PRINCE2 (Project Management), is it worth €1200?

KSAD

Hi All,

I am thinking of taking a PRINCE2 course for full practitioner accreditation. PRINCE2 is a Project Management methodology which has become the industry standard over the years, or so I am told, is it any good?

Regards,
KSAD (An aspiring management consultant)

Graham

Investing in your own education is almost always a good thing if it takes your career in the direction you wish to go.

That said, if you're 19 and just out of school/college, it's unlikely to return enormous immediate financial benefits. It may get you at the front of the queue for a position against candidates without Prince 2.

If you've got 5 - 15 years experience in the IT industry with some PM experience, it might be the clincher that gets you that next step up.

A credible Project Manager could easily recoup €1200 in less than a week. Somebody starting out could recoup it over the first year or two but then go on to recoup the same amount on a weekly basis for the rest of their career.

KSAD

I'm mid twenties and starting graduate position for a management consulting firm in September. I've been on a gap year so thinking that PRINCE2 might help in two ways, namely i re jig my brain back into its former (semi)analytical ways and i beef up my CV relative to the other grads starting with me!

I already studied Project Management as an elective at a masters level so this might not be too tough, I think I just want the professional accreditation and the brain tune up really!

Re the cost that helps a lot, they dont pay grads much so it can be hard to see over the horizons!

Thanks a lot Graham!!

eolair

Formal certification in a recognised standard is always a good thing.

Having said that, you should recognise what P2 is, and what it is not.

It is a PM methodology, which is taught and examined. The course you go on will teach you what you need to know to be certified. Pay attention, have a half decent tutor, do the exercises, and you'll pass. At the end of the day (well 5 days), you have an A4 certificate which proves you did the above.

It is not proof of your PM abilites, good bad or indifferent. Also it won't teach you to be or make you a PM. There is a world of difference between the P2 world, and delivering something on time, to budget, with a few dozen people all expecting different answers from you. If I was hiring, and someone came to me claiming to be a PM with little more than PRINCE2 to their name, I'd not entrust them with much more than petty cash or their own time to organise.

It is not a silver bullet, or appropriate to implement in full on every project, and (imho) is difficult to implement on most projects, unless everyone else is P2 and a good P2 user at that.

Some of the P2 methodology is very good, very sensible, and will stop you from causing planes to fall from the sky. Some parts will tie you in knots given the complexity of modern projects. Some parts just won't work when you are short staffed, running out of time, and up against a wall. Ideally P2 would have stopped you from being in that position in the first place

You should be aware that the P2 book they give you is a reference manual. It is not structured or designed for humans to learn from. Yes it contains all the information you need, just not in a way that can be used to learn from easily. You might benefit from one of the many books on P2. You'd probably benefit more from a good practical guide to PM - I like the 'fast forward MBA' series - not too dense, not too 'dummies guide', good practical examples.

If you have little other real world PM experience, before you do the course, I'd suggest you read up on risk management and configuration management. If I hadn't known/understood those topics pretty well (both from theory and practice) I'd have struggled in the course / exam.

P2 is a good accreditation to hold, but treat it only as a beginning, not the end of your learning.

eolair

just saw your post ksad, mentioning getting your analytical brain in to gear. The best advice my P2 tutor gave me was not to 'think' independently. P2 has its own logic, its own statements of 'fact' in the manual. Only use those as the basis of your answers, and you'll score well. There's no room for discussion/dissenting views - no matter how sound - in the exam.

KSAD

Eolair- thats interesting what you say about using only P2 fact and leaving my perception on the fact out of the answer/thinking, i would not have thought of that, I was taught in the masters which i recently finished to always question and re think things. so thanks for that. (I realise that rethinking things is a good approach to business, maybe not applicable in this instance)

as for the first post, excellent advice, i have no intention on calling myself a PM until someone calls me a PM first! the methodology in mind will help me to think in a more structured manner and deal with large volumes of information more effectively. I suspect that in a management consulting gig that there will be ample time to test out these skills. on that, i have no intention of pushing it in anyones face but if it clinches me some client work then that would be nice!

Further to that, you are again spot on when you say that most projects will not run as planned and one thing i did remember from studying PM before was that contingency is key. I simply like the P2 philosophy and think that it could build on some of my weaknesses as a business person. Regarding the topics to read on, ill do that asap, cheers!!

finally, there should be no end to learning!

lecheile

KSAD wrote: »

I'm mid twenties and starting graduate position for a management consulting firm in September. I've been on a gap year so thinking that PRINCE2 might help in two ways, namely i re jig my brain back into its former (semi)analytical ways and i beef up my CV relative to the other grads starting with me!

I already studied Project Management as an elective at a masters level so this might not be too tough, I think I just want the professional accreditation and the brain tune up really!

Re the cost that helps a lot, they dont pay grads much so it can be hard to see over the horizons!

Thanks a lot Graham!!

Couple of points KSAD -
If you are starting on a graduate programme it is very likely that there will be training and development included as part of the programme, If I were you I'd hold off spending money and see what's on offer from the new employer, you can express interest early on in doing the course, and get them to pay for it.

Re Prince 2 - It is the defacto standard within Finanical Services and largely used in Ireland and the UK. If you plan to work within FS and stick to this part of the world - go for it! If your plans go beyond that, have a look at the PMI courses - less industry specific and more worldwide recognition. I have experience of both and they are very similar and use different terms and templates.

Thoie

Personally I think Prince2 is useful for people who have already managed projects, as you'll be able to tie a lot of the examples back to the real world, and you'll also be aware of which bits just don't work outside of the civil service.

There's no problem questioning/discussing items with the trainer as you go through it, though the 5 day course is quite intensive, so you may want to keep some of your questions for lunch time/end of the day.

Passing the Prince2 exams is all about knowing their terminology, their processes, their descriptions inside out. Cop on and experience with projects does help, but isn't the be all and end all.

Before forking out the €1200 right away if you're strapped for cash, talk to Fás about doing their online PM training course first - these are often free or very cheap. It should give you a taster, and help kick start the brain. The only thing I'd be worried about is that if you then go to Prince2 afterwards you might have to relearn some of the terminology, but it shouldn't be that big a deal. I've no idea how good the course is, but it will be cheap