Your study options
Parallel can tailor the study options for this course to your organisation. Whether you would like your delegates to come together in a face-to-face session or bring colleagues together virtually from all over the world, we can discuss options to suit you.
Virtual classroom
Our online learning options are very popular and are particularly useful for those clients whose delegates might be spread across the country or the world. Virtual classroom training doesn’t just involve sitting and listening to the trainer talk – delegates will be encouraged to participate in discussions and understand theoretical concepts through real-world examples.
In-house face-to-face training
We have more than 15 years’ experience delivering training courses for corporate clients. We can provide dedicated face-to-face training for your team to help them enhance their project management skills. Our corporate clients value bespoke project management training approaches which will ultimately help to improve project delivery and efficiency.
Course overview
At Parallel, we are experienced at tailoring the PMiP course to individual client needs. The course is designed to allow us greater flexibility to ensure the course meets its objectives.
In a bespoke project management training course, it is crucial to ensure that the training programmes are specifically targeted towards meeting the needs of the business. Over the years, we have developed a structured development process, working closely with our corporate clients to deliver training that caters to their unique requirements and delivers measurable business benefits. To achieve these goals, we follow four simple phases that can be tailored to suit your needs:
- Discovery phase: Defining the learning outcomes and course outline.
- Design phase: Creating the course materials and completing a dry run.
- Delivery phase: Scheduling and managing the delivery of the training.
- Evaluation phase: Monitoring short-term and long-term feedback and evaluating the business impact.
Using a standard course outline (see below), we work closely with clients to develop a detailed curriculum, materials and activities that align with the learning objectives identified. This might mean enhancing, removing, adding or reducing certain topics from the list. If your organisation has identified a weakness in risk management, for example, we will enhance this area of the course to ensure a greater focus.
During the course development, we will also assist in selecting appropriate training methodologies and creating presentation materials, case studies, exercises and resources, such as study guides and videos.
What topics are covered
Our standard course outline can be tailored to you. We can focus on key areas or remove topics that are not relevant to your organisation. You can find each of the topic areas listed below, but please contact us if you would like clarity on key areas or would like additional support in other areas. We use a range of exercises to help engage delegates and demonstrate project processes.
How projects impact on business-as-usual
We explore how projects generate change in business-as-usual and give an overview of the tools and techniques used by project managers to implement change. This will include clarity about the roles of the sponsor, project manager and users and the use of a project life cycle to provide a structured approach to project management.
Defining the project objective
At the start of any change, it is important to fully understand the objectives, constraints and assumptions to be made. We will analyse the external context using the ‘windows of wisdom’ to identify the success criteria for projects, the constraints that apply and the role the project plays in corporate strategy.
Stakeholder management
We will examine how to develop a plan for project communications based on an analysis of the different stakeholder groups.
Developing the business case
A full understanding of the business case is developed by considering a number of options and the relative merits of each. Once a clear strategy has emerged, then a business case (or project brief) can be used to authorise the project.
Developing the scope
The foundation of good project planning is a clear definition of the project scope. This can be derived from an analysis of the project deliverables and requirements, followed by the progressive development of the work breakdown structure. We will examine a number of ways in which a clear project scope can be defined including formal and informal techniques such as the work breakdown structure or the ‘rope of scope’.
Developing the project schedule
Understanding the dependencies between the delivery of different work packages and teams at an early stage is vital to the smooth delivery of projects. The precedence diagram is the method to develop these linkages between activities, work packages and teams. We will explore the range of linking relationships available to develop a fair representation of the work plan.
Estimating
Accurate estimating of cost and timescales is vital for many project plans. We will look at different tools and techniques to produce accurate estimates. This includes analytical, parametric and analogous estimating techniques.
Risk management
Every project is subject to risk and also generates risk for the business. We will look at how to manage risk on a project, including risk identification, assessment and planning techniques.
Project control, reporting and change control
Successful project execution requires regular communication to ensure any issues are identified early and action is taken to keep the project on track. This requires simple but effective reporting and a rigorous control of change. We will look at case studies which have suffered from poor change control and evaluate how these have affected the project outcomes.
Self-reflection and action planning
The course will conclude with the presentation of example plans prepared throughout the course for peer review by the group, followed by individual action planning to define the next steps to apply what has been learned in the course to the workplace.
Paul Naybour, CEng, MBA, BSc(Hons), MAPM, MIET, Business Development Director
The PPQ is a fascinating course to teach. We have had some excellent conversations about how we could apply project management to a case study. There is no right answer, and it’s very interesting to see the different approaches to the case study proposed by the different teams. It is especially useful for people to consider projects outside their day-to-day experience.
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Google reviews
Great training and preparation for APM exams. Have used Parallel Project Training a couple of times, with each experience being extremely positive from the training material provided, feedback on mock questions, and availability from the training team for any questions. I would recommend Parallel Project Training for project management training
I recently completed the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) training, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! The course was incredibly well-structured, providing a comprehensive understanding of project management principles and practices. What truly made the experience outstanding was our instructor, Tyron. His expertise, engaging teaching style, and ability to break down complex concepts into digestible lessons were exceptional.
Tyron’s real-world examples and interactive exercises brought the material to life, making it not only easier to understand but also highly applicable to my professional role. He was patient, approachable, and always willing to answer questions, ensuring every participant felt confident in their learning journey. His dedication to our success was evident throughout the course, and his guidance played a significant role in helping me prepare for the PMQ exam.
