APM Project Management Training Guide

APM’s Registered Project Professional pilot scheme produces its first group of candidates qualified to the new standard that is officially launching in March 2011. Parallel Project Training is delighted that two of it’s consultants, John Bolton and Lara Taylorson are in the APM Registered Project Professional Pilot Group. This is as a result of their experience delivering complex projects in a wide range of sectors.

What is a APM Registered Project Professional? 

A new APM Registered Project Professional designation is designed to raise the standards of professional project management, which was announced at the APM annual conference and awards 2010, has celebrated its first group of successful candidates, including John Bolton and Lara Taylorson from the Parallel team. Following the completion of the first pilot of the new APM Registered Project Professional standard 28 candidates were awarded with their certificates during a presentation at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster on 25th November 2010.

APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) is a new standard that will acknowledge that all professionals across projects, programme and portfolios have reached a recognised standard in their profession. RPP assesses both knowledge and experience across a range of different competencies. APM will start accepting applications for the new standard in March 2011 signifying a significant step forward for the profession.

Speaking at the presentation, Mike Nichols, APM chairman, declared himself “absolutely delighted” that APM are at the forefront of developing the industry. He said: “APM will be able to make its impact on the project management world by launching a new wave of extraordinarily capable project managers who are able to display their commitment by proudly wearing the badge of Registered Project Professional”.

Paul Erricker, project manager on the development of the RPP standard, explained that the standard is based around similar competencies found within the APM Competence Framework, saying: “The competencies are the building blocks that underpin the standard itself”. Paul believes that RPP is an opportunity for people to really develop their career. He feels that those wanting to undertake the RPP process initially will be experienced project managers, but added: “Ultimately it is for those who are developing in project management who want to have a recognised professional standard that they can drive their careers towards”.

Mike Nichols added that it is “especially important” to have the first pilot exercise completed and have successful candidates who have gone through the process becoming, not just Registered Project Professionals, but for some, assessors of future candidates. Geraldine Duffy; a freelance project manager, project management consultant and educator; successfully completed the process as both a candidate and assessor found it to be a positive experience as filling in her portfolio was both challenging and interesting. She said: “I was given a good opportunity to be able to talk about my experiences in project management”.

The second preliminary stage was completed in November with the third and final phase of the pilot process in February readying for the official launch in March 2011. This thorough pilot scheme has allowed the APM to develop a robust process that successful candidate, Stephen Norton, found both “interesting and rewarding”. The programmes and engineering manager from Thales wanted to have his own professional background and competencies independently assessed and found that RPP was the ideal way of doing that. Stephen said: “Going through the process was straight forward. The most valuable part of the preparation was going back to the APM Competence Framework and working through it. That is the advice I’d give to anybody. Start slow and take your time to work through the competencies set and assess yourself against them. That helped enormously”.

Paul Erricker added that, along with tremendous support from the stakeholders, APM have developed “the right standard, pitched at the right level, for the right people in the professional community”.
To stay up to date and to be the first to hear of any news before the Registered Project Professional Standard is launched in March 2011 register your interest with APM at www.surveymonkey.com/s/apm-rpp

About APM Registered Project Professional

APM Registered Project Professional will recognise all professionals across projects, programme and portfolios including specialists. Those achieving Registered Project Professional status will demonstrate their professionalism through the APM 5 Dimensions of Professionalism.

Assessment

Registered Project Professional will recognise practitioners who can demonstrate the capabilities of a responsible leader, have the ability to manage a complex project and use appropriate project management tools, processes and techniques.
This will be demonstrated through:

1. Broad ranging professional competences
2. A broad understanding of project management as defined in the APM Body of Knowledge Achievement of successful outcomes through responsible leadership
3. 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development over the past 12 months Adherence to the APM code of professional conduct.
4. Application process

What is the APM Registered Project Professional Assessment Process?

Candidates will complete an online application and e-portfolio of evidence which includes:

Short statements providing evidence of competence in the critical competences A project-based CV to support the statements of competence A record of CPD carried out in the previous 12 months Named referees who can confirm a candidate’s suitability Evidence of academic and professional qualifications The applications will be assessed and successful candidates will be invited to a 45 minute professional discussion.

When can I apply?

The APM Registered Project Professional will be available from March 2011.

Do you have questions about the APM Registered Project Professional?

Parallel Project Training are hosting a discussion group on APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) of our community of practice

An insider’s guide to selecting a good quality Project Management Training Provider

Project management training is a significant investment of your time, cost and effort. The quality of your learning is dependent on several key factors. Asking the right questions in advance can help you select the best training provider for your course. The key factors are:

1. Level of pre and post course support and logistics?
2. Quality of the venue and number of delegates?
3. Quality of the material?
4. Quality and experience and trainer?

We recommend asking the following questions to evaluate the quality of your potential provider.

How many public training courses do you cancel or reschedule?

Many training providers advertise a large portfolio of training courses and cancel or reschedule course because they are not economic to run. Having your course re-scheduled is highly inconvenient. You will have to re-arrange your diary and re-schedule your work plans and lose the momentum of your pre-course preparation. Ask your provider how may courses they have re-scheduled in the past 6 months to get an indication of how often this happens?

What pre-course material is provided?

Training is not just about want you learn in the class room, modern course should provide significant pre-course support with e-learning, study material in advance and on-line tutor support. This means that you arrive on the course well prepared and ready to learn.

Ask about arrangements for lunch?

This may seem a rather un-important issue but like airlines the quality of the food is a measure of the values of the training provider. No lunch or a sandwich in the room indicates that low cost is more important to the training provider than your learning experience. On a full week course you will learn better if you take a break and visit an on-site restaurant for lunch. Getting out of the training room for an hour at lunchtime significantly improves your ability to learn post lunch.

What is the average and maximum number of delegates on a course?

The best size for a course is between 6 to 12 people. This is because you get good group dynamics but also enough attention from the trainer. If the maximum class size is over 12 then you may not get the attention that you need. If the average group size is less than 5 then you won’t have the opportunity to learn from others.

Who is the trainer and what experience do they have?

The quality of the trainer is crucial to the success of your learning experience. Ask your training provider who will be teaching the course? What is their experience of project management? Ask if you can speak to the trainer? Any good training provider will arrange a call back from you trainer. This is important because many training providers outsource the course delivery to the cheapest freelance trainer.

Paul Naybour is business development director with Parallel Project Training, which offers on-line, in print, on iTunes and face to face APM Project Management Training