online training

Linky

5 Online Courses for Project Managers

By Raj Vardhman

Most Project Managers will testify that their work can be tough. No two projects or teams are the same. One of the most challenging aspects for project management practitioners is the amount of training needed to stay up-to-date in the face of changing practices.

Fortunately, training is easier now than ever before, thanks to online courses for project managers. The e-learning market has become large enough to provide a slew of materials for your professional improvement. It’s projected to reach $325 billion according to Mark in Style.co.uk by 2021.

Top Online Courses

But which courses are worth your time? There are plenty of them out there, but you can’t take them all. Should you take a free or a paid course? Another question that is often asked when looking for good online courses is:

“What are the top 5 online courses for project managers?”

So, here’s a list of online courses guaranteed to bring value to you and your company. 

1.     Alison: Diploma in Project Management

2.     Coursera: Project Management: The Basics for Success

3.     Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course

4.     PMI – The Complete Agile Project Manager

5.     Brain Sensei: PMP Exam Prep Course

Let’s take a closer look at what each course has to offer.

1.   Alison Diploma in Project Management

Alison Diploma in Project Management

If you’re looking for a course that suits both those with experience in project management and those without, Alison’s course is a great choice. Alison is a platform for free learning with over a thousand online courses. From diploma courses to certificate courses, it’s excellent for online learning.

The course contains 27 modules, and it takes anywhere between six and ten hours to complete it. It teaches you about various useful facets of project management. These include methodologies like Agile and Scrum, working with PERT and Gantt charts, using the project life cycle, planning, evaluation, and analysis, in addition to electronic, specialist user documentation, and more.

A completion rate of 80% or more on every module is enough to earn the course diploma. While you can get certificates from Alison’s shop, you can also opt to have one in electronic form.

2.   Coursera’s Project Management: The Basics for Success

Coursera Project Management basics

Project Management: The Basics for Success is a great solution for learners looking for knowledge on a budget. You can complete it without paying a dime, although you will miss out on getting the final grade or the actual certificate.

The University of California is in charge of this course, so you’ll be in safe hands throughout the whole thing. You’ll need somewhere around seven hours to complete it, and you’ll have flexibility regarding deadlines.

That said, the course has a live instructor, meaning that you can’t log in and start learning whenever you want. Instead, you’ll need to wait for when it’s available.

That inconvenience aside, you’ll learn plenty of things during this course. You’ll gain an understanding of the project life cycle, the work breakdown structure (WBS), as well as how to deal with different kinds of people in your team, among other things. For a free course, that’s more than enough. 

3.   Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course

Master of Project bundle

Master of Project Academy is a pretty large e-learning platform, having around 500,000 enrollments around the globe. Its course bundle gives you a wide range of relevant course materials for already skilled and inexperienced project managers. Keep in mind that it’s designed for more skilled project managers than for novices.

If you need to know more about Microsoft Project, Agile and Scrum, PMP,and other topics, Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course will be perfect for you. Additionally, you’ll find courses that cover ITIL and CAPM, too.

The bundle features tons of content, so you can choose to pay for the parts you’re interested in. It’s also self-paced so that you can take your time. You can also take advantage of moderated forums, round-the-clock assistance, and comprehensive guidance for your PMP exam.

It will likely take you some 35 hours to complete the courses. You can choose to pay for them in three ways. There’s the $37 per month option, but you can also get it for $185 per year or $370 for lifetime access.  

4.   The Complete Agile Project Manager (From the Project Management Institute)

PMI The complete PM

Those who aspire to gain invaluable insight into the Agile methodology can benefit from PMI’s Agile course. It’s especially beneficial if you’re already a PMI member since you’ll be entitled to pretty great discounts. In that case, the course costs $243, while it costs $372 for non-members.

This course comprises nine sections. It covers Agile project management and the implementation of Agile methodologies in a very comprehensive way.If you’ve just started leading an Agile team or your company is moving toward that work method, this course could be a lifesaver.

It should take you around 17 hours to complete it if you have a good knowledge base. It covers a whole slew of topics, from scheduling and planning all the way to leading an Agile team and engaging stakeholders.

5.   Brain Sensei: Complete PMP Exam Prep Course

Brain Sensei PMP course

Brain Sensei’s PMP Exam Prep Course is a terrific way to hone your skills if you already have experience in project management.

The course gives you a detailed project management overview, even fundamentals about project closing, project initiation, among other subjects. There are eight different course modules available. They discuss defining, planning, executing, controlling, monitoring, and closing projects, in addition to other key issues.

The entire course lasts six months, and it contains as many as nine hundred practice exam questions. The whole package can be yours for $500.

Make the best choice for your needs

Hopefully, this information will help you to make a more informed decision and to choose the online course that will meet your needs.

Virtual Project Consulting

Please subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting not to miss future articles, tips and success stories!

Linky

Looking for a Project Management Training Service Provider?

Review Article

Training with KnowledgeHut

In the dynamic world we live in today, learning policies within organisations are evolving at rapid speed in response to emerging technologies. Traditional, formal and scheduled training methods have given way to more informal and on-demand forms of learning, with an increasing accent on blended and e-learning delivery modes. Continuous training and collaboration helps organizations stay at the cutting-edge of change.

Global Training Provider

KnowledgeHut is a Global leader in online and classroom training for on-demand certifications like PMP, PMI-ACP, MS Project, PRINCE2 and more. As an industry-leading training company operating across 70 countries and 6 continents, their courses are aimed at delivering measurable improvements in business performance and productivity. Training is delivered across the US, Canada , Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, UK, Ireland, APAC and SE Asia.

