One of the more thought provoking presentaions at the recent Project Challenge Show in Birmingham was by Dot Tudor of TCC. She firmly believes that there is too often a disconnect between IT project managers and IT service managers.
The following diagram emphasises the degree of overlap and inter-relationship between PRINCE2, DSDM and ITIL. Her presentation (follow link below) works towards an integrated roadmap.
By the way, this subject matter is being picked up by OGC so keep an eye open for the official book in due course!
>> View Dot Tudor’s presentation
>> Find ITIL training courses
>> Find PRINCE2 courses
>> Find DSDM Atern courses
Blogalot - May 2010
today’s difficult project management job market, many candidates already have the Prince2 qualification on their CV
Employers now want project managers who understand a methodology (Prince2) and also have sound project management knowledge
Many project managers are now looking to add the APMP certification from the Association for Project Management to their CV
The 5-day APMP course covers 37 knowledge areas from the APM Body of Knowledge which the APM describes as “fundamental to the professional management of projects”
Focus on Training offer 5-day APMP Courses in Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Chester, Coventry, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester , Oxford and Reading
Project and Programme Management (PPM) in the Public Sector was the focus of a stimulating Public Service Events conference on 2 December.
Inspite of the impending cuts and financial pressures on government departments and the public sector more generally, the mood was confident and positive.
There were 3 main themes which recurred throughout the day:
1. Raising the profile of the PPM Profession
Programme and project management has become part of the public sector landscape during the past decade but there’s need to consolidate the professional status of those involved - and to improve understanding of best practice amongst project sponsors and business leaders. Sarah Cox of the Cabinet Office explained that The Association for Project Management can play an important part in this evolution.
2. Delivery of Project Benefits
“We have the methodology in place but still projects do not deliver.” There were many perspectives on this but Leadership, Interpersonal Skills and Benefits Management processes were seen as central. Susannah Howard of the NHS Eastern Development Centre said “there is often confusion over the skills needed, and processes are misunderstood or resisted”.
3. Networking to Share Experience & Best Practice
Speakers such as Helen Goulding of the Audit Commission runs a centre of excellence, and others such as Tim Ellis (Head of Programmes - Kensington & Chelsea) had initiated highly successful informal networks to stimulate interaction.
Leadership, Methodology or Project Manager Skills - which do you think are the most important areas to improve?
>> Programme & Project Management Courses
>> APM Certification
>> NHS “Enable East”
Bogalot - December 2009
The PRINCE2 manual has been translated into Mandarin and 3,000 copies have been sold.
The APMG has opened an office in Qingdao.
It’s a major coup for PRINCE2 as it continues its long march around the world.
30,000 people worldwide have taken PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner exams in the past 12 months alone.
What do you think?
Is PRINCE2 right for China? Is China right for PRINCE2?
>> PRINCE2 launch in China
>> PRINCE2 training courses
>> Download the Free Focus Guide to PRINCE2
Blogalot - October 2009
If you live near Luton, you’ll soon be able to take the popular PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner qualification there
Focus on Training identified that Luton wasn’t well served for PRINCE2 training, and have worked with an accredited PRINCE2 training provider to launch the first course in October
To visit the Focus website for prices and dates CLICK HERE
Skills, Methodology & Experience
Project Management education is growing up. Puzzled by the fact that there are still far too many instances of underperforming projects even after extensive PRINCE2 training, organisations are starting to think more intelligently about the knowledge and capabilities which make for a successful project manager.
At the Best Practice Showcase in London in June, Eileen Roden summed it up neatly with a cooking analogy. PRINCE2 is an excellent recipe - but simply being able to repeat the list of ingredients and process instructions won’t make you a top chef.
Those who are serious about developing their project management careers need “ticks” against 3 distinct aspects of project management:
1. Project Manager Skills. The basic competencies which are needed to be effective. These cover many of the skills exhibited by successful general managers. You need business and financial awareness, leadership skills, planning skills, negotiation skills - as well as technical skills such as planning and risk management.
2. Project Methodology. Organisations that run projects efficiently will have developed processes and language which are applied regularly and consistently. And across many types of organisation you will find the basic elements are very similar. PRINCE2 is a distillation of these good practices.
3. Experience. As with so much else, wisdom comes from the accumulation of successes - and a few failures. Training can help you understand how to apply skills and methods to practical situations but there is ultimately no substitute for experience.
