A 3 step approach to become a Project Manager

Other, Project Management

As a project manager, I can assure you that it is a great career, and I have worked across the world delivering projects large and small, and so can you! But how do you get into project management and make it a successful career?

Case study: The Project Manager with strong project management experience but no accredited project management certification

Step1: Learn basic project management skills through short courses

Step2: Get a project management professional certification at the Foundation Level

Step 3: Become a Registered Project Management Professional

There are also a lot of methods, processes and tools out there that can help you to run a project, so which one should you choose?  In many cases project management training courses are offered as project management professional certification for a particular method, which can be an attractive thing on your CV, and you have probably have heard about some of them such as  PMP, PRINCE2 and AgilePM, PRAXIS certificates (and there are specialisations inside these methods as well, such as for construction or IT).

When I started out, I came from a technical background. In my organisation, there were standard ways of doing things, including projects, but this was not well documented. So basically, I made it up as I went along – not something I would suggest! Later I did some project management courses and eventually became certified in a particular method, after a number of years of actually working in projects

EZY Skills accredited project management certification But do you really need to adopt one (or in fact any) of these methods? The answer is that, in many cases, having a certification is used to decide whether a particular person has the prerequisites for a particular job, and they are often attached to the job description as a ‘must have’! So if you want to get through the recruiters search engine or criteria and make the short list for interviews, an accredited project management certification is essential, no matter how much experience you may have in actually doing the work.

But you also need experience to do the job, but unfortunately, that is not something you can teach.  It must be done by doing the work, whatever that is, and to do that you need a project management job! Sounds like a circular argument, doesn’t it!

So how do you get the experience?  Often that will come from being in a particular industry, where you learn how from somebody who has already done it.  This upskilling (sometimes called on-the-job training) often involves working for a period in projects.

However, most people have experience at doing things, and know how to relate it to their current job.  The first thing they must do is relate that experience to project work and upskill accordingly. These days (due to COVID-19), eLearning courses are a great option. You can get an accredited project management certification while at home without having to commit to a fixed schedule, giving you the flexibility to learn, upskill and get certified 24×7 using any device.

Let’s think about this by using a simple example.

Case study: The Project Manager with strong project management experience but no accredited project management certification

We are going to work through this considering a person who works in an organisation that uses no project management method, but it does do things like, changes to business processes, installation of new equipment or introducing new products to market.  If it is anything major however, the organisation procures project management expertise from external suppliers as a skilled and professional contractor or consultant.

eLearning courses Our person has a lot of experience in the company and knows how it works.  They have also worked in projects as a subject matter expert for project managers who are brought in to run major projects for the company.  They feel that they could do at least as well as the external professional project managers but are not able to be even considered for the jobs as they have no accredited project management certification.                                                                        So, what do they do? Well, we recommend the following.

Step1: Learn basic project management skills through short courses

The first step is to learn about project management.  This can be done by reading textbooks, but that is both boring and not very productive.  A better way to do this is by getting project management training that teach you about the aspects of project management.  This can cover things like:

  • How do I plan a project?
  • What does project management do?
  • How do I manage project delivery to meet the agreed business outcomes?
  • How do I manage project risk?
  • How do I ensure the quality requirements of products delivered by the project are met?
  • How do I manage changes to requirements?
  • How do I implement change management that the project delivers?
  • How do I report project progress?
  • How do I assist in developing a business case required to fund any project?

All these things are part of every project management method but are often not covered in enough detail during on-the-job-training to enable somebody to use them properly.  They are also not really taught properly in project management courses which are aimed at certification – in fact, they often only give an inexperienced person enough knowledge to pass exams, but not run a project!

The first thing to do is learn about the mechanics of project management by learning how to manage time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. These are generic skills and can be learnt through short courses on-line. These can be generic enough and relate to any project management method and enable you to actively contribute to a project.

Step2: Get a project management professional certification at the Foundation Level

AgilePM Foundation Certiicate At this stage you may want to get accredited project management certification at the Foundation level. These days due to the pandemic eLearning courses are great option. The give you the flexibility to learn anytime, at your convenience 24×7 using any device.

The second step kicks in once you have learnt about the components of project management and can then contribute to a project in a meaningful way. You have upskilled (by blending your experience learnt through “on-the-job-training”) with knowledge and tools (learned through skills based courses) to ensure that you can apply them in real life situations.  Ideally, we want to do this in a project, and that means “actually getting to work on a project”.

Keep an eye out for any opportunity within your organisation that may emerge. Professional networking and building relationships is a great way to find out these “hidden opportunities”. This will provide you with opportunities to grow within your organisation by opening new pathways either laterally or vertically, thus contributing to your personal goals and ambitions.

A Mentor in real life. Could be an EZY Skills Trainer You may need a mentor in real life situations to guide you in implementing the project management basics you would have now learned, in a safe and supportive environment, and we can help with that as well.  Once you have learned about the aspects of project management, developed your skills, and got yourself certified and upskilled skills, start to look for beginner level project roles such as a “Project Support Officer” “PMO Analyst” or if you feel confident enough a “Junior Project Manager”. Opportunities present themselves all the time in organisations as they deal with growth, change and investments on a regular basis. Most business change and investments are typically “projects”.

Step3: Become a Registered Project Management Professional

AgilePM Practitioner Certificate - Become a "Registered Project Management Professional"The final step starts when eventually, you want to get certified at the highest level of project management.  This will mean taking an accredited project management course in recognised project management methodology such as PRINCE2, Agile PM or PMP. course and passing an accreditation exam, ideally in the method you are going to use, but in some cases in more than one.

Now that is all great, but it is hard to do on your own!  Ideally, you need a “trusted partner” for all these steps – someone who has been there before, a mentor, a coach and a guide. Someone who can:

  • Deliver world class project management courses with recognise global certification so you can learn the basics?
  • Deliver accredited training that is based on real-world experience so you can upskill yourself?
  • Be ready to aid and mentor you with the exams when you are ready to get certified?

We can help you to Learn, Upskill and Get Certified. It’s your journey, with our support, because we want you to succeed!

Email (e: info@ezyskills.com.au ) us to find out more and one of our highly experienced project managers or accredited trainers today to learn how we can help.

About the Author: David is an Approved Trainer in PRINCE2, PRINCE2 Agile, MSP, P3O, Managing Benefits, AgilePM, ITIL and TOGAF9.

David Schrapel (MAIPM, MACS, MAEA, MIIBA, Registered Project Manager)

Certified Trainer & Consultant

© EZY Skills 2021

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