Training with KnowledgeHut
Agile and Scrum training in Sydney on 1st February’17

Professionals who have completed their courses are equipped with state-of-the-art knowledge and technical skills that enable them to stay at the forefront of their careers.

KnowledgeHut works with the Global Blended Model of Approach (GBMA), an effective method that makes training and learning easier for individuals and organizations in the industry. This methodology works through a blend of extensive online training in tandem with traditional classroom based learning. Participants have consistently achieved positive training results, with a shorter learning curve and significantly higher retention of the subject matter.

Specialties

KnowledgeHut is a registered Education Provider (REP) of Scrum Alliance, PMI and IIBA. It’s also an ATP of EC-Council, CompTIA, APMG for PRINCE2 training, as well as a certified partner of AXELOS and the disciplined Agile consortium and Scaled Agile Inc.

KnowledgeHut offers an extensive selection of vendor-authorized training and certifications for PMI, Microsoft, APMG, CompTIA, and Scrum Alliance among many others.

Close the skills gap

They specialize in training, consulting, Scrum Master Training, Certification courses as well as e-Learning. Have a look at their Infographic on the Future of IT.

If you want to train with a company whose mission it is to empower human capital through industry accredited, nationally and internationally recognized courses to close the skill gap, visit KnowledgeHut and find the course that will make you more successful in 2017 and beyond.

Linky

3 Benefits of Training with Activia and What Business Problems It Will Address

Gone are the days where employees stayed at their jobs their entire life; now staying for three to five years is considered normal. But replacing staff should be as easy as placing an ad in the papers, right?

Wrong.

According to Oxford Economics, it can cost up to £30,614 (and seven months) for a company to replace a departing employee. This cost is from:

  • the lost output the company experiences while the new worker is trained up to speed, usually around 28 weeks.
  • the cost of replacing that employee, including advertising costs, agency fees, time spent on interviews, etc.

With these figures, it’s no wonder why many small and medium-sized businesses are reluctant to invest in employee training. Training them, only to lose them later, simply doesn’t seem to be worth it.

But is this attitude helpful or self-serving? Should the possibility of staff leaving determine whether you train them or not? What happens if they don’t leave and you’ve missed the chance to improve your business? Taking this view is narrow-minded and can potentially be dangerous to business longevity.

 

staff-trainingBenefits of Staff Training

Training employees should be an essential activity for all organisations. Apart from avoiding recruitment expenses, here are some more benefits of staff training:

  • It empowers employees with the knowledge and skills they need to increase their contribution to the business.
  • It improves business performance and productivity.
  • It improves staff morale, loyalty and staff retention – by investing in them, you’re showing them how much you value them.
  • It leads to a reduction in wasted time and materials.
  • It leads to a reduction in staff turnover and absenteeism.

It’s also important to mention here that, on average, companies that invest at least £ 1,000 per annum on staff training earn higher profit margins than those who don’t.

 

Selecting a Training Provider

However, for those companies that do want to upgrade their staff’s skills, choosing a training provider can be difficult. There are around 12,300 private training providers in the UK alone, all with different areas of expertise and delivery methods. So what should you pay attention to when looking for a vendor?

The following are key questions to ask any prospective training provider. The answers to these questions can help you narrow down your options so you can find the right fit for your staff.

  • Where can you deliver training?
  • How will your training improve my staff’s performance?
  • How many clients do you work with?
  • How many trainers do you work with?
  • Can you develop a training programme for both large and small businesses?
  • How do you measure participants’ progress?

 

TrainingThe Benefits of Training with Activia

For interactive and learner-focused training, look no further than Activia. Our trainers use a wide range of models, case studies, and skills practice to engage delegates. We ensure all delegates leave their sessions with knowledge, information, and the tools required to excel in their field. Some of our other unique features include:

  • Our Online Tools
  • Skills Appraisal: For a tailored learning experience, we ask delegates to take our Skills Appraisal test. This is to assess their proficiency and advise them on the best courses to take.
  • Course Creator: Looking to brush up on specific topics? Our Course Creator tool allows you pick and choose individual modules and create a bespoke training course. This allows you focus on getting the exact training you need with no fluff.
  • The Dashboard: The dashboard provides a one-click access to your entire Activia account. From here, you can change your account settings, view your booking history, your invoices, certificates, and so on.
  • Free eLearning: Using our eLearning revision platform, delegates can revisit and review the topics they covered in the course.
  • The Quality of our Courses: We’ve been in the training business for over twenty years, keeping abreast of every change in the business and the training industry. At Activia, we’re constantly refining our training methods so we can deliver actionable world-class training, every single time. At our training centres, we always keep class sizes between two and a maximum of 12. In our experience, this class size ensures that all delegates get adequate attention from the instructor.
  • Our Competitive Pricing –With 12 training centres in major cities across the UK, we can easily deliver group or one-on-one training, but if you’d prefer we train your staff at your office, that can also be arranged. All our prices are highly competitive due to our trading volumes, which means that we can offer delegates increased training quality at lower costs. We also offer discounts for early booking, low occupancy, and various special promotions.

 

To find out more about the best options for your training, then Activia’s staff are ready to help you with friendly, knowledgeable advice. If you’d like to talk to someone about your training needs and our offering, just fill in our contact form with your message and we’ll be back in touch very soon.