Training Funding will be finishing soon – APPLY NOW to avoid missing out…
Over the last few years, lots of Silicon Beach Training’s clients have taken advantage of Train to Gain’s “Leadership & Management” funding. This scheme allows business leaders and owners to gain access to up to £1,000 in funding towards training.
All Star Trek fans out there will know about ‘replicators’ – machines that can make any object you want. This is no longer the stuff of sci-fi – now you can buy one for your own home! Well – sort of… The Thing-O-Matic 3D Printercan make small plastic models of anything you can produce a 3D computer drawing of, and will accept files from most 3D design packages…
OK, so it can only make objects up to 7″ by 6″ in size, but at just $1,225 (around £790) and only 3o minutes to ‘print’ each object, just think of the possibilities! Can’t find your bottle opener? Can’t be bothered to go out and buy one? Just knock up or download a 3D model and PRINT one! Combine the thing-o-matic with the MakerBot 3D scanner, which scans 3D objects around itself and turns them into designs the MakerBots can replicate everything you already have.
The 3D printer, made by Makerbot Industries in the USA works by building up microscopic layers of plastic. More advanced machines have existed for a while in the manufacturing industry, but thie is the first time a 3D printer has been made available for home use.
And whilst it can only print plastic objects at the moment, a new model is already in the pipeline that can include metal components too, making the prospect of “printing” electrical devices like mobile phones (minus the microchips) a potential reality.
So what would you print with a 3D printer…? We’ve had a bit of a brainstorm in the office and come up with the following list – let us know what you’d print in the comments section below:
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.
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.
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.
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 Benefitswhich 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 Organisationwhich 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?
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
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.
If you are in to your social media and love keeping up to date with Twitter and Facebook, then this is the browser for you! RockMelt has been created to make the web browser more complete and is based on what people are using the Internet mainly for – Social media.
Earlier today RockMelt Beta was released here and you just need to sign in with your Facebook account and wait for an email with an invitation to use RockMelt.
RockMelt Features
If you use Google Chrome then you will be able to switch over very easily as RockMelt is build on Chronium, the only differences are that there are columns running down the side of the browser. On the left side of your RockMelt browser you have your Facebook contacts and on the right you have your bookmarks. With your Facebook contacts on the left you can add your favourite contacts, share links with them, chat with them and do most of the normal things you do with Facebook without actually heading to the site.
RockMelt isn’t just a browser for Facebook, you can update both your Facebook and Twitter accounts, plus with the built in Share button, you can Tweet about various sites, videos, photos and things you find on the Internet. On the right of the browser, where your Twitter and various other bookmarks are placed, RockMelt will soon be rolling out further social media add-ons, expect YouTube, Flickr, Stumble etc. in the near future.
RockMelt is the first browser to be fully backed by the Cloud, so this allows you to access your preferences anywhere; all you have to do is log in through your Facebook account. If you use a certain website often then RockMelt will log that site and then alert you when the site has been updated.
Below is the promo video showing all of RockMelts features in action -
THIS FUNDING STREAM IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE – DETAILS OF THE NEW LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT TRAINING GRANTS SCHEME FOR 2011
We have just updated our 
If you are in to your social media and love keeping up to date with Twitter and Facebook, then this is the browser for you! RockMelt has been created to make the web browser more complete and is based on what people are using the Internet mainly for – Social media.
