Archives for the Project Management category

We often receive the same questions about our PRINCE2 Training Courses here at Silicon Beach: what’s the difference between the PRINCE2 Foundation Course and the PRINCE2 Practitioner Course.

With that in mind, we though we’d put together a handy table outlining the main differences, as well as our thoughts on the which the sort of people and positions that are best suited to each course.

Hopefully it will make your decision that little bit easier when booking your PRINCE2 Training, although if you’re still struggling to decide, our sales team are always on hand to help!

So what are the main differences?

Read the rest of "Differences Between PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner Qualification"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management on April 24th, 2013| No Comments »

Much has been said about the usefulness of Social Media within Project Management, but a topic that as yet seems to have been left untouched is how Project Management can help in Social Media Marketing campaigns.

Many of the principles and techniques that we teach in our Project Management Training, as well as on our PRINCE2 Course, can be applied to Social Marketing campaigns in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

In this post we’ll be taking a look at some and how they should be enacted.

Initiating a Project

The ‘Initiating a Project‘ stage of PRINCE2 can certainly be applied to a Social Media campaign. This process effectively outlines the reasons for and initial format of a project.

With regard to a Social Media campaign, it would require an understanding of the goals you hope to achieve by engaging on this platform.

It would also set out the preliminary ideas as to how to go about enacting this, both from a strategic point of view (what sort of things will you post, who are you targeting) and from a logistical perspective (which networks will you use and how much.)

Read the rest of "How to Use Project Management to Run Better Social Media Campaigns"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management, Social Media on April 8th, 2013| 2 Comments »

Basic planning is essential to the development and growth of any business, but knowing how to plan well is a skill in and of itself. A masterpiece can’t be made without careful consideration of the tools available, the methods to be employed and the end-target.

No one knows this fact more than a project manager upon whose plans rest entire company endeavours, as we explained in our analysis of the PRINCE2 Planning Theme.

There’s a time and a place for spontaneity (ironically) but when it comes to the successful completion of a project, planning is fundamental, which is why it is such a pivotal part of our PRINCE2 Project Management Courses.

So just why is planning so important, especially when project management is concerned? How do you go about it, and within a project, who is responsible for planning what?

Why So Important?

Let’s make it clear – when I’m referring to a plan here, I’m not specifically (or necessarily) referring to a formal document associated with any of the major project management methodologies. Instead, I am referring to the general ‘concept’ of planning but with specific reference to project management.

As such, we’ll take a look at the more formal aspects of planning an actual project but also look at the more general planning that can be applied to both projects and other aspects of life.

Firstly with regards to projects, let’s take a look at why planning is so important for:

Team Members

Psychologically speaking, forward planning makes a huge impact on a worker because it clearly sets out the criteria they must meet in order to be deemed successful. Having that clear set of criteria in mind gives them something to aim toward.

This in turn breeds greater focus and drive and enhances productivity because they are able to see themselves develop step-by-step, identify ‘wins’ and failures and pinpoint their value within a project.

Read the rest of "The Art of Planning a Project"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management on March 5th, 2013| No Comments »

UK politics is renowned for its ability to bring about flip-flops and U-turns of comedic proportions. From pasties to GCSEs, this government alone has presided over more than 30 – an average of 10 a year!

If such a poor example of managing scope creep was to occur in a business environment, you can bet the Project Manager would struggle to keep hold of his/her position.

That’s why we make sure you learn to develop the necessary skills to deal with it on our PRINCE2 Training Courses.

So could Cameron and co. learn a thing or two from Project Managers when it comes keeping the policy ‘goalposts’ in place? Let’s take a look:

Capturing the Request for Change

With the pasty tax it’s likely the Prime Minister was privy to the information before release so for this example, let’s say you’re a governmental department who has decided to introduce a plan to destroy buzzard nests. Now the likelihood is the Prime Minister and those in a position of real seniority have little idea about this prospective policy until much of the press do.

By this point there is already protestation and public outcry and before it even gets close to the commons, it’s dead in the water. Could this kind of pointless fiasco be avoided using Project Management frameworks?