Some of the County Councils are actively re-assessing their project management training along these lines: one is looking at a blend of APMP, PRINCE2 and a tailored element specific to their needs. There are even suggestions that we may see greater collaboration between APM and the APMG to combine their respective strengths in skills and methodology.
>> PRINCE2 Training Courses
>> APMP Training Courses
>> PMI Certification
>> Download APM and PRINCE2 Training Guides
Blogalot - September 2009
The OGC which produces best practice guidelines such as PRINCE2 and ITIL has been sponsoring articles which demonstrate linkage between leading management methodologies. Two recent publications focus on Six Sigma.
They are thought provoking but there is a danger that too much time is spent trying to reconcile management processes, terminology and training which do not need to be reconciled.
Six Sigma’s strength as a quality management approach is the emphasis on process users, and the application of rigorous statistical methods to drive out waste and improve performance.
The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, Verify) Six Sigma cycles can be applied very appropriately to many IT Service Management activities. Indeed they offer the opportunity for significant rigour at the ITIL Design and the Continual Process Improvement stages. Six Sigma is at its most valuable when applied to high volume repetitive processes.
The fit between Six Sigma and PRINCE2 is a bit more tenuous. Six Sigma is about the efficiency of ongoing processes; PRINCE2 is about discrete management activities with a start, middle and end. However, many organisations will find PRINCE2 provides a rigorous framework for project implementation, and Six Sigma delivers measurable benefit from improving ongoing processes - so both are highly desirable. Moreover PRINCE2 would be no bad way to run a Six Sigma implementation, which can be complex and involve staff from many strands of a business.
You can find the OGC articles on the Best Management Practice website:
>> Integrating Six Sigma and PRINCE2 - Mike Ward
>> Integrating Six Sigma and ITIL - Jack Probst & Gary Case
What do you think? Is integration necessary or realistic?
>> PRINCE2 Training
>> ITIL Training
>> Six Sigma Training
Blogalot September 2009
A Project Management Methodology for Suffolk County Council
An initial PRINCE2 2009 case study has been published by the APM Group. Kevin Ling (project lead for the Suffolk PPM team) evaluates the new release of PRINCE2 against the simplified version of PRINCE adopted during 2008.
The conclusion is that the 2009 version of PRINCE would have proved a much more relevant starting point if it had been available at the time.
Key observations are:
- it is much less process based, making it more accessible
- it is more flexible and less prescriptive
- it sits better with other systems and will allow integration with aspects of MSP
- there is better guidance for project board members and stakeholders
>> Read this Case Study on the PRINCE2 Official Site
>> PRINCE2 Training from Focus
>> Project Management Training from Focus
Blogalot July 2009
The latest release of PRINCE2 was launched on 16th June.
Those looking to take PRINCE2 training have waited with interest since the APMG announced some months ago that it was looking to “raise the bar” - as it appears that the qualification has become easier to obtain since a move away from essay based exams in 2007.
The news is that the pass mark for the Practitioner exam is being raised from 50 to 55%. This will apply to exams based on either the existing or new syllabus (they will run in parallel until 31 December 2009). The exam will be a bit shorter too (2.5 hours rather than 3).
What do you think?
- Good to keep standards for this well regarded qualification at a high level
- Unfair to those who weren’t able to qualify during the past year
>> PRINCE2 2009 - What’s New?
>> Buy the official PRINCE2 manual
Blogalot June 2009
Oh dear.
“The Learning and Skills Council exists to make England better skilled and more competitive.” It’s England’s biggest quango with an annual budget of £12 billion. Unfortunately it seems that it can’t do is own sums.
New schemes are announced with a fanfare. Learners and providers react with enthusiasm. Then the plans are scaled back or aborted. First it was the capital building programme for many colleges; now its the adult apprentice scheme.
Fortunately, it seems that the highly targeted funding scheme to help small and medium sized businesses with Leadership and Management training is running smoothly - though qualification criteria are being applied more strictly than when first launched. Focus has been able to help clients with training such as Project Management (PRINCE2), IT Service Management (ITIL), and IT governance.
>> £1,000 grants for Leadership & Management training
>> Listen to BBC’s File on 4 investigate the LSC funding crisis
Blogalot June 2009
ITIL, PRINCE2 | admin, May 13, 2010 3:40 pm | 
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