Thanks to Tyron and the excellent training program, I feel more confident in my project management abilities and am excited to apply what I’ve learned in my career. If you’re considering APMQ training, this is the place to do it—and if you’re lucky enough to have Tyron as your instructor, you’re in for a fantastic experience!
Amazing training provided by Tyrone. He made the classes really engaging and fun. There are many resources provided by parallel for the PMQ which I found really beneficial. Would recommend anyone looking for a training company to check out parallel project training.
The online APM PMQ course with Tyrone Davids was excellent.
Recently took the APM PMQ training course and Exam, Tyrone was instrumental in helping me pass, managed to keep the large amount of content engaging every session. Engaged with everyone involved on my course (18 in group) and was effective in responding and adapting to everyone’s knowledge levels/understanding. Great trainer !
The training provided by Ruth Phillips from Parallel Project Training for the APM PMQ was exceptional. Ruth’s expertise, engaging delivery, and practical insights made the complex concepts accessible and manageable. Her ability to break down key topics and relate them to real-world scenarios was particularly helpful in building confidence for the exam. The course was well-structured, interactive, and thoroughly professional, making it an excellent choice for anyone preparing for the APM PMQ. Highly recommended!
Great course provider and great trainer Tyrone, have learnt so much in 5 weeks!
Highly recommended Parallel Project Training. Carmen is a fantastic trainer, she is able to guide you through the training in a friendly and welcome manner, she takes the qualification and puts it into bite size chunks to make it digestible over the 5 weeks. Thanks for all your help!
Would highly recommend using Parallel Project Training. They have supported me in my journey to achieving my APM PMQ.The presentations and podcasts that they provide are informative and easy to understand. Compared to other training providers they are also one of the cheapest around.
Excellent course and really well led by Tyrone. Great method of getting the key information across and really informative.
More about our bespoke approach
Over the course of our many years of project management training, we have developed a strategy for creating bespoke project management courses. The aim of a bespoke project management course for beginners is to create programmes that are specifically targeted at key organisational needs. Our structured development process involves us working closely with our clients to ensure we achieve a project management course that suits their project managers and their organisation. Although not aimed at gaining a project management qualification, it will provide a training process which leads to measurable business benefits and improved project delivery on complex projects.
Our approach involves 4 key phases to improve the project management skills within your organisation:
We employ various diagnostic techniques to quickly understand your culture and development opportunities. This includes workshops, one-to-one interviews and surveys to ensure that we fully capture the learning objectives of the course and the project management career aspirations of delegates. Our courses can be tailored for entry level project managers and project team members, but also for more experienced project managers who have been managing projects for several years and have a good understanding of project management principles. Whatever their level of project management experience all attendees will learn practical skills and enhance their professional development.
We focus on clearly defined learning objectives linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy, which includes six levels of learning, ranging from simple recall to complex analysis and synthesis. We use Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop learning objectives that reflect the specific project management skills and knowledge required by a successful project manager. This can help people better understand and apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world project management scenarios.
At the end of this phase the client will approve the course outline and learning outcomes.
The team works together to develop a detailed curriculum, instructional materials and activities that align with the learning objectives identified in the discovery phase. This may involve selecting appropriate training methodologies and creating presentation materials, case studies, exercises and resources. Our trainers are all experienced members of the project profession and talented project managers in their own right. They have expertise developing bespoke courses and also delivering online project management courses such as:
- APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ)
- APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
- APM Project Professional Qualification (PPQ)
- Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Once the training materials are developed, a dry run of the course is conducted to ensure that the learning objectives are met, and the training is engaging and relevant. They can be delivered face-to-face or as an online project management course. Feedback is gathered from participants, and the training is refined based on this feedback.
At the end of this phase the client will approve the course materials.
We utilise the Parallel Learning System, which combines various learning techniques like distance learning, e-learning, podcasts and workshops, to provide active learning that caters to the different learning styles of each project manager.
To manage the delivery process, we employ a robust course management system called Arlo, which handles everything from trainer scheduling and delegate registration to attendance tracking and feedback collection. We also utilise Moodle, one of the most widely used learning management systems, as our e-learning platform. This system provides powerful facilities to track and monitor delegate completion of homework, mock exams and other assignments. To ensure that each course runs smoothly, we run regular course logistics meetings to ensure that the courses are running as planned and discuss necessary changes.
Our goal during the delivery phase is to provide an effective and efficient learning experience that maximises engagement and retention for all learners. We continually assess the effectiveness of our approach, gathering feedback and making adjustments as needed. This ensures that our project management training courses meet the needs of each client and each project manager.
We focus on assessing the effectiveness of the training program and measuring its impact on individuals and the organisation as a whole; whether for beginner project management courses or courses for experienced project professionals.
We conduct formal post-course feedback using structured feedback forms, asking questions about the course content, instructor quality and overall learning experience. We also conduct informal evaluations at the end of each project management course to gather feedback from participants and identify areas for improvement.
We also offer online post-course follow-up to capture the long-term benefits of the training for the organisation. To guide our evaluation process, we again rely on Bloom’s Taxonomy to help us measure the effectiveness of our training program. By using Bloom’s Taxonomy, we are able to evaluate the impact of the training on participants’ knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as on their attitudes and overall job performance.
Our goal during the evaluation phase is to provide meaningful insights into the program’s effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement. In doing so, we can ensure that our training programs continue to deliver tangible benefits to both individuals and organisations.