New Project Manager

[jabbabroadley]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and new to Project Management. I recently obtained my Prince2 Foundation and I am looking to get the full Practitioner early next year.

Can anyone give me any tips of Forums, Blogs, Books, Website, Topics that I should view to further my knowledge in this discipline.

Regards

Jabba

[Judy]

Hello Jabba,

Firstly, congratulations on getting your PRINCE2 Foundation certificate!

Are you looking to take a course or just do the exam?

This book is pretty much essential 'Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2' you can pick it up relatively cheaply on Amazon or Ebay.

I start a five day course next week with PRINCE2 Training, (has anyone else done this?) After some research they seem really good PRINCE2 Training

Anyway,

Good Luck

[dhaughey]

When buying PRINCE2 study books, please make sure you buy the 2009 edition or later. Earlier versions are still available, but out of date if you are studying for the exams.

Duncan

[jabbabroadley]

I did my training at International House in London with a company called QA.

In terms of my request, I was looking for any valuable sources, maybe stuff excluding Prince2. I want to get a rounded view of PM. From my understanding thus far, Prince is good, but not the Bible for Project Management. I have been told Prince2 doesn't make you a good project manager, but learning and experience on the job does.

[ProjectMark]

I've done my Prince2, also with QA. I found it incredibly frustrating at times as it messes with your mind big-time! Stick with it, though, it's very useful, but I think only for people who have done some project management.

Mark

[jabbabroadley]

I must admit I tried to separate the Foundation and Practitioner mainly becuase I thought the Practitioner would be more beneficial when I was actually working as a PM.

I have colleagues that have done them both in 4 days, all of us felt you were trained to pass an exam. Have we found it uself, in some ways yes, in others no.

What are peoples thoughts on Prince and how helpful/relevant is it to becoming a good project manager?

[dhaughey]

Looking back as somebody that has done PRINCE2 Practitioner; if I were looking for a project management qualification today, that would give me practical skills, I would go for Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

I am seeing Agile growing rapidly in my sector with a definite move away from the traditional Waterfall approach. There seems to be an explicit acceptance of Agile as a viable alternative and less nervousness than there was perhaps a year ago.

Duncan

[kwalford]

Agile is definitely the new buzz word in the industry. I also see this being a certification for the future as it has gained a lot of support from the PM community.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Agile is most suited to Software Development projects, correct?

Thanks,
Kit

[dhaughey]

I agree; Agile works well for software development. The main difference I see is that traditionally the software features are fixed, and trade-off is between cost, time and quality. Often, quality suffers when cost and time start to run out. Software features are traded-off during an Agile project, while the agreed delivery date, cost and implicit ‘high-quality’ are fixed.

It is a different mindset, but once you get your head around the concept (and complete your first Agile projects) you begin to see the benefits.

Duncan