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Jeff Colvin
Management Consultant & Founder of Link,
a Management Consulting Group
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Like
buying an apple in your local market you can buy project management
training from a myriad of vendors. From large scale supermarket
chains to individual home growers, the customer can find an assortment
of apples to purchase, from Pippin, to Fuji, to MacInstosh. The
company in need of project management training can pay a high price
from a large organization or local university or they can get the
same training from the same trainer by going direct for a fraction
of the cost.
It has recently been claimed that project management training has
become a commodity. With the growth of businesses running in a project
mentality, and the development of organizations promoting the disciplines
of project management like PMI and Project World, there has been
a burgeoning need to enhance the skill sets of today's project managers.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) has over 100,000 professionals,
representing 125 countries. from virtually every major industry
including, aerospace, automotive, business management, construction,
engineering, financial services, information technology, pharmaceuticals,
healthcare, and telecommunications.
How does a diligent organization go about selecting their training
partner to help project managers get trained and to create a common
language and set of processes to run their business? The easiest
way to find the right vendor used to be to ask someone else who
just got trained. Today Google may provide you with an endless number
choices. The criteria used to select a project management trainer
should be simple.
First and foremost, determine the practical application and value
that the trainee will need to enhance their performance and productivity
on the job. Everything else is secondary. Those less critical elements
include cost, proven historic success, schedule availability and
flexibility, and the ability to customize and tailor the delivery
to the audience. The goal must be to provide real-world examples
and usefulness of the concepts and tools to the trainee. This key
point is often missed when hiring pure academicians to provide the
training. Project management trainers that are the most valuable
are the ones that have been out there doing the job and can share
their experiences to match a participant's current challenges.
All apples, like all project management trainers, are not created
equally. Deciding the type of apple you wish to purchase, talking
to others that have eaten that type of apple, and learning of the
various places you can obtain a particular apple, are all part of
the research that must be done.
So why buy your apple from the supermarket, when you can get it
cheaper direct from the grower?
Buying Project Management
What do you want?
· Define your requirements
· Determine your desired results
· Establish criteria for selection
Why do you want it?
· What areas do you wish to impact?
· What is the real driver for training?
· How will you know you were successful?
How will you find it?
· Talk to peers in your field
· Research various companies
· Ask for the trainer not the organization
Making it Worthwhile
· Create customized case examples
· Identify specific challenges to tailor the curricula
· Define expectations for trainees
Making it Stick
· Define a follow up plan up front
· Require practical application
· Mentor/coach/support change
Jeff Colvin (Jcolvin@linkllc.com)
founded Link, a management
consulting group in 1997 whose mission is dedicated to the Systems,
Structures, and Behaviors that make people and companies successful.
Link's bottom line focus on process improvement is achieved through
the facilitation and training of cross-functional teams to address
key strategic goals. Learn more about Jeff
Colvin & Link...
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