The Agile Project Management qualifications take the project management elements of DSDM Atern and make them available as Agile Project Management – a certified approach in its own right.

What benefits will I get by using Agile Project Management?

Using Agile Project Management allows projects to respond to changing requirements and ensure that the solutions meet business or customer requirements
Agile Project Management can be used in conjunction with other corporate processes such as PRINCE2 and ITIL. The DSDM Atern agile method was developed to work alongside PRINCE2
Agile Project Management certification offers a recognised qualification that will benefit both the individual in career development and organisations in recognising staff development

What Agile Project Management certifications are available?

Silicon Beach Training offers both the Foundation and Practitioner Agile Project Management training courses and certification.

The Foundation Exam is a one hour multiple-choice paper composed of 60 questions which assesses a delegate’s knowledge of Agile Project Management. The pass mark is 50%, or 30 correct answers. This is taken at the end of the Agile Project Management Foundation course.

The Practitioner Exam is a two hour Objective Test – a complex multiple-choice exam that tests a delegate’s ability to apply the concepts of Agile Project Management to the running and managing of projects. 15 marks are available from each of the four questions. Delegates must achieve 50% to pass (30 marks). This is taken at the end of the Agile Project Management Practitioner training course.

The Agile Project Management training and certifications are accredited by APMG.

To discuss your requirements for Agile Project Management training and certification please call us on 01273 622272.

Cuts in Government spending may be good for PRINCE2 training and MSP training

Heather Buckley — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:26:36 +0000

In an effort to reduce the deficit, the UK Treasury has suspended and/or cancelled projects that they deemed not to reflect the Coalition Government’s new priorities. In June 2010 the government cancelled or froze £10.5bn worth of projects that had been announced in the dying days of the Labour government.

Silicon Beach Training offer PRINCE2 Training, MSP Training and Project Management Training in Brighton, Sussex.

Such cuts should mean less training, however, more emphasis is to be put on the continuing use of the PRojects IN Controlled Environments or PRINCE2. PRINCE2 project management method is a process-driven project management method, developed by Office of Government Commerce (OGC). So although the government plans to cut project spending it seems they will approach this by increasing their investment in Prince2 Training to ensure there are fewer cost overruns in future.

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) is a structured yet flexible framework more recently developed for the Public Sector by OCR. Currently where so-called controlled environments such as information and communications technology are involved or complex business systems then the use of PRINCE2 methodology is mandatory for programme and project management in the Public Sector.

PRINCE2 allows you to manage and control all the activities involved in managing a programme through providing advice on organisation, processes, communication and ways of thinking. There is a close link between MSP and PRINCE2. It would appear that there will also be an increase in MSP training spending.

The Treasury’s reasoning behind the continued support PRINCE2 training and MSP training is it should mean that fewer mistakes will be made, ultimately saving money and effort.

PRINCE2 is not just for government bodies; the advantage of PRINCE2 is that it is a simple to follow project management method covering how to organise, manage and control any project, whether it is public or private sector. PRINCE2 has become a universal best practice model and a de facto standard for project management. The Treasury is encouraging devolved administrations to adopt this technique and approach on an even more widespread basis.

For more information on Silicon Beach Training’s PRINCE2 Training and MSP Training courses, please call us on 01273 622272 or e-mail us at info@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk and one of our Training Managers will be happy to help you.

Why Project Managers are so Valuable

Andy Trainer — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:06:06 +0000

There’s no avoiding the fact that Project Managers are everywhere these days! Project Management is one of the most in-demand skills, and this applies across all types of organisations and across both public and private sectors.

Here at Silicon Beach we run regular Management Training and Project Management training courses, as well as accredited PRINCE2 Training and MSP Training courses here at our training centre in Brighton, Sussex and demand is still strong, even through the recession.

But why are project managers so highly valued?

Any manager requires knowledge of their subject matter. A finance manager needs to know their numbers, an HR manager needs to know Human Resources, and so on.

The difference with Project Managers is that they have to be an expert general manager who is highly focused to achieve results across a range of disciplines with a defined scope and accepted quality level.

A really good Project Manager needs to be a jack-of-all-trades who knows enough about every stage of the process to get their project to completion. They are responsible for delivering on-time, to budget. They therefore have to have great people skills, and also excellent personal organisation and Time Management skills. They have to be contactable by any member of their project team – and with modern telecommunications technology that can be at any time, in any place – day or night (I know project managers who work internationally who frequently get calls throughout their evenings from overseas as well as all day in their own time-zone).