Read the rest of "Managing Scope Creep in Politics"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management on February 20th, 2013| No Comments »

As it’s just about the time of year when everyone starts planning their summer getaway, we thought it would be a nice idea to take a look at how you can use your skills as a Project Manager to make your holiday run smoothly.

Not going on holiday but valentine’s got you in the mood for love? Take a look at our post on how to project manage a wedding.

If you’re not yet a Project Manager but would like to learn how to be one, PRINCE2 is the ideal qualification. We run PRINCE2 Courses here at Silicon Beach – and with us being based in Brighton it’ll feel a bit like a holiday!

The Problem

How often do you find yourself fretting for weeks or even months over that one little trip, wanting to make sure that everything’s perfect, only to turn up to the airport without your suitcase or passport or children?

Even when you’re there, as much as you’d like to relax, every situation becomes an issue – what restaurant should we eat in? Beach or pool? Pina colada or margarita? Such tough decisions.

Read the rest of "Project Manage Your Holiday"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management on February 15th, 2013| No Comments »

Within the Directing a Project (DP) stage of PRINCE2, authorising a project is a particularly important process.

Without it, the next stage plan cannot be approved which means that the project cannot proceed.

In this post we’ll take a look in more detail at why it is a necessary process, who is responsible for each aspect and how it should be carried out.

If you’d like to find out more about PRINCE2 processes like authorising a project, try our PRINCE2 Courses.

Why is it Needed?

By using this process it means that the project board can make sure that there is:

• An acceptable Business Case in place (read ‘What is a Business Case?’ for more details)
• The goals and methods of the project match that of the corporate strategy
• An acceptable set of tolerances (and scope) has been set
• Risks are accepted and outlined fully
• The right controls have been set

Read the rest of "Authorising a Project with PRINCE2"

Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Project Management on February 4th, 2013| No Comments »

How many times have you heard your customer complain that the product you have delivered doesn’t meet their expectations?

This is as a result of not addressing their expectations early enough in the project to get it right. You can learn how to do this on our 5-day PRINCE2 Practitioner Training.

But customers also bring problems too! They often don’t seem to know what they want.

It will be your job as a project manager to work with your customer to establish their quality expectations and then to create some measurable criteria against which you can deliver something fit for purpose.

Where Do We Start?

At the beginning… of the project. During the early stages of the project – Starting Up – you should be talking to your customer about the solution:

• What they hope it will do
• How it will work
• What it will look like

These initial expectations will be little vague and may require some prompting and input from you to gain clarity around what the expectations mean.

Read the rest of "Addressing Quality in Your Project"

Posted by Claudine in News, Project Management on January 31st, 2013| No Comments »

It’s certainly the case that to really succeed in Project Management you need to have a solid technical knowledge and be able to use the tools and services available to you effectively. These Hard Skills of the sort you can learn on our Project Management training courses are vital because without them a Project Manager cannot really guide their team nor fully understand the details of the project.

However, what makes a truly great Project Manager is the ability to balance these technical hard skills with interpersonal, or soft, skills. Soft skills needed for Project Management are often difficult to nail down, with no real definitive answer as to what is required and what is desired.

Here’s what we think are the 4 essential Project Management soft skills:

1/ Communication

So many issues arise during projects due to bad communication. This may be the Project Manager misunderstanding the requirements of the Project Board or team members not being given clear instructions.

Make sure you have the ability to both listen and explain. Listening really means active listening; not assuming based on past experience or pretending to accept their way while secretly planning to continue with your own methods.

Simple words at first and then more detailed points go along way when trying to explain a course of action or reason for one to team members. Nip any misunderstandings in the bud by asking for feedback. Get them to offer any problems they see or clarifications they require, upon explanation rather than days or weeks later, when some damage may have already been done. Read the rest of "Essential Soft Skills for Great Project Managers"

Posted by Andy Trainer in Business Skills, News, Project Management on January 17th, 2013| No Comments »