PPM Study Highlights the Role of Training
High-capability firms train more in PPM skills ... and plan to train even more in the future.
It's not unusual for companies to go into basic project management training full-bore, driven to bring project managers and teams up to par. Training in project management essentials often produces quick wins for organizations and their projects. But it's the truly savvy company that invests further in higher-order skills - skills like leadership, program management, and portfolio management. These are skills that not only help to deliver projects on time, on budget, but assist the organization in meeting its business goals for those projects.
That's why it was refreshing to see, in our recently-released research study The State of Project Portfolio Management 2013, that over a third (35%) of organizations in the survey were planning to offer training in PPM basics, and that many organizations hope to implement training in more advanced topics in the future. Respondents indicated a strong interest in training on strategy and portfolio management (58%), executives guide to PPM (55%), and advanced PPM (49%).
If they pursue this strategy for improving their PPM processes, they are likely to be successful. The research also shows a strong correlation between the number of PPM-related training courses offered by organizations and the PPM capability of those organizations. For example, PPM basics is taught in 38% of Level 1 Capable organizations, 46% of Level 3 organizations, and 80% of Level 5 organizations. Strong evidence that training and capability go hand in hand!
As Debbie Crawford discussed in her last post on this blog, PM College has already geared up to meet an accelerated demand in training on PPM skills. As she notes in her chapter on project selection in the new edition of our book Project Management Essentials (forthcoming from Maven House Press this summer), even beginning project managers need to understand how projects become projects - how they are selected and prioritized. This not only will serve them well in their own professional development, but will also serve their organization well, by placing business issues and outcomes where they should be: at the center of project management practice day to day.
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