To illustrate the pressures that bear down on a Project Manager at all times – there are three key conflict areas a Project Manager must be constantly mindful of:

Cost v Time – without compromising on Quality
Time v Scope - making sure the project delivers what it promised
Scope v Cost – bearing in mind the cost of overrunning

Only by ensuring that these conflicting requirements are balanced effectively will a good Project Manager keep all stakeholders happy and ensure that their project meets the business’ overall requirements.

In a competitive market-place, projects must be completed on-time and to budget – however Quality is equally important. It’s no good getting the job done fast and cheaply if the end project is low on quality, as the competitors superior product will win through. Experienced PMs are all to aware of the Cost of Quality, and PRINCE2 has a whole theme dedicated to Quality.

Additionally – the more complex the project, the more risks there will likely to be along the way, so good Project Managers also need to know Risk Management methodologies. Again, PRINCE2 has a Risk Theme which covers this.

Taking all of the above in to account (and really we’re only scratching the surface), it’s no wonder that good Project Managers, and Project Management Training to provide the skills they require are in constant demand.

Silicon Beach Training offer a range training courses – all of which are beneficial for Project Managers:

Introduction to Project Management Training - 1-day: £270 + vat

This 1-day course provides a comprehensive introduction to Project Management principles, tools and themes

Microsoft Project Training - 2-days: £445 + vat

MS Project is the industry standard software for Project Managers – this 2-day course provides a comprehensive coverage of this indispensable tool

You can book the two courses above together for £645 + vat with our Project Management & MS Project Training package.

PRINCE2 Foundation Training – 3-days: £845 + vat
PRINCE2 Practitioner Training – 5-days: £995 + vat

PRINCE2 is the most widely used Project Management Methodology (and is the de facto standard for Project Managers in the UK). Read more about PRINCE2 in our Free Resources section.

MSP Foundation Training - 3-days: £995 + vat
MSP Practitioner Training – 5-days: £995 + vat

Often, multiple projects combine to make up Programmes. MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) provides a methodology for effective Programme Management. Read more about MSP in our Free Resources section.

If you would like to discuss Project Management in more detail, or are interested in any of the courses Silicon Beach Training offer, please call us on 01273 622272 and one of our training managers will be happy to help you.

How to Implement PRINCE2

Aaron Charlie — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:22:44 +0000

by Louise Docker on Flickr

PRINCE2 is a valuable method-based system for business management. PRINCE2 helps Project Managers to work out who should be involved in the project and what their roles and responsibilities within the project should be.

If you would like to learn more, Silicon Beach Training offers Management Training as well as accredited PRINCE2 Training and Project Management Training in Brighton, Sussex. We offer both the PRINCE2 Foundation Training and PRINCE2 Practitioner Training courses with hands-on workshops delivered by knowledgeable Project Managers with a vast amount of real-world experience.

Training is necessary as PRINCE2 is a system with many processes, with the right training, you will learn vital skills required to successfully complete a project and utilise your new understanding of the PRINCE2 processes.

The biggest plus point of PRINCE2 is its ability to be adapted to any size of business and project; even if your project lasts a few days, you can choose the appropriate processes from the PRINCE2 methodology and implement them successfully into your project.

When you are being taught PRINCE2, the principles sound logical, but it’s often a different story when you come to implement them into your own projects. If users don’t fully understand PRINCE2 then this can lead to excessive use of its processes, which wastes time and effort.

Why implementation is not simply training employees in PRINCE2?

Implementing PRINCE2 requires consistency of the application of project management processes throughout your business or organisation. The PRINCE2 implementations will vary according to the business as well as the project. Applying PRINCE2 effectively requires tailoring to fit into existing working practices.

The information learned on a PRINCE2 training course should not be applied in a rigid way, the PRINCE2 method should be tailored to suit the individual organisation and project.

When this does not happen PRINCE2 can be perceived as unwieldy and bureaucratic leading to the method being side stepped so that project managers can get on with managing. In fact this happens so often it even has its own acronym PINO (Prince in Name Only)!

You may need help with applying PRINCE2 if –

This is the first time PRINCE2 has been used by your business.
You feel PRINCE2 isn’t working for your business or you haven’t noticed an increase in performance.
You want to make sure that all the PRINCE2 processes are being fully realised.

