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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.
Posted by Andy Trainer in News, PRINCE2, Project Management on August 5th, 2011| No Comments »
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.
Read the rest of "What is Agile Project Management?"
Posted by Alistair Wylie in Agile Project Management, Business Skills, ITIL, MSP, MSP Training, News, PRINCE2, Project Management on May 11th, 2011| 2 Comments »
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).
Read the rest of "Why Project Managers are so Valuable"
Posted by Andy Trainer in Management & Leadership, MSP, MSP Training, News, Personal Development, PRINCE2, Project Management on January 19th, 2011| 1 Comment »
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.
Posted by Aaron Charlie in Business Skills, Management & Leadership, News, PRINCE2, Project Management on January 4th, 2011| 1 Comment »
image by www.heatherbuckley.co.uk
Our offices will be closed from 24th December until 4th January. Please do continue to send in your enquiries though and we will get back to you with the information you have requested asap.
From all of us here at Silicon Beach Training in Brighton, Sussex, we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year and we will look forward to working with you in 2011!
Have a think over the holiday and choose something you would like to learn in the new year.
Silicon Beach Training offer a full range of creative software courses including Photoshop Training, InDesign Training as well as Social Media, Blogging Training and WordPress Training in Brighton, Sussex.
We don’t just do creative and IT courses we also run PRINCE2 Accredited training offering both PRINCE2 Practitioner and PRINCE2 foundation training, ITIL accredited providing ITIL Foundation Training and MSP accredited training.
Posted by Alistair Wylie in Brighton, News, SEO on December 24th, 2010| No Comments »
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
Posted by Aaron Charlie in Management & Leadership, News, PRINCE2, Project Management on November 24th, 2010| No Comments »
Free PRINCE2 Ebook download for Mobile
As ever we like to keep on trend! So for all you Project Managers on the go or those wishing to revise for their PRINCE2 Practitioner Training or PRINCE2 Foundation Training in Brighton, Sussex, we have provided a PRINCE2 guide – a Free Prince2 Ebook for your mobile devices. It will work on your IPhone, IPad, IPod Touch, Android Phone… just about everything.
We will be adding lots more ebooks for mobiles in the near future so if you have any requests let us know – use comments below for suggestions.
Go here to:
We also have a free PRINCE2 quiz for you to test yourself.
Posted by Heather Buckley in Human Resources, New Free Resources, Offers, PRINCE2 on November 18th, 2010| No Comments »
Project Managers are often inclined to care more that a job is done according to procedures than about a job being done well. Whilst budgets and schedules are vitally important and you cannot underestimate how essential it is for a good Project Manager to have a clear grasp and control over these elements, people and personality are also an important part of the mix.
Silicon Beach Training is an Accredited Training Organisation for PRINCE2 training in Brighton, Sussex, and offers a full range of PRINCE2 courses inducing Prince2 Foundation and Prince2 Practitioner Training courses with pass rates well above the national averages. We also provide a popular Project Management and MS Project training package you can book our 1-day Project Management course with our 2-day MS Project course.
Project Management procedures as well as software development procedures are extremely difficult to stick to at all times. You need people to enforce procedures or practices until people get used to them. And if these people cannot see the value in a specific procedure they may never get used to it. What makes a great project manager is knowing what procedures are essential and what details can be flexible. If something hasn’t happened according to plan, it is actually going to be better for the project to hold a meeting about it and change things that are not essential if to redo something will risk spending more time and money than is necessary. Sometimes it may be better to hold a meeting at the end, after the budget and deadline have been met and discuss as a group what changes you would make next time.
Project Management Methodologies are based on procedures. Prince2, for example, is structured into 8 processes which cover all the activities in the project, 8 components which take up various aspects of project management and 3 techniques. However, there are multitude of techniques which can be used. I am not about to imply that Prince2 training is not a great way to learn about Project Management. The great thing about Prince2 is that it is a standard, in a large organisation projects need to be managed to the same standard using the same techniques in order for projects to move forward. There needs to be a common understanding about the way that projects are handled. However sometimes so much time is spent on maintaining procedures that less time is spent on work which actually pushes a project ahead.
Whilst it may be important to create good document templates is it essential to spend time going over every detail of new document templates? It needs to make sense – what would be the point of discussing a 5-hour schedule change for an hour with 12 people? Sometimes just to let people get on with things and to hold back and not spend your time and others picking up every detail is what is needed to get a project out on time and budget.
We have some free Prince2 templates for you to download, free prince2 case studies, a free Prince2 training resourcePrince2 Quiz to test out your knowledge. and a
Posted by Heather Buckley in New Free Resources, News, PRINCE2, Project Management on October 25th, 2010| 4 Comments »
