Project Management Courses

[Fidgits]

A question from Mrs Fidgits for the PH knowledge base.

Has anyone done a Prince II project management course?

Comments or opinions?

thanks in advance.

[windsorrob]

I've done both foundation and practicioner Prince 2 courses. I did them because they tend to be sought after in job ads etc.. In my opinion, they're like most theory courses. There are a few points of use, but most of it is theory that you'll never use in practice. The exact methods they coach are extremely bureacractic which then makes perfect sense when you learn it's government origins.

They tend to focus on planning and control, which while they are important parts of good pm, don't take away the fact that much pm is about being absolutely on top of people and budget.

Depends what you're trying to acheive - getting the right words on your cv, or being able to manage projects well - there's nothing like experience for the latter.

[tobeee]

I did the P2 course a couple of months ago (and only just heard I passed!). Interesting course, quite intensive, and a three hour open-book exam at the end. It's not a lesson in PM though, so if you want to learn about PM, then there are likely other more suitable courses to do instead.

[Sagacitas]

The best PM course, for learning how to do the job, was an in-house course at CSC.

The second best PM course, only slightly behind the in-house one, is M850 at the Open University. 6 months of Project Management with a lot of good feedback. Exam isn't that great but the course work and feedback are easily worth the cost.

Richard