Pre-course Work

Holly’s Project Briefs were much admired

Now, there’s a phrase to send a chill down your spine. You know how it is – you’ve finally persuaded your company to spare you for a week, and shelled out the dough to pay for a course (or, worse, even sprung for it yourself), and you find that a week of total immersion is somehow not considered enough. Oh, no, despite being prepared for some intensive learning, and even the possibility of homework, they also want you to do … PRE-COURSE PREPARATION !!!

So, I’ve got my “exclusive” PRINCE2 pre-course preparation pack, and what does it consist of? Mainly, it’s THE BOOK – yes, the latest edition of the OGC’s Managing Successful Projects With PRINCE2, in all its 457-page glory, and complete with that cover illustration of a happy Project Board, grinning like a bunch of Goldman bankers at bonus-time (circa 2006). And, there’s also the actual Study Guide, which consists a few stapled sheets of A4. The contents are simple: studying is broken down into six sections, each of which is an instruction regarding which chapters in the OGC manual should be read and in which order, followed by some self-assessment questions (answers at the back – no peeking, now!).

Hmmm … so, that’s it? Let’s put this simply – I could rewrite the “exclusive pre-course preparation” in four letters – RTFM (Read The F-ing Manual).

Not that that’s such a bad thing. Personally, I’ve always been a great believer in the RTFM principle, as opposed to paying good money to have someone talk at you. And, don’t get me started on CBT’s or video-based training – the cheesy delivery and familiar Powerpoint presentations simply set my mind wandering elsewhere. No, if you really want to learn something, read a book.

Actually, I did originally intend to learn PRINCE2 that way – just buy the book and RTFM. And, if I were simply learning PRINCE2, with a view to using it in my job, that’s what I’d do. But, the point is, I want those qualifications, so that means I have to sit the exams. And, while you can self-study, and then book the exams yourself (see the APM website ), the problem is that you may not be very near one of the three open exam centres (Milton Keynes, York and Chester), nor may their dates suit you. Also, it’s not cheap just to do the exams - £555 for both Foundation and Practitioner, plus you’d then have to shell out for at least the OGC manual to study. So, all in all, the cost of my one week course was really quite reasonable, considering that the fee included the exams and all necessary materials. And, who knows who you might run into on a course? I hear that Holly Valance is really into Project Management these days.*


* This is a lie.

What’s it all about?

I’m a Project Manager. I manage projects. Or, at least, I used to … and now I want to give it another go.

You know how it is – Project Management’s a dirty job, and we all think about moving on … I had this dream about buying some land, gonna give up the booze, and the one night stands – just try to settle down, in a quiet little town, and forget about everything. But you know he’s gotta keep moving … etc.

So back down these mean streets I must go. And, one difference I have noticed from the old days is how every project management job ad now lists PRINCE2 certification as at least “highly desirable”. Now, I have managed a few projects in my time. And, I’ve used plenty of structured methods, including the original PRINCE (before it became new and improved). But, until I can put “PRINCE2 certified” on my CV, that’ll be one box I fail to check, when I start looking for an actual job again.

So, I have decided to do a course on PRINCE2 – one of the one-week, Foundation-and-Practitioner level bootcamps that should see me qualified. And, I thought that it would be amusing … and, hey, maybe even informative to somebody … to blog about it. So, here we are.

So, time for my first big question. Why does the cover of OGC’s Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 have Lando Calrissian from Star Wars on the far right?