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Project Risk: A Beginner’s Guide

Risks will be present on every project. As a project manager, we need to understand what a risk is, what impact it might have on the project and how we can manage it throughout the life cycle of our project. What is a project risk? The APM defines a risk as ‘The potential of a […]

Added: 15th December 2023 Read More

The Project Schedule: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction Prior to starting our project, we need to set out the project schedule. This is the intended timeline for our project and will include the estimated time it will take us to complete each task and milestones for when key events are expected to occur. The final product of our project schedule is the […]

Added: 17th November 2023 Read More

Project Scope: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction Project scope can be defined as all of the work that will be undertaken and products that will be produced by our project. There are two aspects to understanding project scope – how to define it within the project and the importance of having a clear understanding of the scope. Defining project scope Project […]

Added: 6th August 2023 Read More

When Is “agile” Not “Agile”? Clearing Up The Confusion

Anyone involved in project management will be familiar with the term “Agile”. It is front and centre of many a project manager’s arsenal when it comes to managing projects that require some degree of flexibility. Additionally, it helps to promote collaboration and achieve optimal stakeholder satisfaction. Used by many project managers, Agile is a framework […]

Added: 15th March 2024 Read More

Podcast Transcript: APM PPQ Provide visionary leadership for a project.

“Hello. Welcome to another Parallel Project Training Podcast. I’m Paul Naybour, and with me is Tom O’Shea. Good morning, Tom.” “Hello. So, we’re working through the APM PPQ qualifications, and we’ve got to the interesting topic of leadership.” “Yes, I think it’s quite good that the APM has included leadership in this part of the course, […]

Added: 8th March 2024 Read More

Podcast: APM PPQ: 5. Deliver the intended benefits of a project.

Introduction The podcast featuring Paul Naybour and Tom O’Shea offers a comprehensive exploration of benefits management within project governance. The dialogue, rooted in the context of the APM’s PPQ qualification, addresses the complexities and nuances of ensuring that projects not only meet their immediate goals but also contribute meaningfully to an organisation’s strategic objectives. Understanding […]

Added: 31st January 2024 Read More

Is Social Media In Project Management A Waste Of Time?

In recent years within the professional sphere, there has become an increasingly important role for social media. The resultant potential impact this has had on project management should not be discounted. Within project management, social media can be used in a number of useful ways but it’s not popular with every project manager and some […]

Added: 31st January 2024 Read More

The Project Budget: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction Every project needs a project budget – an expectation of how much the project will cost. In order to establish the budget, the project manager will evaluate the costs of the work and materials required to complete the project. As part of the budgeting process, the project manager will need to understand the scope […]

Added: 31st January 2024 Read More

What Are The Stages Of Project Procurement?

All businesses need resources, from raw materials to labour and equipment. These resources are used in order to ensure the smooth execution of a project and are an integral part of any good project management plan. This is the case whether they pertain to the making of the products required by your project or the […]

Added: 30th January 2024 Read More

What Are The Advantages and Disadvantages of Team Models?

If you use Agile methodology within your team, then you are probably familiar with the concept of just how transformative this can be for development. Agile may be a great way of developing solutions to help with fast deployment but it isn’t a management tool. Teams often work to their own schedules within Agile, but […]

Added: 29th January 2024 Read More

APM PPQ Manage change control processes and protocols

Hello, my name is Paul Naybour. Welcome to another Parallel Project Training podcast. Today, we will be discussing the APM PPQ, and Tom O’Shea joins me. “Good morning, Tom.” We’re discussing change control, which is a necessary project management process. There are four assessment criteria for change control, and we’ll go through each to understand […]

Added: 26th January 2024 Read More

PM PPQ Use Information To Inform Reviews And Help Manage Deviations From A Project Plan.

Summary Transcript Greetings and welcome to another Parallel Project Training podcast. Today, I’m joined by Tom O’Shea. Hello, Tom. We’re diving into the PPQ assessment criteria, with a particular focus on the intriguing subject of reviews. Progress reviews or stage reviews are often the highlights of a project, but they hold significant importance. We have […]

Added: 22nd January 2024 Read More

APM PPQ Podcast: Establish and maintain the governance structure of a project to ensure alignment to organisational practice

Transcript Hello. Welcome to another Project Training Podcast. My name’s Paul Naybour, and with me is Tom O’Shea. Say Hello, Tom. Hello. So, we’re working our way through the APM PPQ assessment criteria. And we’re starting with one of the most significant topics in the APM PPQ course, 1.1, about governance. So, the assessment criteria […]

Added: 19th January 2024 Read More

Stakeholders: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction Stakeholders are the people or groups who will be interested in the outcome of our project. They will be present in any project that we undertake. Stakeholders are an important force in project management – they might help us to achieve parts of the project and can become champions for the project. They may […]

Added: 12th January 2024 Read More

Podcast: PPQ Introduction

Transcription My name’s Paul Naybour, and welcome to another Parallel Project Training podcast. Today, we’re doing the PPQ, and I’m really delighted that Tom has decided to join us for this podcast. Tom O’Shea will be leading our PPQ programs from now on, and I’ve known Tom for many, many years. So. introduce yourself. Tom, […]

Added: 5th January 2024 Read More

Managing A Remote Project Team

Managing a project team is difficult enough, but when you have to contend with your team members being geographically dispersed, it becomes even more difficult. Not only do you have all of the challenges that you typically face during a project, for example, scope creep, not having the best remote work tools and managing client […]

Added: 5th January 2024 Read More

How To Build a Motivated Project Team

We all know that projects are successful if the right people are involved and if those people are well-motivated to make the project a success. The people involved will include those who initiated the project, the customer and end-users and, of course, the people who will manage the work and do the work required to […]

Added: 20th December 2023 Read More

Project Negotiation: A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction During the course of a project, we might encounter situations where two parties come into conflict and we need to undertake negotiation to achieve an appropriate outcome. The negotiation might be over the price of materials or the best way to achieve the project’s goals, but can extend to any number of different issues. […]

Added: 8th December 2023 Read More

A Guide to Project Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control

“Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control – The Practical Project Management of Time, Cost and Risk” is the APM’s guide that lays out a practical and comprehensive approach that is useful for project control in a range of industries. This is where you will find the practical terms for the recommended best practice when it comes […]

Added: 28th November 2023 Read More

The Importance of Managing Change for Project Managers

Every experienced project manager knows that at some point in the lifecycle of a project, if not throughout the whole lifecycle, there will be requests for changes: changes to the specification, functionality or design. Whilst a lot of effort will have gone into discussing what is needed, interviewing users and stakeholders, brainstorming, storyboarding, analysis and […]

Added: 20th November 2023 Read More