Assign a PRINCE2 Mentor

Many see the implementation of PRINCE2 as a venture; this can be completed within the company by a PRINCE2 mentor. The aim of the mentor is to ensure that PRINCE2 is successfully implemented into projects and can be used in the businesses future projects by the PRINCE2 accredited personnel.

A PRINCE2 mentor can help with advice and support by coaching and ensuring the appropriate processes are used correctly. They can help individuals and small groups by using their PRINCE2 knowledge and creating the right method for their businesses projects. This can be done in small work groups or over the phone or email depending on how much help is needed.

The mentor’s roles can differ with each case. A mentor is someone who helps and offers assistance to others less skilled than them. A great mentor will take a hands-on approach to your businesses project and they should have a large amount of experience and knowledge to help you succeed.

To Conclude

To attain good results when implementing PRINCE2, do not forget its great adaptability and its ability to be tailored to your specific needs, sometimes you don’t need to use everything that PRINCE2 has to offer as it may be irrelevant. Getting a PRINCE2 mentor to help your business is much more than just being provided with instructions; they are there to help create a structure for the very best way to go forward with your project, its also vital that you understand which areas need changing and why. PRINCE2 has the ability to add enormous value to organisations, but only if implemented effectively and intelligently.

Silicon Beach Training is also MSP and ITIL accredited. Please take a look at our ITIL Training and MSP Training courses.

Why does your organisation need MSP training?

Heather Buckley — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:23:25 +0000

MSP Training with Prince2 Training

Why do you need MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) if you have already adopted Prince2?

Silicon Beach Training provide accredited PRINCE2 Training and MSP Training in Brighton, Sussex with pass rates well above the national average (99% for our PRINCE2 Foundation Training!) We also provide free MSP Resources and free Prince2 Resources.

With PRINCE2 there is an assumption that there is already a reasonably clear view of the objectives of the project, and also what the business case is. This allows the project to begin with a clear direction and a sound and well developed project brief.

Projects using the Prince2 methodology deliver specific outcomes measured against the specific business case, normally following the shortest path from start to finish. This implies that you know what the staring point is, what it looks like, and how you are going to know when you have reached the finishing line.

Usually the key stakeholders know that something needs to change in the organisation, but they may not be clear about what changes need to be made, so the direction of the project may not be clear and goals definable.

Enter MSP

Often managers are asked to:-

‘speed up processes’
‘provide better customer service’
‘motivate staff’

To make strategic changes and improvements such as these there needs to be a clear understanding of what projects are required and what he outcomes should be. The journey from start to finish may develop and change over time.

MSP helps to form a strategic vision of the future and pave the way to making this vision a reality. It helps to ensure that decision making is based on overall business objectives rather than isolated project outcomes.

MSP is the glue that bridges the gap between strategic vision and individual projects by focusing on:

Organisational Benefits which must be achieved if the vision is to be achieved.
New Capabilities which are delivered by tranches of projects and implemented by normal operations.
Programme Organisation which gives equal weight to operational management and programme management, linking functional activities and project based changes around a common purpose.

MSP programme management can be used to consolidate and synchronise visions of change with the tactical use of programmes of projects. Can your organisation afford to be without MSP?

Free PRINCE2 Training Resources

Aaron Charlie — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:40:02 +0000

We have just updated our Free Resources with some fantastic FREE PRINCE2 Training Resources, this includes our recently released PRINCE2 Training eBook – Managing a Project, useful PRINCE2 Training Quiz for your Prince2 examination revision, quality PRINCE2 Training Templates and much more…

If you would like to learn more about PRINCE2 Training then come along to our PRINCE2 Foundation Training, if you already know the basics then perhaps our PRINCE2 Practitioner Training or PRINCE2 Practitioner Conversion Training would be more appropriate.

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a controlled process for efficient project management. It’s used by the United Kingdom Government and it is recognised as the top project management tool worldwide. PRINCE2 is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

PRINCE2’s key features –

A clearly defined structure for the project management team
A planning approach which is product-based
Manageable and controllable stages are very important
Each level of the project is flexible

Next Prince2 Training courses in Brighton are running on

6 – 10 Dec 2010
10 – 14 Jan 2011
7 – 11 Feb 2011
28 Feb – 4 Mar 2011